Letters to the Editor
[In view of the length of many of the letters which we receive, we would 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 OLD BAILEY AND THE PRESS• [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,— May I express to you my heartfelt thanks for your lead- ing article on " The Old Bailey and the Press " ? It is not easy to understand how any writers or any readers can find pleasure in the confessions of men and women whose only claim to public notice lies in the futility and the immorality of their lives. There may be difficulty in enforcing a proper journalistic self-retraint by Act of Parliament, but an appeal to the good sense and the good taste of editors will not, I feel sure, be made in vain. The editors, and not least the editors of the Sunday papers, are honourable men ; and, while they are naturally anxious to promote the circulation of their papers, they would shrink on patriotic grounds from doing injury to the morals of their readers, especially their young readers, or from discrediting the honourable repute of the Press. They will, I cannot help hoping and thinking, be led to feel that idle wanton lives, which too often issue in positive sin, bring dis- grace to British citizenship, and the less that is said in the news- papers about them, the better.—! am, Sir, lie.,
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