16 APRIL 1910, Page 14

THE WOMEN'S CHARTER.

[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] Sin,—I wish that I could endorse " Herefordshire's" account of the moral condition of Herefordshire. I hope that in some towns and villages immorality may be less common than in this part (South Herefordshire), where, I grieve to say, we find it is regarded with a very lenient eye. I fear I shall not exaggerate if I say that the majority of married women of the labouring classes have had a child before they married, or within a very short time after marriage, and public opinion does not condemn them. I have spoken with many of my brother-clergy, and their testimony confirms my experience that unchastity is appallingly common in this part of the county, and from what I hear of other districts I fear things are no better.—I am, Sir, &c., A HEREFORDSHIRE CLERGYMEN.