PUBLIC MORALS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1387, 13 March 1912, Page 3

PUBLIC MORALS.

IMPORTANT PROPOSALS. DEPUTATION TO WHITISH HOME SECHETAKY. The important tlcputiitiou whioli waited upon the Homo Secretary oil January 23 to call further attention to (lie question of demoralising literature possesses significance from more than one point of view (savs the ••Westminster Gazette"). It not only retleets the inereasiiis volume of opinion which throughout (he country is opposing itself to unwholesome tendencies in certain of o\A modern publications; it also registers a now stage in the progress of that reformatinu <U nuiuners for which so many of our best citizens aro now earnestly looking. i<i justify such a statement wo need only appeal to the personnel of the deputation itself. Those who are quick to discern tlio signs of the times will not have failed to observe that its members consisted chielly, if not exclusively, of gentlemen who are themselves responsible for the production and distribution of books and papers; that included in their number were some of tho most prominent leaders anion'' modern British publishers and journalists; and that not a few who share with them in this distinction, though prevented by other engagements from joining in the. actual depuration, deliberately identified themselves with the aim and standpoint that were adopted. Wo are not unfamiliar with earlier attempts to exert special pressuro upon resjionsiblo officials vnh respect to this difficult and important problem. What distinguishes the present effort from most, if not all, of its'predecessors is the degree to which.it has been inspired from within the publishing world itself. It is in this aspect of the proceedings that their chief significance must be traced—a fact which will probably not be overlooked either by the Home Secretary himself or by tho country at large. _ The unique character of th.e deputation naturally invests with peculiar interest the particular proposals which were advanced, and this interest is certainly not diminished by the acknowledgment, contained in Mr. Strachoy's sane and able speech of introduction, that in its movement towards reform the deputation had co-operated with tho National Council of Public Morals. With Archdeacon Sinclair as its chairman of committee, Dr. F. B. Meyer as its vicechairman, and, Rev. James Marchant as invaluable director and secretary, this society, comprising ninny of tho most distinguished educationists, physicians, social reformers, and ministers of religion in the country, has gradually won a place for itself among the forces that work for tho nation's moral regeneration. In explaining the aims with which he and his colleagues approached the Home Secretary, the editor of the "Spectator" laid stress upon the following points:—(l) It is highly desirable that a Bill should bo introduced into Parliament in accordance with the recommendations of the Joint Select Committee whose report appeared in July, 1008.- The main recommendation of that committee was tliat the word "indecent." should be used in .conjunction with the word "obscene" as it stands in the code to-day. This provision would enable magistrates to deal with publications which, though not within the technical definition of "obscene," 'are yet unmistakably demoralising in their tendency. Books of literary merit, ' however, and genuine works of art should be safeguarded by a special clause inserted in the BHI for that purpose, (i) Even under the present Act much greater security might be guaranteed to tho public if the police authorities were more active in instituting prosecutions. It is an error to suppose tljat an unsuccessful prosecution is of necessity harmful to the cause they are promoting. To increase the fear of prosecution iu the minds of dealers in obscrno; works would in itself prove a useful deterrent. (3) Newspapers-/ magazines, ''and other periodicals which offend in this matter should be so brought within the reach of the law that, though each par.ticuhir'number inight keen within the technical limit of safety, they inight be proceeded against as public nuisances whenever, .considered as institutions, they were found to be exerting a demoralising influence. There need ho no difficulty in distinguishing between cases of this typo and those of high-class papers which, for crusade purposes, published on occasion details of some serious evil whose exposure was demanded in the public interest. (-1) Some advantage might accrue if the police were enabled to warn the issuers and distributors of indecent and obI scene literature that proceedings would be instituted against them unless they desisfed from their practice. Complaints for this purpose might be furnished by individuals or societies and-referred for . judgment to a competent advisor. (5) i Where action is definitely taken, it j should ho not only against the distribuj tor, who is often innocent, but also I against the publisher and tho author, 1 neither of whom can he ignorant of the true nature of the production. (G) Fin- ■ ally, if tho law as it stands at present is regarded as adequately strong, an Act clarifying the law and reducing it to ono simple' enactment would prove of the greatest possible service. It is not easy to see how proposals so moderate and so reasonable can fail to ■secure the approval of right-thinking men and women. Of the need for greater stringency there can be no doubt. "Our youth of both «exes." as the recent manifesto of the Council of Public Morals truly declared, "is in danger of being corrupted by tho circulation nf pernicious literature for which no defence can bo offered—a circulation which has to-day reached an extent, and develoned a subtle sußscstiveness without parallel in the past. This is.an evil that can lie controlled, and so long as wo knowingly permit it tn continue the serious consequences lie at our dnor." These arc weighty and deliberate words, written with knowledge and with a sen=e of resiponsibiiltv. We cmnmcid them to the i earnest thought of the nation.