LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2612, 6 November 1915, Page 12

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

"THE PRIVILEGE OF AN ENGLISHMAN." Sir, —Under the above heading a correspondent in a recent number of tho "Spectator' 1 remarks: "The privilege (not shared by any other European nation) I refer to is the right which an Englishman has to refuse to defend his country." Some journals and some people seem to think that this riyht is tho most priceless and precious privilege of all—they think tho right of the individual rises superior to tlie need of the State. It will be a great calamity if this war concludes without every man being brought to feel that the country which bred him and which protects him has tho right to claim his services. It will be worth any amount of rovorses and many dark and anxious days if only at tho end. of this war the sense of personal responsibility to the State can be driven homo to everyone. It is sad, but tni6, that tho love of the Fatherland in Germany is much more universal than it is here." On this the editor comments thus: "Mr. Oliver's excellent point as to tho slacker's claim was anticipated over 200 years ago by Captain George St. Loe, R.N., who, in tho reign of William and Mary, wrote a brilliant pamphlet in favour of universal military service. Here are his actual words:—

"All Englishmen, then, have, as you say, gentlemen, a liberty not to fight for their country, and no body can make 'em do it, unless they, kind hearts, should happen to be in a good humour, and offer their sen-ice themselves; tho' the English Fleet should be sunk, and the Army destroy'd, yet Englishmen may stand still with their hands in their pockets and look on, and no body can make 'em strike a stroke. This is their liberty, and no body has a word to say to it; nay, tho' the Kingdom itself were sure to be lost, our laws, liberties, religion, Government, and all with it, yet

neither tho King, nor the Parliament, nor both of them together, will all their laws and all their authority, can make a man of 'em fight to prevent it." I am, etc., L. E. BIRCH. Tlie enclosed cutting I also forward, as the question of painting the sandbags is now being suggested: — [Enclosure.] Sir,—l hope you wili find space in your columns (London "Times") for the following quotation from my husband's letter, received a few. days ago from the front "You asked me to say whether sandbags are of any use. They aro, but, unfortunately, we deal in very large numbers of them. AVhat would be most useful would be black ones. Is it possible to dye them? The German trenches aro very cnto; they are like a chess-board, and you can't see which is loophole and •which is not, on account of the black and wliit-6. You probably get a man firing all day at what ho thinks is a loophole, and it is really only a black sandbag. You can imagine how much easier it is to see a man's head over just a plain yellow sand-bag trench than over one which is black and white. I don't know if tho sand-bags can bo dyed or not, any strong black material would do. The Germans even uso the bolsters out of ruined houses. A fow black sandbags would go a long way, whereas a few of the ordinary colour would only be a drop in the ocean. You can't get black sand-bags from Government stores." ' Yours truly, * B.N. August 27.