Letters

I THINK the phrase "trick or treat" should be classified as a criminal utterance and the users of it should be prosecuted to the woefully inadequate extent of British law.

It is Sunday afternoon. A couple of hours or so ago I answered a knock on my door. I was confronted by a stranger, I would estimate, a ten-year-old girl. She mumbled a few words. I eventually ascertained she was saying: "Trick or treat". I then realised she was utilising the freedom to beg granted upon Hallowe'en.

She may just as well have said: "Give me money (treat) or suffer the consequences to your property (trick)."

Should I have said: "Clear off you horrible child"? Or given her a few coppers instead of looking up the glazier's number? - Harry Singleton, Middlesbrough.

BULGER CASE

THE recent ruling on the Bulger case has thrown up a number of concerns:

1. The decision to grant early release to the killers made by the European Court of Human Rights was, I suggest, just the latest in a long line of barmy judgements handed down by that body. I believe it is high time we parted company from it.

2. The previous Conservative Home Secretary and his Labour successor, Jack Straw, both attempted, quite properly, to exert their control over sentencing - after all they were members of elected governments. Unfortunately both have been seen off by the un-elected legal profession.

3. Those familiar with the Rumpole books will be aware that Rumpole toasted the members of the criminal fraternity as they provide the legal profession with much of its income. The conclusion is inescapable that that profession favours short sentences so that criminals can come back into circulation sooner and thereby generate more income for its members.

I suspect that many of Ray Mallon's problems stem from the fact that his activities resulted in a loss of earnings for m'learned friends. - P Woolley, Bishop Auckland.

CAPITALISM

THE BSE scandal, death on the railway, cramped seats on aircraft - the symptoms may be different but they all have a common cause.

Capitalism, the present economic system, has a conflict of interest between profit for shareholders and the safety and needs of the consumer.

This antagonism of interests can only be resolved when we chuck out this obsolete political system. History is proof - whether Labour, Liberal or Tory, it is still the same old story.

A classic example is food production. Farmers are paid set aside not to grow food. Food mountains are allowed to rot. Yet thousands of our fellow human beings are slowly starving to death.

The profit system is destroying the environment, yet we have alternatives: solar, wind, wave, thermal, tidal. These are not used to their full extent because of this mad economic system.

There is an alternative which does not include the nationalisation or state capitalism that has been tried and has failed in the old Eastern bloc. This answer is a genuine world democracy based on the common ownership and control of the world's resources to benefit all humanity.

Present technology has the capability to ensure a decent life for all and is there for the taking. - Harley Wears, Haswell.

PROSTITUTION

JOE Wellthorpe (HAS, Oct 27) asserts that a resident living in the backwaters of south west Durham cannot relate to the problems of vice in Middlesbrough.

As I live a few miles from the east coast may be I will be allowed to.

Pre-war children playing in the red light area in Middlesbrough had "guessy games" which posed questions like "who has the fourth pillar on Bridge Street West side?" The answer was Molly.

Some of the really clever children knew the prostitute designated to every pillar under Albert Road Bridge.

Paperboys on a Monday could expect a request from prostitutes for a look at the Evening Gazette - not to see what Hitler was up to but to find out which ships were due in at what wharf on the River Tees.

In those days, times were difficult. Some lucky families had a wage earner, many were on the dole.

Prostitutes are not all evil. Many helped out financially the families who were desperately poor. Some women worked from their own homes and were generally ignored by the police.

Of course, eventually the police cleaned up the area and the prostitutes were driven away. So it seems the police in Middlesbrough have been getting rid of "the evil trade" for over 100 years. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

MUSIC

PETER Cutchie, Head of Theatre and Arts in Darlington, said that a "host of musical events" is to take place in the town throughout the autumn (HAS, Oct 30).

While musical giants like Boney M, Voulez Vous, and the Red Army Chorus (who?) may appeal to the more mature music lovers, gig-goers who are in their twenties like myself still have to travel to Middlesbrough and Newcastle to see popular bands like The Blue Tones and Bad Manners perform live on stage.

The Filibuster and Firkin was the only venue in Darlington booking this type of band, but regretfully no longer does so. Seeing characters like Buster Bloodvessel and Glen Matlock (ex-Sex Pistols) play there provided fabulous moments never to be forgotten by the hordes of people who were there. - Christopher Wardell, Darlington.

TV DEBATES

HOLDING TV debates between party leaders in the run-up to the General Election is a good idea (Echo, Oct 25). It should not only be the three main parties, though. All parties fielding candidates should be given an equal opportunity to be questioned by the public.

If this were to happen it would make the election campaign more interesting and certainly much fairer on the small parties which don't usually have the funding to ensure they are heard as much as they should be. - EA Moralee, Billingham.