2088
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
No. 81

No. 528–534
Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal

IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and in the matter of an application by the Comptroller of Customs for decisions in respect of the following books: Glory by Russ Emery, Maiden Voyage by James Harvey, Nephew of Nippon, Vol. 1, by Peter Nagai, What The Teacher Taught by Charles Morton, A Party for Laura Lee by L. L. H., Hot Set by F. D. Phillips, The Ballad of Bubblegum Park by Danny, all published by Venice Publishing Corporation, California.

There was no appearance of the applicant. Mr Campbell appeared on behalf of the importer. No submissions were made.

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL

IN the first four of these novels incidents of sexual depravity and exploitation abound. In the other three the incidents are neither as numerous nor as extreme but the treatment of the sexual behaviour of the characters has a similar persistent appeal to prurient excitement.

All seven books deal with sex in a gross way and they have nothing else to offer.

The Tribunal classifies these books as indecent.

R. S. V. SIMPSON, Chairman.

27 September 1972.

No. 535
Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal

IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and in the matter of an application by the Comptroller of Customs for a decision in respect of the book Only a Boy, anonymous, published by Collectors Publications, California.

There was no appearance of the applicant nor of the publisher’s representative in New Zealand. Accordingly no submissions were made.

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL

THIS is a cheaply produced, poorly printed, slim paperback of under 60 pages containing firstly, an anonymous account of a young boy’s seduction by a woman over twice his age, and secondly, a short work, in question and answer form, called The Whores Catechism by one Mary Wilson. Neither work has any literary or artistic merit and while, particularly in the case of the second work, their corrupting influence may be small, both works deal with matters of sex in a manner that is injurious to the public good.

The Tribunal classifies this book as indecent.

R. S. V. SIMPSON, Chairman.

27 September 1972.

No. 536
Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal

IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and in the matter of an application by the Comptroller of Customs for a decision in respect of the book The Teenagers by Jean Dor, published by Montemartre Press, Los Angeles.

There was no appearance of the applicant nor of the publisher’s representative in New Zealand. A written submission was made by the importer.

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL

THIS paperback contains translations of two French pseudo-autobiographies—the one of an adolescent boy, the other of an adolescent girl. They have no literary merit and their clear purpose is to provide flimsy vehicles for recounting sexual episodes of gross indecency.

The Tribunal classifies this book as indecent.

R. S. V. SIMPSON, Chairman.

27 September 1972.

No. 537
Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal

IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and in the matter of an application by the Comptroller of Customs for a decision in respect of the book The Rakehell Patriot by Arthur Yuill, published by Bilife Publications Incorporated, Delaware.

There was no appearance of the applicant nor of the publisher’s representative in New Zealand. Accordingly no submissions were made.

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL

THIS is stated to be an edition in the modern version by Bruce Lord of a novel by Arthur Yuill privately printed in England in 1789 or 1790. As an introduction the book contains an account by Havelock Ellis written in 1935 of the difficulties he encountered in arranging publication of his well-known book Man and Woman. This has no relevance to the story but is apparently intended to give credence and acceptability to the purposes of the publishers in resurrecting the book. The publishers claim that the book has interest and merit as an authentic account of life in an earlier period.

The novel relates the sexual exploits and aberrations of an English earl in the time of the American Revolution. The historical setting is simply a vehicle for the presentation of depraved sexual practices as exciting aristocratic living. The fact that the book has been translated into modern English (to quote the publishers) robs it of any claim to scholarly interest as a period work.

The Tribunal classifies this book as indecent.

R. S. V. SIMPSON, Chairman.

27 September 1972.

No. 538
Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal

IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and in the matter of an application by the Secretary for Justice for a decision in respect of the book The Intimates by Ricki Francis, published by Scripts Publications, Australia.

Mr Moody appeared on behalf of the applicant. There was no appearance of the publisher’s representative in New Zealand. No submissions were made.

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL

THE author of this paperback, Ricki Francis, has written a number of books, the characters in which inhabit a grubby world of vice, viciousness, and depravity. None of the individuals portrayed in The Intimates is pleasant or wholesome. Nevertheless, the characters are not drawn without some skill and understanding, and while sexual urges provide the motivation behind the action of the story, with homosexuality a prime interest, there is not the gross obsession with physical detail which typifies spurious portrayals of this kind of life. The book is not one which would tend to corrupt and would be unlikely to interest most young readers.

The dominant effect of the book as a whole is a feeling of revulsion against the scenes depicted and of compassion for the actors in them.

The Tribunal classifies this book as not indecent.

R. S. V. SIMPSON, Chairman.

27 September 1972.

No. 539
Decision of the Indecent Publications Tribunal

IN the matter of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and in the matter of an application by the Comptroller of Customs for a decision in respect of the book Business As Usual by Soliman Peters, published by Collectors Publications, California.

There was no appearance of the applicant nor of the publisher’s representative in New Zealand. Accordingly no submissions were made.

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL

THIS novel, described in the foreword as a “classic French work of erotic realism”, has no redeeming features to commend it. It is a crude and debasing account of the sexual exploits of a young French businessman and a few people in his circle. The characters are brought into the story for one purpose only—as vehicles for prurient obsessions—and the book is degrading.

The Tribunal classifies this book as indecent.

R. S. V. SIMPSON, Chairman.

27 September 1972.