THE CENSORS

The United States claims at least one distinction, questionable as it may be, among the company of nations; however lewd its gangsters, it has at least an adamantine body of censors. The drama, literature, and articles of wearing apparel have all come under the knife, and practically every work which recognizes the existence of a difference between the sexes has been threatened, if not actually banned. The most recent example of this is the case, now in progress, of "United States vs. Ulysses," now being heard in New York by Judge Woolsey. The whole matter of keeping from the public James Joyce's "Ulysses," or for that matter, any book, on the grounds that it is "obscene, lewd, disgusting," is, to put it mildly, ridiculous. "Ulysses" itself is an excellent case in point, since it is practically certain that none of those who wish it banned can understand more than three consecutive words of the volume.

Logical argument, of course, is a particularly inefficacious mode of attack against anything so completely irrational as American censorship. The only way to stop definitely and forever the gyrations of our censors is to concentrate the weight of public opinion upon them; since they are hardened, by the very nature of their work, against derision from the masses, the only feasible method of getting at them is through the courts. Judge Woolsey has it in his power to set a valuable precedent, and to make more difficult the way for the semi-moronic individuals who watch over the public morals.