11 OCTOBER 1940

Page 1

WORKERS AND THE WAR

The Spectator

T HE meetings of the Trades Union Congress this week mark an historic phase in the evolution of the movement, not because it has created a new situation, but by putting the seal...

Page 2

NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Spectator

T HE progress and prospects of the air-war were discussed by the Prime Minister in a particularly sober and measured passage of his speech in the House this week. The great...

The Burma Road

The Spectator

The opening of the Burma Road into China, announced by the Prime Minister on Tuesday, is in accordance both with general expectation and with general desire. The decision to...

The Dakar Misfortune

The Spectator

Any lingering hope that when the Prime Minister came to explain the Dakar episode he would be able to put some better complexion on it was dispelled by his words in the House of...

Germanised Rumania

The Spectator

The arrest., or rather the seizure, of British employees of the oil companies in Rumania and the " third degree " methods to which they have been subjected in order to secure...

The Rebuilding of England

The Spectator

It is to be hoped that.Sir John Reith, who is to be head of the new Ministry of Public Works and Buildings, will realise that his task involves much more than vigorous...

Page 3

More Evacuation from London

The Spectator

The task of providing shelters and homes for Londoners would be greatly eased if the population were thinned by evacuation. There is no longer room for doubt that all who have...

They fail to understand why the Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Spectator

should be in the War Cabinet now, if it was unnecessary four months ago. As for the new appointments of Mr. Herbert Morrison and Miss Wilkinson, they are frankly worried whether...

Mr. Bevan and Mr. Stokes repeated their demands for a

The Spectator

clearer statement of war aims ; they may be right, but they would gain a more sympathetic hearing if they would make more constructive suggestions.

Mr. Lees Smith rightly attacked the Intelligence Service and indirectly

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the Foreign Office. Many others went uneasily away, not wanting to embarrass the Government at this stage of the proceedings, but it would be foolish to minimise the shock which...

* * * * The reshuffle of Ministers has received

The Spectator

a mixed reception. It coincides with the appointment of the new Conservative leader and with renewed demands for a change of Chief Whip. But the country is not interested in...

The country is wonderfully united. London has shown a magnificent

The Spectator

spirit for five weeks, but Parliament in two brief days has revealed that its meetings are indispensable. The searchlight of publicity must be kept on Government, criticism must...

Shelters—and Homes

The Spectator

Mr. Herbert Morrison and Admiral Sir Edward Evans have ken making extensive personal tours of air-raid shelters in London's most exposed areas, and Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, as...

Subscription 3os. a year to any part of the world.

The Spectator

Postage on this issue: Inland lid., Foreign and Imperial td., Canada id.

Parliamentary Notes Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes: So Parliament has resumed,

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but not without some serious misgivings. The Prime Minister spoke with his usual eloquence and command of language, he defended Sir John Anderson and praised his successor, he...

Page 4

FACING WINTER

The Spectator

a M R. CHURCHILL has recast his administration, and Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini have met in con- ference on the Brenner. There is no direct connexion between the two...

Page 5

From an Englishman in America : " X [a well - known

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American] writes to me ' Why should England need propaganda when the English behave as they do? This shipload of tor- pedoed children singing in their nighties will bring down...

This week's statistics of the sinkings of British and Allied

The Spectator

merchant ships fortunately lend support to the belief that last week's black total was exceptional. Then, it will be remem- bered, no less than 131,857 tons of British shipping...

The Imperial Policy Group shows signs of some deficiency in

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the robustness which one would naturally associate with its name. Its October memorandum on foreign affairs begins with the intimation that " we have felt it necessary to...

Great position as the Mastership of Trinity is—the greatest, I

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shculd say, in either university, though I am not a Trinity roan myself—Trinity is even more to be congratulated on securing Professor G. M. Trevelyan as Master than Professor...

* * * *

The Spectator

Almost everyone, I imagine, wants to see summer-time not merely extended to some time in November, but made perma- nent " for the duration." But that will be a long way from...

A word more on the co-operation of the military in

The Spectator

A.R.P. work. Desirable as this is (as I have contended in this column lately) on general grounds, there appears to be one unlooked-for obstacle. Trade unionists are reluctant to...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

The Spectator

N O one is surprised at the translation of Sir Cyril Newall from the position of Chief of the Air Staff to the Governor-Generalship of New Zealand. Needless to say, the move is...

Page 6

THE WAR SURVEYED : DESIGN FOR VICTORY

The Spectator

By STRATEGICUS 2.N the present and the next article I propose to consider the problem of victory; and first it is necessary to deal with the two opposed points of view about...

Page 7

LEADERLESS LONDON

The Spectator

By KENNETH LINDSAY, M.P. L ONDON is at war without a general, without a staff and without a regional policy: it must now have complete Regional government. This view, expressed...

Page 8

" THE SPECTATOR " IN WAR-TIME

The Spectator

By THE EDITOR T HE production of a paper like The Spectator is in the main its own affair. The business of its staff is to give its readers a finished article, for them to...

Page 9

WAR-INSURANCE PROBLEMS

The Spectator

By HARVEY GEE T HE Prime Minister's announcement that an insurance I scheme for private property is about to be introduced has aroused lively expectation among owner-occupiers...

Page 10

SOUVENIR DE BOULOGNE

The Spectator

By W. E. WOOSNAM-JONES O NE could see her any day of the week in what we called the " Officers Club " at Boulogne, the big spidery building which had been the Restaurant of the...

Page 11

More Herbs •

The Spectator

A famous Alpine garden has been converted in this war, as in the last, into an intensive plot for the production of belladonna. This is one example of the value that may be...

Sensitive Birds A certain lack of guns, ammunition and beaters

The Spectator

has saved the life of very many game birds—grouse, pheasants and partridges —in this exceptional year ; but on one farm at any rate the birds have not been so lucky. A bomb that...

Late Roses

The Spectator

It is one of the tasks of a gardener to sprinkle his garden with late-flowering plants or shrubs ; and perhaps the date of flowering is particularly important in the class of...

Wild Provender

The Spectator

The Government has been urging country children to collect acorns and horse chestnuts for the farmers, and it might have added crab apples, which are in great profusion. The...

THE CINEMA

The Spectator

Ministry of Information Shorts " Saloon Bar." At the Gaumont. THE Films Division of the Ministry of Information is now launch- ing its ambitious and much-discussed programme...

COUNTRY LIFE

The Spectator

Gossamer Indeed A quaint and, as usual, mistaken rumour was tentatively endorsed by authority, that must surely have been urban, during l a st week. People were warned that a...

Page 12

FRANCE'S FOOD POSITION

The Spectator

Sia,—In dealing with my article Mr. Jones Davies loses sight of its main purpose. At a time when M. Baudouin and Mr. Hoover appeal for relaxation of the blockade " because...

CHILDREN FROM EUROPE

The Spectator

Sta,—Being so unfortunate as to have to be during this war in the United States instead of in my native land, England, I am in a position to realise how greatly American...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Spectator

[In view of the paper shortage it is essential that letters on these pages should be brief. We are anxious not to reduce the number of letters, but unless they are shorter they...

FINAL VICTORY

The Spectator

Sta,—In this phase of the war our energies are necessarily directed to resisting the enemy's aerial offensive, and there is accordingly a danger that this immediate task may...

Page 13

THE POLICY OF MUNICH

The Spectator

Sta,—I am sure that many of your readers will resent the pages of The Spectator being besmirched by such a letter as that from Professor Brogan published in your last week's...

THE SCIENTIST'S MIND

The Spectator

SIR, --may I somewhat tardily (since it has only just come to my notice) again refer to the above subject lately appearing in your correspondence columns? Mr. J. E. Smith in...

THE FUTURE OF INDIA SIR, —It is true that the Congress

The Spectator

Party does not comprise the whole of India or even of British India, but it is very much more than "a section of Hindus who have had an English education," as one of your...

MAHAN AND SEA-POWER

The Spectator

SIR,—Your account of the late Admiral Mahan omits to notice two of his famous works, one the truly admirable Life of Nelson, who ex- pressed for him the perfection of...

THE ALIENS PROBLEM Snt,—In your issue of July 79th, 1940,

The Spectator

you inserted a letter regarding myself, which I saw only the other day. I am very sorry to trouble you again in this respect, but I must state that the letter--although written...

AN ANZAC IN ENGLAND

The Spectator

SIR:—The writer of the article " An Anzac in England " is now in the Near East, so he cannot reply to his critics. His remark that the natural resources of England are grossly...

SIR,—There is a passage in the letter, contributed by Mis'

The Spectator

Alison Neilans to the correspondence headed "An Anzac in England," pub- lished in your last issue, on which, with your permission, I should like to comment. Miss Neilans refers...

Page 14

Patriotism and Principles

The Spectator

War by Revolution. By Francis Williams. (Routledge. is.) A DEMOCRACY, even when it is at war, still preserves the essenlia l differences of outlook within the common purpose of...

Books of the Day

The Spectator

Virgil in English Verse The Georgics : a new translation. By C. Day Lewis. (Cape. is.) TRANSLATORS fall into two classes : those who are poets in their own right, and those...

Page 16

Prelude to Tragedy

The Spectator

The Battle of France. By Andre Maurois : translated by F. R. Ludman. (The Bodley Head. 7s. 6d.) What Happened to France. By Gordon Waterfield. (Murray. 5s.) IT is not often...

Page 18

Jonathan Edwards

The Spectator

Jonathan Edwards, 1703-1758: A Biography. 133401a Elizab,:th Winslow. (Macmillan. r6s.) Tim jacket of this book may disturb the prudent reader with its description of this new...

Belloc on Chesterton

The Spectator

SOMETHING was missing before this book appeared with its dedication to Maurice Baring : " I am sure your name ought to be connected with any memory of his, so greatly did he...

Fiction

The Spectator

When the Whippoorwill. By Marjorie Kinnan Rwailings. (Heine- mann. 8s.) IN Star of Satan (written, and published in France, before The Diary of a Country Priest), M. Bernanos...

Page 20

The Lone Monarch. By Guy Boustead. (The Bodley Head. 15s.)

The Spectator

THE title of this book is by no means inaccurate as a descrip- tion of George III. He was indeed a lonely man, not only 23 the representative of a decaying ideal, but also...

Shorter Notices

The Spectator

My Name is Million. (Faber. 8s. 6d.) THESE necessarily anonymous experiences of an Englishwoman during the Polish war would have shocked the English public much more six months...

Ego 4. By James Agate. (Harrap. as.)

The Spectator

IN contrast to the author of whom H. G. Wells complained, " It's all very well, but you only lay one bantam's egg every two years," Mr. Agate continues, in inimitably slick,...

Page 22

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

The Spectator

By CUSTOS IT may still be too early to form any worthwhile estimate of the effects of air bombardment on Britain's commerce in the widest sense, but the reactions on the...

Page 23

tt THE SPECTATOR " CROSSWORD No. 84 [A prize of

The Spectator

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 "Crossword...

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 83

The Spectator

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