6 OCTOBER 1917, Page 11

CAPTAIN BOWEN-COLTHUBST. ITo rat E//0004 or set SPECTATOR.") Sns,—Having seen

the previous lettere to the Spectator about Captain Bowen-Colthuret, I shOuld like to point out an aspect of

the cruse which may have escaped the justice-loving British public. The act for which this officer was imprisoned at Broadmoor was committed after days of tension and stress in open and terrible warfare, and it must be remembered that the authorities who placed him in this position knew of the unsettled state of Ireland, and also knew that Captain Bowen-Colthurst had been temporarily invalided from active service at the front, and required rest. It is difficult therefore to understand why this officer should have been treated in exactly the same way as a civilian who, say in peaceful Regent's Street, shoots a harmless individual. Be that as it may. The rules governing a release from a criminal lunatic asylum ought not in common humanity or justice to be applied to Captain Bowen-Colthurst, who has lost everything in the service of his King and country. He should at least be treated as the ninny other officera who at the front have broken down in a similar way. Surely England is still great enough to care deeply

for her loyal though broken soldiers.-1 am, Sir, he., LOGIC.