27 NOVEMBER 1897, Page 14

Sin,—I am delighted to see that in your short reference

to the muzzling order in the Spectator of November 20th you deprecate the short-sighted agitation against its continuance. It is disappointing to find that the education of English people has not yet made them into better citizens, and one is almost ashamed to find that half the dog-owners in London look upon themselves as individuals persecuted without a cause. That they are injured, I admit, but their real injuries are just those of which they do not complain. They might, and indeed ought to, find fault with the authorities,—first, because the muzzling order has never been enforced simultaneously throughout the country;. secondly, because it has never been enforced long enough;. and thirdly, because the importation of foreign dogs has never been restricted. Instead of urging on these reasonable measures, the dog-owning public has done its utmost to post- pone the extinction of rabies and hydrophobia to the remote future, and by its senseless protestations and selfish irritation has rendered almost futile the Government's attempts to check them. The Government seems, indeed, intimidated by all this clamour, and it is therefore more than ever the duty of good citizens to uphold it against the complaints of a. short-sighted and foolish section.—I am, Sir, ote ,

Randolf House, Stafford Street, N. W. IsABEL