13 APRIL 1944

Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Spectator

K ING VICTOR EMMANUEL'S decision to retire and appoint his son, Crown Prince Umberto, to be Lieutenant-General of Italy when the Allies enter Rome, will go far to• smooth the...

Mr. Willkie's Defeat

The Spectator

Mr. Wendell Willkie has accepted the verdict of the Wisconsin Primary election and abandoned his campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination. That eliminates the most...

Lord of the Ruins

The Spectator

Goebbels has been given a new job in Berlin which is likely to be both thankless and dangerous—thankless because as soon as he begins to restore a little oider in the capital...

Page 2

After the Coal Strikes

The Spectator

The most unjustifiable and frivolous of the more considerable strikes of recent years, and at the same time the most mischievous and damaging to the community, has been ended...

Talks on Civil Aviation

The Spectator

Experience has proved that an international conference can only achieve good results if the field has already been abundantly explored in preliminary consultations. That applies...

Turkey the Equivocal

The Spectator

Turkey is playing a very Oriental game. We in this country acknowledge the courtesy with which the new Turkish Ambassador in London before leaving Ankara stressed the words...

Towards an Education Act

The Spectator

The President of the Board of Education fully merited the general cheers that greeted the passage of his Education Bill through Committee on the - eve of the Easter recess. Mr....

Page 3

MR. HULL'S SURVEY M R. CORDELL HULL in his broadcast address

The Spectator

Iasi Sunday attempted something very difficult and very necessary—to take foreign affairs out of party politics. That has long been a tradition in this country, and departures...

Page 4

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

The Spectator

I HAVE been struck by various letters and declarations by medical men (in connexion with the National Health Servicz proposals) who seem to consider it a kind of moral...

Page 5

AFTER ODESSA

The Spectator

By STRATEG1CUS O DESSA has been evacuated, as it seemed that the Germans planned when, about a week ago, it was known that attempts were being made to remove material from the...

Page 6

THE 10,000 COMMANDMENTS: I

The Spectator

By CARLETON KEMP ALLEN M R. HERBERT MORRISON has recently given a picture of the kind of legislation of the future which he foresees and - applauds. It is to be an extension of...

Page 7

LIBERALS AND PLANNING

The Spectator

By ELLIOTT DODDS "MO plan or not to plan" has become a debating chestnut ; but this antithesis misconstrues the issue. That issue. is not between planning and no-planning (as...

Page 8

FACTS ABOUT AMERICA

The Spectator

By D. W. BROGAN N this catalogue of books which are no books—bibha a-biblia —I reckon Court Calendars, Directories . . . the works of Hume, Gibbon, Robertson, Beattie, Soame...

Page 9

NO ONE CAN CALL US MURDERERS

The Spectator

TELL me, what are these men: humans or animals? Merciless, virulent, black as the pit: And we from infancy had faith in Man, And even now, as soldiers, cherish it. Than...

LONDON SHOW

The Spectator

By MICHAEL MACDONAGH M Y old friend's form of eccentricity was uncommonly .purpose- ful. It may even have a lesson for Londoners in war-time. He was an Irish Jew of the name of...

Page 10

MARGINAL COMMENT

The Spectator

By HAROLD N1COLSON I AM not among those who arc instinctively attracted by the Slav mind ; I prefer Latins and Teutons. Admitting, as one must, the immense virtues of the Slav...

Page 11

THE CINEMA "Paramount News" and " Cross of Lorraine." Generally re-

The Spectator

leased.—" Tender Comrade." At the Odeon.—" The Un- invited." At the Plaza. Cross of Lorraine makes an extremely interesting contrast with a current issue of Paramount News. The...

THE THEATRE

The Spectator

"THE whole production," the programme announces in large type on its front page, "under the direction of Jack Hylton." If one did not guess that theatrical managers, like...

" Butterfly " and "The Trojan Women"

The Spectator

MUSIC OF all operas, Madam Butterfly is surely the most detestable for its bad taste and falsity of sentiment. Even the physically more re- pulsive Salome does not sink quite...

SONG

The Spectator

THE primrose and the celandine Which once with heavenly radiance shone Turn now on me dark faces all In love's decline, in love's decline. The -young sun then in strength...

Page 12

A CORRECTION

The Spectator

MR. WILSON HARRIS writes: Owing to an error in the version on which I relied for a quotation from one of Mr. Churchill's speeches (that on the entry of Russia int8 the war) in...

Sta,—Many of your readers will be grateful for Mr. Wilson

The Spectator

Harris' article on our Prime Minister ; and for .the opportunity of reabsorbing the grandeur of some of the finest speeches ever made by a statesman of this, or any other,...

THE FUTURE OF CONSERVATISM

The Spectator

will turn away from the fantastic proposal introduced by Mr. E. R. Cochrane in last week's Spectator, in which he pleads for a New Conservatism, the distinguishing feature of...

THE MACHINE AND THE MIND

The Spectator

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Sig,—Miss Reaveley's article on her experiences in a war factory touches on one of the great problems of our age—the effects of modern methods of...

SIR,—Even a humble editor such as myself appreciates an occasional

The Spectator

letter of genuine appreciation from readers, and I add this mead to the many tributes you will probably receive for the splendid way that trinity —the Editor, "Janus," Wilson...

THE PRIME MINISTER

The Spectator

SIR, —.After the recent Parliamentary debates and the newspaper discus- sions arising therefrom, your article and Mr. Harold Nicolson's marginal comment on the Prime Minister in...

Page 13

DOCTORS AND THE PUBLIC

The Spectator

Sts,—The Executive of the British Medical Association has in the last few days issued a Questionnaire to every registered medical practitioner at home and abroad, inviting him...

8:F4—Does Sir Ernest Graham-Little imagine that by giving full credit

The Spectator

to the Socialist Medical Association for the - influence it has had on the health policy of the Labour Party, and therefore on the present coalition Government, that he will...

CHINA AND BRITAIN

The Spectator

Snt,—In taking exception to my comments on Hong Kong in my articles on China, your correspondents draw attention to the benefits accruing to China through British enterprise. I...

THE GOVERNMENT AND THE COMMONS

The Spectator

Sin,—One aspect of the late unhappy incident deserves more attention than it has received. I will be brief, even if charged with logic-chopping. r. The whole nation backs the...

EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK

The Spectator

Snt,—May I be permitted to comment on your opening article in The Spectator of March 31st on the defeat of the Government? While many will deplore with you the situation which...

Page 14

CHINA AND THE WAR

The Spectator

Sta,—Owing to the loss of my books and notes re Hong Kong, due to enemy action, I confused the British Medical Association with the General Medical Council of Education, a...

ARE TOWN COUNCILS DULL?

The Spectator

SIR,—Alderman Tiptaft is too modest. His may be the second city in the country, but as a municipal entity it is surely second to none. The Metropolis still has the City...

COUNTRY LIFE.

The Spectator

WE have been saved from a too precocious spring, that pleasant event feared by every countryman; and yet seldom was work on farms and gardens so beneficently forward. The...

EIRF—NEUTRAL OR HOSTILE ?

The Spectator

Sta,—" He that is not for us is against us." Mr. Dulanty in his letter in your issue of March 31st mentions that upwards of 170,000 Irish men and women are now here hard at...

Page 16

BOOKS OF THE DAY

The Spectator

How Apes Behave • MRS. BELLE J. BENCHLEY is Director of the Zoological Gardens of San Diego and, as the dust wrapper of her new book proclaims, the only woman Zoo Director in...

Germany's Spiritual Vacuum

The Spectator

KLAUS MANN tried to start his literary career without giving his real name, as he did not wish to trade on the fame of his father, Thomas Mann. But his publisher would not allow...

Page 18

Solitary Passenger ?

The Spectator

Alfred Loisy. By M. D. Petre. (Cambridge University Press. 7s. 6d.) IN this, the last book we shall have from her, Maude Petre describes herself (as reported by her editor) as...

Fiction

The Spectator

Being Met Together. By Vaughan Wilkins. (Jonathan Cape. Jos. 6 1.) Laura. By Vera Caspary. (Eyre and Spottiswoode. 8s. 6d.) IN a period of dullness such as fiction is at present...

Looking Back at China

The Spectator

China, My China. By Harold B. Rattenbury. (Frederick Muller. 15s.) Tins is a pleasantly written book of reminiscences by the author of Understanding China, an observant and...

Page 20

More Diversions. By C. H. Wilkinson. (Oxford University Press.

The Spectator

6s.)—That Immortal Garland. Edited by B. H. Bronson. (Faber. 8s. 6d.)—Lend Me Your Ears. Anthology of Shakespeare selected by Reyner Barton. (Jarroid. 6s.) — A Book of Comfort....

,_onginans. 7s. 6d.) THOSE who enjoy immolating their critical faculties

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on the altar of fifth will derive much satisfaction from this bright little book. Not on account of the subject: men and women who make on their contemporaries an impression so...

The Baton and the Jackboot. By Berta Geissiaar. (Harnish

The Spectator

Shorter Notices Hamilton. 15s.) DR. BERTA GEISSMAR, born in Mannheim and for many years secretary to Wilhelm Furtwangler, Germany's most famous con- ductor since Nikisch, and...

Page 21

Ti 2 E SPECTATOR" CROSSWORD No. 266 !.4 Book Token for one

The Spectator

guinea will be awarded to the sender of the first correct funon of this week's crossword to be opened after noon on Tuesday week, .4t rh 2511i. Envelopes should be received not...

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 264 SOLUTION ON APRIL 28th

The Spectator

The winner of Crossword No. 264 1S the REV. R. H. J. STEUART, 11 4 Mount Street, W. r.

Page 22

El Greco's "Purification of the Temple." Introduction by Enriqueta Harris.

The Spectator

(Lund Humphries. 4s. 6d.) THIS is number two of a new series of booklets each volume of which will deal with a single masterpiece, most of them drawn from the National Gallery....

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

The Spectator

By CUSTOS THERE is no denying that in the first round of the post-war currency negotiations gold has fared remarkably well. In both the Keynes and the White plans the role of...

War Factory. A Report by Mass-Observation. (Gollancz. 4s. 6d.) AFTER

The Spectator

the fact-finding body known as Mass-Observation had pub- lished its report on war-time changes in industry (People in Production), it was asked to make a closer analysis of...