THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of the Times

Letter No. VWL3530

Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of the Times

Letter No.: VWL3530


10, Hanover Terrace,
Regents Park,
London, N.W.1.

[23 April, 1957]

Sir,
I understand that the Third Programme is the admiration and envy of all foreign listeners.  Is that why the authorities propose to emasculate it?  Or is it a question of finance?  Has the Third Programme got to be a “paying proposition”?  We do not apply that test to education, religion, or justice in this country, and does not our Third Programme partake of all these essentials?  Is war a paying proposition?  We spend millions of pounds every year in finding out how to kill people, and in destroying all that many people think worth having in this life.  Is it not worth while to spend a small proportion of our wealth in increasing the value of our life?
Yours faithfully

Ralph Vaughan Williams