25 FEBRUARY 1966, Page 11

am surprised to see Nigel Lawson advocat- ing, albeit with

qualifications, the showing of The War Game, apparently as a kind of vaccination therapy.. Do we really have to see a picture .of a child being raped and strangled before we deplore rape and murder? Did we have to see a documentary of a man being hanged before we abolished capital punishment?

In actual fact, people become hardened to violence through familiarity. (Consider the multi- plication of horror comics, horror films. horror books, and the parallel increase in crimes of violence.) The desire to horrify other people is a form of sadism notably prevalent among frustrated artists and those maladjusted 'rebels against society.' A grinding of teeth and 'Take that, you - — squares!'

DORIS DAVY

Ridge House, Kingston, Lewes. Sussex