28 MAY 1965, Page 11

Why Pay Cash?

SIR.—Naivetd is, so far as I know, no sin. Nor in our day is debt. But in asking my question about department stores, I intended not to advocate on-the- cuff extravagance, but to underline the evident fact that the cash customer subsidises his less provident fellow, so why not put his packet of cigarettes on the slate? Mr. Thomsett seems to have overlooked another fact: that hire purchase costs the buyer sometimes double the value of the goods. while buy- ing on credit costs him no more than the price paid by the ready-money man. It seems to be a matter of principal.

99 Gower Street, WCI

LESLIF ADRIAN