ellers in New
Zealand. This shows how easy it is to offend unwittingly against
the Act.

"There was a group of even more objectionable publications
published in paper-back form by an English firm, Milestone Ltd. We
advised the police some time ago that we intended to take
proceedings against any one found selling these books. The
Booksellers' Association agreed with this view.

"There is an enormous output of books and paper-backs of the
detection-thriller type, and it is by no means easy to know where
to draw the line. It should be possible, however, to eliminate the
really harmful and leave the rest.

(_c_) _The Suggestive Magazine_: "The third class of publications
is the suggestive magazine. Some public concern has been expressed
that a number of suggestive magazines are continuing to circulate
in this country. The truth is, however, that, although the names
are the same, the contents are very different. We have carefully
examined all these magazines, and, although they are not perhaps
very edifying, we are satisfied that at present none of them
clearly infringes the law.

"Nudist magazines are another matter. Those we have seen appear
unobjectionable if their circulation is restricted to nudists and
persons interested in the nudist cult. They have, however, been
appearing in some newsagents' and tobacconists' shops and openly
displayed in windows, and we consider circulation in this form to
be undesirable. Serious consideration is being given to the
prosecution of any one who displays these magazines or sells them
to the general public."

II. _Suggested Amendments to the Law Relating to Indecent Publications._

The Justice Department has given much attention to the question as to
the efficacy of the amending Act introduced in 1954. We had the
advantage of reading the report presented by the Department to the
Minister of Justice, and we set out below certain portions of the
report which we as a Committee think worthy of notice. The report says,
_inter alia_:

"(1) We think that the substantive changes made in the special
legislation in 1954 have been beneficial, and we strongly recommend
that they be retained. The Indecent Publications Act 1910, as it
previously stood, dealt with sex and with sex alone, and this is
not sufficient. It is, for instance, doubtful if the Spillane