11 JANUARY 1913

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The Ambassadors have held three meetings during the last week,

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and no doubt the question of intervening in the dispute was the subject chiefly discussed. According to Friday's Times a collective step is likely to be made immediately in the...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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p IIBLICI attention has been almost wholly occupied during the week by the difficulties of the Unionist Party. As we write we are confident that unity is on the point of being...

As Free Traders we feel under an obligation to make

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it clear that no impediments of any kind to his leadership will come from us. It might seem that fiscal dissensions within the party are the opportunity for Free Traders, who...

The "suspension" of the Peace Conference by the Allies on

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Monday has caused what there is reason to hope is only a temporary hitch in the settlement of the Balkan difficulty. At the ninth meeting of the Conference, held on Friday week,...

The outstanding event of the week in the struggle between

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the more austere Food Taxers and those who are anxious that Food Taxes shall not be an issue at the next general election has been the drawing up of a memorial for presentation...

*,* The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript in, any

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case.

What sort of reference ? We gather that the decision

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on that point would be left to the Unionist leader. The reference could be only by means of another election or a Referendum. We should greatly like the latter, but we should be...

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It does not follow that Mr. Taft means arbitration by

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the Hague Tribunal. He explained subsequently that he had it in mind to submit the interpretation of the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty to a Joint Commission such as settled the Alaskan...

The appointment of Herr von Jagow, the German Ambas- sador

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at Rome, to succeed the late Herr von Kiderlen Wacchter as German Foreign Secretary, was officially announced at the beginning of the week. Herr von Jagow, who is alleged to...

The refusal of the King of Spain to accept the

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resignation of Count Romanones, the Prime Minister who succeeded Senor Canalejas two months ago, and the consequent con- firmation of the Liberals in power, has bad a remarkable...

The Mir of January 9th publishes an interesting semi- official

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account of the formation of the Balkan Alliance. While admitting that the idea was due at the outset to foreign inspiration, it asserts that the basis of the alliance was...

To what precise extent the intimidation has succeeded it is

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still too early to say. It has not been possible to raise the matter upon the adjournment in the House of Commons, but many pertinent questions have been asked during the week,...

Last Saturday, President Taft, speaking to the Interna- tional Peace

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Forum, declared himself in favour of sending the Panama dispute to arbitration. He said that it was just when the issue of arbitration was in doubt that he was most in favour of...

The outcome of the war in Montenegro is discussed at

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length by the Times correspondents at Cettinje and Corfu in Monday's issue. The great aim of the Montenegrin people is to redress the failure of their military operations by...

The effect of Mr. Lloyd George's menacing speech to the

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Insurance Advisory Committee last week was, as was to be anticipated, a general movement on the part of doctors all over the country to join the panels. In a large number of...

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On Friday week and on Monday considerable progress was made,

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by the help of the closure, with the Committee stage of the Welsh Disestablishment Bill. On the former day no fewer than four clauses (IX. to XII.) were passed, though only two...

We must express our intense satisfaction that the principle of

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proportional representation, by means of the single trans- ferable vote, for election to a Lower Parliamentary House, has been accepted sooner than anyone had ventured...

The Report Stage of the Home Rule Bill was continued

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in the Commons on Tuesday, when an interesting amendment was made in the clause dealing with the method of election to the Irish House of Commons. Sir Alfred Mond moved that in...

A Conference called by the Joint Board of the Parliamentary

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Committee of the Trades Union Congress, the General Federation of Trade Unions, and the Labour Party decided yesterday week to accept the Government's Trade Unions No. 2 Bill...

Mr. J. R. Gubbins, Director of the Peruvian Amazon Company

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from 1906 to 1908, and Chairman from 1910 until the company went into liquidation, was examined on Wednesday and Thursday before the Select Committee appointed to inquire into...

The Beard of Trade Returns for our Foreign Trade in

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1912 show, in spite of strikes and labour disputes, an advance on all previous records. Imports were £744,896,514, an increase of £64,738,987, or 9.5 per cent. ; British exports...

Bank Rate,5per cent., changed from 4per cent. October 17th, Consols

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(24) were on Friday 75a—Friday week 75176,

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE UNIONIST SETTLEMENT. T HE differences within the Unionist Party are virtually at an end. Mr. Bonar Law has yet to receive the memorial which will bear the signatures of...

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MR. LLOYD GEORGE AND THE DOCTORS.

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B Y our heading to this article we summarize the medical controversy over the Insurance Act as it presents itself to the country. The struggle is, of course, properly between...

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THE PROBLEM OF THE LAND O NE of the most fashionable

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subjects for newspaper debate at the present moment is the problem of the land. The fashion is not confined to either political party. True blue Tories and violent Radicals...

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THE TEACHERS AND THE STATE.

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O N the first day of the Conference of Educational Associations which has been sitting in London this - week the question whether the teachers in elementary and secondary...

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THE COMMON TASK.

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“ A DESCRIPTION of the daily task and common round of working Britons at home and abroad" has been • edited by " Vanoc" of the Referee, and published under the title of "A Day...

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ANIMAL LIFE IN JAPAN.

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T HE animal stories of the Far East do not constitute a record of attempts, infantile and a little pathetic, to copy human intelligence. Japanese animals realize that the...

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THE MILD SEASON.

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T " year that is gone has supplied some of the longest spells of untimely weather within memory. An April during which in many parts of the kingdom not a drop of rain fell was...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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TILE FOOD TAXERS. [To THE EDITOR. 07 TEM " SPECTATOR:1 Sr,—As a Free Trader, perhaps I ought not to meddle with the discussion between the Food Taxers, the non-Food Taxers,...

THE LAND TAX INIQUITY.

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[To THE EDITOR 07 THE " SPECITETOL'] Sra,—You have done a public service by setting forth the effect of the letters which have passed between Mr. Holland and one of the...

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to a short paragraph in the Times which quoted, as

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collected by me, two weeks' expenditure of a railway carriage washer, with a wife and three children, whose average wage amounts to 19s. 6d, a week. I did not insert this budget...

DOCTORS AND PATIENTS.

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[TO THE EDITOR Ow THE " SPECTATOR...] SIR,—May I, amid all this wordy gabble of Panels (one is getting to loathe the sound and sight of the word) be per- mitted to put in a...

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THE OPIUM QUESTION.

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[To THIC EDITOR OF THE "SPECTKTOR."1 Sin,—In your note to my opium letter to the Spectator you refer to "renewed poppy-growing in some of the provinces since the revolution"...

THE MODERN GREEK IN WAR.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SrECTATOR...] SIR,—May I beg of you kindly to spare space in your columns for the following synopsis from the report, just published, of the Greek...

THE SLAV POPULATION OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'] Sin,—In your last issue the number of Magyars in Austria and Hungary is given as 9,000,000. Allow me to point out that at the end of 1910,...

TURKS AND CHRISTIANS.

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[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR:1 SIR,—As one who can claim intimate acquaintance with Turkey, the Turks, and the Turkish language, I beg leave to comment on your remarks...

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AUSTRALIAN COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING-.

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[To TUE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") SIE, — I am well aware what interest you have taken in military training in England, so I thought it would be useful to you if as a citizen...

VOTES FOR BRITISH RESIDENTS IN GREATER BRITAIN.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—For many years I have noticed that the Spectator has been urging a Redistribution Bill, and it has struck me that it was time that...

WINTER SPORTS.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. " ] SIE, — Tbia letter is one of warning and protest, not against the winter sports now commencing in Switzerland and else- where, but against...

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THE STORY OF A FAITHFUL DOG.

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[To THE EDITOR OF TIU1 "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Shortly before Christmas a man named Angelo Testoni arrived at Milan from Brescia, accompanied by a fox terrier. He took a room, where...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

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have read Mr. Harold Cox's letter about Leigh in Kent. The estimate of rent must be very different in Kent and in Norfolk. When I lived in the country, is. 6d. was a usual rent...

CHRISTIAN REUNION AND THE PAPACY. [To THE EDITOR OF THE

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"SPECTATOR."] Sin,—Mr. Macfadyen, in his letter on "Reunion and the Papacy," seems curiously to forget that a report in a Church newepaper is not a Papal Decree. It is a common...

THE RURAL COTTAGE PROBLEM.

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[To TILE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—Among the pressing questions in regard to housing in the rural districts, that of men employed by highway authorities is becoming more...

[To THE EDITOR OE THE "SPECTATOR."] Sue, — Mr. Harold Cox, in

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your issue of December 28th, 1912, gives an interesting account of the transactions of the Kent Cottage Company, Limited, but I venture to think that he hardly offers a solution...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

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Sin,—Mr. Harold Cox, in his article "The Rural Cottage Problem," mentions as its solution 4s. and 5s. 6d. a week, the tenants to pay the rates, as low rentals. It would be...

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ART.

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ALMA-TADEMA AT THE ACADEMY. THE art of the late Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema is not of the kind that comes well out of the ordeal of exhibition in large quantities. A small number...

NOTICE.—When "Correspondence" or Articles are signed with The writer's name

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or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked "Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily be held to be in agreement with the views therein expressed or with the mode of...

BOOKS.

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FRESH EVIDENCE ON PORTUGUESE SLAVERY.* THE evidence as to slavery in Portuguese West Africa is strong enough in all conscience, as everyone must admit who has read the Foreign...

AN APPEAL ON BEHALF OF A BLIND CLERK.

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[To THE EDITOR OF 555 " SPECTATOR:1 Sxu,—May I use your columns to arouse interest in a most difficult case P A man formerly employed as a clerk, and living in Walthamstow, has...

POETRY.

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THE RAJAH'S PRIDE. HE who ruled for the English King Summoned the chiefs to his counselling. Princes and governors met at his call, East with the West, in the council hall....

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A NEW STUDY OF KANT.*

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- THIS, we understand, is Dr. Macmillan's first contribution to philosophical literature, and we are glad to welcome a new speculative talent of a high order. His subject is...

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UNITED ITALY. * IF books were welcomed according to the need

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there was for them Mr. Underwood's United Italy would meet with a most cordial reception. For the events of last year showed, amongst other things, how little.of Italy is known...

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RICHELIEU.* POPULA.R biographies of historical characters are extremely numerous at

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present, and while a few may be tolerated for the sake of their purely negative virtues, the greater number are merely pretentious and silly. We do not ask for brilliance and...

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ANOTHER DEVICE.* Mn. STEPHEN PAGET'S latest book is charming. Perhaps

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nothing that he has written has been more charming. Another Device is a series of essays—fifteen in number—of which we think the most characteristic are "The Man in the Street,"...

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THE .HOLY LAND.t

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AnminERs of 77ze Other Side of the Lantern will not be dis- appointed. in Sir Frederick Treves's new volume. The journey described in it :begins at Jaffa and passes through...

MADAME DE CIJSTINE.*

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THE title "memoirs "given to the English translationa very good one, by the way — of M. ktangras's Life of the Marquise- de Custine, may be elightly misleading, for it anggests...

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MODERN PROBLEMS.*

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in OLIVER LODGE'S new book, Modern Problems, covers a very wide ground. He writes of M. Bergson's philosophy and -of Mr. Balfour's criticism thereon, of the "Irrationality of...

FICTION.

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HOcKEN AND ERTNKEN.* WHEN high spirits are combined with a gift of fanciful characterization and a notable charm of style the results are necessarily engaging, and this happy...

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Priscilla. By Mrs. George Wemyss. (Constable and Co. 6s.) —Priscilla

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is almost too ingenuous a young person, and the reader will feel inclined to apostrophize her, as Queen Charlotte was apostrophized by her brothers when she was a nervous and...

READABLE NOVEL8.—Hoffinan's Chance. By W. Caine. (J. Lane. 6s.)—A clever

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and very close study, mainly of stage-life in London. Elizabeth, Betsy, and Bess. By Lily Scholfield. (Duckworth and. Co. 6s.)—An excellent story of the youth of an imaginative...

God's Playthings. By Marjorie Bowen. (Smith, Elder and Co. 6s.)—In

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these stories Miss Marjorie Bowen sups as full of horrors as did Macbeth. Almost all the sketches concern people who irr some way or other have made entire failures of their...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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[Under this heading we Isaias such Books of the week as have not beam reserved for review U4 other forms.] When Sings Rode to Delhi. By Gabrielle Festing. (William Blackwood and...

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The Pageant of English Prose. Edited by R. M. Leonard.

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(Oxford University Press. 3s. 43d.)—Five hundred passages by three hundred and twenty-five authors are contained in these pages. Mr. Leonard has therefore collected not the best...

Naw EDITIONS. — The Government of England. By A. Lawrence Lowell. 2

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vols. (Macmillan and Co. 17s. net.)—This third edition of Mr. Lowell's well-known book contains a new chapter dealing with the Parliament Act and its probable effects upon the...

Adventures of War with Cross and Crescent. By Philip Gibbs

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and Bernard Grant. (Methuen and Co. 2s. net.)—Mr. Gibbs represented the Graphic on the Bulgarian side and Mr. Grant represented the Daily Mirror on the Turkish side. The book...

A History of Montenegro. By Francis Seymour Stevenson. (Jerrold and

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Sons. 2s. 6(1. net.)—Mr. Stevenson wrote this history nearly thirty years ago, but it has never before been published. It has now been brought up to date, and the author has...

Soma TOPOGRAPHICAL Boos.—The Annals of Hampstead. By Thomas J. Barratt

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3 vols. (A. and C. Black. 26 5n net.)—Of the outer districts of London none has a richer local history than Hampstead. Literary and artistic memories form its most important...

BOORS or REFERENCE. — Watford's County Families of the United Kingdom. (Spottiswoode

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and Co. 22 10s.)—The fifty-third annual issue of this well-known work.---Who's Who in Science (International), 1913. Edited by H. H. Stephenson. (J. and A. Churchill. 8s....