§ Mr. HANSONasked the Home Secretary what are the reasons which lead the Censor to refuse to grant facilities to certain country newspaper publishers to send to their subscribers and customers copies of their papers to friends in neutral countries, while granting permission to papers of no greater, and in some instances of less, public importance as judged by their circulation and by the territory they serve; whether he is aware that this discrimination is prejudicial and causing annoyance to those papers to which permission is refused, and also inconvenience to a considerable number of the public; and whether he will modify the Regulations so that the suspicion of unfairness may be removed and the facilities enjoyed by a few may be extended to all alike?
§ Mr. FORSTERIn order to avoid suspicion of unfairness, the grant or refusal1622W to country newspaper publishers of permits to dispatch their publications to certain neutral and enemy countries is determined solely with reference to the normal circulation of the publications in the countries concerned. Applicants for permits are invariably required to state the approximate number of copies which they would dispatch, and, where a permit is granted, steps are taken to check the accuracy of such statements. It is not possible, as suggested at the end of the question, to grant a permit to every applicant.