Irish News Leiter

What are the Proper a Censor's Power ? Limits of
From Our Own Correspondent DUBLIN.
What are the proper limits of a Censor's power in times like these? The Irish Senate debated this question on a motion by Sir John Keane, Bart., the leader of ex-Unionism, and representative of.the family that gave Mount Melleray to the Cistercians, for a rent to be paid " to-morrow."
It was 'alleged by several speakers that the Censor has used his powers too drastically. A daily newspaper had a photograph of an L.S.F. parade, with the ranks marching under a building which bears emblems of the old regime, and the picture was forbidden publication
until those emblems were erased. A reviewer of a political history wrote that the Duchess of Windsor ought not to be forgotten among the founders of the Irish Constitution. This sentence had been struck out by the Censor. A Senator argued that it might be in bad taste, but was not dangerous to the State.
Mr. Frank Aiken, answering for the Government, admitted that the power of censorship carried with it a temptation to excess, but he defended the things of which complaint was made. He might have said that neutrality compelled a good deal of suppression
which some feel distasteful; for to admit things favourable to one side, even if it be the side which most folk prefer, would oblige the opening of the door to the other side. A certain discreet silence is best.
The Minister, ever militant, preferred to defend by attack, and said flatly that the photograph that had been censored was censored because he understood the editor's little game and would not let him get away with it. Until now, editors had been censors, responsible to no one save boards of directors; henceforth, the censor would be himself responsible to Parliament and people.
He did not deal with the allusion to thc Duchess of Windsor, which was palpably excised by the censor on grounds of taste, not safety. Considering that a Senator could defend such an offence against taste, one would wish that the Minister had laid down the principle of the right of censorship to sufficient discretion to check such breaches of decency, even when they do not endanger the State's safety, but only its spiritual well-being--a thing which is not valued very highly in some quarters.
ON MARCHES THE LEGION The Legion of Mary goes from strength to strength in its extraordinary work. In Cork, a great hostel for the poor. resembling the Morning Star hostel in Dublin, is to be opened, under the legionaries of the southern city.
The Bishop of Cork has given £2,000 towards the cost of the undertaking, and munificent gifts are pouring in from rich and not-so-rich in Munster.
The hostel will serve men of all creeds who may be in need. In Dublin, a further departure has been made with the provision of lectures for strangers sojourning in the city. Sonic leading Civil Servants, members of the Legion, have organised this service, and a tine series has been begun. Mr. Frank Gallagher lectured on Abraham Lincoln, for example: a lecture which illustrates the liberal range of subjects treated.
Mr. Frank Duff has visited Belfast, to familiarise himself with extraordinary developments in the Legion's work there. At a provincial town, the newly-formed Legion, some little time ago, 'asked to bc entrusted with difficult tasks They were invited to see what they could do with a tinker encampment, or squatters' colony, notorious for its unruliness, not to say worse; and, to the astonishment of all who do not know what thc Legion's faith and zeal can achieve, it cleaned up the district and made it a model to some respectable parishes.
AN IRISH PRIEST WRITES HOME
Day by day, we follow the ordeal of the neighbouring island with anxious sympathy, and with admiration for the fortitude that is displayed in such heroic measure. Although press news is necessarily restricted, such letters as the following, from an Irish priest in England, which appeared in the Irish Times, give us an insight into minds as well as events:
" What a war it is! Everything is topsyturvy. The soldiers are the civilians and the civilians are the soldiers. A chief stoker in a submarine intended staying the night here, This is three weeks ago. lie listened to some of the firing, and decided that it was too much for him I So he cleared off elsewhere.
" About the same time one of the boys home on leave from the Army was anxious to get back to the camp. He hadn't been accustomed to so much noise. Two people came from London to get away from it all. They take rooms almost opposite my Presbytery, They stayed three days and returned to London. They found it quieter there.
" This time there is sheer determination ; the grit is coming out. The bigger the' trial and the suspense, the bigger the smile on the part of the people. You notice I use the word ' people.' It's not so much those in high places and official positions. They are great, but so are those living in dark streets.
" For example, the King and Queen were
here surveying the havoc. One of my dockers was introduced. His story—working all day loading and unloading the ships, returns home, tired out, takes his kiddies to the shelter for the night. Then the bombs fall, Says to his wife: That's quite near.' Goes out and finds several houses demolished. It is pitch dark. What does he do ? Simply takes off his coat again, for he knows a family is embedded. He's a sixfooter. Fine type of a man. Says nothing and .sets about rescuing just as if he had been doing the same day after day. Rescues three, brings out one dead. In the early hours of the morning puts on his coat, says nothing, returns home just round the corner. His wife looks at bim, still says nothing. She spots a tear in his eye, but he tries to keep the whole thing quiet, When the Queen saw him and heard the story, she also had a tear in her eye. " We had a bad time a few weeks ago. The Presbytery stood up to it, though the windows were shattered. The base of a bomb or shell went through the roof of the church and split open one of the benches. That was all ; but around things were bad. Welost five lives, and the bishop came along with the Mayor for the obsequies.
" And so it goes on, priest and people. You see, naturally, I am a coward, but I have always acted in emergencies as one who is brave. Please God, I shall always behave like that. I try to forget all about myself and live for the sake of the many others. I would like you to know this, because everything is so uncertain . . ."
WAR PLAY BANNED IN DUBLIN
A minor diplomatic incident was caused in Dublin by the production of Maupassant's disgusting story Soule de Suit as a play, adapted by Mr. Lennox Robinson, under the title Roly-Poly.
'The tale of 1870 is brought up-to-date as a play of 1940, with the characters represented as inaking for Bordeaux as refugees. A French diplomatic representative left the theatre in protest, and the German Minister lodged a protest on be
half of his nation The Minister for Justice thereupon forbade further productions of the play.
No one was surprised. Catholic opinion resented the production of the play for other than diplomatic or national reasons, but one felt certain that it would be the subject of international protest, too.