SIR,--The logic of the article by Geoffrey Parker entitled 'Burying
the Coffin' is irrefutable and the North appears to be doomed to decline. The ultimate result would be a gigantic human anthill in the South with the North devoted to agriculture—largely mechanised or even automated. Area unsuited to agriculture will be devoted to huntin', shootin' and fishin'. Gone will be the varied accents of Lanca- shire, Yorkshire and Northumberland. Scotland will be a forgotten country devoid of industry and reserved for the tycoons who will purchase large areas for propagating grouse, deer and pheasants.
This policy would have the great advantage of getting rid of all those troublesome types from the North who just do not quite fit in. Finally the ultimate perfection of the policy would be reached in which the populace would be concentrated in a huge skyscraper many miles square and hundreds of storeys high. Horizontal and vertical movements of goods and passengers would be completely mechanised. In such a system the individual would require to conform strictly to all rules and regula- tions. Anarchists or noncomformists could not be tolerated and if not condemned to death would be banished to the salt mines of Cheshire or the granite quarries of Rubislaw. Such is progress!
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