18 DECEMBER 1909, Page 13

(To Tax EDITOR OF TEA " SPECTATOR."1

am no politician, and I am not learned in political economy, but when I find a man whom I have hitherto

regarded as not merely sane but wise definitely declaring his preference for the ruin that is certain if Messrs. Churchill, Lloyd George, and Grayson have their way, to the merely tentative adoption of Tariff Reform, which, if found to be based upon elusive hopes, might easily be abandoned after trial, I rub my eyes and wonder whether much learning may indeed be fraught with danger of insanity. To me it seems that, granting every superiority to the theory of "Free Food," it is nevertheless indispensable to possess the means of purchasing it for the people. The destruction of credit, the basis of capital, does not appear to me well calculated to assure the feeding of the hungry. Is it wise or courageous to prefer immediate suicide to braving a hazard of being killed P I trow not. For simile.; reasons it appears to me essential to fight anarchy forthwith, leaving "Tariff Reform" and "Free Food" for subsequent consideration. The ancient Britons, being hard pressed by the Picts and Scots, invoked the aid of Hengist and Horse., with results that were not exactly satisfactory. Sir Frederick Pollock now proposes to co-operate with the enemies of law and order for the sake of what becomes by comparison a mere hobby. "0 what a noble mind is here o'erthrown."—I am, Sir, &c.,

A. W. A. Porzocie, Lieut.-Colonel.

Wingfield, Godalming.