17 FEBRUARY 1917, Page 14

[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Your condemnation of

retaliation for outrages may be right or wrong, but the alternative you seem to recommend—viz., " a threat of punishment against guilty persons, however highly. placed "—is sheer nonsense. Even if the Allies were to occupy Berlin, they could not catch these guilty persons, or impose on the nation their punishment or surrender, if the individuals in question tooleethe precaution of crossing a neutral frontier. First catch your hare, then cook him.—I am, Sir, &c., C. C. LACAITA.

Selham House, Pctu-orth.