The Star. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1921. RED EUROPE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16353, 16 February 1921, Page 6

The Star. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1921. RED EUROPE.

The decision of the Stipendiary Magistrate in tlio cases concerning the importation of copies of the book “lied Europe ’’ provides an excellent illustration of the fact that the Dominion 19 ruled by regulation. When the wax r.as raging there was reason in the contention that literature which might have a, disruptive effect 011 national unity should be excluded. The country was up against the hard fact of war, and fighting had to take the place of debate 011 more or loss abstruse theories. The pacifist and his allied propagandists, however excellent their motives, could not be permitted to indulge their penchant for the kind of stuff which would be helpful to the enemy. The country, therefore, bore with a censorship which, though occasionally irksome, was recognised as a necessary precaution. When the war ended the necessity ceased to exist, and there should hare been a reversion to the pre-war practice. The studied exclusion of certain classics of literature fails most dismally to achieve its purpose. There are hundreds of copies of “Red Europe ” in circulation in the Dominion, and the book has achieved a reputation simply because it was banned. It is really a meretricious production, which could be confidently assailed by any student of affairs, but it is handed round “under the rose” by a crowd of half-baked intellectuals who are convinced that it is the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Primarily, of course, its possession appeals to the people who distinguished themselves during the war by being as disloyal to the Empire as ihev dared, but that is no reason why tihe public at large should be deprived of a free choice in selecting it: literature. The Government, in prohibiting the importation of books whicl discuss even extravagant views of great world questions, is exercising an intellectual censorship which is opposed to British ideas, and which defeats itself. Liberty of thought is just as dear as liberty of speech, and an established right should not be withdrawn unless under the severest necessity.