“The application of the legislation of the Index is made by the refusal of the permission to print, or by condemnation of the printed book and the insertion of its title on the catalogue of prohibited books. This latter act is accomplished by means of special decrees in which one or more works may be specified.... As far as the positive legislation of the Index goes, it may be said that this is, as a matter of principle, everywhere obligatory in that it emanates from the supreme ecclesiastical authority. Nevertheless, it may in certain places be modified by use or by non-use. Sometimes it is not strictly applied or insisted upon; still, it does not lose its binding force although the consciences of Catholics may thereby to some extent be relieved. In certain countries, and undoubtedly in English-speaking countries, the Index legislation has not been strictly observed. I must say, however, that within the last year (1898) a formal enquiry having been sent to the Roman authorities as to whether in these English-speaking countries the legislation of the Index was to be considered as in force, an affirmative reply was returned to the questioners. “Publishers and booksellers, if they be Catholics, are in like manner bound to the observance of this ecclesiastical legislation. Inasmuch as the legislation is preventive, it is looked upon by them as a security and moreover in general it offers a _présomption d’innocuité_ [presumption of innocuousness] to the book, which is of importance for those who furnish the capital for its publication. [This remark of the American Father is, it may be pointed out, in line with the conclusion submitted sixty years earlier by the Englishman Mendham to the effect that if a book were not included in an Index of its period, those interested in its publication had a right to assume that it contained nothing considered as objectionable by the authorities of the Church.] “The repressive action of the Index may of course from time to time occasion losses to writers, publishers, and to booksellers. An author whose book has been placed upon the Index is under obligation to withdraw the book from circulation or to modify its text. [It is of course the case, although the Father does not mention it, that any modification of the text of the original edition calls for the cancellation of the copies of this edition and involves the outlay of printing further copies with the revised text]. Publishers and booksellers, if they be Catholics, are bound, as is the author, by the action of the Index authorities. If they be not Catholics and do not pay any attention to ecclesiastical legislation, they may still, in case the work has been written by a Catholic and is addressed to a Catholic reading public, expect to see its sale blocked or diminished through the censorship....