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STREET POSTERS

CENSORSHIP IN SYDNEY

THE LORD MAYOR ON PUBLIC MORALS

"Whilo I ocoupy this chair tho standard of decency will be maintained," said tho Lord Mayor (Alderman R. 1). Meagher), in referring the other day, to a censorship over posters ■n'hich ko lias' decided to institute.

This action has been taken in consequence of two letters received by the Lord Mayor this week. The first, signed by Archbishop Wright, and the heads of tho Presbyterian, Metlhodist, and Baptist Churches, the Church. of Christ, Rabbi Cohen, and Colonel Birkenshaw, of the Salvation Army, drew attention to the character of certain posters upon the hoardings in Sydney. For example, one concerning a play called "Twin Bods." "Wo consider," tho letter continued, "that these posters are demoralising in their influence, especially upon the younger members of the community, and express the hope that you may see your way to cause thom to bo suppressed, and to ensure stricter supervision over hoardings." The otiher letter was from Mr. C. Lawler, general secretary of the Catholic Federation of New South Wales, and 6tated that the. writer had pleasure, at the request of Archbishop Kelly, in subscribing, on behalf of the Catholics in the community, to tfiie sentiments expressed in the letter forwarded by representatives of ot'hcr churches in Sydney, and-trusted that the Lord Mayor would he able to meet the demand for stricter supervision 'over hoaixlings." The Lord Mayor stated that ho was in ontiro sympathy with the sentiments exprossed on this subject by the heads of the various churches. As civic head he desired to sail between the Scylla of Puritanism and the Charybdis of libertinism. He had not siad an opportunity of seeing the production to which reference had been made, but understood from those who had that the theme, plot, and denouement were of a harmless character, and that there was nothing of a vitiated atmosphere of immorality present, the titlo being the only part that contained suggestion. "However," continued the Lord Mayor, "as the City Council has control of the licensing of hoardings, and we are the custodians, so to speak, of common decency, I do not think that tho public's susceptibilities should be of-, fended by anything that pertains to the baser side. 1 recognise that the preservation of the purity of our domestic life is the very basis of our civilisation, and that we must be careful to sod that it is not undermined. No matter what the wealth of a country is, that which is more precious than anything else is the home life and character of its people, and that must be guarded. I have therefore given instructions, as tho City Council controls the hoardings, that for tho future all licensees and contractors who use the hoardings shall first of all submit their pictorial posters to the town clerk (Mr. Nesbitt), and when there is any doubt in his mind as to whether a particular poster should be prohibited, I will decide. We are going to have a standard of decency, and permit nothing offensive to good taste. Ordinarily, such matters as these are, I know, referred to the committee, but the committee does not meet for a week, and I have deemed the matter important enough to take immediate action on anticipation of the committee's confirmation." ■

"Host opportunely Mr. Hugh Ward called upon mo this morning to pay his respects, and I mentioned the fact that [ had received these communications. Mr. Ward assured hie of the innocuous character of the production. He said that the American novel from which it was taken was regarded as harmless, and that the posters had been exhibited in every American city, including Boslon, which contains the most supersensitive portion of the population, and that no objection had been taken anywhere. As the J. C. Williamson firm had built up its reputation on the purveying of clean amusement, Mr. Ward said he did not desire, in view of the expression of opinion from the representatives of the churches, to attempt to argue the matter, but would have, the posters covered by announcements concerning other plays, and so remove the cause of complaint. For the future, then, wo shall bare a poster censorship, and Mr. Nesbitt will bo the censor."

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19160205.2.105

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 14

Word count
Tapeke kupu
709

STREET POSTERS Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 14

STREET POSTERS Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 14

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