Clean Books Problem in England

HE Home Secretary has sent the fol

Tlowing letter to Commander Ken

worthy, M.P., who asked him what powers there are for preventing the publication and sale of indecent books in England. "Dear Commander Kenworthy,-As regards books printed abroad, everything practicable is done to prevent the entry into this country of books which are clearly indecent. A great number of such books have been stopped, and this practice is being continued. Moreover, there is an international agreement for the interchange of information relating to dealers in indecency, and the Home Office in a number of cases, after stopping consignments of books or photographs sent to this country, has notified the appropriate authority in the country of origin, with the result that prosecutions have been instituted in foreign countries against individuals trafficking in indecency.

"As regards books printed in this country, there are, practically speaking, no powers of preventing publication in the sense of taking action before a book is offered to the public by way of sale or other wise, but as soon as an indecent book is exposed for sale or distribution, the law can be set in motion.

"It is, in my opinion, a defect in the law that before the police can obtain a warrant under the Obscene Publications Act, 1857, to search premises where indecent books, pictures, etc., are known or suspected to be, they have to wait till an offence has been committed by the publication or sale of indecent articles as from the premises in question. This is one of the defects which I hoped to remedy by the clause relating to search warrants in the Criminal Justice Bill of last Session, but the clause had to be withdrawn owing to the opposition aroused, mainly because it was thought to be aimed at political offences.

"Apart, however, from this defect, the law is, generally speaking, effective, and so far as concerns all the really pornographic stuff, the Home Office carries on an unobtrusive but very active and successful campaign for its suppression. When, however, we come to consider works which do not belong to the category of gross and obvious obscenities, many problems arise.

There is a large number of borderline cases in which it was extremely difficult to decide whether a prosecution on a charge of

indecency would be likely to be successful

and would be advisable. Such questions as the following have to be considered. Is the book of such a character that general and indiscriminate distribution would constitute an offence whilst distribution in particular directions or to a special class of the community would not? Is the book a classic or a real literary production illustrative of the times in which it was written or with which it deals, altho passages relevant to the subject matter are undoubtedly indecent? Is the book ultimately wholesome and moral, tho to arrive at such a conclusion the reader has to wade thru undesirable matter, and is it therefore expedient or inexpedient to take any action?

"Moreover, one has to bear in mind the possibility that the jury may fail to agree and that a trial will give the book a great advertisement.

"Another difficulty is that the standard of judgment in these matters varies. Different people hold, quite honestly, widely different views as regards certain types of books, and it is, generally speaking, undesirable to attempt to enforce by legal proceedings a higher standard than the general body of public opinion approves.

"I am afraid that today the standard of public opinion is not high, and I am sure there is room for a great deal of work in education and improving the public judgment. While I shall certainly not be remiss in invoking the law in appropriate cases, I cannot help feeling that legal action will not in itself provide the remedy unless at the same time more is done by right-thinking people to mobilize public opinion in a general attempt to raise the standard of taste and judgment."

Whose Birthday Today? Send a Book

T

HE Year-Round Bookselling office has done timely work in sending to the trade two new posters for general display, one headed "Whose Birthday Today? Send a Book," the other "Send a Book to that friend who is ill." A general increase in the appreciation of the place of books as gifts will depend on a cooperative effort to bring this point home to the public, and booksellers need to emphasize and reiterate this in their advertising, in their sales talk and in their personal conversation. People are delighted to receive books, but there is a sort of needless fear among givers that the selection of books for giving is difficult. There is nothing easier to select than a book, as the range is so wide and the intimate touch to the present is so easy to give. What is needed is to get people, who have never done so before, to begin to give books, and their satisfaction will come from the kind of "thank you" letters they receive.

Subsidizing Authors

ACCORDING to the provisions of the

Milton Fund, established by William F. Milton, '58, two years ago, Harvard University announced last week the allotment of $60,000 for special research work by twenty-eight members of the Harvard Faculty. It is interesting to notice among these grants, several to defray the expenses of preparing manuscripts: Charles H. Haskins Guerney, professor of History and Political Science, for the preparation of a book entitled "Studies in the History of Mediaeval Culture"; John L. Lewes, Professor of English, for a more thoro study and preparation for publication of a note

book kept by Samuel T. Coleridge during the years of his highest literary activity; Samuel E. Morison, Professor of History, for two years, to defray various expenses connected with the preparation of a continuous history of Harvard from its foundation to its present time. The applicant has been appointed historian of the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of Harvard and proposes to prepare a history of about four volumes to be completed by 1936.

American Books in Paris

BURTON STEVENSON, director of

the American Library in Paris, writes that its exhibit of new American publications was opened on March 4th and has already attracted a great deal of interest and many visitors. Under the plan that Mr. Stevenson has developed, American publishers are sending to the American Library in Paris at 10 Rue de l'Elysee samples of such new publications as have particular value for European readers, books about American affairs, books representing American literature, etc. These books are kept

in a special room as they arrive for one

month before being transferred to the collection of the library, where they are available for students of all kinds and for people from all over Europe who have need to get in touch with the current American output.

Do You Charleston?

The Hotel Statler is redecorating the roof garden and opening it a week earlier than usual so that the American Booksellers Association may have it for the convention-May 10-13-at St. Louis, Missouri. A. B. A.

Change in Price

ADELPHI COMPANY

Pen and Ink, by Guy Pocock, to be published at $2.00 instead of $1.50.

Obituary

CHARLES B. STEELE

CHARLES B. STEELE, traveler for A. L. Burt Co. and James Pott & Co., died at Winter Park, Fla., on February 23rd. Mr. Steele was born January 18th, 1860, and at a very young age started his business career traveling for a Cincinnati hardware firm. In 1893, Mr. Steele was attracted to books and represented Burt and Pott in the South and Southwest and until he passed away Mr. Steele retained this same territory. In the meantime Mr. Steele took over the Pacific Coast traveling for a period of about twenty years. For the past two years he was greatly troubled with eye cataracts which finally totally deprived him of his sight.

Communications

St. Louis Radio Talks

St. Louis Public Library,

Personal Notes

Mr. and Mrs. Alfred R. MCINTYRE sailed for France and England on Saturday, March 27th. Mr. McIntyre, the newly-elected president of Little, Brown & Co., will visit several European authors whose books are published by his house, including Lord Charnwood, A. S. M. Hutchinson, Jeffery Farnol and Sylvia Thompson.

WALTER LYNCH, who formerly traveled on the Coast for Small, Maynard & Co., and is now with the Century Company, has composed music for Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees," which has been broadcast from several stations in cities which he visits.

CEDRIC E. SMITH, associated with Edwin Valentine Mitchell, bookseller and publisher of Hartford, Conn., sails April first for London to buy books for Mr. Mitchell. He will also visit Paris and Vienna. Mr. Smith joined the bookshop last year when it was incorporated. He was formerly with McClure's Magazine, and for the past few years has been running sheep and wrangling dudes in

Editor, Publishers' Weekly:

In your broadcasting book news on page 1061 of the Publishers' Weekly for March 20, you do not mention the fact that the St. Louis Public Library has been conducting a weekly book talk thru Station WSBF during the winter. Members of the staff take turns in giving the talks. ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK.

A Correction

14 West 40th Street,

New York City

March 27th, 1926.

Editor, Publishers Weekly:

I wish to thank you for the review of the "Wildflowers" in your issue of the 27th.

Would it be possible for you to correct two errors? The first paragraph should read 500 plates instead of 400, and in the paragraph next to the last, the price should read $500 instead of $400.

WILLIAM EDWIN RUDGE, INC.
James R. Wells.

Business Notes

DENVER, COLO.-Mrs. N. G. Johnson has given up her business recently estaðlished at 2033 East 13th Ave.

FORT MYERS, FLA.-Mrs. Hester F. Tunic has opened Hester's Book Shop.

NEW YORK CITY.-Mail sent to Sol Joffe at 941 Westchester Ave. has been returned marked, "Moved, Left no address."

Frances Midner, owner of "Books-At the Sign of the Unicorn," 32 West 8th Street, has sold her store to Florence Harvey.

ST. LOUIS, Mo.-Margaret Winston will open the Caravan Bookshop this month at 304 North Euclid Ave.

TRENTON, N. J.-The Fannie Gerson Bookshop formerly located at Stacy-Trent Hotel has been moved to 31 West State Street.

romantic adventure, involving a damsel in distress, an autocratic father and a number of detectives. Carman, Mrs. Dorothy Walworth

The pride of the town. 365p. D c. N. Y., Harper

Main Street rises up to crush a newly married couple, deeply interested in poetry and music. Cathcart, Countess of

The woman tempted. 307p. D [c. '26] N. Y., Macaulay $2

The story of a social rebel, published some years ago in England and appearing in this country in the wake of publicity attending its author's recent admittance to the United States.

various p. D (Copy75 c.

The dear pretender. right fiction) '26 N. Y., Burt Combe, G. A.

A Tibetan on Tibet. 232p. (bibl.) front. map O '26 N. Y., Appleton $3.50 Being the travels and observations of Mr. Paul Sherap of Tachienlu, with an introductory chapter on Buddhism and a concluding chapter on the devil dance.

Concerning parents; a symposium on present

day parenthood. 294p. D (New Republic's dollar b'ks) c. N. Y., New Republic pap. $1 Including articles by well-known teachers, doctors and psychologists.

apply

Crawford, William H.

The journal of William H. Crawford; ed. by Daniel Chauncey Knowlton. 64p. (bibl. footnotes) Ŏ (Smith College studies in hist.; v. 11, no. 1) 25 Northamp ton, Mass., Smith College pap. apply