Sir, - Imagine what sport Gilbert and Sullivan's Victorian audiences would have had with the farcical notion of an allegedly deaf army suing the Crown, and the even more farcical notion of the Crown paying up.What a pity our citizenry can't enjoy the funny side of this scenario. Our only consolation must be that, despite being the laughing stock of the world, we have been spared the usual process whereby in banana republics the military separate the citizenry from their wealth by force of arms.We must credit our lads for their subtler tactics. - Yours, etc.,Aiden Traynor,Rochestown Avenue,Dun Laoghaire,Co Dublin.