12 MAY 1917, Page 12

THE "SPECTATOR" AND THE " NATION."

(To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—Mr. Wilson asks for justification of your comments on the " acrid and despairing utterances " of the Nation. I read the Nation regularly and the Spectator occasionally, and I agree with your impression. I enjoy Mr. Massingham's bitter cleverness, but I should say that he has always impeded every effort at " getting on with the war." He would have liked peace without victory, but ever since he visited the front he has not doubted the coming of victory on land. His chief concern has been the loss of the Liberal Party's " principles." Compared with that, the defeat of his country and the collapse of the Empire would