21 NOVEMBER
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
2121
nature of the work itself affects this general principle. There
is in this autobiography nothing but unrelied obsession with
sex and sexual incidents described in full and repetitive
detail. The picture which it presents of contemporary scenes
and people is not comparable with that in “Frank Harris”,
and there is no pretence of a story and characterisation
as in “Fanny Hill”. What documentary value “Walter” may
have for the general reader is brought out by the Kronhausen's
commentary in the edition already passed for adult readers.
We judge this edition to be indecent except in the hands of
those persons over 18 years of age whose professional or
academic studies properly extend into the field covered by
this book.
L. G. H. SINCLAIR, Chairman.
11 November 1968.
Decisions of the Indecent Publications Tribunal
No. 120-130
IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963 and in
the matter of an application by Seven Seas Publishing
Proprietary Ltd., of Wellington, bookseller and publishers,
for decisions in respect of the following books:
The Young Temptresses.
Small Town Sex Today.
Hollywood's Sexual Underground.
Oriental Love in Action.
Twilight Women around the World.
Lesbian Love Old and New.
Secret Techniques of Erotic Delight.
Venus in Furs together with The Black Czarina.
The Cruel and the Meek.
Woman and the Sea.
Nudist A.B.C.
DECISIONS OF THE TRIBUNAL
THE following books were submitted to the Tribunal by leave
of the Minister of Justice. Mr Downey appeared as Counsel
for the applicant, Seven Seas Publishing Proprietary Ltd., of
Wellington, and made submissions.
The Young Temptresses, by Steve Harding.
Small Town Sex Today, by Victor J. Banis.
Hollywood's Sexual Underground, by Roger Jordan. Medco
Books, Los Angeles. Paperbacks at NZ$3.15.
All three books deal with sex in a manner we deem to
be injurious to the public good. They display no honest purpose in that all, while purporting to be serious studies of
social phenomena, are in fact collections of doubtful case
histories salaciously over-written and with only minimal
“psychological comment”. They have no compensating merit,
either as literature or as a contribution to knowledge. They
offer “probing detail, blistering pages”; the third one listed
above provides “actual photographs”, and is complete with
map and “annotated guidebook to where the action is”; all
of which is sufficient indication that these publications are
designed as a guide and stimulus to the exploitation of the
practices, perverse as well as normal, dwelt on in the text.
We judge all three to be indecent.
Oriental Love in Action, by Giovanni Comisso, illustrated by
Mahlon Blaine; Luxor Press, London. Paperback at 9s. 6d.
This is a translation of the record of a journey through the
East undertaken by a correspondent of the Milan Corriere
Della Sera, who was awarded the Italian literary prize Premio
Bagutta for an earlier work. It is a readable tale of average
merit and does not really deserve the cover by which the
publisher seeks to promote sales. We decide that it is not
indecent.
Twilight Women around the World, by R. Leighton Hasselrodt,
M.A., Luxor Press, London. Paperback at 9s. 6d.
This is a factual account of lesbian activity, past and present,
in some 20 countries. It seems a serious study, though we
have no means of judging how accurate its facts and figures
are. Its final sentence claims: “It is to help all people understand the problem of female homosexuality so that a solution
to it may eventually be found that this report was compiled
and is being presented to the public”. In our opinion, this
intention is genuine. The honesty of the publisher’s intention,
however, is left in doubt by the lurid nature of a cover
which misrepresents the tone of the book. To allow unrestricted display of the book in these circumstances would
be to encourage a dubious commercial motive from which
the young, at least, should be protected. We therefore classify
the book as indecent in the hands of persons under 18 years
of age.
Lesbian Love Old and New, by Dr Walter Braun; Luxor Press,
London. Paperback at 9s. 6.
Walter Braun, M.D., emeritus professor of Breslau University, deals with lesbianism as it occurs in history, art, and
literature and in ordinary life today. The subject is treated
in a scholarly and objective fashion (attested by careful
chapter notes, bibliographies, and index) calculated rather to
increase understanding than to pander to prurience. The outside appearance of this book does not indicate its real nature
and is not suitable for general display. We therefore judge
it to be indecent in the hands of persons under 18 years of
age.
Secret Techniques of Erotic Delight, by Dr Vyvyan Howarth;
Luxor Press, London. Paperback at 9s. 6d.
The cover of this book does disservice to its content: the
title is falsely suggestive (and perhaps the cover drawing too);
the back-cover review begins in a misleading tone; the term
“illustrated” refers merely to four photographs of sculptures
by Artists such as Auguste Rodin. The book is written by
a sociologist and consultant sexologist who, from wide
experience of case histories in clinics in various countries,
discusses with sanity, sympathy, and some humour the
problems and possibilities of sexual love. There is no doubt
that the information and counsel offered would be of help
to many persons, in middle age as well as in youth, who wish
to achieve a satisfying sex relationship. We judge the book
to be not indecent.
Venus in Furs together with The Black Czarina, by Leopold
Sacher-Masoch, translated by H. J. Stenning.
The Cruel and the Meek, by Dr Walter Braun. Luxor Press,
London. UK9s. 6d.
The publishers claim that Venus in Furs is translated directly
from the first German edition; the derivation of the text of
The Black Czarina is not shown. The cover is highly coloured
and claims that Venus in Furs is a famous classic of the
relationship between sex and cruelty; although it lacks literary
merit it is, indeed, well known. It contains a useful biographical note, largely relating the life of the author to the
perversity he illustrates in his books.
The same subject and its obverse, sadism, is dealt with
in non-fictional form by Dr. Walter Braun in The Cruel and the
Meek. The content here is responsibly presented, but again
the cover illustration is clearly designed to promote sales on
the least respectable grounds.
Since it appears to be established in psychiatric teaching
that the seeds of both sadism and masochism exist in all
normal people, it is in the public interest that people should
be allowed the opportunity of confronting and understanding
these tendencies. The Cruel and the Meek promotes such
understanding. The fictional presentation of a history of
masochism which Venus in Furs provides is not, we consider,
objectionable in adult hands, and the relatively trifling story
The Black Czarina is no more so. We doubt, however, that
any good purpose would be served by making these expositions
of extreme and unusual conduct available to younger persons,
and, accordingly, we classify this edition of these two works,
and The Cruel and the Meek, as indecent in the hands of
persons under the age of 18 years.
Woman and the Sea, by Richard Tregaskis; Elysium Inc., Los
Angeles. NZ$7.45.
This is a collection of unexceptionable poems and capable
photographs, the latter with a good deal of contrivance and
unnatural emphasis. In terms of our decision published in the
New Zealand Gazette of 25 July 1968, which dealt with nudist
magazines, we classify this collection in the second category;
that is to say, indecent in the hands of persons under 18 years
of age.
Nudist A.B.C., published by Elysium Inc., Los Angeles. NZ$3.
This is a collection of photographs portraying indoor and
outdoor activities of nude males and females, some including
children, to portray family life. It is because a few of these
photographs are posed so as to draw undue attention to the
genitalia that we consider them to be unsuitable for unrestricted distribution and display. For this reason we place
the publication in the second category mentioned in our
decision published in the New Zealand Gazette of 25 July
1968, and decide that it is indecent in the hands of persons
under 18 years of age.
L. G. H. SINCLAIR, Chairman.
11 November 1968.
Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal
No. 131
IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963 and in
the matter of an application to the Tribunal for a decision
in respect of the magazines Squire—Vol. 3, No. 12, October
1967, A40c; Vol. 4, No. 2, A50c; and Vol. 4, No. 3, A50c.
DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL
THESE magazines were submitted to the Tribunal for classification by the publishers, Gareth Powell Associates Pty. Ltd.,
of Sydney, New South Wales, with leave of the Minister of
Justice. Mr Heron, of Counsel, appeared for the publishers
and made submissions.
Mr Heron conceded that the articles in these magazines deal
with matters of sex almost to the exclusion of other topics,
but standing by themselves it is doubtful if these articles
could be said to be indecent in the sense that they are injurious
to the public good. It is rather upon the ground of the