MUZZLING THE PRESS.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 October 1929, Page 8

MUZZLING THE PRESS.

The effect of the prevention by law of the publication of Divorce Court proceedings in Great Britain is having just the effect foreseen by many of the ablest leaders of thought in the United Kingdom. The increase in divorces is described as alarming. The numbers of cases is four times what it was in 1014, and will reach a total of 5000 cases this year. It may be argued that these figures represent a very small percentage in a population of forty millions, but it is the progressive and increasingly rapid increase that is causing anxiety. There is no question that the Jack of publication has made recourse to the divorce court a much less serious process than it was when the discretion of what to publish of divorce eases was left to the judgment of the Press. Because a few Jess reputable - journals showed a lack of decency in this respect

the whole Press has been muzzled, and the result is shown in the official returns of the courts. The spirit that led to. this action in regard to the Press of Great Britain finds expression in this country also. The right of suppressing the name of an accused person, and of excluding the Press from children’s courts, now left in the hands of magistrates, has added very considerably to the difficulties of administering the law, and for very doubtful benefits. There is a proposal afoot to amend the law in Great Britain, and it would be by no means a waste of time were the Legislature here to remedy anomalies in the law of New Zealand.