CHRISTMAS IN GAOL FEARED

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1929, Page 9

CHRISTMAS IN GAOL FEARED

PRISONERS’ RELEASE REQUESTED. SEDITIOUS LITERATURE CASES. By Telegraph. —Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The release of Griffin and Murphy, who are in gaol on a three-month sentence for having in their possession literature held to be contrary to the War Regulation Continuance Act, was one of the requests of a deputation from the Alliance of Labour to-day to the Hon. G. W. Forbes, acting Prime Minister, and the Hon. T. K. Sidey, Minister of Justice.

The deputation also asked for the repeal of the War Regulations Continuance Act and, if board censorship was to be continued, for representation of the Labour movement upon that board. Speakers stated that the country was full of indecent literature prejudicial to the morals of the community, yet books which were of particular interest to students of economics' and politics were banned. The sentence imposed by Mr. E. Page, S.M., was claimed to be a vicious sentence. Mr. Forbes said he had not studied the question to know whether the board required bringing up-to-date or not. He would be pleased to go into the requests with the Minister of Justice to see if censorship could not be put oh a commonsense basis if, as they had said/ numbers of books were being banned that could not be brought within the category of being a direct incitement to violence. He took it that was what the law aimed at. The feeling in most countries was that that sort of literature was not conductive to good government. With regard to the release of the prisoners so that they could have Christmas outside gaol, Mr. Forbes pointed out that dealing with the sentence of a magistrate was a very serious matter, but they would go into the question.