Some aspects of censorship: a survey of censorship law and practice in New Zealand from 1841 to 1963, mainly concerning the control of indecent publications

Abstract

The very word "censorship" can act like a red rag to a bull. In our society it is so common to liken it with totalitarianism or benighted dictatorship that its real meaning has almost been lost. It is based on the word "censor" which is a respectable word denoting the person whose work it is to protect the integrity of the community and its moral standards. Few would deny that an intelligent and enlightened censor can perform a useful service, and the office of war censor has, when used with restraint, always been a respected one. In this thesis, therefore, the term "censorship" has been freely used to refer to the control of publications which, it has been decided, are offensive. Since of late most of our censorship has been concerned with books, etc. indecent under the Indecent Publications Act, it is on indecent publications and the law relating to them that this thesis has been based. In spite of its limited object, the thesis has become longer and longer as time went on. To have examined other forms of censorship, such as that against sedition, would have made it quite unwieldy.