THE LICENSE OF WRITERS.
“Many writers seem to think.”
writes .Mr .James Douglas in the ‘•Sunday Express.'’ That the Republic of Letters is an Alsatia in which every author is a law unto himself. They quote Milton' ‘Aroopagitioa,’ as if Miltons’s noble plea lor liberty were a plea for unrestricted licence and licentiousness. Some literati seem to think that literature should be endowed with selfdetermination. 'I hoy contend that society has no right to protect itself aganst literary poison. 'I hey claim to be the sole arbiters of decency and morality. We do not allow Ryles the Butcher to decide whether his beef is fit for human consumption. M h.v should we allow Byles the Writer and his brethren to decide whether his books are fit for human reading? Me control the sale of poisonous drugs. \V«claim the rigid to control the sale of poisonous books. There are many hooks io-wlay selling like hot cakes which would not survive a Bow Street oide.il. They are obscene in every sense of the word.”
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Hokitika Guardian, 31 January 1929, Page 1
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172THE LICENSE OF WRITERS. Hokitika Guardian, 31 January 1929, Page 1
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