1 OCTOBER 1937

Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Spectator

T HE League Assembly, and its Committee of Twenty- Three, have shown commendable speed and unanimity in approving a resolution condemning Japan's bombing of open towns. They...

Protests Against Japan The large-scale planned bombing of open cities

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in China far behind the fighting lines and without any evident military objectives has been carried out by the Japanese with a systematised brutality which has aroused horror...

Economic Sanctions ?

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The League is not in a position to order joint action by its members. Nor would any Government contemplate inter- vention, jointly with others or individually, unless there were...

Page 2

The Week in Spain From the purely military point of

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view little of importance has occurred in Spain during the last week. The Nationalist advance in the Asturias is progressing but slowly. Ribadasella is reported to have been...

Labour's Dissensions Even its opponents' somewhat tardy recognition of the

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fact that an overstrong Government has its dangers, and that the body politic cannot be healthy without the purgative influence of an effective Opposition does not seem able to...

Britain, France and Italy The French, Italian and British naval

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experts are reported to have made their plans for admitting Italy to an equal share in the anti-piracy patrol of the Mediterranean. That is one prac- tical outcome of the...

Mr. Lyons's Policy Mr. Lyons's speech at Deloraine, Tasmania, last

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Tuesday, contained several features of interest outside Australia. It once more makes abundantly clear that, whatever may be for the best of Australia as a unit, his success at...

The War in China The war itself has indeed degenerated

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into a mere massacre of civilians This week, Nanking, Canton, the port of Wuhu on the Yangtze, Chingyuan, Chapei, and several villages in the Southern province of Kwangtung have...

Page 3

Post Office Purchases The evidence of Sir Henry Bunbury, Accountant-General

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of the Post Office, before the Committee of Public Accounts has revealed not for the first time the unsatisfactory con- ditions under which the Post Office buys certain...

* * * * Trans-Atlantic Flights The last of the

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series of trans-Atlantic experimental flights has been made by the Cambria in the record time of to hours 36 minutes, thus surpassing the previous record of the Caledonia by...

Mr. Lewis Andrews The cynic, comparing the assassination of Mr.

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Lewis Andrews in Palestine with, for instance, that of Mr. Saunders in India, would draw the conclusion that an official who wishes to live full of years and honours should be...

The Age of Generals The disturbed international situation, combined with

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the opportunities for discussion of military affairs which the annual training season affords, has brought the subject of the Higher Command into some prominence. The Military...

* * * * The Slump on Wall Street The

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London Stock Market this week reflected the severe slump which broke out on Wall Street last Friday, when the American market was described as demoralised. The Wall Street...

The Fascist March The Home Secretary's decision to allow the

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Fascist march through South-East London on Sunday is regrettable. The reasons for this decision, as expressed in the Home Secretary's letter to Mr. Ben Smith, M.P., who had led...

Page 4

EUROPE AND ASIA

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E VENTS that take place near to us naturally loom larger than those which are more remote, but even so sensational an event as Hitler's meeting with Mussolini has not...

Page 5

THE NATION'S HEALTH

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T HE national campaign, inaugurated by the Prime Minister this week, is an admirable indication of the Government's sincere eesire to improve the health of the nation....

Page 6

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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"THE success of the Exhibition becomes daily more pronounced, and on this Saturday, when nascent autumn assumed a coquetry quite vernal, the record of admissions was beaten...

But what does need some further words is the question

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of what Great Britain is going to do about exhibitions like this in the future. That is not quite as simple as it sounds. It would be easy to say that whatever it does it must...

And for that the Government, with its decision about expen-

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diture, is responsible. Is the Government right ? Do exhibitions really matter ? Is there any harm in leaving the field to the totalitarians, or is it worth while to show the...

Here is the Exhibition. Of the various Great Powers France

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does not really figure, because the whole affair is hers. She has no special national pavilion. Britain, Germany, Italy, Russia, the United States and Japan have. And for...

All that is deliberate. One governing idea has been followed,

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officially thus described : " In our Pavilion, our sports and games are well illustrated. Our week-end cottage and our love of the sea and of the country- side receive...

Later on you find the British, set at a fine

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vantage-point on the bank of the Seine at the end of the Pont de Iena, a site crying out, it would seem, for imposing treatment. In fact the site is just half what was offered,...

Page 7

THE BRITISH PRISON : I. PURPOSE AND INSTRUMENT

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By LAWRENCE ATHILL [In view of the interest created in the British prison system by a variety of factors, notable among them the visit of the Home Secretary to a number of...

Page 8

THE DISCOVERY EXPEDITION

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By C. M. YONGE O N October 7th the R.R.S. ' Discovery II' sails for the Southern Ocean on her fifth commission. During the coming two years she will circumnavigate the...

Page 9

MILITARY LESSONS OF THE SPANISH WAR

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By Dr. H. ROSINSKI T HE intensity of political passion roused by the Spanish Civil War has thrust the extraordinary interest of its military lessons unduly into the background....

Page 10

DEMOCRACY IN EUROPE : III. HOLLAND AND BELGIUM

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By FLORIS CANTE [This is the third of a short series of articles on the prospects of democracy in Europe. Next week's article will deal with the outlook in Scandinavia.]...

Page 11

VACANCIES

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By FRANK TILSLEY C LERKS, this advertisement says. Not clerk ; clerks. Young, keen, energetic. Good appearance. Good prospects and pay. Clerks. Plural. Two at least ; probably...

Page 12

STRANGE VISITOR

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By KATHERINE MANSFIELD [This fragment of a story by Katherine Mansfield was lately discovered in a forgotten notebook. It seems almost to be com- plete in itself. To judge by...

Page 13

TO THOMAS HARDY MINGLED the moonlight with daylight—the last in

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the narrow- ing West ; Silence of nightfall lay over the shallowing valleys at rest In the Earth's green breast : Yet a small multitudinous singing, a lully of voices of birds,...

MARGINAL COMMENTS

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By MONICA REDLICH W HY stop at Book Clubs ? The question is a pertinent one, since certain Book Clubs have lately given the impression that they would prefer to stop at nothing....

Page 14

Commonwealth and Foreign

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JAPAN AND FORMOSA By WILLIAM TEELING T HE island of Formosa, two days' journey by boat, south from Japan, is now only rarely visited by foreigners. There is no ban on such...

Page 15

THE CINEMA

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" Topper." At the Empire—" The World In Revolt." At the Rialto DEVOTEES of the farcical, fantastic and slightly Rabelaisian novels of Thorne Smith will recognise in Topper the...

STAGE AND SCREEN

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THE THEATRE I Have Been Here Before." By J. B. Priestley. At the Royalty Theatre THE scene of Mr. Priestley's latest play is a small inn on the Yorkshire moors, filled, for...

Page 16

GROSSTADTSIEDLUNGEN

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[Von einem deutschen KorrespondentenL . Am Rande der Grosstadt, wo dieser larmende and ewig wach- sende Organismus sich langsarn an die Landschaft, verliert, werden Siedlungen...

THE BALLET

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Russian Ballet at Covent Garden FOR the majority, the chief excitement in this second season of Russian Ballet will have been the revival of Coq d'Or. From a scenic point of...

Page 17

COUNTRY LIFE

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Too Popular Pheasants I cannot but think that the pheasant, which may be legally killed this week, is attaining a popularity that does some harm to British sport. It is now...

A Waxwing Card •

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For several years the Norfolk Naturalists' Trust has increased its funds for making and preserving bird sanctuaries by the issue of a Christmas card, showing some beautiful and...

A Textbook Fallacy It is not always wise on the

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part of the amateur gardener to obey with any slavishness expert advice, for example in the date of transplanting. With regard to most trees and bushes the textbooks will advise...

More Horses

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The Oxford agriculturists have been concerning themselves with the prospects of the English horse. About fourteen yzars ago it seemed to be a disappearing fauna. The numbers of...

A Single Migrant A ship coming up the Thames estuary

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last week was boarded by a wheatear, which stayed for some while on board. This wagtail-like bird, which is one of the first to come in spring, enjoys a very desultory autumn...

English Bulbs

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Naturalisation bulbs, so called, are now to be obtained from a number of English growers, in Cambridgeshire and South Lincolnshire ; and on the whole these growers, who started...

Planting Time From 'all sides, including Broadcasting House, we are

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being advised to plant bulbs now. The question about which little is said is : " Where ? " The bulb does not on the whole agree very well with other plants. Many a gardener...

Page 18

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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[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 " paragraphs. Signed...

DEATH DUTIES

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The paragraph on death duties in your issue, of September 17th was less sweeping than the late Lord Runciman's views on taxation, in that...

MAGISTRATES versus MOTORISTS [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]

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StR,—I am sorry if I appeared over confident to Mr. Charles Wright. I make no apology for remaining anonymous. Barristers in the Press are strictly anonymous. But, Sir, I would...

Page 19

MODERNISING THE BIBLE [To the Editor, of THE SPECTATOR.] $ra,—In

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his notes in last week's Spectator, " Janus" refers to a new edition of the Bible, which is shortly to be expected, to be printed in paragraphs without divisions of chapter and...

THE PARTITION OF PALESTINE [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]

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SIR,—The proposed , partition of Palestine is being regarded as an innovation=even as a daring experiment. Yet, to anyone who has been to the country recently, it is apparent...

WELSH NATIONALISM [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—As an

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Englishman with no particular affection for the Welsh, may I put in a good word for the Welsh Nationalists ? Messrs. R. F. Jones and Aubrey Jones and others have seriously...

Page 20

BRUNANBURH, A.D. 937 [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] S IR, —For

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the site of the " battle round " (ymbe), Brunanburh, no part of Great Britain can compare with the area lying within five miles of the junction of the rivers Don and Rother in...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR

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Slit,—I was very interested in the reply to Mr. Woodward's article on the above and its neglect by the British Press. It may be of interest to learn that articles from my pen on...

THE IRISH INVASION [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]

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Sta,—Under the above heading Mr. L. T. Fleming contributes an article in The Spectator of September 24th. It is merely a repetition of what frequently appears in the English...

A PREMIER NATURALIST [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]

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Sgt,—In your issue of September 17th Sir W. Beach Thomas States in his Country Notes under the above heading that hover-flies and sham bees are normally parasitic on genuine...

ARMY RECRUITING IN AMERICA [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]

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Sgt,—Major Ross-Lewin says : " Like the United State3 enlisted men our soldiers are taught to salute the uniform rather than its wearer." Surely this is incorrect. I served for...

Page 21

BOOKS OF THE DAY

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PAGE Georgian Adventure (Wyndham Lewis) . . . . 553 The Sodialist Case (Prof. Lionel Robbins) . . . . 554 Australia and-the Depression (H. V. Hodson) .. . . 554 One' Man's...

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A CASE FOR SOCIALISM

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The Socialist Case. By Douglas Jay. (Faber and Faber. x2s. 6d.) THE dust cover of this work by the financial editor of the Daily Herald states that its object " is to supply a...

AUSTRALIA AND THE DEPRESSION

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Economic Planning in Australia 1929-36. By W. R. Maclaurin. (P. S. King. 15s.) AUSTRALIA'S economic revival has taken on something of the character of a legend in English...

Page 23

ONE MAN'S SCOTLAND

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My Scotland. By A. G. Macdonell. (Jarrolds. 7s. 6d.) MR. MACDONELL is Scottish-born, but he would rather live in London than in Edinburgh (though the golf is far worse) because...

THE PYRAMID PLAYGROUND

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Ancient Egypt Speaks. By A. J. Howard Hulme and Frederick H. Wood (Mus. Doc.). (Rider. sos. 6d.) OirrHonox theology is quite definite on the subject of rappings and trances :...

Page 24

THE PROGRESS OF A SOUL

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The Diary of a Country Priest. By Georges Bernanos. Trans- lated from the French by Pamela Morris. (Boriswood. ios. 6d.) ALTHOUGH this book, which was awarded last year's "...

FIRST PERSONALITIES

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Playboy of the Air. By Jim Mollison. (Michael Joseph. ros. 6d.) My Father's Son. By Giles Playfair. (Bles. los. 6d.) As I Remember. By Arnold Genthe. (Harrap. 21s.) Now I'm...

Page 25

A NOVELIST'S NOTEBOOK

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A Date with a Duchess and other Stories. By Arthur Calder- Marshall. (Cape. 7s. 6d.) A Goon novelist is not necessarily a good short-story writer, and no serious check is...

Page 26

FICTION

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By FORREST REID 8s. 6d.) The Nutmeg Tree. By Margery Sharp. (Barker. 7s. 6c1.) The Rhubarb Tree. By Kenneth Allott and Stephen Tait. (Cresset Press. - 7S. 6d.) The Wild Goose...

Page 28

WISE INVESTMENT

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AFTER a sharp fall in markets it is never easy to predict how soon recovery will come or, if it does, how long it will Iasi. Not merely is confidence shaken, but the losses,...

My correspondence shows that quite a number of people are

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still nervous about their holdings in London Transport " C r stock, although the price has now fallen to 78 from too earlier in the year. Frankly, I cannot think that the stock...

proposals a . fortnight agd,. I Wrote : " If an

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avetage annual profit of, say, -£4o,000 is within reach, then both desks of Preference holders are being asked to give too much away to the Ordinaries ; if the reasonable...

* * * * SOUTH AFRICAN INDUSTRIALS

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It is good to find that the slump in gold-mining shares, which must have inflicted some heavy losses in Johannesburg earlier in the year, has had no serious effect on South...

• . Anyone who doubted the vitality of the pedal-cycle

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industry would .have :changed his mind after a visit to the Earl's Court Show. The;re one, . could find plenty of,evidence that - pedal cycling is enjoying a -boom not merely in...

Page 30

FINANCE

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THE MARKET OUTLOOK—HOME RAILWAY PROSPECTS ALWAYS subject, of course, to the absence of any serious political disturbances, I cannot help thinking that the outlook for securities...

Page 32

Judged by the dividends recently announced by the Associated Portland

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Cement Manufacturers and British Portland Cement Manufacturers, the cement industry is still prospering notwithstanding occasional talk of a setback in building activities. Both...

E.M.I. RESULTS.

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For some little time before the " dividend announcement Electric and Musical Industries shares had been a strong market on rumours of increased dividend. These reports, however,...

COMPANY MEETING

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CITY AND INTERNATIONAL TRUST FURTHER PROGRESS Tan s ith ordinary general meeting of the City & International Trust, Ltd., was held on September 28th at Winchester House,...

FINANCIAL NOTES

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MARKETS IMPROVING. A wEEK of heavy liquidation in the New York Stock Markets, accompanied by a certain amount of forced selling on the London Stock Exchange, has been followed...

THE FALL AND RALLY IN AMERICANS.

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After a hectic week in Wall Street there was a decided recovery last Monday, and Steel Common, for example, which had fallen under 8o, rallied to over 83. Even so, however,...

Page 34

COMPANY MEETING

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ALLIED INDUSTRIAL SERVICES INCREASED DEMAND THE third annual general meeting of Allied Industrial Services, Limited, was held on September 29th, at Bradford, Mr. W. H. Rhodes...

FINANCIAL NOTES

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(Continued from page 564.) A SHARE BoNus. Shareholders of the British Aluminium Company can be congratulated upon the small bonus expressed in the price at which they are to...

A HOPEFUL OUTLOOK.

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I note that Mr. L. H. Kiek, when addressing the share-. holders of the City and International Trust at the recent annual meeting, took a thoroughly sound but at the same time...

Page 35

THE SPECTATOR " CROSSWORD No. 262 BY ZENO

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prize of a Book Token for one guinea will be given to the sender of th e first correct solution of this week's crossword puzzle to be opened. envelopes should be marked "...

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD NO. 261

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NUT oRAICKI Ei RI BI Tiri1741 I I RIE PI LI..E.01_ NI PI U i SI EFFI RI 01 I r i r q GI 1 1 Rrxi SIOI Li Err RITIP RIGI PIUIL S I IOIN AIIIR I LI AIN IE. S PI R I EIIIL...