25 APRIL 1931, Page 15

Letters to the Editor

[In view of the length of many of the letters which we receive, we would again remind correspondents that we often cannot give space for long letters and that short ones are generally read with more attention. The length which we consider most suitable is about that of one of our paragraphs on " News of the Week."—Ed. SPECTATOR.]

THE COLOUR BAR AND—POLYGAMY

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

Sin,—I agree, of course, in the main with Miss Rankin and have no wish to defend Polygamy or Polyandry still less the enforced seclusion of women in harems or even nunneries ; but one must remember that polygamy was for many centuries an institution of our Patriarchs and the Chosen People with the sanction of Jehovah, as they were taught ; and it is also obvious that man is by nature a polygamous animal like the rest of them. Both polygamy and polyandry are just cus- toms—not necessarily immoral. Solomon, said to be the wisest of the men of his time, was the very champion of polygamy.