5 MAY 1950, Page 18

SIR,—Your arithmetic is accurate, but is the inference you draw

from it? You remark that " f',236,000 persons had signed the covenant (which means that some 3,700,000 have not signed)." But, of course, quite apart from the fact that those 3,700,000 include not merely infants-in-arms but also thousands of children of tender years, you have to remember that a very considerable proportion are not within reach of either office in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Then, with regard to centralisation, you say that, " while Scotland may be the most vocal sufferer, she is not the only one." This scarcely indittates the satisfaction you must surely be feeling that some part of theC'clitntry is speaking out loud for the rest of us. You conclude that, if there are any substantial arguments in favour of modifying the Union of 1707. the " Covenanters . . . are entitled to an unprejudiced hearing." An unprejudiced hearing from whom?

I may say perhaps that I have not yet signed the Covenant, but your comments have done nothing to prevent me from doing so, and I fancy this will apply to quite a few of your most ardent readers up here. You