020

John Arnold, in the WESTERN STAR: "As to Lord Samuel's charge that we must purify our morals before hoping to properly parallel the first Elizabethan age, we can only observe that if homosexuals contribute as much to the second Elizabethan area as they did to the first, the Lord can calm his fears. Few great names of that age were unfamiliar with the socalled vices of Sodom, which, like the poor, have always been with us. "It was not for nothing that many modest Victorians preferred to think Queen Bess was a man in a woman's guise. Certainly her homosexual amours are more easily authenticated than her more widely publicized affairs with Essex and the like.

"What indeed would that Golden Age have been without sodomites such as Marlowe, Shakespeare and Bacon? Let us thank God for such 'sinners' and remember humbly that no less than five kings of England have been homosexual."

The Home Secretary, replying to a Parliamentary question, stated that problems of prostitution and importuning of male persons in London are under study. He is examining the laws of other lands for suggestions as to possible amendments to the law.

LONDON TIMES: "Passing sentence on a man for five offenses committed with two male persons, Mr. Justice Cassels said at Hereford Assizes yesterday, "This type of offense seems to be like a disease sweeping the country. No assize court seems to take place without a case of this kind coming before it. So far as the law is concerned, it must be stamped out." Percy Cummings, aged 20, an assistant cook, was sent to prison for 3 years. The Judge told him that if special medical treatment were needed, he would get it in prison."

Magistrates' Court opens hearing on Montagu-Hume case. Defendants plead not guilty.

On August 3, Montagu had his Palace House at Beaulieu open to visitors, and a boy scout troop camped on the grounds had assigned four scouts as guards. The scouts claimed that after tea in Montagu's quarters, he had suggested they go for a swim. After bathing, one had gone into a room with Montagu, another into a separate room with Hume to dry themselves. Montagu and Hume had each allegedly committed or attempted a sexual act of the boys, but Hume had retreated when the scout pulled his knife. Both men supposedly told the boys to tell no one.

The men emphatically denied any indecency, and the court heard testimony of the police who had interviewed Montagu on August 7, after the scoutmaster reported the charge. They read a letter in which Montagu detailed arguments against the plausibility of the charges. On plea of the defense, hearings were adjourned till the following week, when the hearing concluded and both men were remanded for trial.

Lord Samuel assures a gathering of Young Liberals that his attack on youthful immorality referred only to a small minority, and was not to be taken as a general condemnation of youth.

one

page 10