23 APRIL 1948, Page 16

THE DEATH SENTENCE

SIR,—In the News of the Week in your issue of April 16th you end the paragraph on the recent debate in the House of Commons on the abolition of capital punishment with the comment that Members of Parliament then took "a momentous but unquestionably wise decision, which promises to be fully justified." What do the last six words mean ?—Yours truly, 163 Hope Street, Glasgow. W. L THOMSON. [They mean that the fears of an increase in the number of murders do not promise to be justified.—ED., The Spectator.]