I know I have personally talked with many newsdealers and I know if they had a choice they wouldn't want to deal with this trash.
Senator Hennings. I do not question your statement, but I was interested in their reasons.
Mr. Richter. The reasons are that they themselves have children; they won't bring that trash and junk in thety own homes, and I dare- sey the publishers wouldn't do so.
I won't mention names, but I know in partientar one publisher has stated, that put out some of these horror magazines, that he himself does not bring it inte his own home for his own children te read. I think that is argument enough as to how they feel about it.
I have here a bill, As I say, they are not returnable. These news- dealers must accept this entire package. Of course, the newsdealer cannot in limited circumstances be a censor of these magazines, the good and the bad kind.
I say in all fairness to the publishers and distributors not. all comic magazines are bad. There are some good ones. I have some good ones here.
I mean the Walt Disney type of comic books are good for children.
I know that the newsdealers would be only too happy to sell that type of magazines. There are westerns that cannot be classified as bad, but I daresay that the majority of the comic books or magazines on the stand today are outright trash.
I know that the newsdealers would not like to deal with them if they had a choice.
Now, this is a bill given to the newsdealer and the Saturday Evening Post was brought with these other types of horrer magazines. Now the choice to the newsdealer is either store them away or display them and sell them.
Now, a newsdealer, particularly a city newsdealer, operates in lim- ited space. He has a news booth 6 by 5 by 3, 6 feet wide, 5 fect high, and 3 feet wide. If he stores things in his newsstand, he must necessarily stand on the outside im all kinds of weather and they are out in good weather, bad, night and day. They are little people. They deal in pennies. :
Taney cannot possibly sit down, they don't have the time or the in- clination or the judgment or the facthities te sit down and censor these magazines,
The newsdealers cannot possibly censor these magazines, They are taken as they are brought tothem. They are flooded with them; they are swamped with them.
In most cases, I daresay in all cases, they display and sell them.
Now, this is April and magazines are coming out now for July. They are not returnable.
Mr. Beaser. You said that if he does not sell them he has to pay for them.
Mr. Richter. He pays for them before he returns them. He is billed for them and he pays for them.
Mr. Beaser. If he does not sell them?
Mr. Richter. They are returnable, but they are not returnable until outdated. The bill says no credit allowed for premature returns. If a magazine is dated July, he cannot receive them in April and return them the next day. He will hold them until July.
