13 NOVEMBER 1936

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NEWS OF THE WEEK

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T HE resistance of Madrid to General Franco's attack exceeds expectations, and it is clear that, whatever the immediate future may have in store, the first assault has...

The Defence Debate The debate initiated by the Liberal Opposition

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on Tuesday on the report of the Royal Commission on Arms Manufacture and Arms Traffic was conspicuous for its almost complete avoidance of the motion on the Paper. The House was...

The Uniforms Bill The prohibition of political uniforms and "

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political armies " in the Home Secretary's Public Order Bill will meet with general approval ; that section of the measure will give rise to fewer difficulties than the clauses...

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Bomb and Battleship The Report of the Sub-committee of the

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Committee of Imperial Defence on the vulnerability of the battleship to air attack is a somewhat inconclusive and disturbing document. Its answer to the main question is unequi-...

The Arabs and the Royal Commission The Royal Commission on

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the Palestine Mandate, a particularly competent body, reached Jerusalem on Wednesday, to be .greeted with the news that the Arabs had decided to boycott the Commission...

In South-Eastern Europe A great deal that may prove important

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to Europe is happening in the south-east of the continent. While Count Ciano, the Italian Foreign Secretary, is meeting Austrian and Hungarian representatives at Vienna the...

The American Republics The Pan-American Conference, which opens next week

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at Buenos Aires, may prove of considerable importance not only in uniting the States of the American continent, but in defining the relations between that continent and the rest...

The Prime Minister at Guildhall The Prime Minister's speech at

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the Lord Mayor's Banquet on Monday was a sound, firm and, so far as the depressing circumstances permitted, a hopeful review of the world situation, though the Three-Power...

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Apart from armaments the details of the Public Order Bill,

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which will be debated on Monday, are the main preoccupation of Members. I believe the measure may receive a second reading without a division, but that does not mean that...

There is a general and uneasy belief, forcefully expressed in

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particular by Lord Winterton, that " our whole defence programme is vastly behindhand." The House was not in the least reassured by .Sir Samuel Hoare's statement with regard to...

The intense interest created by the Arms debate was in

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marked contrast to the atmosphere of boredom and lassitude that characterised the two days' discussion of the Socialist amendment. The debate lacked any sort of reality. Labour...

The Lords and the Fitness Campaign The discussion on physical

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fitness in the House of Lords on Tuesday was marked by notable speeches from the two eminent physicians who sit in that Chamber, Lord Dawson and Lord Horder. A wide ground was...

A New Employment Record The Ministry of Labour's latest figures

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show that in October unemployment was lower than for six years and employment higher than it has ever Leen. Since Sep- tember it has increased by 21,000, and since October,...

A Euthanasia Bill There is little possibility that the Bill

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on Euthanasia, which Lord Ponsonby is introducing in the House of Lords, will pass into law, but it will give an excellent opportunity for a valuable discussion. The Bill, which...

The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes : The

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Government has been in rough water on the defence debate inaugurated on the Liberal amendment to the Address. The discussion began with a sincere and well phrased if somewhat...

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THE BETRAYAL OF THE SPECIAL AREAS M R. MALCOLM STEWART has

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just relinquished the post of Commissioner for the Special Areas which he has held for the last two years. He has written the last of those reports which have constituted such...

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RIVAL CREEDS T HE last article on Christianity and Communism in

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what has by common consent been a notable series appears in our columns today. The subject has been approached from many angles. Dr. Inge and Father D'Arcy have denounced...

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A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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T HE Prime Minister dealt rather airily with the case of General Gough in the House of Commons on Tuesday. It is all very well to say that it should be ample reward for Sir...

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CAN SOUTH WALES BE SAVED ? I. FIRST IMPRESSIONS

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By H. POWYS GREENWOOD [Mr. Greenwood, who is the author of " Employment and the Depressed -treas.' . is snaking a special investigation of the situation in South. Woks at the...

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PROPAGANDA, RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR III

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By ALDOUS HUXLEY C ONSIDER the propagandist activities of the periodical Press. Rich men and politicians have a fixed belief that if they can control the Press they will be...

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A NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE ?

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By SIR ARNOLD WILSON, M.P. T j AST month saw the publication of Sir Arthur Newsholme's latest book The Last Thirty Years in Public Health (Allen and Unwin. 15s.) and The...

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VII. REVOLUTIONARY CHRISTIANITY

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Christianity and Communism By CANON F. R. BARRY " R ELIGION is the opium of the people." But the phrase was invented not by Karl Marx but by an anglican parson, Charles...

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STANDARDS OF LIFE IN RUSSIA

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By L. HADEN GUEST Moscow. I T is not easy to estimate standards of life in any country—even one's own—by any method, even the most exactly statistical. And it is no easier...

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AT THE MOURNING-PARTY

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By RANJEE G. SHAHANI T HE two women had met at last. Together they had entered the house, taking no notice of one another. They took their places in opposite corners of the...

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MARGINAL COMMENTS

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By ROSE MACAULAY What odd things other people do ! Why, I wonder, should the sender of this pamphlet think it likely that I, who dislike atrocity literature, should spend my...

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EUROPEAN JEWRY : THE POLISH PROBLEM

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Commonwealth and Foreign By LORD MELCHETT THE visit to London of the Polish Foreign Minister is of great significance to the present European situation, in view of the anxious...

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The Cinema "Fredlos." At the Academy—" The Gay Desperado." At

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the London Pavilion THERE are moods when one almost believes, remembering the great Westerns, from The rirginian to The Texas Rangers, and the classical Russian films, from...

"Parnell." By Elsie T. Schauffier. At the New THIS distinguished

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play now shares with Encore Les Dames and All-In Marriage the blessing of the Lord Chamberlain. And about time, too ; it would have been a sad business for the English theatre...

STAGE AND SCREEN The Theatre

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"The Wild Duck." By Henrik Ibsen. At the Westminster The Wild Duck will never date, for its theme will never lose its relevance—there will never come a time when unpractical,...

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- Ein Fischerei-Jubilium

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Von einem deutschen Kortespondenten I Von fiinfzig Jahren lief der erste deutsche Fischdampfer " Sagitta " von Wesermfinde in die Nordsee aus. Schon each fiinf Jahren befuhren...

Music Richard Strauss

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LAST week we had a Straus's Festival, Unofficial but fairly complete. Two of his operas and four of his major orchestral works were played, and the septuagenarian composer, to...

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COUNTRY LIFE

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A Bumper Harvest This autumn brings to an end a success , of the English climate greater than any in the records. For the third successive year the crop of apples has been "...

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—It is a truism

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that there is no cruelty so devilish as that of the black-coated doctrinaire. But I could not have believed that any decent - man could have expressed " a more than sympathetic...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]

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your issue of October 30th. It is true—and of capital importance—that Hebraic. religion (and Christianity which was based upon Hebraic religion) was distinguished from the...

CHRISTIANITY AND COMMUNISM

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our " News of the Week...

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[To the Editor of TUE SPECTATOR.] Sm,—Those who, like Mr.

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Keith Toms, accuse the Catholic Church of a " sympathy, if not a co-operation," with Fascism as such, will find some of the facts difficult to interpret. it would be interesting...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]

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As regards ritual, I think this question had better be discussed in private between us, as it may bore your readers, though I must warn him I am an indolent and ill-tempered...

ATROCITIES IN SPAIN [To the Editor of Tin: SPECTATOR.]

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SIR,—Dr. Inge asks. " What have your Roman Catholic correspondents to say to the horrible account " of " appalling treatment meted out by Franco's followers to Protestant...

[To the Editor of TIIE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Referring to the most

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interesting letters published in your issue of November 0th, on Communism and Socialism, and the difference between them. may I add a graphic description which I heard years ago...

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The letter of Dr.

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Inge in your last issue is an effective comment upon a part of Mr. Arnold Lunn's long letter of the week before. There is no evidence to show that there will be any future in a...

THE NEW IRISH CONSTITUTION

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The recent pronouncement of Mr. de Valera regarding the constitution of the Irish Free State seems to open up the possibility of...

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THE ARABS AND BRITISH TROOPS

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—This won't do at all. Professor Namier writes English history, and he evidently quite misunderstands both British officers and Arabs....

LORD BALFOUR AND MR. LLOYD GEORGE

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. J. A. Spender, in his sympathetic review of my Biography of Lord Balfour (Vol. II), declares himself unable to follow the train of...

Blyth has repeated after an (unnamed) "Arab Nationalist friend "

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a story, in which the Arabs act with a magnificent " spirit of chivalry towards an opponent," an (unnamed) British officer behaves with a callous disregard of the human'...

A NEW DOMESDAY BOOK

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. Lloyd George's account of the work done by Pro- fessor Stapledon for the Welsh sheep pastures, and his tren- chant plea for a new...

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NONCONFORMISTS AND THE CORONATION

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—The plea which has been lately advanced by the Presbyterian Church, and also by the Salvation Army, in favour of affording a...

IS GERMANY PREPARING WAR ?

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] S1R,—With reference to the last paragraph of Dr. Kircher's article in your issue of November 6th, a query seems to me pertinent. Is the "...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] w,—As I read the

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article of Dr. Kircher, the editor of the Frankfurter. Zeitung, I was led to wonder what is his view of English informedness and intelligence. He should know that access to...

DEALING WITH THE YOUNG OFFENDER

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—We are one of the prisons in this country where Young Prisoners between the ages of 17 and 21 serve their sentences.- • - • • A...

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PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S RE-ELECTION

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In a leading article in your last week's issue on the subject of President Roosevelt's re-election, you state your opinion that in his...

FEEDING THE SCHGOL CHILD

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[To Ike Editor of THE SPECTATOR.' SIR,—I noticed in the Health Supplement to your issue of October 30th an article by Professor J. C. Drummond entitled `' The CommOn Sense of...

THE RECRUITING FAILURE

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To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Nearly three years ago I enlisted in the British Regular Army as a private soldier. Like the author of the paragraph dealing with the...

PRIMITIVE MEN, ANIMALS AND PICTURES

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. Empson seems to think the theory that primitive tribes cannot understand pictures is exploded. But I have repeatedly found natives...

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The Testimony of Sir Austen BOOKS OF THE DAY

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By J. A. SPENDER SIR AUSTEN'S " Epistolary "Chronicle 1906-1914 " fascinates me, but I wonder a little what sort of impression it will make on young people who " knew not...

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King and Constitution

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The King and the Imperial Crown. By A. Borriodalo Keith. (Longmans. 21s.) PROFESSOR KEITH'S latest book will undoubtedly add to his eminent reputation. Some of those who have...

The Christian Dilemma

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IF Christians hold to the reality of God they are likely to lose the sense of responsibility for the world ; if they are concerned with the world they tend to regard Him as a...

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Lord Carson

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THREE volumes are too voluminous for a biography of Lord Carson, but if the work had to be pitched on this scale the third volume is by no means the least interesting. By an...

New Light on Hindenburg .

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Ma. WHEELER - BENNETT has written the most authoritative and the most satisfying life of Hindenburg Mid has appeared. It is true that the first sixty-seven years of the story...

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The Ethiop Painted Black

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Waugh in Abyssinia. By Evelyn Waugh. (Longmans. 10s. 6d.) Pi rrn•ro aside the merits of puns as puns, it is a pity that Mr. Waugh should have chosen one so misleading as the...

Japan in 1936

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Far East in Ferment. By Gunther Stein. (Methuen. 10s. 6d.) The reader, on opening a book of this kind written by a first- hand observer in Tokyo, will turn over its pages to...

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The Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton. (Hutchinson. fid:)

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G. K. C. DURING the last thirty-five years I have read all G. K. Chesterton's books, and I am 'really inclined to think that this is the best I have ever read. The style is...

The Development of a Burglar Low Company. By Mark Benney.

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(Peter Davies. . 9s.) Tuts entirely fascinating autobiography describes the evolution of a burglar. Mark Benney's birth was one. of those accidents which are the chief liability...

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A Horse of Air

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Air Mail. By F. V. Monk and H. T. Winter. (Percy Press. 3s. 6d.) Flight to Hell. By Hans Bertram. (Hamish Hamilton. 10s. 6d.) Sky Gipsy. By Claudia Cranston. (Harrap. 10s. (id.)...

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Housmaniana

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BESIDES Mr. Andrew Gow's Sketch of. Housman's life, one of two fragments of biographical material have recently been given to the public by those who knew the poet. "'A...

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Fiction

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'By PETER BURRA Bread and Wine. By Ignazio SiIone. Translated by Cwenda David and Eric Mosbacher. (Methuen. 7s. 8d.) Henry Airbubble. By W. J. Turner. (Dent. 7s. 8d.) The Clown...

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A SCULPTOR'S ODYSSEY By Malvina Hoffman The trustees of the

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Field Musewn in Chicago decided that anthropology should be made popular. They com- missioned Miss Malvina Hoffman, the sculptor, to make life-size sculptures or busts of all...

A MESSAGE FROM THE SPHINX By " Enei " "

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The object of this book (Rider, 12s. 6d.) is to expound so-called ` Occult Science ' " — what an undertaking ! Fortunately the author contents him- self with a few aspects of...

THE CHRISTIAN FAITH Edited by W. R. Matthews, D.D.

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Current Literature THE CHRISTIAN FAITH Edited by W. R. Matthews, D.D. Twelve theologians, Anglican and Free-church, have contributed to this book (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 8s....

A GENIUS . IN, THE FAMILY By Hiram Percy Maxim To

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be the son of a genius has its good points and its drawbacks. The son of - Sir Hiram Maxim, one of the most brilliant inventors of his day, was fully aware of that ; and in this...

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Trade Activity

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Finance ALTHOUGH. many reasons might be offered for the continued activity and strength of public securities, undoubtedly the paramount influence at the present time is the...

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Financial and Investment Notes

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MARKET ACTIVITY. IN view of the favourable conditions of Home trade, it is not altogether surprising that the activity in the Stock Markets should be maintained, and although...

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"The Spectator" Crossword No. 216

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BY ZENo [A prize of one guinea will be given to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword pn-nle to be opened. Envelopes should be marked " Crossword...

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD NO. 215 SOLUTION NEXT WEEK

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The winner of Crossword No. 215 is F. Deaton, 28 Westward Road, South Chingford, E. 4.