21 JANUARY 1938, Page 21

WIRELESS IN PRISONS

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—As one who sent a modest contribution to your fund I feel some answer should be given to those who so strongly disappro-re of the project.

To Mr. Hermon-Hodge I would say it is right that the normal man should receive less solicitous attention than the abnormal. He needs it less. Concerning your last corre- spondent I know nothing except that he is an inveterate writer of letters to the Press on every conceivable subject ; and that, in this country, is not an indictable offence.

And yet I feel that " but for the grace of God " he and I might have found ourselves behind prison bars. Then, whatever our fault, surely our criminal instincts would be lessened rather than exacerbated by a reminder that we were not entirely forgotten by a world of better, or more fortunate, men. With all due respect to John Ruskin I submit that to feed-up " our faculty of indignation," by brooding on the consequences of the crime, will not put us into the best frame of mind to punish the criminal justly.

The Rev. Walter Crick will not have forgotten who it was who identified himself with the prisoner when He said " I was in prison and ye came unto me."—Your obedient servant.