20 JANUARY 1956, Page 15

WORKING-CLASS CONSCRIPTS

SIR,—It is not correct to say, as Mr. Stretton did last week, that problem boys become such after their National Service. In fact one of the main, logical criticisms 'of the delayed call-up was that juvenile thuggery would greatly increase, as such tendencies as the desire to join gangs disappear, almost com- pletely, after the two-year period.

This fact is, I believe, Sir, recognised by most sociologists. If the housewives to whom Mr. Stretton has referred are a representative group it looks as if the majority of working- class women defy this reasoning.—Yours faith-