THE LENGTH OF LETTERS
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Will you forgive a reader who admires the Spectator greatly, if• he makes a respectful complaint ? My trouble is the great increase in the length of the letters you print. This has increased very much of late. A recent issue has eleven letters on five pages, plus five summarized contri- butions. The number of subjects, excluding the summaries, is ten.
I am aware of the difficulty in getting people of eminence to condense, but if these people would but realize that their long epistles are not read they would perhaps learn the art, or submit to your use of the excisory judgment.
Shorter letters and a greater variety of topics would very much enhance the interest of your correspondence pages, and much gratify this reader, if not many others.—I am, [We agree in general with our correspondent. There has been a regrettable tendency towards length on the part of some of our correspondents.—ED. Spectator.]
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