HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1949-12-14, Page 2Censorship Made
These Books Sell
"I would sooner gave my daugh-
ter a bottle of prussic acid than
allow her to read this book!"
These words were written by the
editor of one of diritaiu's widely
read Sunday newspapers 20 years
ago about a book he had read and
of which he disapproved.
"Thi, degrading novel, dealing as
it does with a subject that decent
people do Mot discuss, should be
banned," wrote another self-ap-
pointed guardian of public morals.
It is incredible that this writer of
so many distinguished novels
should have descended so low. His
book is a disgrace to English
letters."
Each of the above damning comm
meats about different • books was
written by distinguished mien of
wide education and considerable
experience. Alt three are very much
nun of the world and far frau[ he•
ing sheltered, over -sensitive prudes.
Their violent attacks on the books,
which 1 shall not name, could not
have been the outcome of their
personal revulsion to what they
read since they -know as much
about the "facts of life" as the
authors• they castigated, writes
Thomas Fairley, in "Answer's."
Boosted the Sales!
When these critics expressed
themselves so fiercely, the main ef-
fect of their denunciations was to
send hundreds, if not thousands, of
people to the bookshops and
libraries in search of rhe book they
were told not to read. In each case.
the hooks in question, which alight
otherwise have had little or no at-
tention, became best sellers.
One might have thought that in
these days of broadmindedness, at-
tacks on books that "ought to be
banned" would have stopped, But
no. A few weeks ago the editor
of a famous newspaper printed a
denunciation of a book that is, in
fact. so dull that it could only be of
interest to sociologists and other
scientists who have a professional
reason for taking an interest in the
subject. And the subject is what
soldiers talk about among then -
selves when they are separated for
an unreasonably long time from
their womenfolk.
What is the reason for asking
that any books be banned? The
only important reason is that the
book in question would cause pub-
lic harm. And how can a printed
book do harm? Only by putting
vicious ideas (moral, political, re-
ligious or otherwise) into minds
where no vicious thoughts- existed
before; or by encouraging people
of lax morality to feel that their
leanings are generally condoned or
even justified. The other reason is,
of course, curiosity, Have the writ-
ers of "sexy," "hot" or "blue" books
something to tell us that we don't
know? The answer is almost al-
ways "Yo." The truth is that they
seldom tell us anything interesting
and certainly nothing new,
Even Shakespeare "Erred"
Even Shakespeare has not been
exempt from attentiion on the
grounds of morals. At the end of
the eighteenth century, a physician
named Thomas Bowdler objected
to certain passages in the works
of the Bard so he produced his
own edition under the title of The
Family Shakespeare with alt refer-
ences to sex omitted, thereby add-
ing the word "bowdlerised" to the
English language,
As far as I know, no one has ever
had the temerity to bowdlerise the
Bible, but there was once a maiden
ens rwJi.ee V V Ie.e.e. CBF.
You'll auto,/ every otominute of
t
this handiwork! You'll also appre-
eiate the beauty these exquisite
linens bring to your house!
Rem arcing needlework! 1'attern
926 has transfer of 0 motifs shout
/x12 inches; crotchet ,In rstrn
Scud TWENTY-FIVE CENTS
in coins (stomps cannot be ac-
cepted) for this pattern to Box 1,
123 Eighteenth St., New Tanna,
Ont.
Print plainly PATTERN NUM-
BER, your NAME awl ADDRESS,
ie es se
aunt who sent ' her niece a Bible
as a birthday present and in the
accompanying letter, wrote: "I
have underlined in red all the por-
tions you are not to read."
You, too, have the power to ban
books—by becoming what is called
a common informer. The law in
England on the subject is curious.
It is forbidden to publish porno-
graphy, and publication in lam con-
sists of showing even one other
person a written work or a picture
or photograph which the magistrate
considers lewd and indecent;; but
no action is taken unless that per-
son complaints to the police. Such
a complainant is known as a com-
mon informer.
A pr'nted hook may ',ell 100.00Q
copies before any action will be
taken by the police unless a com-
mon informer makes a complaint.
But if you think of appointing
yourself a keeper of other people's
morals, you must be careful, for if
the magistrate considers your com-
plaint frivolous, you may be had
up yourself for wasting the time
of the police and the court as a
public nuisance!
The case of John Clelland is in-
teresting. A man .of good family,
his fattier u as a colonel in the reg-
ular army and he was educated at
Westminster. He served for a
while in the consular service and
later lie was in a merchant's office
in India. But Clelland was not sat-
isfied --he wanted to be a writer, so
he came back to London full of
confidence and ambition.
He wrote and wrote, but no one
was interested and soon he began
to suffer from the complaint which
rs almost an occupational disease
among writers—lie was very hard
up. In fact, he was starving.
Pension, Not Prison
He went round all the publish-
ers' offices offering his services as
a hack writer at almost any price.
and one day a none -to --scrupulous
publisher persuaded him to write a
pornographic work. Clelland hesi-
tated at first, but with visions of
being turned out of his lodgings
and of starving in the gutter. he at
last agreed.
His first novel was "The Mem-
oirs of Fanny Hill," and no one
could ever accuse him of not keep-
ing his bargain—it was porno-
graphic with a vengeance! There
was scarcely a page without some
incident calculated to scandalize
even the toughest reader. It should
have been printed on asbestos!
It sold like wildfire and in enor-
mous quantities. The printers and
the book sellers could not keep up
with the demand. It was denounced
in the daily press and in serious
weekly journals, but nothing hap-
pened to curb the sale of Fanny
Hill until, one day, a public-spirited
individual made a complaint and
the police took their usual action.
The printers were forbidden to
produce any more copies and the
book sellers were restrained from
selling the book pending the de-
cision of the court. Copies were
sent to the magistrates for their in•
spection and decision, and they de-
cided without much difficulty that
"The Memoirs of Fanny Hill" was
indeed an indecent work and a
danger to public morals. •
Clelland was summoned before
the Privy Council and, in view of
the questionable nature of his work,
the only defence he could put for-
ward was poverty,
Fortunately, the council was in a
good humor that morning. The
president, Earl Granville, spoke se-
verely to the author in the dock
about the seriousness of his of-
fence, but instead of sentencing him
to imprisonment, as one might ex-
pect, Lord Granville said that he
would recommend Clelland for a
pension from the state of 4100 per
annum on condition that he re-
frained from writing any more
books of a like nature!
'This happened in 1749—exactly
200 years ago. And 1 may add that
"The Memoirs of Fanny Hill"
have been out of print and unob-
tainable for at least a century.
.®W CAN 14?
By Anne Aehl•ese
Q. How can I sweetest the ground
around house plants?
.1. By working some coffee
grounds into the earth frequently.
Q. How can I cleats painted
woodwork effectively?
A. Boil two or three onions thor-
oughly, and the water in which they
are boiled will clean painted wood-
work very effectively, leaving the
surface clean and glossy. No soap
is required.
Q. How can I impart a brown
gloss to pies?
A. Beat an egg thoroughly with
a small amount of sugar. Then add
a little milk, beat well, and go over
the pies with a pastry brush when
ready to place in the oven,
Q. How can I make a cooling
application for scalds and burns?
A. It is claimed that scraped pot-
atoes snake a very cooling applica-
tion changing frequently.
Q. How can I avoid iritation of,
therskin caused by flannel garments?
A. Flannels will not irritate the
most sensitive skin if they are
pressed with a slightly `waren iron
on the wrong side after they are
thoroughly dry.
Separately
The sergeant was taking particu-
lars from a new recruit.
"Are you married?"
"Yes, sir."
"Any children?"
"Yes, sir. Five girls and funs
boys."
"Nine altogether."
"No, sir—one at a time!"
•
4593
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Pattern 4593, Jr. Miss sizes 11,
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This pattern, easy to use, sin•
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Send TWENTY-FIVE CENTS
•(25c) in coins (stamps cannot be
accepted) for this pattern. Print
plainly SIZE, NAME, ADDRESS,
STYLE NUMBER,
Send your order to Box 1, ' 123
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erg
Cg OSSW.` D
PUZZLE
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8 Bind of tea
10 Conetellatlon
11 Merry
16 Be defeated
ACROSS 1. Negative 20 Cover
55, Blase
particle 22 Hurried
3. 'Turn noble 28 Vice
4. Uneven 24 Binding
b. Galt 55
20 ltd tan poet
g Numeral 27 Bbl etre
T. Curves 30 Nuisance
1. PIMA
4, Mew Zealand
trees
5. Sack
12. Fish egg,.
13. Open
14. Meq the
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15, Dry genet
18. Record
19. knot 1. a
M. Floor
2s, Lasso
214.A'rin,ming
29. Stale
31, Indian
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22. Tehave
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38. Myself
0 Peat bottom'57 F uropeah
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42 Stainer
44, Tub
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64 Meadove
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moment,*
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40. Shelter
81, Devour
Answer elsewhere on this page.
Santa Had To Hurry—Christmas carne a little early for two-
year-old Tommy Pace because Tommy is suffering from the
deadly blood disease, leukemia, and may not live until De-
cember 25. Merchants and local townspeople joined in to make
it a real celebration fol' the plucky boy, seen admiring "Santa"
and his presents along with his brother, Jimmie.
✓-�
Gver>4oltr.e P Cle,t'ke
I an go,ug to ask you a queStiou,
It is this:
1)o you, as an Institute or club
worker, sufficiently appreciate
those hard-working members of
the various organizations to which
you belong? If some of those same
skilled workers lvlio now do so
much for your club should move
away, have you any idea who would
carry' on the work that, up to the
present, has been so willingly left
tc, their capable brains and fingers?
Could you do it?
Not only that, but does your
organization as a whole ever snake
a point of showing appreciation for
the capable help that has been giv-
en, front One year's end to as -
other?
All persons are not good at the
same thing—thus we cave some
who excel at baking; others at knit-
ting and needlework; some in an
organizing capacity, and stilt others
at music or handicraft,
Whatever their talent, the organ•
ization may not have need of it alt
the time, but when the necessity
arises for someone to take charge
of a specialized job, what a com-
fort it is to know you have just
the right person to handle it. Only
we are rather inclined to take such
help for granted, don't you think?
This fact was brought home to
one Institute branch just recently
when a lovely quilt top and lining
was given to the branch to be
quilted and sold—the proceeds to
go to the branch. So here was a
quilt top,beautifullymade, but it
had yet to be marked for quilting.
It was some years since this par-
ticular branch has done any work
on a good quilt—that is, one re-
quiring a definite pattern and fine
quilting, In the meantime, the
two artistic members who had al-
ways so obligingly done the mark-
ing job on any special quilt, had
moved away, Immediately the
question arose, "Who will [nark
the quilt?"
A committee was appointed for
the job—and that committee soon
knew only too well, if it didn't
before—just how much time and
wok had gone into all the previous
quilt markings that had bees, done
so willingly for the branch by the
two members who were now too
fat' away to give any a8tistanee.
The committee finally got the
quilt marked and into the frames,
but would the other members who
came, to quilt and followed the in-
tricate pattern that had been de-
signed for them—would they realise
the work that marking a quilt may
involve? No doubt k will all be
taken for granted, es it generally
ie. Vary few of us realise the de -
tall of any job until we have to do
it oua'satvee. Then how eels emelt
a n
beavoided?
satiation o"led.
t
Well, stere ie a suggestion ---in so
foe as quilts are concerned. Most
W.I. branches put on demonstra-
tions of ane kind or another during
the year ---then why not a demon-
stration on quilt marking? In near-
ly every district there can be found
artistic persons who are known to
be gond at this very exacting job,
and even though they may not be
'smelters of the W.1•, 1 am stere
air 1111' on 11rem could he persmaded
gi, e 3 demmn-tradton, Talented
people are like that --nearly always
generous in trying to pass on a
little of their specialized skill to
other's less fortunate. Perhaps by
a demonstration of that kind, other
members alight be found to have
just such a talent, hitherto lying
do•nane at 1 unsuspected. In any
case, all members would at least
find out for themselves the work
entailed in marking a quilt and
thus have a better appreciation of
the work done by others,
What applies to quilts is true of
other club activities. A refreshment
convener might outline her work in
that direction, telling her fellow
members how she arranges after-
noon tea for each meeting and
what preparations are made for a
banquet.
A program convener could give
a good outline of the work necee-
sary to arrange programs for the
year. and the finance convene(
might give her end of the story.
Not the final result — everyone
eventually knows that — but the
spade work that is necessary be-
fore any result do be achieved, In
other words, an education in com-
mittee activities should help a lot
to replace members whose help is
no longer available, And it would
certainly lead to a much better ap-
preciation of the work done by our
leaders and conveners,
Two-way Loser
The piccolo player was a habitual
grumbler. One day the band was
playing before a t'iclt Eastern pie
tentate, who was so pleased with the
performance that he commanded
that alt the instruments should be
filled with gold coins,
"There you go," sighed the pis-
colo
ianolo player, "that's a typical ex-
ample of my luck, Mine is the small-
est instrument in the band."
The bandsmen spent t•her motley
in a wild spree—with the result
that the next performance was not
so good,
The Eastern potentate was furious
and ordered the bandstnen to ram
their instruments down their
throats,
The piccolo player turned to his
colleagues, "My bad leek again," he
said. "Mine is the only one that will
go down."
Merry Menagerie-ByWalt Disney
.r
I , / , ;
{si
M
117r„rr,.may,d=
j
"Three weeks Ina row he targets
to put me out and TONIGHT
he remembers"'
NEW and
DS FtIL •OO
Play Table
New playroom . accessory de.
signed for pre-school children is
being manufactured in CanadaegD'e-
scribed as a "miniature kindergar-
ten," it is a table which combines
features of a play desk, blacltboard,
flannel board and storage unit—all
in one. Table has folding legs for
easy storage.
* *
Easier Dialing
"Dialaid," which slips over dial
of telephone, permits easier dialing
front any position, maker states,
Device duplicates the regular dial,.
but has larger figures and symbols.
Won't interfere with operation of
phone, it is stated.
Manual Addresser
Portable addresser makes it pos-
sible to print addresses simply by
rolling the device over envelopes
and postal cards by hand. Printing
stencil is a roll on which about 250
addresses can be typed. Roll is
loaded into machine in same man-
ner as filet loaded into a camera,
Printing fluid is stored in an easy -
to -fill cartridge wick that stays wet
for a full run, maker states. Each
address said to stand up under 100'
or more impressions,
* -
Drain Spoon
Drain spoon is aew in design,
made of stainless steel with handle
of ivory -colored plastic fastened
with nickel -silver rivets. Spoonis
made with a flat on each lip foe'
getting the last particles of food
front a pan or other container. Slots
in bowl of spoon are so designed
that food will not stick in them, it
is said.
* * *
Low -Cost Altimeter
Aluminum, pocket-size, hand in-
strument for measuring heights of
trees, poles, wire clearances, build-
ings, elevations or vertical or hor-
izontal angles. Measures above of
below eye level and with any length
base, according to Canadian mak-
er. It is also a range finder, Said to
be simple to operate, requires no
trigonometry, only simple arithme-
tic. Accuracy claimed to be within
about I%.
Auto Tire
Automobile tire said to give
greater traction and safety than any
previously evolved tire has been
Free Rook on Arthritis.
And Rheumatism
Excelsior Springs, Alu., Dec, 5.—
So sucoessfui has a specialized syss
tete proved rot' treating rheumatlsul
and artiritis that ali tlltlitZttlg new
book will be sent free to any reader
of this paper who• will write for it.
The book entitled, "Rheumatism,"
fully explains why drugs and medi-
cines give only temporary relief and
fail to remove the causes of the
trouble; explains how you may oh -
tabs relief from rheumatism and
arthritis,
You incur aro obligation in send -
Mg for this instructive book. It may
he the means of saving you years of
untold misery. For writing prompt-
ly, the Clinic will send their newly
enlarged book entitled, "Rheuma-
tism," Address your letter to The
Ball Clinic, Dept, 5243, Excelsior
Springs, Missipuri, bunt be sure to
write today.
announced. Features a "scuff -
proof" white sidewall and a special
tread that virtually eliminates need
for chains in most kinds of winter
driving, cite .malcers. Exceptional
traction attributed to an exclusive
tread 'pattern consisting of count-
less flexibel tread blocks which grip
the road for greater straight-line
stopping power and added safety.
* 0 1,
Plastic Flower Pots
Colored plastic flower pots are
said to be scientifically planned to
improve plant growth. Made of non-
porous plastic which prevents rapid
evaproation of moisture maker
states. Inside surface serrated to
provide air circulation, No opening
in bottom for water or dim to seep
through. Circular design, 454 M.
and 5 in. high. Light in weighs„
practically unbreakable, it is said.
Available in bright red, kelly greeny
ivory, pearl white.
Pleads Shades,
Plastic filo. specifically formul-
ated for the window -shade market
is said to combine qualities of
toughness and durablity with
smooth and lustrous finish. The
finished window shades can be
cleaned with soap and a damp cloth,.
maker states, Material is unaffected
by mbisture, mildew or insects, will
not tear or puncture in noratnl use
and does not support flame; is re-
sistant to fading, cracking, shrink-
ing and staining, does not ravel and
has no filling to break or fall out,
cite makers. Shades come in ivory,
white, green and tan.
OAF
ANNE a MST
" tt O7t¢.9elot•
"Dear Anne Hirst: 1 wish. I knew
what to dol I've been worlcing
every since 1 married three years
ago, and Ihelp
buy things for
our hone.
"VVe built a
house. My hus-
band has alt his
insut'atice (also
the 'hoose) in
his father's
name. If any-
thing should
happen to him, I'd be left out in
the cold.
"I have five rooms to take care
of, and I work eight hours, too,
He doesn't even help me with the
dishes. I've had two operations
since 1 married, but, sick or well,
I have to do everything, He tells
inc to quit my job; 2 said f would
if he would buy the things we need
He says all he has to buy is food!
"When he goes out, he doesn't
take me with him, Yet if I see
my mother, he gets mad. He thinks
t
should stay home all the time,
"He is always arguing about
something. If it isn't my family,
it's something else, It keeps me
very upset, and always makes me
cry. He treats Inc like a piece of
furniture.
"Anti now hie says he dnesn't
care whether I stay or not, that
he doesn't love me any more.
Whatever shall 1 do? G.M.S,"
* Your husband seems to have a
* strange conception of his re-
* sponsibilit?es. The house should
* belong to you both. and his in-
* surance should be in your name,
* He Hurst know that no womao
* can live by food alone, and that
* ft fs his duty to provide the
* other necessities as his income
* a
li
o
ws.
* Don't you think that taking
* care of your•hone and a job, too,
* are loo much for one In your
* state of health? Whir not try
* giving up your. position for six
* months, perhaps, . and see how
* things go? If you are afraid
* to talcs that etep, then f .uggelct
* you live with your mother for
* a tittle while, and let your bus•
* band fend for himself. (He can
h$veis
h mealsit his w h us then t
no ),
* He will soon find out flow empty
* the house is without you,. and a
* month or so of tieing alale
* should cleat' his mind as to what
* affection ite feels for you.
* When two people teach tine sad
* stage which you and your hug-
* band are experiencing, a short
* separation can work wonder., It
* !las for other couples, and it
* wouid seem a good idea for you
* to think over,
* A wife who has a job, too,
* needs recreation regularly. Your
* husband should see that you get
* it, and with !nim. When you two
* get along better together, that
* will come about naturally.
* * *
Don't let a husband's hasty words
upset you too much. An angry tean
often says things he does not mean,
and is too stubborn to talce them
back. Marriage is for keeps. Write
Anne Hirst about your problems,
and let her help you keep your mar-
riage fine. Address her at Box 1,
123 Eighteenth Street, New To-
ro to, Ont.
Upside down to prevent positing,
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ISSUE 50 — 1049T
1