Evening star., 1959-06-25
Lady ChotterIey Ban

OuIilllCi llClu 1Ok Lilo NdlidIit
stand regarding Lady Chat
terley's Lover" And my ap-
probation to this coura-
geous gentleman for his
paternal interest in our citi-
zens, young and old. While
many have been becoming
more "open minded" by alb
sorbing the latest and most
obscene movies and publica-
tions. Mr.. Summerfleld has
been appraising the situa-
ton. and probably drawing a
similitude with the classic
examples Of fallen empires.
which started on their down.
hill destruction with the
same pattern Of moral decay.
The racketeers, who have
built a multi-million dollar
business dedicated to spread
ing printed obscenity. will
rise up and cry their in
alienable rights Of the free
dom Of the press" are being
threatened. But parents have
rights also. and they have
a duty to protect their chill
dren from bodily harm and
mental anguish. When par
ents and guardians become
aware of the injury to the
minds and hearts of their
children, which pornography
incurs, they will Join Mr..
Summerfield and put these
filth-peddlers out of busi-
ness. Until then we must be
grateful that we have an
American leader who is brave
enough to fight the organ
lied front Of such publica-
tions. We are grateful, also,
to the alert members of Con-
gress. who are conducting
hearings on postal matters.
to prepare legislation for
control, in an effort to COM
bat this insidious trend.
Now perhaps we can ap-
peal to our Supreme Court.
encouraged by the POST
master Generals decision. to
stand behind him and put
forth strong measures and
mete out heavy punishment
to the people who are filling
their Golfers by filling i'm
mature minds with the
know-how Of committing
crimes and debasing sex,
which should be a natural,
beautiful subject, not a
smutty one.
Mary z. Quinter.
4&
Let D. H. Lawrence. author
of"Lady Chatterley's Lover" !"
come, vicariously, to his own
defense. His booklet, "Pornog-
raphy and Obscenity" CAL
fred A. Knopf. l930), is an
incisive thrust at the smog.
smear and mud throwers who
would make sex "a dirty little
secret" in public terms, in
their treadmill efforts Of
maintaining a hypocritical
puritanism. Sex is here to
stay. Also. it is quite obvious.
Justice can be done this
short essay by Lawrence only
by reading the whole. But, to
indicate its incisiveness and
candor. a few passages will
be quoted.
what they (pornography
and obscenity) are depends.
as usual, entirely on the in
dividual. What is pornog-
raphy TO one man is laugh
ter of genius to another.
"The same with the word
obscene: nobody knows what
1t means. Suppose 1t were
derived from obscena: that
which might not be repre-
sented on the stage; how
much further are you? None !!
What is obscene to Tom is
not obscene to Lucy or Joe,
and really, the meaning of
a word has to wait for major
tiles to decide it,"
Lawrence, after citing ex-
amples of the folly Of letting
q majority decide what is
obscene. adds:
"As somebody wrote to me !:
The American law on OBJ
scenity is very plain, and
America Is going to enforce
the law. Quite. my dear. quite
quite, quite! The mob knows
all about obscenity. You
can't tamper with the great
public, British or American
Vox populi, vox Del, don't
you know. If you don't well
let you know it. At the same
time, this vox Del shouts
with praise over moving-pic-
lures and books and news
paper accounts that seem. to
q sinful nature like mine,
completely disgusting and OBJ
scene. Like a real prude and
Puritan. I have to look the
other way"
J.F.