SALE PROHIBITED.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 December 1915, Page 3

SALE PROHIBITED.

NAVAL PUBLICATIONS BANNED. NEW REGULATION ISSUED BY DEFENCE AUTHORITIES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, Des. 1. The sale within New Zealand of certain publications dealing with the world's navies is prohibited by a regulation gazetted to-day under the War Regulations Act, 1914. The Minister for Defence lias power under that Act to prohibit the sale of any books or other publications" which lie deems injurious to the public interest in respect of the present war." The volumes willdi have been placed under* the ban are ''Fleets lof the World'' (published by Evelyn Nash), "The Naval Pocket-Book" (published by Thacker and Co), and "Fighting Ships," "The World's Warships," "Warships at a Glance," and "The Naval Recognition Book, 1 ' four volumes edited by Mr. F. T. Jane, and published by Sampson, Low, Marston and Company. AH the books are published in London. During the last week or two some volumes that come under the new regulation hove, been sold locally and the Defence authorities have been taking steps to trace them, apparently with the object of removing from them certain pages containing information regarding some of the fighting ships engaged in the present war. The regulation is understood to have originated with the Imperial Government, but the curious thing about it is that the volumes were published in London with the consent of the Admiralty. Tlicy contain none of the detailed information regarding British ships that used to be issued broadcast by all the naval publications prior to the outbreak of the war and it is difficult for a layman to see what harm their general circulation could do. Not one of the volumes mentioned in the schedule to the regulations contains any information that is not already on record in every Admiralty office in the world—to say nothing of most of the newspaper offices and the libraries of private people who happen to take an interest in naval matters.

An edition of "The Naval PocketBook" published only a month or two before the outbreak of the war contains. for example, details of the five British battleships of the Queen Elizabeth cla=s, all laid down in 1912-13 and all now in commission, according to a eabloftrnm published the other day. It describes also a later group of battleships, the five Royal Sovereigns, laid down in l!)l"-]-i, and mentions the 1014-15 ships. That volume was distributed all over the world, and canii"* have failed to reach the hands of l l n Empire's present enemies, who probahl' did not need the information it con tained. But. New Zealanders, at any rate, arc not to h,ave these particulars.