10 FEBRUARY 1939

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NEWS OF THE WEEK T HE crumbling of the Spanish Republicans'

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resistance to General Franco is stimulating diplomatic activity con- siderably, and the British and French Governments are taking the initiative with some success. Mr....

Change in Yugoslavia Messages from Belgrade have been curiously unilluminat-

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ing regarding the real purport and effect of the Cabinet changes in Yugoslavia. Dr. Stoyadinovitch has occupied so dominating a position in his country as Premier and Foreign...

The Palestine Conference The Palestine Conference opened formally on Tuesday

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night ; but no immediate progress with the discussions could be made, owing to the disagreement between the main body of the Arab delegates and the representatives of the...

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The Square Deal Last week the representatives of the road

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hauliers and the railway companies reached agreement in their discussion of the issues raised by the railways' demand for a "square deal." The essence of the agreement is that...

* * Civilian Defence The decision to appoint twelve Regional

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Commissioners for A.R.P. is welcome, as they will enable local authorities to proceed with A.R.P. schemes without the delay caused by the necessity of consulting the Home...

A Model A.R.P. Scheme The A.R.P. Exhibition in the Finsbury

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Town Hall is likely to impress the imagination of the public in London very strongly. The Finsbury Council plans to give almost com- plete protection to the war-time population...

Hungary and the Soviet Union Last week the Soviet Union

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severed diplomatic relations with Hungary ; and M. Litvinov justified this action with reasons that are somewhat humiliating for the Hungarian Government. It is clear that no...

Libel Law Reform The Bill to reform the law of

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libel, whose second reading was moved by Sir Stanley Reed on Friday, was finally with- drawn; but it has served its purpose, as the Government has itself admitted the necessity...

Compensatiqn for War Damage Some omissions in the Government's scheme

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for com- pensating property-owners for war damage are dealt with by the Lord Chancellor's Committee which has been consider- ing the legal rights and liabilities of such people....

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No one enjoyed himself more on Monday, when the Currency

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and Bank Notes Bill was considered, than Sir John Simon. He is at his best when he returns to the role of leading counsel. His exposition of this complicated technical measure...

The Government had an unhappy day on Tuesday. The Bill

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to give financial assistance to Czecho-Slovakia raised ghosts of the past, and the Munich critics turned up in force as still sorrowing or resentful mourners. Sir John Simon did...

There had been rumours in advance that the Speaker was

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likely to rule against the L.C.C. Rating Bill, which would give power to rate site values and empty property. Mr. Herbert Morrison put his points to their best advantage, but...

Revaluing Gold The main purpose of the Currency and Bank

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Notes Bill, which passed its second reading this week without a division, is to revalue the assets, gold and securities which back the Bank of England note circulation. Hitherto...

The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary correspondent writes: The most

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impor- tant event of the week has been Mr. Chamberlain's statement on our relations with France. It lost none of its effectiveness because it took so many people by surprise....

Reform of the Cotton Industry It will necessarily be several

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months before the "proposals for legislation on the reorganisation of the cotton industry" which the Government has now issued can take effect. The proposals are in the form of...

Next Week's 4 ‘ Spectator" Recent developments in the United States

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have served to emphasise the conviction constantly expressed in these columns that a good understanding between the British and American peoples is an essential basis for the...

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THE NEXT MOVE IN SPAIN

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T HE Spanish War is not over. The Republican Cabinet declares its determination to fight on, establishing its capital at Valencia, and counting on the continued resistance of...

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TWO MILLION UNEMPLOYED

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T HE black coffin of the unemployed has become a familiar object in London streets. Actually, the demonstrations of the National Unemployed Workers Movement are not likely to...

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A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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T HERE is an aspect of the present emergency on which too little emphasis has been laid—that is the vast increase of responsibility thrown inevitably on local authorities every-...

From estimates of the length of Herr Hitler's speech (such

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as were admitted to this column last week) we can now pass to hard facts. An assiduous adder (or, if you will, add-er) has acquired what was apparently a complete verbatim...

* -* It is a tragic thing that Mr. Frank

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Melland should have been killed by a train less than five weeks after his appoint- ment as Secretary of the Royal African Society. His last piece of work there must have been...

Publishers' advertisements are a class of literature essentially sui generis.

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Take this, for example, on the leading volume eulogised in a nicely displayed half-double in the last issue of the Sunday Times: "A remarkable subject—and the book is as remark-...

In view of all the controversies about the virtues and

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vices of alcohol as a food, as a stimulant, as a sedative, or purely as a beverage, it is something of a comfort to have a dis- passionate official pronouncement on the subject...

I understand that the Government has been convinced of the

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soundness of the proposal for a system of camps as a partial solution of the problem of war-time billeting, and that an announcement on the subject may be expected immediately....

Major-General Sir Reginald Ford may possess qualities of a wholly

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superior order to all other living major-generals. I do not dismiss that possibility and am prepared to be con- vinced. But nothing less than that could explain the apparent...

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FRANCE, SPAIN AND HITLER

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By D. R. GILLIE Paris, February 7th. A FORTNIGHT ago Seiior Alvarez del Vayo told M. Bonnet that the number of refugees seeking to enter France from Catalonia might be...

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THE FUTURE OF THE EMPIRE: VI.. LIBERALISING OTTAWA

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By PROFESSOR NOEL HALL [This is the last of a series of six articles on the Future of the British Commonwealth] I N the first article of this series, Sir Alfred Zimmem, fresh...

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LETTER FROM A GERMAN CLERK*

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,T OU think life has become easier for us ? You are wrong. Everything is much harder. You think that only the wretched Jews need to be on the watch, to fear every footstep they...

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WAR: THE CHRISTIAN DILEMMA

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By THE DEAN OF ST. PAUL'S T HAT war presents the Christian with a moral problem of the most acute kind is generally recognised, but it is useful to state it in as bare a form...

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RUMANIAN ENTR'ACTE

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By DOUGLAS REED The reconstruction of the Rumanian Cabinet, bringing to the fore M. Calinescu, now Minister of the Interior, Acting Prime Minister and Acting Minister of...

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THE LIMITS OF A POPULAR FRONT

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By FRANK RODGER'S [The writer of this article expresses views which merit discussion, but are not all of them THE SPECTATOR'S] S IR STAFFORD CRIPPS' proposal for a "Popular...

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THE OMNISCIENTS

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By LORD DUNSANY M ORNING had flashed on a town by the Irish Sea, and in its bright splendour there had been coming and going, and all the town was wakeful, towards the shore;...

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Mr. Lewis Goldschmidt must have been an adaptable and conciliatory

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man. After Waterloo he was forgiven by the British Embasy in Paris, who in fact employed him as their lawyer. And his only daughter married Lord Lyndhurst. Being of a kindly...

I myself agree with people such as Herr Hider and

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Mr. Quincy Howe who contend that we are the most subtle of all propagandists. Italian propaganda is too strident ; German propaganda too gruff ; and French too intellectual. The...

I have had an opportunity recently of reading a file

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of the propaganda journal which Napoleon issued after the Treaty of Amiens. It was called the Argus and was pub- lished regularly in Paris, and in the English language, between...

German propaganda suffers much from a racial tendency to regard

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reasonable people as decadent, or at least as civilians. The heroic conception of diplomacy does un- doubtedly place the professional diplomatist (who is by nature and by...

PEOPLE AND THINGS

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By HAROLD NICOLSON F EW problems of modem politics are more fascinating than the problem of propaganda. The average Englishman, in that he regards propaganda as an ungentle-...

The editor of the Argus (who was a Portuguese Jew

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of the name of Lewis Goldsclunidt) managed in his leading article to anticipate by one hundred and thirty years the incisive style of Virginio Gayda. The British Navy, three...

The Germans are equally unaccountable in this respect.

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They devoted a large proportion of their available foreign exchange to what on the whole was a sensible and intelligent attempt to justify their aims and actions. In this...

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Commonwealth and Foreign

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HITLER AND THE GERMAN PUBLIC FROM A BERLIN CORRESPONDENT To anyone sitting in the Kroll Opera House (still the temporary Reichstag) gazing down on those 855 representatives of...

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THE CINEMA -

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" The Ware Case" and "Service de Luxe." At the Odeon-.-- "Old Bones of the River." At the New Gallery. THERE are some films the criticism of which can only be, in Disraeli's...

STAGE AND SCREEN

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THE THEATRE " Gas Light." By Patrick Hamilton. At The Apollo. MR. HAMILTON'S literary and dramatic output has been tantal- isingly but (it is said) unavoidably slender during...

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LE DROIT COMMUN

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[D'un correspondant parisien] Nous signalions l'autre quinzaine quelques remedes proposes tant pour "conjurer la crise de regime" que pour " refaire la France "; deux phrases...

BALLET

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‘, The Sleeping Princess" Jr Miss de Valois keeps a press-cutting book, its earlier entries concerning her work with the Vic.-Wells' ballet must afford her nowadays, by way of...

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COUNTRY LIFE

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Protect the Woodcock February brings in the close season, which ought to be closer than it is. The other day in a little wood just eleven miles north of Charing Cross twelve...

The Sussex Lead Other counties have more than once been

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urged to follow the example of Sussex and produce a County Magazine. The idea has been discussed widely, and among the latest counties to follow suit is Gloucestershire. The...

Cook-Gardeners

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It used to be said by a countryman that the ideal servant would be a "cook-gardener.". You cannot know all about a vegetable till you have seen it from seed-bed to table. What...

In the Garden Last year, being a little puzzled by

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two bushes in the garden, both called the "tea-plant," I wrote to Kew for enlightenment. Last month these same two plants have inspired a number of inquiry letters to The Times....

Slype and Slad A reference to the two old English

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words slype and slad or slade (and to the inadequacy of the dictionaries) has elicited the fact that the words are fairly widely spread. There are two villages, at any rate—one...

Park and Sanctuary The Friends of the Lake District are

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trying very hard to get the whole district made into a National Park. A supporter writes : "Personally I know of no better place for this purpose. About 130 years ago the...

A Village Crew On a recent Saturday afternoon an A.R.P.

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Warden, going about the outskirts of a village to deliver cardboard boxes for gas-masks, was approached by two small girls, who asked if they could be of any use. They...

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ITo the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

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Sut,—Mr. Bevan's article on this subject seems to me open to criticism. I am not concerned to defend the Master of Balliol or the Bishop of Chelmsford against his criticisms....

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

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Sta,—I believe that it was Macaulay (though I cannot quote the passage) who pointed out that one of the differences between democratic and autocratic systems of government is...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must...

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THE CANE AND THE "CAT"

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Snl,—As a teacher and headmaster for almost forty years in reformatory and industrial schools, now known as approved schools, I agree with most...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

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Strt,—The interesting letter you published two weeks ago from Lady Simon on the above subject is one with which, were I a theoretical educationist, I should be in complete...

THE SPENS REPORT

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—I have already taken so much of your space that I hesitate to ask for more, but a remark in my last letter was evident:y open to...

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—WOUld it alter the

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complexion of the argument of Mr. Martin, or of any other .arguments dealing with "The Cane and the ' Cat,' " if a boy, still at school, reminded them that a public school is a...

A WORD FOR "THE SPECTATOR" [To the Editor of THE

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SPECTATOR] SIR,—The letter of your correspondent, Mr. C. A. Cameron, provokes me to express a personal opinion of The Spectator diametrically opposed to hiS. I suppose that in...

CANADA AND SECESSION

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Sta,—The reaction of your Canadian correspondent, Mr. Snowdon, to my remark that neutrality in war-time was a "polite way of saying secession"...

REFUGEES: LIABILITY OR ASSET?

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—I am afraid that I cannot accept Mrs. Savage's ipse dixit that what she says must be true, and that all I wrote must be wrong. In short,...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—Mr. Kittermaster refers to

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sexual and many other feelings which he seems to connect with beating. I presume that he has beaten a boy many times in his experience. I also presume, then, that he has had...

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR, — As the protagonists of

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non-aryanism appear to be the more articulate section of your correspondents, I inquired of my bank manager as to the truth of Mrs. Beryl Savage's asser- tions with regard to...

HOME TRUTHS FROM AMERICA

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR, — The article entitled "Home Truths from America" in The Spectator of January 27th presents an aspect of Anglo- American relations which...

BATTLESHIP QUALITIES

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] feel that the correspondence columns of The Spectator are not the place for a technical discussion on ship-design, which might more fittingly be...

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NEWS IN AMERICA [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

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SIR,—Your contributor's glowing praise of the methods employed by American newspapers and radio in dealing with news suggests certain reflections to one reader, who is American...

CYNOMANIA [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR, —Eleven years ago

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I opened an instructive controversy on the Abolition of Dogs. My suggestion was opposed with intemperate fury by the cynomaniacs, but an equal number of sensible persons...

PEOPLE AND THINGS [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

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Sta,—Mr. Nicolson asks me squarely whether I have found confidence in my recent travels. I have said that I found courage, and I cited Sir Philip Sidney's definition of it,...

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[To the Editor of THE SpEcreroal Sra,—In justice to Thackeray,

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may I say that I did not quote him as having said that in order to be a " gentleman " a man must be, inter alio, "wide "—either in a physical or, still more certainly, in its...

WHAT IS A GENTLEMAN?

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—It is curious that your many good quotations fail to recover the best known and perhaps best of all. Good manners is the art of making...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—Before the Editorial foot

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descends* on this correspond- ence I hasten to plead that, in common with most abstrac- tions, the term " gentleman " is undefinable, just as is the term "good taste." "...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] S1R,—IS not one of

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the best descriptions of a gentleman that given by G. White-Melville in General Bounce? "Our own idea is that neither birth, nor riches, nor educa- tion, nor manner suffice to...

HERR HITLER'S SPEED [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—II

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is not often that " Janus " and I differ, but his note last week about Herr Hitler's speech calls for a reply. I listened to that speech throughout its 535 minutes, and am...

A CORRECTION

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Sut,—In my appreciation of W. B. Yeats in last week's issue there was a slight misprint. "Wisdom was won by revolution as -Blake won it." .This...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Sta,—I submit that no

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definition, except the inimitable Psalm 15, is comparable to that of Mr. St. John Ervine's Quinn in Changing Winds: "A gentleman is a man who knows when to stop." The essence of...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] S1R,—Juliana Berners in the

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fifteenth century wrote the following : "Of the offspring of the gentilman Jafeth came Habraham, Moyses, Aron, and the profettys : and also the Kyng of the right lyne of Mary,...

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BOOKS OF THE DAY

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Twilight on Parnassus (William Gerhardi) 225 A Policy for British Agriculture (Prof. J. A. Scott Watson) 226 Diplomacy (Alwyn Parker) . . .. 228 The Brighton Pavilion...

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THE LAND AND THE NATION

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A Policy for British Agriculture. By the Right Hon. Lord Addison of Stallingborough. (Gollancz 7s. 6d.) LORD ADDISON is well qualified to advise the nation on its agricultural...

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THE BRIGHTON PAVILION

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A History of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. By Henry D. Roberts. (Country Life. zrs.) Tins is a history of one of the greatest of all follies. It is the history of a building...

THE TECHNIQUE OF DIPLOMACY

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Diplomacy. By Harold Nicolson. (Thornton Butterworth. 5s.) IN many fields Mr. Nicolson has shown qualities of eminent distinction, and by no means the least of his happy gifts...

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ENGLISH PORTRAITS

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English Folk. By Wallace Notestein. (Jonathan Cape. 12s. 6d.) " ONLY an Englishman can really know England "—this is one of a kind of remarks frequently heard, which are only...

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A FAMOUS SAILOR

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Captain Marryat. By Christopher Lloyd. (Longmans. 15s.) EVERYONE who has received pleasure from Marryat's novels —and who has not?—will welcome this account of their author. We...

THE POLITICS OF DESTRUCTION

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Die Revolution des Nihilismus. By Hermann Rauschning. (Europa Verlag : Zurich. Fr. 9.) DR. RAUSCHNING has written a book of almost inestimable interest and importance. Nor is...

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MACHIAVELLI AND UTOPIA— REVISED VERSION The Holy Terror. By H.

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G. Wells. (Michael Joseph. 8s. 6d.) MR. WELLS'S latest novel deals, likc so many of its predecessors, with the immediate future. It traces the career from his birth to his death...

DIRECT subscribers who are changing their addresses are asked to

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notify THE SPECTATOR office BEFORE MIDDAY on MONDAY OF EACH WEEK. The name, the previous address to which the paper has been sent and receipt reference number should be quoted.

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FICTION

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By FORREST REID Aunt Betty. By Morchard Bishop. (Cape. 7s. 6d.) Despair and Delight. By Ralph Arnold. (Constable. 7s. 6d.) Survival of the Slickest. By Cresswell Curtis. (Cape....

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A British Speciality The four-speed gear-box is synchromeshed on second,

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third and top, and provided a pause is made between the gears changing can be done quietly and without double-declutch- ing, but it is not a quick change unless you do double-...

La Versanne It is generally a matter of luck whether

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you come back from your drive to the Rhone and, presumably, the Riviera, with memories of what you see from the road near La Versanne. If you are above the clouds and they are...

A Modern " Family " Car There seems to be

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no way of avoiding the use of that peculiar word family in describing a comfortable car of moderate power, price and performance. I still cannot see what qualities it implies...

Another Winter Oil I have begun to test a new

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engine oil called Ovoline, made by Brett's Oil and Grease Company, Limited, of Durham, for which winter " fluidity " is claimed as well as the usual advantages of modern...

Mobile Police Reports What new thing do we learn from

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the conflicting reports on the success of the Courtesy Cops in Lancashire and London? Sir Philip Game, Commissioner of Police, says he is disappointed with the results which...

MOTORING

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The Bressey Plan Rejected Although the full results of the Bressey scheme for solving the problem of Greater London traffic were ngt to be achieved until the next generation, it...

The 12 Wolseley It is a very likeable sort of

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car. Its 1,500 c.c. four-cylinder engine has overhead valves, a downdraft carburettor, and the steel-skirted pistons which are, I understand, a Wolseley speciality. Slow...

Another World If the sun is shining and those clouds

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are in the right place you are transported to anothm- world. The mountain side at your feet disappears as into a bottomless gulf, and you look from a solitary peak, as it seems,...

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FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

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THIS is railway week in the City, and so far the news has been good. Good, that is, in relation to our very chastened expectations. Nobody expected, in the light of the...

ENGLISH ELECTRIC PROFITS

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It is good to see the English Electric Company, an old favourite of these notes, fully justifying my hopeful fore- casts. The dividend, it is true, is being left at the 10 per...

L.M.S. EXPENDITURE

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Where the Southern has led Euston has not lagged far be- hind. L.M.S. 4 per cent. First Preference and the 5 per cent. Redeemable Preference stocks are, after all, to have their...

THE GOLD WRITE-UP

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I do not know whose hand one should detect in the new Currency and Bank Notes Bill, but clearly there is no lack of ingenuity in Whitehall and Threadneedle Street. The decision...

THOMAS TILLING'S PROGRESS

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Once again Thomas Tilling, Ltd., the road transport com- bine, justifies its right to be included among the select band of companies which break records with extraordinary regu-...

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ABBEY ROAD PROGRESS.

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Accounts of the leading building societies which are now coming out allay any fears which may have been felt about the building societies' position during the months of...

GOOD INSURANCE DIVIDENDS.

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The Prudential Assurance Company is maintaining its re- markable record as a dividend-payer by raising the distribution on its " A " shares for the fourth successive year. The...

Venturers' Corner It is symptomatic of the present state of

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many sections of the stock markets that a share should be quoted lower after steps have been taken which should improve its status. This is what has happened to the preference...

* * * GAS LIGHT AND COKE COMPANY.

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Many of the gas undertakings which have recently pub- lished their accounts show earnings slightly ahead of the 1937 figures. This result seems curious since it comes just after...

FINANCIAL NOTES

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HIGHER UNEMPLOYMENT. IT would probably be false to deduce from the January un- employment figures that trade recession has appreciably deepened since Christmas. Unemployment...

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"THE SPECTATOR" CROSSWORD No. 333 BY ZENO

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[A prize of a Book Token for one guinea will be given to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword puzzle to be opened. Envelopes should be marked "...

BOVRIL DIVIDEND LOWER.

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Bovril have not thought it prudent quite to maintain the high standard they set themselves when they advanced their deferred dividend a year ago to 61 per cent. The final dis-...

SOLUTION TO

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DOWN CROSSWORD No. 332 SOLUTION NEXT WEEK The winner of Crossword No. 332 is Mr. S. H. F. Johnston, 6 Lisburne Terrace, Aberystwyth.