15 JUNE 1918

Page 1

The new German attack of Sunday last was delivered on

The Spectator

a front of twenty-two miles between Montdidier and the Oise, south of Noyon. The enemy intended to reach Compiegne the same night. But instead of advancing ten miles in one day,...

Throughout the week, the French and American troops, south of

The Spectator

the Forest of Villers-Cotterets, towards the Manic at Chetenu- Thierry, have kept the enemy busily engaged. In local attacks the Allies have gained some useful ground, and the...

In the Adriatic south of Pole, last Sunday morning, two

The Spectator

Italian motor-boats torpedoed two of the largest Austrian battleships and damaged an Austrian destroyer by a depth-charge. The hero of this extraordinary feat was Commander...

The Prime Minister, speaking at the Printers' Pension Corporation dinner

The Spectator

in London on Friday week, paid a high tribute to the trained valour of the American troops who had been in action on the Western Front. The Americans, he said, were coming in...

The Prussian War Minister, General von Stein, gave the Reichstag

The Spectator

on Tuesday the official German view of the recent fighting. He assured his credulous hearers that "General Poch.'s so-called Army of Reserve now exists no more," and that the...

So long as the enemy is kept away from Paris,

The Spectator

the loss of ground, though unfortunate, is not disastrous. General Foch's object is to make the Germans pay so heavily for each strip of land overrun by them that they will use...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The Spectator

T HE fourth phase of the great battle, which began last Sunday, has proved up to the time of writing far more encouraging or the Allies than any of the previous three phases....

The loss of the Thiescourt district on Monday compelled our

The Spectator

Allies to evacuate the woods of Carlepont and Ourscamp, lying to the east on the opposite bank of the Oise, which formed a sharp salient into the enemy's lines. The French fell...

THE PAPER SHORTAGE.

The Spectator

TO OUR READERS.—The shortage of paper has obliged us to adopt the policy of refusing to allow the ' Spectator" to be "on sale or return." It is now necessary for readers to...

Page 2

The Imperial War Cabinet, which met for the first time

The Spectator

last year, began its second session on Tuesday under Mr. Lloyd George's presidency. The six members of the British War Cabinet were joined by Lord /di/nor, who has ceased to be...

President Wilson, addressing some Mexican journalists at Washing- :on on

The Spectator

Monday, assured them that America's entry into the war was absolutely a case of disinterested action. He was not, he said, an academic gentleman speaking the idealistic purposes...

In the Nome of Lords on Tuesday Lord Willoughby de

The Spectator

Broke drew a striking contrast between conditions in Great Britain and Ireland. In Ireland there had been a boom in horse-racing, and even "that good old Gaelic sport of...

In the House of Commons on Tuesday Mr. Arthur Samuels

The Spectator

made a general statement about Lord French's extraordinary Proclamation offering land to any Irish recruits who might come forward. He explained that an amendment to the Land...

It is inspiriting to turn from the South and West

The Spectator

of Ireland to such a characteristic event in Ulster as the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. At the end of last week the General Assembly discussed...

Mr. Balfour, on behalf of the British Government, has recognized

The Spectator

the Czeoho-Slovak National Council in Paris as the supreme organ of the Czecho-Slovak movement in Allied countries. The Czecho- Slovak Army, which is being formed, will be...

A meeting of the General Council of the Irish Unionist

The Spectator

Alliance was held on Friday week, when a new Executive Committee was elected. This was the - first opportunity the Counoil had had of expressing its opinion on the work of the...

There seems to be no chance now, alas ! that

The Spectator

the Lord Mayor of Dublin will make his promised Verney to the United 'States in order to lay Ireland's grievances before President Wilson. The' Lord Mayor was guaranteed his...

In reply to an inquiry from Mr. Havelock Wilson as

The Spectator

to the attitude of French sailors towards the Germans after the war, M. Rivelli, the secretary of the Federation des Inscrits Maritimes, has stated that the two hundred thousand...

Page 3

In the House of Commons on Thursday week Mr. Clynes

The Spectator

gave a cheerful account of the food situation, and received well-deserved congratulations. The position was much better than in the early summer of 1917. No belligerent, and few...

Mr. Beck, replying for the Ministry of National Service to

The Spectator

a ques- tion in the House on Monday, said that it was the intention of the War Office to use the greater proportion of the older recruits for garrison and auxiliary duties at...

Mr. Asquith delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford on Satur-

The Spectator

day last, taking as his subject " 7.,ome Aspects of the Victorian Age." The newspaper reports were necessarily brief, as the lecture is to be published in book form. But we...

The thirty-three members of the Limerick Board of Guardians were

The Spectator

prosecuted on Saturday last, under the Crimes Act, for unlawful assembly at a special meeting at which they adopted a most scandalous and seditious resolution. The Board not...

"Nova first magnitude in Aquila, first seen June 8th, 10

The Spectator

hr. 45 G.M.T., approximate position 18 hr. 45 m. R.A., 00 45 dec. Slightly brighter than Desch. Pure white "—such is the official description of the new star which is "...

Food control, Mr. Clynes went on to say, had been

The Spectator

justified by its results. Rationing had worked well, in spite of the inexperience of its controllers, the trades affected by it, and the consumers. No doubt the consumer had...

A Treasury Committee has inquired into the mushroom-like growth of

The Spectator

the many new Departments, and in a Report published on Wednesday has pointed out that the hasty recruiting of very large numbers of clerks led to much confusion and...

The Education Bill made good progress in Committee of the

The Spectator

House of Commons on Monday and Tuesday. The crucial Clause 10, making attendance at continuation schools compulsory for children between fourteen and sixteen within the next two...

Mr. G. H. Roberts, the Minister of Labour, made an

The Spectator

admirable speech at Dartford on Sunday last on "Humanizing Industry." On the one hand, he urged that an employer should pay every employed person "such a wage as would enable...

Bank rate,5 per cent., changed from 51 per cent. April

The Spectator

5,1917.

Page 4

THE PRIME MINISTER'S PLEDGES. H ERE are the Pledges made to

The Spectator

the British People by Mr. Lloyd George and his colleagues in regard to Conscription for Ireland on April 9th, 1918 We propose to extend the Military Service Act to Ireland...

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The Spectator

THE ROAD TO DEMORALIZATION. E VERY one who lamented the orgies of mental disorder- liness, indecency, and reckless mud-slinging which were indulged in during the trial of Mr....

Page 5

PRESIDENT WILSON'S IDEALISM.

The Spectator

I F we are to believe some of our newspapers, President Wilson is alone among the leaders of the Great Alliance in speaking the language of idealism. The European leaders of the...

Page 6

THE BALTIC QUESTION.

The Spectator

T HE old British idea of the Balance of Power .which some well-meaning theorists now try wholly to discountenance, must be keenly appreciated in Scandinavia to-day. For the...

Page 7

THE INCOME TAX. F ROM time to time, but by no

The Spectator

means too often, the House of Commons discusses the Income Tax and various suggested schemes of reform. Such discussions at any rate have the merit of recognizing the tremendous...

Page 8

THE " FRF.TE ZE1TUNG "—A DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL

The Spectator

ORGAN. U NDER the foregoing title on April 14th, 1917, there appeared in Berne a newspaper which rapidly succeeded in ,differen- tinting itself from other Swiss newspapers by...

Page 9

WOMEN'S VILLAGE COUNCILS

The Spectator

T HE question of State aid for buildings for the poor as one of the steps towards Reconstruction after the war, was brought forward in July, 1917. It was tentatively suggested...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Spectator

[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.] THE BILLING CASE: PRIVILEGE...

Page 10

ON LYING AS A WEAPON IN POLITICAL CONTROVERSY.

The Spectator

[TO TM EDITOR Or TRE "SPECTATOR.") Sia,—Some time ago an article appeared in the Spectator dealing with a peculiar aspect of the Irish controversy. It was, one felt, regarded...

Page 11

A STRANGE COINCIDENCE.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR Or TH1 " SPECTATOlt."3 observed in the papers a short time ago that a new saint had been added to the Roman Catholic Church, and on carefully comparing the dates...

AN AMERICAN VIEW OF THE IRISH PROBLEM.

The Spectator

[To 'FRE EDITO1 Or THE " SPICCTATOH."] SIE,—The average American is puzzled to know why so much attention is now being paid to Ireland. Is it because she has done so much, or so...

THE VICTORIAN ERA.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTAT011."] Sus,—In the Romanes Lectures at Oxford Mr. Asquith omitted to point out that all the prominent men he named were born and brought up under...

ROGER BACON ON GERMAN LUST OF DOMINATION. [TO TBX EDITOR

The Spectator

Or THE " SPECTATOR."] Sia,—.4 propos the recent appeal to the Prussian House of the Order of St. John -of Jerusalem and the comment of an evening paper that it was wrong to...

THE IRISH QUESTION.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTIAOH."] Sr,—Allow me to congratulate you on the firm stand you are taking regarding the Irish question. What this country has been suffering from...

Page 12

"HOWLERS."

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] S112,—Have you room for this, which seems worth printing? Assuctos tauri coitus, assueta eones Antra petunt — "The lions seek their...

" STUNT."

The Spectator

[To roc EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] &a,—May I venture to express my regret that in the article ''Prisoners of War" in your isslie of May 25th you have admitted to your columns...

PO E TRY.

The Spectator

STONEHENGE. GAUNT on the cloudy plain Stand the great Stones, Dwarfed in the vast reach Of a sky that owns All the measure of earth Within its cloud-hung cave. Dumb stands the...

BOOKS.

The Spectator

TIDAL LANDS.* IT is significant that an engineer and a botanist should have joined in writing this very able and interesting book on shore problems. Their collaboration...

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND NONCONFORMISTS. [To THE BETTOR OF

The Spectator

THE "SPECTATOR."] Sna—With shame and bitter sorrow I read the letter of a "Pres- byterian father" in your issue of Tune 8th with referenCe to the conduct of a chaplain at the...

A BOARDING-SCHOOL FOR WORKING MEN'S CHILDREN.

The Spectator

[To 72£ EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] &u,—We beg to draw your attention to an experimental boarding- school recently started for the children of working men. It was the Outcome...

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

The Spectator

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

Page 13

GREEK TRAGEDY.*

The Spectator

MISS MATTHAEI defines the aim of these studies, founded on lectures delivered to students of Newnham College, as an attempt to analyse "the qualities which make the Tragic...

Page 14

A DEMONSTRATION OF SEA-POWER.*

The Spectator

IT was a Pacificist writer, Mr. F. W. Hirst—as Mr. Hurd reminds us in his Introduction to this book—who declared that the British Fleet was the creation of" Six Panics." Mr....

Page 15

FICTION.

The Spectator

FRENZIED FICTION-I' Fr is no business of the reviewer of a new volume by Mr. Leacock, if he happens to be also a convinced admirer of that intrepid humor- ist, to forestall the...

• POEMS BY MR. MAURICE BARING.* Tim general level of

The Spectator

the verse in Mr. Maurice Baring's new book is so high that it brings irresistibly before the reader a vision of a wastepaper-basket overflowing with the rejected. Each one of...

A SHORT HISTORY OF FRANCE.* To many of us French

The Spectator

history has always been the most delightful reading. And when it is French history written by Mine. Duclaux, and specially for that large class of "cultivated and ignorant"...

Page 16

READABLE NOVELS.—The Long Lane's Turning. By Hallie Erminie Rives. (Hurst

The Spectator

and Blackett. 6s.)—An American novel much concerned with the world of lawyers.—The House of Silent Footsteps. By Aniline Grace. (Stanley Paul and Co. 6s.)—Deals with the doings...

The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony (Wireless Press,

The Spectator

Os. net) is a bulky volume which by its very size testifies to the high importance that wireless has so rapidly acquired. The list of land and ship stations alone fills nearly...

The Greek Foreign Office has issued a Report on the

The Spectator

Persecutions of the Greek Population in Turkey since the Beginning of the European War (Constable and Co., Is.) which shows plainly that the Turks, under German direction, are...

Under the title of Revelations by an ex-Director of Krupp's

The Spectator

(3d. net) Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton have published a translation of the text of the remarkable memorandum by Dr. Mahlon, first published in the Berliner Tageblatt of March...

The Virgin Islands of the United States of America. By

The Spectator

Luther K. Zabriskie. (G. P. Putnam's Sons. 20s. net.)—This is a full and well-illustrated account of the islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, with their dependencies,...

England in the Seven Years' War. By Sir Julian S.

The Spectator

Corbett. 2 vols. (Longmans and Co. 21s. net.)—Sir Julian Corbett's able and fascinating book on the elder Pitt's war, which has just reached a second edition, is of special...

Cyprus under British Rule. By Captain C. W. J. Orr.

The Spectator

(R. Scott. 6s. net.)—Captain Orr gives a lucid and interesting account of our administration of Cyprus from 1878. He is inclined to blame the Colonial Office for moving too...

The Ministry of Labour has issued a most valuable and

The Spectator

interest- ing Report of an Enquiry into Works Committees (Stationery Office, 6d.), which throws new light on the relations between Trade Unions and Shop Stewards or Works...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

The Spectator

[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent review.] The Round Table for June has a very interesting article on" The Growth of American War-Power," in which...