25 SEPTEMBER 1915, Page 12

[To TRR EDITOR or THE " 131400TATOR.1 Sic,,—The following lines

are taken from an article which appeared in the Spectator some years ago. I made a note of them at the time, and I think they are now particularly

applicable :—

"Let us never forget that it is by enforcement of duties that the State wins the love and respect of its citizens, not by confer- ring benefits upon them. It is the universal law of human nature that we love those who call on us for sacrifice, not those who shower benefits upon us. Strange as it may seem, the State which asks a man to be ready to die for it is far more likely to he loved than the State which gives him an old-age pension without his earning it."

—I am, Sir, &e., H. W. G.-S.

Tutira, New Zealand, Yuly 25th.