novels or some of the books in the Milestone series could
successfully be objected to merely on grounds of sex; but they are,
nevertheless, of an immoral and mischievous tendency and should not
be allowed to continue in circulation. They might be described as
'sadistic' in the true psychological sense in that they combine sex
and violence.

"There has been some suggestion that the Act leaves too vague just
what is indecent and that the word 'indecent' should be defined
with precision. In the nature of things there are, however, very
great difficulties in attempting such a definition. It is
significant that no precise definition of indecency exists either
in the principal Act or so far as we are aware in the legislation
of any other Commonwealth country.

"The present state of affairs might be dangerous if prosecutions
could be taken on the decision of police officials in any town in
New Zealand. Whatever may be said in theory, however, the fact that
prosecutions can be brought only with the leave of the
Attorney-General is, we think, a sufficient guarantee that the law
will be applied uniformly and reasonably. Moreover, there is a
further safeguard in the right of appeal to the Supreme Court
against all decisions of a Magistrate under the Act.

"We believe that the bookselling trade is quite happy with the
present substantive law as it is now being administered, and we
firmly hold the opinion that the best course is to leave the
substantive provisions of the 1954 Act largely as they are.

"(2) The registration provisions are a rather complex way of
achieving their object, which is to enable the Court to put a
seller out of business if he is convicted of an offence against the
Act and if the Court believes his conduct is such as to warrant
this penalty. We think that this object could be achieved by giving
the Court this power directly. It could be provided that on
convicting any one under the Act the Court may make an order
prohibiting him for a certain period from carrying on the business
of selling books or periodicals. The provisions as to registration
could then be repealed."

Some members of the present Committee felt that this power should be
exercised only in the case of a second or subsequent conviction.

"(3) The marking requirements of the Act are not well adapted