Morals in the Mirror

The London Daily Mirror, splashy, successful tabloid (circulation: 1,850,000, England's second largest), thrives partly because it is sexy. Its most popular comic strip "Jane," features shapely ladies an inch nearer naked than U.S. comic artists dare draw: the straight news the Mirror prints is generously laved in sob sisters' gravy. (One recent article announced that motherhood is the "Cinderella of the Professions," and urged all young wives to bear at least four children.)

Last week the Daily Mirror moved an open-eyed step further. To the Mirror's weekly, nine-month-old advice column, called "Peter Cavendish is your friend," a mother wrote asking if she should allow her 20-year-old daughter to spend a holiday alone with the daughter's 30-year-old soldier-fiance. Advised "Peter Cavendish," whose real identity is secret: "I am old enough to remember the time when the worst possible construction would have been placed on a young engaged couple taking a holiday together, but I am glad to think that such bad old times have gone for good. These two young people propose to get married. They want to learn as much as possible of each other's characters. What could be better than a fortnight's holiday? . . . Give them both your blessing. ..."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.