THAT POLITICAL STUFF
Siit,-1 have just read, in your Christmas number, 'City and Suburban' by Betjeman.
I have lost all respect for this dodo as of this moment. I would remind him that 'that political stuff in front' is more than people's opinions. It is the very essence of our survival in these modern times,. It is therefore those criminal 'ostrich' hermits like Betjeman that leave the politics to the incompetent. BAD LAWS ARE ALWAYS MADE BY GOOD PEOPLE WHO DON'T von. How can Betjeman expect to get support from all those from whom he seeks it, to preserve old buildings, and streets, if they share his views in relation to, shall we say, election of borough councilmen, and if they feel that such 'political stuff' is not for them? Such blindness is a folly of a supreme nature. To class the very important and weighty deci- sions of political thought by a paper such as yours and the New Statesman as being merely 'photographs to heighten the rest' is narrow thinking indeed, for the editorials of both these papers carry considerable weight and influence in our very Parliament. All sharp and inquiring minds read 'that political stuff' because it is by thus sharing opinions that they, the legis- lators, shape their own; and this comes into law. In San Francisco, the Chronicle often quotes you, as does Time magazine, and the US News and World Report. These are most influential papers in the United States, and they quote the Spectator and the New States- man for the editorials and articles on politics, not on such articles of 'literary' value as such. Last week the Chronicle, in 'Letters,' printed in full the 'Reasons for a Revolution' by Lenin, from your paper. They have never quoted Betjeman. To the block with this hermit. Better still—take away his vote to hear him howl Yours faithfully,
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