4 APRIL 1931, Page 15

THE ELGIN MARBLES

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Ste,—Will you grant me the courtesy of " one word more " ? Your editorial note seems to me to beg the question. There is no issue here between might and right. The Marbles were legitimately acquired : there was no unwilling surrender : and, therefore, they are ours—I speak as a layman—both in law and equity. You would surely not say that if a man

refuses to hand over what belongs to him to someone else who would like to have it he is appealing to might against right. We have not yet accepted Communism, as it is under- stood in England. By the ordinary rules of things the Greeks have surrendered or forfeited all title to the Elgin

Marbles.—I am, Sir, &c., NORTON G. LAwsoN. Temple Lodge, Richmond, Yorkshire.