OBSCENE PRINT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10021, 18 April 1910, Page 3

OBSCENE PRINT.

SENTENCE ON A NEWSPAPER MANAGER. FOUR MONHTS' IMPRISONMENT AND £SU FINE. THE PRISONER COLLAPSES. Henry fc-'tephen Coburn, manager of "New Zealand Truth," came before Mr Justice Chapman this morning for sentence on a charge of distributing obscene printed matter lor public sale—a charge of .which he had been found guilty at the last criminal sittings of the Supreme Court, and which conviction had been upheld by the Court of Appeal. Mr Myers represented the Crown, and Mr Wilford, with him Mr Dunn appeared for the prisoner. Mr Wilford said he desired to call evidence as to the character of the accused. Mr Myers said the police gave ac-

cused a perfectly good character. His Honor said he would assume that the prisoner was of good character, and that the evidence had been given. Mr Wiltord then read affidavits by Dr Bowenbank, Dr McLean, and Dr Perkins, in regard to the health of the prisoner. They were to the effect that he was suffering from chronic rheumatism and neurasthenia, and that confinement in gaol would; be prejudicial to his health. Mr Wilford w:nt on to point out that ths jury had recommended .the prisoner to mercy, and it was fair to assume that he, in the commercial part of the paper, had no controlling influence. He called Gilbert J. Ryan, sub-editor of the paper, who said the aricle in question first app eared in "Sydney Truth," and then in "Brisbane Truth." Mr Rosa was then sub- ) editor of "New Zealand Truth," and witness told him that such an article should not be published in "New Zsaland Truth." However,-be decided to publish it, although witness hard been given to understand that it would not be published. Mr Rosa had been given complete editorial control of the paper, and warned against publishing obscene matter.

The editor had the first say. Mr Kosa wa3 then the editor. To Mr Myers: The distribution of the paper wa.'i in the hands of a staff of publishers. Coburn was ia charge of the business. Rosa, he understood, was in Sydnev. He could not say whether he was still in the service of "Truth." There had been several prosecutions against the paper, and the man in charge had been dismissed. Mr Wilford having made an appeal to the court for leniency, on account of prisoner's physical condition, His Honor passed sentence. He had very carefully attended, he said, to the observations of prisoner's counsel, and the affidavits which had been read. He accepted in the main the statements which had been m*»de in those affidavits, but he would not be doing his duty if he were to refrain from sentencing prisoner to some term of imprisonment. He wished to say, however, that in making the term of imprisonment a short one, he was taking into consideration what prisoner's counsel had urged, and, what he thought was very probable, that the two months which had elapsed since the trial had resulted in almost a worse punishment to prisoner than if he had spent that period in prison. He could quite understand that a man of respectable character, such as prisoner was, would suffer from the anxiety of that period more than if the matter was at an end. The medical evidence, however, did not, to his mind, go beyond the statement that prisoner's complaint might be aggravated by im prisonment. The actual period, however, for which prisoner would be imprsioned would be so short that he had no reason to fear that prisoner ; would suffer seriously from the incarceration. "A man who ia imprisoned in this country," said his Honor, "is humanely treated, and you will receive in prison as good treatment as if you were in the hospital. 1 am , quite satisfied of that. Moreover, j you will receive medics! attention, and if there is any fsar that serious j ultimate injury will be clone to your health, a recommendation for your; release will be made to the Govern- ; ment at once. There is no risk of.-. your suffering ultimate permanent I - • i injury. ! "What I have to consider in this case, though I certainly have to consider it as your case, is that it i 3 a case in which the piolic ari interested. You may be the victim of others who were making money nut of this kind of thing, I acvpc the statement that you had no personal advantage

from it, and that you were the tool of others Jn the matter. But you have allowed yourself to be the tool of others; you accepted this position and ycu continued in this position; you admitted that you knew there had been previous prosecutions, and you must have known that the paper in the past pulished risky matter. It is true you did not know that this matter was in that particular paper, but you knew, what the witness you have called to day knew, that in two States ot Australia matter was published that could not be published "here. Ths law in those States may be more lax than are our laws. Our laws are instituted in the interests of the young people, the children of the working people, who have not the same v ' means of supervision over what is picked up in the streets as those who can tell off servants to look after their children. You must have known that; you must have known the character uf the general ! kind of matter that was appearing ' in the paper, and you must have I known— —" i

.At this stage prisoner collapsed in the dock, and had to be carried below. After prisoner had been carried down to the cells Mr Wilford said: II would ask your Honor to deal with the matter with as little delay as possible. His Honor: I will do so. Mr Wilford: Could you not. pass the sentence now? His Honor: I must do so when he is present, and when he can understand me. Itl Jesj than five minutes prisoner retu'rntd to the dock. I His Honor: As I was pointing out, you had a general knowledge of the matter which appeared in the paper.-You admitted that in your evidence. No doubt your position is a difficult one. The man who takes such a position runs the risk of being held liable. The man who held the position of publisher was merely a subordinate of yours, I have no doubt that the real offenders in the present case are not here, and whether they will be found in New Zealand at a later day or not I cannot say. I m'udt, however inflict some punishment which will not merely punish you, but which will indicate that offences of this, kind will ne dealt with severely." His Honor added that in any future cases of the kind the offenders would be dealt with very severely. "As to the matter that was complained of in this case," his Honor continued, "I have never read or seen anything in any publication so purposelessly obscene as this. <ery often there is some kind of cause for publishing obscene matter—it is sometimes regarded as having some ulterior purpose—but in this case there was nothing of the kind. It wa3 obscenity pure and simple." After alluding to the evidence given by Mr Ryan, his Honor, said he intended to impose a very, light sentence. He intended to regard the two months which had passed since the date of the conviction as part of the sentence, not merely because the law treated it as such, but be-> cause his Honor appreciated the fact that prisoner had suffered during tht time. "You will be sentenced." his Honor concluded, "to four months' imprisonment, without hard labour, in appreciation of your character. To that sentence I add <n fine of £SO. t shall make a recommendation to* have you medically examined as to your health." '