A Welcome Vindication The report of the Committee that has
been sitting for some months under the competent chairmanship of Miss Violet Markham, to investigate conditions in the _Women's Auxiliary Services, is an able, convincing and reassuring document. Its origin was tittle- tattle. Various busybodies had been assiduously spreading alarming reports of immorality and excessive drinking among members of the A.T.S., W.A.A.F., and W.R.N.S. Such allegations were familiar in the last war ; a certain M.P., who subsequently became a Cabinet Minister, announced in a public speech the discovery of 2,000 " war-babies " in his constituency ; all but about zo of them proved to be mythical. The conclusion of the Markham Committee is expressed in figures. The pregnancy rate among single A.T.S. women is 154 per i,000 per annum ; the illegitimate birth-rate among the civilian population in corresponding age-groups is 21.8 per annum. Actual pregnancies and births are, of course, no precise index to the habits of either Service or civilian women ; promiscuity does not usually result in pregnancy ; but it is clear at least that entry into a women's service entails, as a general rule, no degenera- tion in morals. It could be argued, indeed, on the strength of the figures cited, that the standards of "Spartan decency " laid down by the Committee are so far being observed as to make for an actual improvement ; but that conclusion is hardly warranted either. All is not well with the Women's Services (or with any other services anywhere). The prevalence of pilfering is rightly con-
demi:red ; there is too much " convivial drinking " ; and the accom- modation is by no means always what it should be. But at least the anxieties which the gossipers have so studiously fostered are effectively dispelled, and the good name of an invaluable and public- spirited section of the womanhood of the nation is satisfactorily vindicated.
