Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/281

Rh (c) It has cireutarized bulletins ie its members and by word of mouth aml personal contact has kept the subject very much alive and urged its members to lake an adamant position against the dissenuna- tiou of any borderline or offensive material,

{@) So-called committee No. 29 of the Bureau of Independent Pub- lishers and Distributors, consisting of the presidents of the 7 regional independent wholesale distribntors associations, has met with the publishers invelved to discuss individually the matter of offensive reading material and the necessity of taking corrective action at ance, This bureau has recently established committee No, 52, which is charged with the seqponsibility of establishing a code of ethics to cover this problem.

(e) It has urged cooperation on the local level with such local groups as Committee on Indecent Literature, the prosecuting officials, parent-teacher associations, and others.

{7} It has gone on record denouncing the publication and dissemi- nation of this kind of htcrature and offered its cooperation to a con- gressional committee, the Gathings committee of the House of Rep- resentatives (H. Res. 596, 82d Cong.), and incorporates hereim by reference the testimony of ils Lhen vice president, Mr. Samnel Black,

(See pp. 34–57 of the hearings.)

(7) The individual wholesaler hus been prodded and encouraged io refuse Lo distribute ind return the “objectionable” or “borderline” material Lo Lhe national distributor or the publisher, assuming the wholesaler catches this type of magazine or book before it reaches the retailer, or, having heen distriluted to the retailer, to recall it from the retail stands and then return it to the national distributor, once the wholesaler becomes aware of this objectionable material.

Mr. . Mr. Black, when X crime comic comes in, it comes in in packages to you, in your warehouse ?

Mr. Buacx. That is true.

Mr. . Is it nol. possible then to just slip all of X magazines back ?

Mr, Brack. It is net only possible, but it is done.

Mr. . In other words, the only thing thal would have to be decided in advance is that yon do not want to distribute X magazines?

Mr. Buacr, That is correct,

Mr. . It does not come in all mixed up as far as you are concerned?

Mr. Buack. No, sir.

Mr. . It comes in mixed up as far as the dealer is concerned?

Mr. Brack, That is true.

Mr. . So that. he has a greater job than you as a wholesaler as far as sorting them and saying that this magazine [ want. this I don’t want.

Mr. Brack. By the same token his responsibility is the same as mine. He hus to decide whether he wants to handle what T give him, the same as IT have to decide what I want to handle what the publisher vives me.

OF course, his responsibility is lessened because T have already made some of the decisions for him.

Mr. . Your decision, carrying out your decision. it is a little casier in the sense that the magazines are physically together?

Mr, Brack. Yes.