IN recent issues of the BEN (November) I read two articles that interested me.

The first was from the series 'Looking Back - 25 years ago' which mentioned in November 1975 that vandalism was costing the country millions of pounds a year and something had to be done about it. The second article concerned the desecration of churchyards and asked -- 'In God's Name, Why?'

You don't need the wisdom of our Maker to find out why, just ask anyone with a brain and they'll give you the answer. It's extremely simple - they do it because there is nothing to stop them. We used to have things called 'deterrents', which, as the name implied, helped to deter people from wrong-doing. Today, alas, we have none and, subsequently, the crime rate (surprise, surprise) is through the roof.

Let me remind you of a few -- there was hanging, corporal punishment in the form of the cat o' nine tails, the birch, and the cane, and, for convicts -- hard labour and bread and water diets. What have we left today? Suspended sentences (the majority unpaid), community service and probation. It's no wonder these yobbos are laughing at us on their way out of court.

A few years ago the safest place to holiday was The Isle of Man. Why? Because they had a deterrent that worked, called 'The Birch' and, because of that, hundreds of Glasgow and Liverpool hooligans behaved themselves when they visited the island. Sadly, the European Court of Human Rights (whoever they are, they're not protecting mine) ruled it had to go, to the regret of every Manxman, and the island's crime rate inevitably shot upwards. Today vandalism is still on the increase and is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions each year, which could go to improving hospitals, schools and housing. Churches, schools, buses, trains, bus shelters and telephone kiosks are easy targets for these simple minds. Incidentally, I think the press should stop calling them vandals and thugs. I believe the vandals were a warrior race from the past, while thugs is a derivation of Thugee, a secret sect of Indian stranglers. I prefer to call them thickoes, simpletons or halfwits, terms which are more accurate by far.

Finally, an alternative to the deterrent of pain is the one of ridicule (they both work incidentally), so how about a return of the stocks, ideally on the Town Hall Square, where miscreants could be identified and laughed at over the weekend? It's cost-effective as well.

Chindit

(name and

address supplied)