Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/320

308 the shactows of the industry, and have brought disrepule on the whole industry.

It must be repeaied thet the majority of comic books ure harmless; some are fusing, others are educational. The purveyors of filth are in temporary retreat. That retreat ean be turned into 2 rout if the investigating Senate cominittee will pinpoint the responsibility for the really bad stuff that is beiug published, and sold to children.

Then it is fair also to ask if the laws against obscenity apply only to books for adulis. The majority of States, including Connecticut, have statutes banning the sale or distribution of obscene literature. Yet there huve been few if any arrests or convictions under tlis law. We do not want witch hunts, and the Senate investigating committee can do a great den) io avoid them, if it will cut straight to the heart of this problem: Find the men who are responsible for this national seduction of the innocent, and ler the public get a good look at them,

The United States Senate subcommittee investigating the comic-book industry, at its hearings in New York this weck, turned the spotlight on a little-known phase of the comic-book business.

Associate Counse) H. W. Beaser of the subcommittee, dedared that his staff, assisted hy the Post Office Department, had been investigating the sale or rental of names and addresses of children.

One of the witnesses called upon to testify on the aspect of the industry, refused to testify on ihe grounds that his testimony might incriminate him.

Sauruc! Roth, out on bond in New York afier being charged with violaling the State’s obscene and indecent literature laws, inyoked the fifth amendment and refused tou answer the committee’s questions coneerning where he got the names used on his mailing tist.

Another witness, pnblisher Alex Segul, was not connected with Roth. He was, however, quesiioned abaut the reuting of children’s names and addresses.

Be said his firm, in the past, would rent out the names of children to mail-order firius, Ile said this practice was discontinued last year.

Reaser said the children would answer an innocent advertisement for pictures of birds or a water pistol.

The children would have jo fil ont a conpan and send it in to the comic-book publisher,

Beaser said same comic-book publishers woul] take the names and put them on a master list which was rented to other companies. This resulted, he said, in these children receiving in the mails, advertisements and literature selling sex books and other salacious materini.

Beaser said bis committee had received complaints about Sezal’s eompany. Segal replied, “these names are received through comic-book ads and are placed 6n stencils, By mistake, someone got the names of 4,000 children and reuted them to a sex-book company. When we found out about the accident, we stopped renting names out.”

The congressional committee also tried to delve into the reasons why comic- book publishers produce books under a variety of company names,

Monroe Proeblich, Jr., business manager of Magazine Management Corp., said this is done for “advertising sales purposes.” He did not elaborate.

Frochlich explained the corporate structnre of his firm. Magazine Manage- ment Corp, is the parent orgunizaiion of the Marvel Comic Deok Co. whirh puts ent 60 comic-book titles. It is also the sole owner of Atlas, a national distribution corporation which handles only rhe Magazine Management Corp. publications.

His firm, Froehlich said, owns stock in 35 publishing corporations. The ayerage monthly print order for a comic book, he testified, is 350,000 copies.

He said his estimate of the total number of emmic books printed in this country each month is “about 45 million.”