A departmental Committee having been formed by the government for the study of the problem, the Moral Welfare Council felt that there was no longer any need for them to supplement their interim report with a fuller more detailed one Instead, they have now issued the present one, primarily as material to be presented to the Departmental Committee cs summarizing the medical, religious, and legal aspects of the matter Since the Committee was also to investigate prostitution, material concerning that subject was also included.

The opening section of the booklet discusses the nature of inversion in the light oi material un covered by such researchers as Kinsey and various medical men, ed. mirably compressing a detailed but clear account of present-day knowledge into a very short space The fact there are many shades of sex

al behavior between the two extremes of heterosexuality and inversion is clearly brought out. as well as the fact that it is not the performance or non-performance of homosexual ac's that determines whether or not a person is an invert The emotional problems resulting from the condition, especially ex treme loneliness, are described and recommendations are made concerning the present unsatisfactory legal penalties.

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The portion dealing with prostitution gives an outline of the changing attitudes of Western society from Biblical and Roman times to the present date The editors comment that utter and complete repression of prostitution has never been successful. It is their view that the present English system of fines and publicity only deal superficially with the problem, and merely create contempt for the law They 38

also point out that legal penalties are exacted only from the female practitioners and never from their male customers.

Appendices are also included The first is a resume of the historical background of homoeroticism dating from pre-Classical times by Dr Bailey, reprinted from the anthology They Stand Apart Doctor Bailey's essential thesis is that the homosexual should be regarded as a person committing a sin of the same order as fornication, adultery, or seduction rather than as a criminal. As such, he comes under the jurisdiction of the moral code, but not under that of the courts.

In response to requests for pas. toral guidance in dealing with the problem, an appendix giving such material is included. One point brought out very strongly by Dr Bailey is that all clerics having a great toward such people repugnance

should immediately turn them over to others who are more experienced in dealing with such cases. There should be no attempts at any so:: of well-meant psychiatric assistance by amateurs, and persons requir ing it should immediately be sent to qualified medical practitioners As

I concluding appendix extracts are given from the interim report which exhibit far greater objectivity and sympathy toward the problem than the comments made in the report later issued by the government's Departmental Committee

The compilation and issuance of this pamphlet reflect great credit upon Doctor Bailey, his colleagues and the Church of England. Their honesty, objectivity, and freedom irom bias are all the more remarkable and praiseworthy when one considers that this pamphlet was is. sued at a time when certain portions of the Press and certain individuals had raised such a hue and cry and

mattachine REVIEW

to becloud the issue, rendering it impossible for uninformed persons to learn the facts of the matter, and make those who were informed ap-

prehensive o: speaking out. The fact that it has been done stands as a victory for the cause of tolerance nd clear thinking.

Law Reform Inevitable

THE CHALLENGE OF LAW REFORM. by Arthur T, Vanderbilt. Princeton Univ. Press, 1955. Pp. vi. 194. $3.50. Leviewed by Mack Fingal. L.L.B.

This dynamic little volume, authored by the present Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, gives hope and courage to all of us. including homosexuals, who see the need for law reform in America

Judge Vanderbilt is a former prolessor and dean at the New York University Law School, and founder of the Law Center there In 1937-38 he was president of the American Bar Association. The author of several legal works. The Challenge of Law Reform is a revision of lectures delivered at the University of Vir ginia Law School

Stressing the necessity of elimi. nating the technicalities and delays in the law, he bemoans the persistent altitude of so many lawyers and judges who still oppose any change and blames this attitude on the commercialism in the profession. We need judges who are thoroughly impar.ial, disconnected with politics. and who are "deeply versed in the mys cries of human nature" "We need to treat the law as one of the social sciences, premised on the nature of man as a social animal and the actualities of our social life."

Our law not only lacks consistency and harmony"-it is "not adapted to modern needs." We live in a scientific age and our law cries out for substantive as well as procedural

changes, to "keep pace with economic, scientific, political and social changes." Its reworking must be based on "present economic political social conditions, and apparent trends into the future To the analytical and historical study of the law must be added the sociological approach.

But how can we best effect this reformation, modernization, and simplification of our law? Most of the judges and lawyers are admittedly loo busy, so it must and should be the work of the Law Centers.

A relatively new creation, a "law center" is a law school "which lifts its sights beyond the traditional role of training law students and faces the problem of law reform." Yet these law centers must depend not only upon legal scholars for the task, but also seek out the layman, the businessman, the social scientist, labor leader etc.

Prominent Law Centers, in addí. tion to the one at New York University, founded by the author, are those at Rutgers University (Newark, NJ), the University of Kansas City (Missouri), and the Southwestern Legal Center at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, Tex.)

Law reform is absolutely imperative and inevitable, says Judge Vanderbilt, and if it does not soon come about under the voluntary leadership of trained legal minds, then our legal system will break down “of its own weight" and the common people. who are so deeply affected by its shortcomings, will rise up in their wrath and demand reform.