The Telegraph Book of Readers' Letters from the Great War (24 page)
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Authors: Gavin Fuller
Yours, &c.,
E.P.N.
Putney
3 November 1915
Fiction in Wartime
SIR â Your correspondent âE.P.N.' must be a very subtle humourist. To begin with, though our days are sad, they are by no means âdull'. At the present crisis there is no excuse for being dull for want of something to read. No fiction can have such brilliant interest as the realities furnished by the daily papers. The youngster who is thirsting for
Coral Island
might safely be directed to your own pages of today, and, with the assistance of maps and an occasional glance at the encyclopedia would be entertained, as well as assisted in his intellectual development. As to the iniquity of the Wandsworth Borough Council, and the stupid instincts of the Library Committee, the process of restriction which âE.P.N.' complains of is only part of the great plan of self-denial and economy to which we have been called in these âsad' times. It is not our business to complain of petty deprivations. It is even possible to derive profit from this chastening. And to make a grievance of what is already harassing the librarians and other officials is not worthy of a true citizen.
So, I would not have âE.P.N.' give way to discontent. Happy indeed is he if he can find solace in Dr Blair or Lord Halsbury, or âJustinian'. Fortunate indeed is he if his own personal
anxieties arising from the war do not entirely preclude some sympathy with others beside novel-readers!
Yours obediently,
Edward Smith
Wandsworth
SIR â I have read with interest the letter of âE.P.N.' on the subject of the libraries in the borough of Wandsworth not issuing fiction during the period of the war. I understand from the librarians that it is owing to the small staff now employed (owing to enlistment, &c.) and for economy. I think âE.P.N.' cannot have seen the crowds (especially on a Saturday) waiting for issue of novels, which was as much as the full staff could cope with. The lending department of one of the libraries in the borough has been closed entirely for several months, and I recently read that some boroughs are debating whether to close all their libraries entirely, or at any rate some of them.
It seems to me to be an occupation in which girls could well be employed, if it is only due to difficulty of obtaining assistants. Presumably if the libraries are to be closed the library rate will be dropped, or if partly closed the rate to
be halved, but I have not heard of any suggestion of the kind yet.
Yours faithfully,
H.W.
SIR â Your correspondent, âE.P.N.', who enters a timely protest against the decision of the Wandsworth Borough Council to stop the issue of fiction at its public libraries, has by no means exhausted the various classes of literature to which the rate-payers and their children will now be compelled to turn to pass the long winter evenings. There are, for instance, quite a number of interesting books on plumbing and grand opera, catalogues of coins, manuscripts, &c., in the British Museum; biographies of people little known and still less remembered; there are the poets and the other poets; and, last but not least, the Borough Council minutes.
What, it might be asked, has prompted the Council to ban fiction? It cannot be on the plea of economy, for the public library rate has not been altered. The only explanation would appear to be that the Council considers that this is no time for the reading of light literature, and
so they propose to add to the gloom of our already gloomy lives.
I am, Sir,
E.J.F.
Putney
4 November 1915
SIR â The Shoreditch Metropolitan Borough Council has just refitted its council chamber with elaborate new furniture at a cost of £750, and the National War Relief Fund has made a grant of half the amount for the employment of local men.
A more flagrant misapplication of local rates, local labour and national charity can hardly be conceived at the present crisis.
Yours truly,
W.C. Johnson
County Hall, Spring Gardens, S.W.
5 November 1915
SIR â On 1 November I consider the season of the year has arrived when porridge is desirable for breakfast, and have it served for my son and self. I told my cook to make porridge for the kitchen as well as the room. Result, one of my servants has given me notice because she considers such food is not fit to work on, and I quite expect the like reply from her fellow parlourmaid. I keep three indoor servants, and the family consists of my son and self, as stated above.
This is the outcome of trying to put into practice the Prime Minister's recommendation for wartime. I might mention that the porridge was to be followed by cold ham.
Yours faithfully,
Widower
London
8 November 1915
Albert Hall Bazaar
SIR â As president of the Prisoners of War Section of the Christmas in Wartime Bazaar, to be held at the Royal Albert
Hall on 8 December, under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen, I appeal to the generosity of the public, which has never failed to accord its sympathy and support to any object which conduces to the comfort and well-being of our gallant soldiers and sailors.
At Christmas, when all our thoughts turn to all who are dearest to us; surely we shall not forget those who are cut off from the joys of home and family, and, having risked their lives in the service of their King and country, are now enduring the grievous penalty of imprisonment in a foreign land, where they suffer hardships in lieu of the affectionate care they have nobly merited.
The following articles have been suggested by the organisers of relief provided for our men in German prisons: socks, mufflers, &c., preserved foods of all kinds, cigarettes and smoking necessaries, games and plain Christmas cakes and puddings. If each housewife, in making preparations for her own family, would make one extra plain 3 lb pudding or cake and send it to the âChristmas in Wartime', a double benefit would be conferred â a prisoner would have Christmas fare, and the Professional Classes War Relief Fund will be augmented.
It is proposed to have a number of parcels ready packed with the contributions received, in order that they may be purchased and despatched immediately to the prisoners.
Alice Princess Alexander of Teck
13â14 Prince's Gate, S.W.
9 November 1915
SIR â Your justly indignant article dealing with the false rumours regarding Lord Kitchener suggests an effective, if only partial, remedy for scaremongering. As the writer of the article remarks, the effect of last night's untrue announcement in London was instantaneous and disquieting. This was chiefly due to the rushing out of sensational bills by one or two evening papers. One was made to read, âLord Kitchener Resigns' â this in colossal letters, and merely upon the strength of a bald, unauthorised statement which obviously carried no weight. All the mischief, here in London at any rate, was caused by these placards. This is, of course, not an isolated instance; London streets have since the war began palpitated every afternoon and evening with spurious excitement fomented by the unholy competition of the fabricators of these pestiferous posters. Measures were taken in Paris early in the war to suppress the evil, but here at home it is allowed free play.
Why not stop the issue of all evening paper placards and prohibit the shouting out of news? This would involve no interference with the liberty of the press; all the latest intelligence would still be published, subject to censorship; the citizen could continue to buy his favourite evening paper; he would not be gulled into buying another against his will; our streets would be more tolerable in the matter of noises, and freer from unhealthy excitement; and we should all read the veritable news of the day in a properly balanced frame of
mind. The comparatively sober and genuine contents bills of the morning papers might remain, but these mendacious copper-snatching réclame sheets should be suppressed, or, at any rate, strictly censored, until victory has been achieved, and perhaps after.