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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria University College, Wellington N.Z. Vol. 21, No. 7. June 11, 1958

Book Imports — Sweeping Restrictions

page 7

Book Imports — Sweeping Restrictions

An article in the latest issue of "Critic", the student paper at Otago University, protests at what it calls "the iniquitous 40% cut on book imports" into New Zealand. The restriction is part of the policy of import control introduced by the Government to counter the serious balance of payments problem New Zealand is facing at the present time as a result of a drastic fall in prices for her export produce, and the high level of imports over the past twelve months.

The article says the position concerning book imports is extremely disturbing, and one that calls for strong representations to be made to the Government for a review of the case. The article continues as follows:

The situation is very much the same with overseas magazines. It has been reported that most city bookshops are, or will be, unable to supply all their regular customers with certain magazines, and have no copies left for sale over the counter.

Their predicament is becoming so acute that it is expected that suburban fruitshops and other shops that sell magazines only as a sideline, will shortly have their allocations of overseas magazines cut out altogether so that the larger booksellers will have some chance at least of meeting their orders from regular customers.

So the position is that many people who rely on overseas magazines for a commentary on news and current affairs (not to mention their personal enjoyment) will just have to go without this very necessary information until such time as the restrictions are eased.

In the book line, though the effects have not yet been felt, the situation is even more disturbing. Although textbooks, religious books and technical books are exempt from restrictions, all other books, novels, poetry, plays, literary criticism, books on the arts, philosophy, history, science, and children's books, are cut 40 per cent. on those imported in 1956. This will actually mean that only about 50 per cent. of the books that would have been imported this year will be available. The University Bookshop, for example, has less than 50 per cent. of the import licences that it needs for this year.

An extremely important result of the cuts will be the inevitable lowering of the quality of the books available. Quite obviously the booksellers cannot afford to import books they do not sell readily, and the import of "best-sellers", whatever their quality, will appeal most to retailers already faced with a falling-off in profits. What might be called "cultural" books are, as a rule, the least popular with the general public. They are usually, for this very reason, fairly highly priced, and it is therefore a more attractive proposition to buy several lower-priced and more popular novels for the same price.

It is to be expected that the booksellers will do their best to keep up a supply of good books, thus avoiding a rash of Mickey Spillanes and Carter Browns on the shelves, but nevertheless a general lowering of quality, and non-availability of "important" books must be expected.

The Government, of course, regards it as essential for the economic welfare of the country that cuts be made in practically all imports. But there are considerations that tend to be overlooked.

Last year, private imports into New Zealand totalled £268,000,000 in value. Of this sum, £2,000,000, or a little more than one halfpenny in every pound, was spent on books. It is true that it has been estimated that we have to reduce our imports by about £70,000,000 on last year to balance our import-export sheet. But how much does a saving of £800,000 contribute towards this sum? The question to be asked is: "Can this small saving possibly outweigh the disadvantages of having our supply of intellectual, informative and cultural books limited?"

It may be argued that on principle the booksellers should not be given preferential treatment over other importers; that they must suffer restrictions as well as other retail bodies. But opposed to this is the fact that cuts on book imports constitute the violation of an even more democratic principle— the freedom of the people to read what they like, when they like. The freedom of circulation of the newest ideas and discoveries is an essential part of the free world tradition,

—Contributed by "Critic", Otago, to the News Bulletin of N.Z.U. S.P.C.).