THE CARLISLE EXPERIMENT.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I take it as the utmost compliment that the Dean of Durham should have seen fit to indite so courteous and so lengthy a reply to a letter which he seems to think originated in an outburst of hysterical frenzy. I recognize with pleasure that he considers the principle governing the acquisition of the Trade should be that of Justice, tempered, however, by depreci- ation on moral grounds, which latter process introduces an element of uncertainty more pleasing to purchaser than vendor. It is, however, a distinct advance on the proposals pour rire contained in the Bishop of Oxford's Bill.
I fear that the Dean's reference to statements by statesmen and judges with regard to the grave peril that threatens the national life leaves me somewhat cold, but I am bound to admit that his definition of the State is a masterly one. It
was Le Galliene, I think, who once defined a nation as " a big
fool with an army " and Vox Populi may claim on occasion a right divine to govern wrong. But do Lord Astor and Mr. Leif Jones really admit that Prohibition and-Local Option
lie to-day outside the range of practical politics ? Pace the Dean of Durham, I am still of the unregenerate opinion that spoon-feeding by the State promotes neither honesty nor self-reliance on the part of the individual.—I am, Sir, &c., F. P. WHITBREAD.
5 Upper-Belgrave Street, S.W. 1.
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