LTo THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR-"1 STR,—The bulk of
the letter of the Secretary of the U.K.A. consists -of. matter as fully endorsed by Mr.. Batty as by himself: It is exactly because of the generally accepted facts, which Mr. Wilson details at length, that old vetoists accept State Purchase. And they agree with Mr. Asquith_ in thinking that the liquor traffic should not be carried on by the State " as a business." The State did carry on. that traffic at Carlisle not "as a business," and with excellent results. But the traffic will always be carried on "as a business" whilst in private. hands, and-with the same result as heretofore. Mr. Wilson apparently wants these results to continue until England, with a population many times as dense as that of the United States, adopts the remedy the United States are essaying.
The advocate of State Purchase wishes to set public opinion —on which alone the U.K.A. relies—free at once. The State has had a large share of the Trade's profits, with the result which we deplore quite as much as does Mr. Wilson. We ask that the State shall acquire all the profits in order that the traffic may be carried on in future not " as a business," but as a dangerous trade, which the State shall limit generally at once, and which public opinion in localities may be free to limit to-any point, also at onee.—I am, Sir, &c., Grange Court, Leominster. THEODORE NELLD.
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