Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/201

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JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
189

I wouldn't allow it in my house. Fortunately my child is not of sufficient age to read, but when he can read he won't want trash of this kine, I can assure this committee of that.

Now, they are not all bad. We have all these horror things. You have seen some of these love comic books. To my mind, they are as bad as the horror books. Children buy them.

As I say, newsdealers have their magazines set up on a inagazine rack. They cannot oversee them. They are not an ordinary store- keeper. The children come and buy them; they pay him, and off they _ go. He cannot censor it and he has no choice in what he can sell.

They would love to cooperate. As I said before, I think the fault lies with the publisher, lies with the distributor, and not the poor news- dealer who is at the tail end of this line, so to speak.

The Chairman. Mr. Richter, did you tell the subcommittee how many members you have? I have forgotten whether you did or not.

Mr. Richter. Yes, sir; we have a fluctuating membership of over a thousand. We also have an affiliate association representing store- keepers throughout Long Island, the Long Island Stationery Owners Association. They pay monthly dues. The dues are nominal, $2 a month.

So it is not a money-making association by any means. It is an association of newsdealers banded together to aid each other and to serve the public. That is their motto. That they attempt to do.

The Chairman. For the privilege of membership they pay $24 a year?

Mr. Richter. That is right.

The Chairman. Per dealer?

Mr. Richter. That is right, sir.

The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Richter. You have been very helpful.

Mr. Richter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Beaser. Mr. Alex Segal.

The Chairman. Do you solemnly swear that the evidence you will give before this subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate, will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. Segal. I do.

TESTIMONY OF ALEX SEGAL, PRESIDENT, STRAVON PUBLICATIONS, NEW YORK, N. Y.

The Chairman. Will you state your full name, address, and association, for the record?

Mr. Segal. Alex Segal, 113 West 67th Street, New York City, part- ner, Stravon Publications.

The Chairman. Mr. Segal, you will have to speak up because the acoustics are not all that they should be in a courtroom of this character.

Mr. Segal. Well, I don't publish comic books, so T have no prepared statement. Gut we are in the process of publishing a book an juvenile delinquency by a person that I consider probably one of the most out- standing authorities on Juvenile delinquency, since he lived 5 years with boys' gangs here in New York and wrote a book which the Read-