M DEMANDING LEGISLATION of some sort, DT. Fisher has an
unanswerable case. But the Gov- ernment will presumably appoint a committee tinder the chairmanship of Sir Oliver Franks, lord Radcliffe, or possibly Sir. John Wolfenden, to inquire into the state of the law. Then, after the committee has reported and made its recom- mendations, the Lord Chancellor will get up in thepi House of Lords and say: 'Her Majesty's Government do not think that the general sense
of the community is with the committee in their recommendation, and therefore they think that the problem requires further study and consyera- tion. Certainly there can be no prospect of early legislation on this subject.' Journalists—including Pharos—will point out that there is not much object in making distinguished people hear all the evidence and come to a conclusion upon it, when the Government only pays attention to the public, who have not heard the evidence and have very likely made up their minds on false evidence. We shall 'then be exactly where we are now on the Wolfenden recommendations about homosexual actions in private. But not quite. As Mr. E. M. Forster writes in our correspondence columns, the report 'will be constantly discussed and will gradually influence public opinion.' What will influence public opinion still more is excesses by the police in hunting down homosexuals. If Chief Constables do not like the Wolfenden Report they had better give the order 'Pas trop
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