23 APRIL 1932

Page 1

The Dail and the Oath

The Spectator

The introduction into the Irish Dail of the Bill for the abolition of the Oath of Allegiance on Wednesday was . a comparatively tame affair, since Mr. de Valera decided that as...

News of the Week

The Spectator

rimrE PRIME MINISTER has gone to Geneva under a serious physical handicap and general sympathy will follow hint there. From one point of view his journey may be all to the good,...

EDITORIAL AND FIIRLISHINO OPTICES: 99 Gower fined, London, 1V.C.1.—A Subscription

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to the SPECTATOR costs Thirty Shillings per annum, including postage, to any part of the world. The SPECTATOR is registered as a .NetnIpapET. The Postage on this issue inland...

-The Far Eastern Menace

The Spectator

It is more necessary than ever that the attitude -ot Washington and Geneva should be co-ordinated, for clouds arc gathering rather than dispersing in Eastern Asia. The wrangle...

Page 2

The Problem of Aggressive Weapons

The Spectator

The Disarmament Conference, having worked its way through a few necessary preliminaries—deciding, for example, that the method of - reduction by stages, with as large an...

Ambassador and Adviser

The Spectator

The tribute paid by Mr. Mellon at the Pilgrims' dinner to this country's financial stability conies net from an ordinary American Ambassador, but from a man Who has just laid...

More Light on Lotteries It is well that the sweepstakes

The Spectator

organized in the sacred name of charity should be examined froin time to time in the cold light of facts—or rather figures. Sir Herbert Samuel provided some material for that...

The Danubian Deadlock

The Spectator

The Danubian conversations in London came to 'loth- Mg. The Danubian and other States which appeared before the League of Nations Council last week went away empty-handed, and...

The Prussian Elections

The Spectator

Profound uncertainty - Prevails to the last moment regarding the Prussian elections, which will be decided on Sunday. The National Socialists, on the basis of their Presidential...

Page 3

Sir Patrick Geddes Many people in many lands will lament

The Spectator

the death, at Montpellier on Sunday, of Sir Patrick Geddes. He was seventy-eight, but he had the adventurous spirit of a young man, and it was characteristic of him to spend his...

The Kreuger Affair It is no longer possible to doubt

The Spectator

that Isar Krmger, the promoter of the international match combine, bad practised fraud and forgery on a large scale in order to inspire confidence in his ventures. The Swedish...

A Wise Insurance Scheme

The Spectator

We publish to-day a letter written by Lord Lloyd, as Chairman of the Council of the British Provident Associa- tion, and we recommend people of moderate means to consider the...

A Parliament, at Peshawar One definite Indian reform was completed

The Spectator

on Tuesday when the Viceroy inaugurated the first session of the newly-elected Council for the North-West Frontier Province. The elections last week were hampered by the Moslem...

Education and Economy

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The way of a Minister for Education in days when economy campaigns prevail is hard, but Sir Donald Maclean was an economist before he was President of the Board of Education, so...

The famous Schneider Circus, bankrupt and marooned in Naples, put

The Spectator

its menagerie 1111 for auction last week. All the arts of publicity, powerfully reinforced by the appeal of sentiment, failed to make of the melancholy occasion it financial...

Page 4

Paying Our Way

The Spectator

T HERE is no great temptation to comment at length on a Budget whose content The Times summarizes comprehensively and sufficiently in a single paragraph : " No .important change...

Page 5

The French Elections

The Spectator

BY M.A.RCEL RAY. A LTHOUGH democracy in France is sprung from English stock, parliamentary elections in the two countries bear as little resemblance to one another as day and...

Page 6

Central Europe

The Spectator

Nationalism or Co-operation ? V ISITING some of the capitals of Central Europe is- V to-day a sad experience; Berlin and Vienna especially—and to a lesSer degree in...

Page 7

Sex Education at the Preparatory School

The Spectator

By A MASTER. } FROM the preparatory schoolmaster's point of view, . the problem of sex education is twofold. He must first of all give his boys what they will need while they...

Page 8

The Week at Westminster

The Spectator

'111IE main feature of the week has, of course, been the opening of a Budget, which caused the House to shiver like a man invited to take a cold bath at the North Pole. Mr....

Page 9

Witchcraft in Africa

The Spectator

BY J. H. DRIBERG v - iN the days of Olum, our great ancestor, the first I . witch was born, and she was a snake and a bitch and a leopard and a woman of great guile. Many were...

Page 10

The Stratford Jubilee of 1769

The Spectator

BY E. M. FORSTER. A BOUT a hundred and fifty years ago the world of culture was convulsed by the fall of a mulberry tree. A clergyman had cut it down, since it overhung his...

DiaEcr subscribers who are changing their addresses are asked to

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notify the SPECTATOR Office DEFORM MIDDAY on MONDAY OF EACII WEEK. The precious address to which the paper has been sent and receipt reference number should be quoted.

Page 11

Correspondence

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Events at Geneva [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Geneva in the past fortnight has burst into a concen- tration of activity unprecedented in its history. There has been...

Order ! Order !

The Spectator

By HELEN SIMPSON. e - pp U E Forty-two. All persons more than a mile - 1 - 11 high to leave the court." Everybody looked at Alice . . . " Well, I shan't go, at any rate,"...

Page 12

Art

The Spectator

New Paintings by Cedric Morris THERE can be few criticisms so irritating to a thdroughly competent painter than the suggestion that he is a one- track artist. Mr. Cedric Morris...

Page 13

THE CANARY AND THF: GRAMOPHONE.

The Spectator

We have heard a good deal lately about the colour-sense in animals. What of their car for music ? A neighbour of mine possesses a canary which lives in the same room as the...

The National Trust now controls property in thirty-six counties. In

The Spectator

Surrey alone it is lord of sixteen separate pieces of ground. Its advance is most thoroughly welcome, both because it preserves places and buildings most worth pre- serving and...

Too POPULAR SANCTUARIGs.

The Spectator

One rather surprising evidence of the eagerness to taste the pleasure of country things is the embarrassing demand made to guards and owners of sanctuaries for leave to enter....

These discoverers of England are so many that they compel

The Spectator

some social adjustments, and they will probably continue to l tiply. It is as much on their behalf as fur the direct pre- servation of England that Regional Planning is...

• Information is desired by Mr. Middleton. the young Oxford

The Spectator

biologist, from those who have access to estate records of good and bad game years. He hopes to find out sonic law about the periodicity of birds as well as of mammals in...

Country Life

The Spectator

EEDISCON*RING ENGLAND. We heara . great deal about the ruination of England ; and those Who commit patricide and matricide—that is, crimes against their fatherland and alma...

Mr. Middleton and his group of biologists have done and

The Spectator

are doing very good research work ; and it is to be hoped that estate owners who have any useful records will co. operate. It was, however, a little disturbing at the latest...

At present some preserves simply exclude the public, ou the

The Spectator

ground—not wholly unjustified—that it is not to be trusted: The Oxford Preservation Trust, for example, which has done admirable work in a very energetic fashion, has recently...

Page 14

OTTAWA: A CANADIAN VIEW

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, — Not all friends of the Empire can view the forthcoming Ottawa Conference with equanimity. For they must realize that once outside the...

Letters to the Editor

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,[In view of the length of many of the letters :Mich we receive, we would remind correspondents that we often cannot give space for tong letters and that short ones are...

[To the Editor of the Sese - rAroa.] Sus,—Following the correspondence in

The Spectator

last week's Spectator it is well to have even a little more light on this tragedy, though Mr. Thompson only seems to shift the blame from General Dyer to some of the local...

Page 15

THE BRITISH PROVIDENT ASSOCIATION [To the Editor of the Sezersvon.]

The Spectator

feel that many readers of your paper will be interested in the British Provident Association schemes. At present, with the advent of serious illness, men and women of moderate...

:ROAD - AND RAIL [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In

The Spectator

common with other members of the travelling public / find thi - ust upon my attention in the dining saloons of trains, in hotets, and elsevihere, a tract distributed by the...

THE TEACHER IN MODERN LIFE [To the Editor of the

The Spectator

SPECTATOR.] Sns,—As a clergyman who was once a schoolmaster, and before that an Indian civilian, may I break a lance with the writer of the article, " The Teacher in Modern...

TRANSPORT AND TRADE [To the Editor of the Srucrsvon.] Sin,—The

The Spectator

complicated transport problem will not be solved unless the cardinal points, or facts, are taken into considera- tion. There is misconception. There are dangerous moves as a...

Page 16

FATHER WAINRIGHT

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,--With reference to yoUr " Studies in Sanctity No. XII, may I be allowed to add one note of testimony to the love which Father Wainright...

THESE CRITICS

The Spectator

[TO the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,— I read with much interest, in your issue of March 19th last, a letter from Mr. Jerre Mangione, of the Cooper Union Institute Library, New...

GOETHE

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sun,—In the days when all Europe, and even so remote a country as Japan, were doing honiage to Germany's greatest poet, your readers were...

SEX EDUCATION

The Spectator

fro the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,--With reference to your correspondence on sex education 1 enclose a quotation from Alfred Adler's recent book, What Life Should Mean to...

Page 17

SPIRITUALISM IN THE 'EIGHTIES [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

The Spectator

Sin, — Fifty years ago the phenomena of spiritualism were almost as much discussed as they are to-day, and " in the 'eighties " I frequently attended seances as an Oxford under-...

GRAVE CHARGE.

The Spectator

Could not a better subject be found for your Competitors to exercise their wits on than the vulgarization of our finest English literature ? I refer particularly to the turning...

POINTS FROM LETTERS THE 9.15.

The Spectator

May I point out that in correcting another, Mr. W. Cook is himself in error? Mr. Kipling wrote "Farewell, Romance" ; never "Confound Romance."—R. F.

Poetry

The Spectator

Prelude in E Minor (Chopin) Praul.tes it is a silent garden where The ghost of smiling childhood starts up from The rank grown grass and flowering weeds, or some Old image...

A Hundred Years Ago Tea " SPECTATOR," APRIL 21ST, 1832.

The Spectator

There was an alarm of fire at the House of Lords on Sunday which was, however, soon put down. It appeared that a portion of the matting which covers the passage by which the...

THE CALDECOTT COMMUNITY [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—May

The Spectator

I draw the attention of readers of the Spectator to the effort which is being made by the Caldecott Community to give security and happiness, untainted by the mark of insti-...

THE SHEPHERD'S TALE [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

The Spectator

Stn,—Some twenty years ago in Cumberland I learnt the numerals with which the shepherds count their sheep, and to-day I have been reminded of this on reading a book called...

The accession of Prince Otho to the throne of Greece

The Spectator

seems to be somewhat doubtful, after all that has passed on the subject.. One reason assigned for the selection of the Bavarian Prince is said to be the father's wealth ; which,...

Page 18

"Spectator". Competitions

The Spectator

RULES AND CONDITIONS Entries must be typ e d or very clearly written on one side of the paper only. The name and addres s or pseudonym, of the competitor must be on each entry...

Page 19

Shakespeare

The Spectator

Elizabethan Stage Conditions : A Study of Their Place In the Interpretation of Shakespeare's Plays. By M. C. Bradbrook. (Cambridge University Press. Is.) • " Tuts little book...

Page 20

America and Mr. Darrow

The Spectator

The Epic of America. By James Truslow Adams. (Routledge. 12s. 6c1.) The Story of My Life. By Clarence Darrow. (Scribner's. 15s.) Tar writers of histories in Europe have...

Page 21

Science and Philosophy

The Spectator

This Surprising World : a Journalist Looks at Science. By . Gerald Heard. (Cobden-Sanderson. :Is. ad.) Philosophical Aspects of Modern Science. By C. E. M. .toad. (Allen and...

John Donne

The Spectator

A Garland for John Donne; 1631-1931. Edited by Theodore - Spencer. (Harvard University Press, 1931. - $2.50.) Tots book has been produced by the Harvard University Press to...

Page 22

Voltaire

The Spectator

Voltaire. By Andre Maurois. Translated by Hamish Miles. (Peter Davies. 5s.) VOLTAIRE was one of the last of Europe's great men—Goethe was the last of all—who took Ithowledge -...

Late Greek Literature

The Spectator

A History of Later Greek Literature. By F. M. Wright, M.A. (Routledge. 18e.) PROFESSOR Wmeires book covers a period of nearly um years, from the death of Alexander the Great to...

Page 24

Mr. Rudyard Kipling

The Spectator

THE reputation of Mr. Rudyard Kipling has depended - upon the brilliance and fertility of his imagination, upon great construc- tive skill, and upon the fact that he has alwayi...

Page 26

The Decadence of Grand Dukes

The Spectator

Once a Grand Duke. By the Grand Duke Alexander of Russia. (Cassell. its.) " THERE is a room in the Riccardi Palace in Florence where the • Portmits of all the Medici are...

The Drennan Letters

The Spectator

The Drennan Letters. Being a Selection from the Correspondence which passed between William Drennan, M.D., and his Brother- in-Law and Sister, Samuel and Martha MeTier, during...

Page 28

SPARKS FLY UPWARD. By Oliver La Farge. (Bodley Head. 7s.

The Spectator

6d.)—The clash of civilizations again—this time in Mexico. The half-caste hero loves both an • Indian woman and a Castilian, and finds he has room for both.

EXCESS BAGGAGE. By H. M. Raleigh. (Methuen. 7s. 6d.) —A

The Spectator

high-spirited farce about a vicar who thought he had murdered his bishop, and put the body in a trunk. The bishop came to, however, and found that the trunk had put him in a...

In future it is proposed to publish in the SPECTATOR

The Spectator

a corn- plete page of Fiction Reviews by Mr. L. A. G. Strong, who trill henceforward review for no other weekly paper. • •

LOVERS ARE NEVER LOSERS. By Jean Giono. (Jar- rolds. 7s.

The Spectator

6d.)—A good dish spoiled in the cooking—or the re-cooking. There is beauty in the characters of the farm-labourer Albin and old Amedee ; there is strength . in the story of the...

RETURN BELPHEGOR. By Sherard Vines. (Wishart. 7s. 6d.)—There is a

The Spectator

slump even in the nether regions, wherefore Satan sends Belphegor to Earth, in the guise of a clergyman's son, to see what can be done about it. Hard-hitting satire, and usually...

Fiction

The Spectator

141- .L. A G. STRONG The Saint and Mary rate. By Frank O'Connor. (Macmillan. . 7s. 6d.) Dead Water. By C. E. Lawrence. (Murray. 7s. 6d.) Sidestreets. By Madeleine H. Murat....

ADVENTURES OF AN OBSCURE VICTORLkN. By W. G. Riddell. (Macmillan.

The Spectator

7s. 6d.)—As good a book of reminiscences as I have read for a very long time. From the day when Mr. Riddell joined the Trojan ' as third engineer, clad in a straw hat and a...

Page 30

Pigs were made to fly, by the omnipotent Mr. Chesterton

The Spectator

!and - a - white rabbit - talked in Wonderland.-- Mr.- Garnett's !rabbit (A Rabbit in the Air, by David Garnett : Chntto and Vindus, 5s.) both flies and talks.. Its name is...

HEIMSKRINGLA By Erling Morsen

The Spectator

In that greatest of the sagas, Burnt Njal, it is told how when Gunnar of Lithend was sentenced to exile from Iceland for slaying Thorgew Otkell's son, and when he was " all boun...

THE NONESUCH SHAKESPEARE

The Spectator

Again we are enchanted by another volume of Shakespeare's Plays, published by the Nonesuch Press (23 12s. 6d.). There is nothing to add to our last notice in praise of this...

FLEET STREET

The Spectator

By Sidney Dark and W. W. Cobbett The purpose for which Mr. Sidney Dark and Mr. W. W. Cobliett have published their anthology Of :modern journalism, Fleet Street (Eyre and...

THE QUARTERLY REVIEW

The Spectator

Lord Ernie, at eighty-one, recalls his " Early Victorian Childhood " in a delightful paper in the Quarterly Review for ' April. His father was the rector of Whippingham, Isle of...

Current Literature

The Spectator

ENGLISH PAINTING By 'Charles Johnson To survey the whole course of our native art from the Lindis- farne Gospels to Mr. Stanley Spencer's ." Resurrection " in some three...

Nowadays, when one picks up a book with a title

The Spectator

like Rdnking Credit and the Crisis (London General Press, 12s. 6d.). one is numbed by the prospect of 200 pages of rant about bankers followed by one hundred and fifty in which...

Page 32

INTERNATIONAL FACTORS.

The Spectator

The other circumstance which I think is insufficiently, recognized by the general public is the extent to which conditions during the current fiscal year are likely to be...

Finance—Public & Private

The Spectator

A Sound Budget IN the Spectator of March 19th and again in the issue of the 9th of this month, I deprecated the optimistic views expressed in many quarters with regard to Mr....

Gramophone Notes

The Spectator

THE April lists contain so much of interest and value that any attempt at appraisal must, in the interests of space, be rather in the nature of a catalogue. Of the records which...

Page 35

EXCHANGE EQUALIZATION ACCOUNT.

The Spectator

It is now proposed to make that £25,000,000 the nucleus of a new " Exchange Equalization Account," the Government also to have powers to borrow (not neces- sarily Public Loans)...

ECONOMY.

The Spectator

The only other point in the Budget to which I will now refer is the fact that there were no parts of Mr. Chamberlain's statement which evoked greater approval from the crowded...

Finance—Public and Private (Continued from page 608.)

The Spectator

THE EXCHANGE PROBLEM. I shall hope next week to examine the Budget more in detail, but at the moment I will deal only with two further points. To the City and, indeed, to all...

Page 36

A Goon SPEECH.

The Spectator

An admirable speech was delivered at the recent meeting of the Rio Tinto Company by the Chairman, Sir Auckland Geddes. It was a fine speech in the sense that it gave the...

Financial Notes

The Spectator

DULL MARKETS. APART from the continued firmness of British Funds and high-class investment securities, the . stock markets have been dull during the greater part of the past...

IMPERIAL 'CHEMICALS.

The Spectator

These are times when the fullest information concerning the progress and even the details of the accounts of our great combines have become a matter of paramount importance. For...

HONGKONG BANK MEETING.

The Spectator

The skilful manner in which the affairs of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation have been conducted through a period of abnormal dillficultya difficulty occasioned both...