15 JULY 1949

Page 1

Trying it on in Berlin

The Spectator

Ever since the Russians decided that their blockade of Berlin was doing them more harm than good they have been trying various tricks all aimed at combining the minimum...

CRISIS HOT AND COLD

The Spectator

N OTHING could have been better calculated to turn a red-hot crisis stone cold than the communiqué issued after the talks between British, American and Canadian representatives...

Page 2

Trial by Ordeal

The Spectator

The trial of Alger Hiss for perjury, which has provided the American public with the bulk of its reading material for the past weeks, has ended with a two to one verdict against...

Kite-Flying in the Philippines

The Spectator

What useful purpose is to be served by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's digression to the Philippines, where he has been holding conference with President Quirino ? They have, it...

Groundnuts in the Dark

The Spectator

When the Minister of Food went off to East Africa to inspect the groundnuts scheme on the spot, there was a hope that he might bring back some new facts to buttress the high...

Slump, Recession or Disinflation ?

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As soon as it became clear that one of the causes of the latest British dollar difficulties was a falling off in American purchases, speculation over the exact ssate of the...

Tito Turns West

The Spectator

The horns of a dilemma are never a comfortable resting-place, SIX:1 Marshal Tito may be forgiven the lack of grace with which he has made his enforced switch from eastern to...

Page 3

AT WESTMINSTER

The Spectator

T HE most interesting weeks at Westminster are those in which pre-arranged business has to give place to business which circumstances impose even on Government Whips. This has...

Trees and Timber

The Spectator

The Forestry Commission's latest annual report summarises their activities up till last Michaelmas. Its most disturbing disclosure is that we are still, and indeed increasingly,...

A Foreign Affairs Laboratory

The Spectator

The dinner at the Guildhall to commemorate the thirtieth birthday of Chatham House came too late for mention in the last issue of The Spectator, but it cannot be allowed to go...

Page 4

THE DOCK STRIKE AND BEYOND

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G RAVE as the immediate consequences of the London dock strike are, the deeper causes of a stoppage immeasurably disastrous to the national economy raise issues graver still....

Page 5

* * * * It is a fairly far cry

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back to 1911, but a good many people must remember the famous Sidney Street siege of that year, when a battle took place between two desperate gunmen established in a house...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

The Spectator

H AS the Hiss trial ended or not ? The trial that has been in progress for over a month at Washington has certainly ended, the jury having failed to agree and letting it be...

Various persons who were so bent on getting a Royal

The Spectator

Commission on the Press appointed and arc so palpably discomfited at the outcome of their efforts, are, I am bound to admit, putting up a vast bluff with immense industry. The...

A note-heading in front of me wakes memories of the

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London College of Theology, the Inter-Collegiate University, the Universite Internationale, and other similar bodies regarding which I possess a well-stocked dossier (including...

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RENASCENT GERMANY

The Spectator

By M. J. BONN T HE visitor to Germany finds a still war-ravaged country. The fields look smiling, apart from being pock-marked by bomb-craters ; but the cities are rubble which...

Page 7

THE SCAPEGOAT

The Spectator

By D. W. BROGAN A GENERATION ago a Scottish business-man found himself in difficulties. So he summoned a meeting of his creditors. The most important was the bank-manager, who...

Page 8

EIRE'S TWO TONGUES

The Spectator

By BANN LE KNOX E VEN before the Republic of Ireland was officially declared on Easter Monday, little posters began to appear in odd corners of Dublin, urging, in heavy...

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FALLING DOWN

The Spectator

By EDWARD HODGKIN T HE best-known consequence of the disaster to the cross- channel ferry the 'White Ship,' in which William Atheling and his companions were drowned, was that...

Page 10

ASHBURTON DAY

The Spectator

By DAVID JAMES M ANY, indeed, are the temples at which the British worship their national god, Sport, and to the votaries of one the others arc often unknown. To those who...

ECSTASY

The Spectator

THE strings may falter, but not I. . . I turned upon a wheel of sound— A blue song rippled from the sky, A green song bubbled from the ground. And in that moment I was knit...

Ijr 6prriator July 14, 1849

The Spectator

THE CHOLERA IN LONDON ON Thursday, Mr. BERNAL drew attention to the disgraceful sanatory state of London. He complained of the smells from St. Margaret's Churchyard, which...

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Undergraduate Page

The Spectator

LIVING IN THE FUTURE By C. H. PALMER (London School of Economics) "Be not solicitous, therefore, saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be...

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MARGINAL COMMENT

The Spectator

By HAROLD NICOLSON ETURNING by train recently after a long day by the river, I purchased at the local railway station a copy of the Star evening newspaper. It contained an...

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MUSIC

The Spectator

THE Renaissance Society has recently celebrated the tercentenary of the birth of John Blow with a festival of his music. Blow was Purcell's master, and was succeeded by his...

CONTEMPORARY ARTS

The Spectator

THE CINEMA "Streets of Laredo." (Plaza.)—" Colorado Territory." (Warner.) • — Champion." (Odeon.)-- Poet's Pub." (New Gallery and Tivoli.) Tins is "tough guy " week in the...

HUMOROUS ART

The Spectator

HUMOUR in art is a wide subject, and one day it would be a goocl i idea to collect together some of the many oil paintings with a humorous content, from the fat Sebastian del...

Page 14

RADIO

The Spectator

OUR radio is not, in general, very seasonable. True, some popular half-hours take a summer vacation, but that is a negative season- ability. For the most part the programmes for...

Holiday Time

The Spectator

It is an all-embracing programme, but it reserves its closest caresses for the subject of holidays—holidays at sea or on bicycles, up hills, down dales, with camera or...

Misfires and Minstrels

The Spectator

Letting the knob more or less find its own way round the wave- lengths, I fell in with some light entertainment from which, as one in the sticky morass of a nightmare, I could...

RECENT RECORDS

The Spectator

THE most interesting of these records are orchestral. For H.M.V. Sir Adrian Boult and the L.S.O. have recorded Vaughan Williams' Sixth Symphony, excellently except for a slight...

From China to Peru

The Spectator

Elsewhere recently radio has taken us (for its reporting at any rate must be seasonable) to golf championships, and told us about the Royal Show at Shrewsbury, and continued to...

Colonial Maps and Drawings. (British Museum.)

The Spectator

ONE of the most agreeable by-products of "colonial month" in London is the display of old maps and drawings of the colonies which has beZn organised at the British Museum. Out...

Page 15

SIR,—Mr. Nicolson may be right in saying that few people

The Spectator

today can speak Latin as a living language. Old Persc boys of Dr. Rouse's time can do it well, and some of their pupils too. But their accent by no means renders their words...

SIR,—Canon Ellison finds fault with "those dreary lists of names

The Spectator

and genealogies" in the Bible. They are there because the Bible is a record of persons, not of abstractions. The liturgical use of the Matthaean genealogy as the Gospel in a...

SPOKEN LATIN

The Spectator

Stn,—I was keenly interested in Mr. Harold Nicolson's remarks on Latin as an international mediaeval language in last week's Marginal Comment. I often discussed this matter with...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Spectator

DOCTORS AND THE STATE Sta,—The issue of arbitration that Dr. Margarct Jackson' mentions in her article, The Doctors' Real Work, is more than the sufficiently knotty one of the...

HEADMASTERS

The Spectator

Sta,—The problem of education may be the problem of the teacher, but it is surely more essentially the problem of the headmaster. It hardly seems to be generally realised that...

SPECTATOR

The Spectator

SUBSCRIPTION RATES Ordinary edition to any address In the World. 52 vreeks El 10s. Mi. 26 weeks I5s. Oct Mr Mail to any Country in Europe. 52 !meek, r2 7s. 6d. 26 weeks LI 3s....

TRANSLATING THE BIBLE

The Spectator

was very interested by the letters of Canon Ellison and Sir Howard Kelly on the subject of Monsignor Ronald Knox's version of the Bible. While I agree with many of the things...

Page 16

ENOSIS

The Spectator

Sta,—Your correspondent, Mr. Pullar-Strecker, would no doubt have felt more at one with the word "Enosis," and found in its associations something rather more aperitif, had it...

TREE-FELaNG IN GERMANY

The Spectator

Si,—Mr. J. H. Morrow sees many advantages for us in the felling of German forests, but his letter shows the danger of viewing Germany's problems apart from their European...

THE BEST TWENTY-THREE BOOKS

The Spectator

Sta,—As usual, Janus raises a number of interesting points. Of course, everyone who thinks of the matter does so from his own particular outlook, and I feel that the books...

THE AIMS OF EDUCATION

The Spectator

SIR,—I am dismayed by my friend J.A.B.-C's note, in which he attri- butes with apparent approval to Mr. Butler a definition of the objects of our educational system as: (1) the...

LORD MILVERl'ON'S RESIGNATION

The Spectator

Sra,—The dismay with which Left-wingers greet any of their supporters who dare to think things out for themselves, and, having thought, leave their ranks, is clearly shown by...

Page 18

Farm and Garden .

The Spectator

This year has been notable or the success of the agricultural shows, which culminated last week in the "Royal" at Shrewsbury. Almost all the county and more general shows have...

More Melanism The mystery of the coal-black rabbits which, as

The Spectator

previously discussed, have invaded my garden has further deepened. The third generation of these blackamoors has now appeared, though no old parent of this hue has been seen. It...

NATIONALISED SLATE SIR,—Of what value are the figures in the

The Spectator

Report of the National Coal Board? My last delivery of household coal (February, 1949) was inspected by my coal merchant and by a representative of the Ministry of Fuel, and I...

KNIGHT OR BARONET?

The Spectator

SIR, —Has it ever been noted that in Rob Roy, Sir Walter Scott does not seem sure whether Sir Hildebrand Osbaldistone was a knight or a baronet? It seems strange for a votary of...

THE MINERS MARCH SIR,—At the risk of being denounced as

The Spectator

a crass materialist and every possible type of reactionary, could I ask Mr. Maurice Webb, through your courtesy, if he noticed in the miners march any banners inscribed with...

In the Garden Defence by scent seems to be an

The Spectator

increasing practice. Birds and rodents, as well as foxes and rabbits, may be kept off by the right odours. Little bits of sacking steeped in fluids of the Renardine sort will...

COUNTRY LIFE

The Spectator

A CRICKET MATCH got up for a charitable purpose was held one recent Sunday afternoon on a charming common that has long enjoyed the name of No Man's Land. An attempt was made by...

The Cuckoo's Speed

The Spectator

Sitting in his garden a neighbour of mine saw with great 'distinctness at close quarters a cuckoo fly down to a hedge-sparrow's nest, stop there not more than a few seconds and...

Page 20

For Our Delight

The Spectator

The Floral Year. By L. J. F. Brimble. (Macmillan. 30s.) THIS book is remarkable because its effect on the reader is highly emotional, though it consists almost entirely of...

BOOKS OF THE DAY

The Spectator

"Nathaniel, You Great Man ! " Nathaniel Hawthorne. A Biography. By Randall Stewart. (Yak University Press: Geoffrey Cumberlege. 22s.) 'THERE will eternally be something oddly...

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The English Midlands

The Spectator

Midland England. By W. G. Hoskins. (Batsford. 12s. bd.) " MIDLAND ENGLAND": what do the words suggest ? Industry first of all, I suppose—iron, pottery, boots, beer ; and, for a...

A Chip on his Shoulder

The Spectator

"A good commander," General Stilwell wrote in one of the more coherent entries in his personal diary, "must be impartial, accessible, human, humble, patient, forbearing." He...

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Scientists in Society

The Spectator

THIS is a book which can only be read with difficulty and effort, in spite of the importance of the subject and the formidable qualifica- tions of the author. It consists of a...

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A Poet's Philosophy

The Spectator

The Philosophical Lectures of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Edited by Kathleen Coburn. (Pilot Press. 25s.) C:oleridge as Critic. By Herbert Read. (Faber. 65.) THE few people who...

Doctor Into Dramatist

The Spectator

John Knox and Other Plays. By James Bridie. (Constable. 10s.) MR. BRID1E is a tantalising dramatist. As a man of medicine who came to creative writing late in life, he brought...

Page 28

Love and Mr. Murry

The Spectator

Katherine Mansfield and Other Literary Portraits. By John Middleton Murry. (Peter Nevi11. 12s. 6'd) WHEN Mr. Murry can detach himself from his subject, when he can stand back...

a Attack From Malta THE view that Malta wasas1 unsinkable

The Spectator

aircraft-carrier did not, we are told by Sir Hugh Lloyd, commend itself to the bomber crews on the island ; it was impossible, they pointed out, to maintain a steady bomber...

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"THE SPECTATOR" CROSSWORD No. 538 COMPANY MEETING IA Book Token

The Spectator

for one guinea will be awarded to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword to be opened after noon on Tuesday week, luly 26th. Envelopes must be...

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 536

The Spectator

Fh. IE1511 r 5 L 0 Zic 0 I C A 0 U AI L A A eori !ME 5 0 Cli1Cligl 14 among En VI CI 0,0 12I al1121EIN ri 11 Ei AVM Fl A SOLUTION The winner of Crossword No. 536 Banbury...

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FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

The Spectator

By CUSTOS It was not to be expected that the Cripps-Snyder-Abbot talks would in themselves bring decisions which would resolve the investment uncertainties which spring from the...

Recent Poetry

The Spectator

TRADITIONAL poets, not without cause, frequently accuse the modernist school of cerebral rather than emotional inspiration. Some of the volumes here reviewed confirm that the...