T HE seizure of Swatow, in South East China, by the Japanese on Wednesday may more properly be regarded as a normal military operation than as a move deliberately directed...

Moscow cannot but cause considerable concern. Many good authorities hold that Russia genuinely wants an agreement, and that even without one she would unquestionably support the...

A letter from Sir Norman Angell in The Times of Monday initiated what has already become an important correspondence in the columns of that journal. Sir Norman raises two...

a picture of fine achievement, but that very raising of standards for which the voluntary system has been so largely responsible, together with the growing recognition that...

the Rumanian Foreign Minister, declared that Turkey and Rumania have a special responsibility for maintaining stability in the Balkans ; and his visit to Turkey, and later to...

of militiamen have cost the draftsmen sleepless nights and given the Lords a headache. They will give a worse headache to the militiaman, who will be grateful for his moratorium...

have strengthened the hope that Spain is not finally committed to the Axis and will struggle to preserve the neutral status which corresponds to all her real interests. In...

the deadlock in Danzig continues. The Papal Nuncio in Poland left Warsaw for Rome on Sunday ; he can only report that so far neither Germans nor Poles show any signs of abandon-...

decision of a national legislature is that of the neutrality of the United States in time of war. The present position is highly unsatis- factory. Some of the most important...

in the Ministry of Supply Debates. Mr. Mander was, perhaps, unwise to try to refuse the Minister a Parliamentary Secretary, for the general feeling in the House is that the more...

in the early autumn is being mooted. Sir Douglas Hacking may have had no other intention when he warned his cohorts to stand by, than to counteract the rumours that were getting...

success of its A.R.P. exercises held this week ; yet the reports which have appeared in the Press throw an alarming light on this country's continued apathy towards the most...

provisions. For several years the increase of poultry disease has worried producers, the efficient egg-laying machine of the modern " battery system " succumbing to ills easily...

the House has shown a remarkably quiet demeanour over Tientsin. The Prime Minister's statement, on Monday, was listened to in silence, and there were practically no...

T HE main difficulty that faces the Government in its handling of the Tientsin affair is that no one yet knows what we are confronting. The " incident " which served as excuse...

A P.D.—Armaments Profit Duty—the Government's • new tax on armament profits, has been received with a mild approval hardly to be distinguished from indifference. In some form or...

be celebrated by a series of services from July 2nd to 12th. . . . The Bishop of London will assist on High Mass on the centenary day, July 5th."—The Times. Many readers of...

A LONDON business man who has just been travelling in Germany and Italy and other European countries has given me an interesting résumé of his impressions. One was the general...

When placatory offerings are digested the monster's triple maw yawns wider."—Mr. J. L. Garvin. Maw—stomach.-0.E. Dictionary. Can it yawn? And were there three? * * * *

this country are intelligible enough, but the anomalies they sometimes lead to may well provoke reflec- tion—and perhaps some modification of policy. In one rural district in...

Court lose one of their wittiest frequenters. Much of that wit, well seasoned with ripe wisdom, is preserved in the four volumes of Forensic Fables and For Lawyers and Others....

com- plained that the B.B.C. in its news bulletins on Saturdays and Sundays give undue publicity to the speeches of Opposition leaders, because the Labour Party, much more than...

Austro-German football match described in Tuesday's Times was filmed. If not, the world is very much the loser. The teams were the Gelsenkirchen Schalke (Schalke may be...

X. to Miss Y, the Daily Express inadvertently stated that Miss Y. was 28 years of age, whereas she is 49 years of age."—The

By WICKHAM STEED pHERE is much talk of the need for propaganda. The Prime Minister, while disclaiming the intention of the Government to set up a Ministry of Information or...

By SIR CHARTRES BIRON (Chief Magistrate at Bow Street, 1920-1933) IN the administration of Criminal Law the greatest reforms have been in the duration of sentences. In the old...

By MAJOR B. T. REYNOLDS S INCE the Military Training Bill became law there must be many who are wondering how the Militiamen of 1939 compare with their fathers, the men who...

By EDWYN BEVAN U NDOUBTEDLY the important thing at the present moment is to convince reasonable and peacefully- mindful people in Germany that we have no hostile designs. With...

By ARNOLD NASH U NTIL quite recently relationships between the Christian Churches in England had been embittered for several generations by controversies in the field of...

By MARK BENNEY A T the age of fourteen I was sent, to be cured of my delinquencies, to an " approved " school on the out- skirts of Woking. In spite of a charming rural...

By MICHAEL ZOSHCHENKO N OT so long ago I knew a woman in Leningrad who could not read. Her husband had quite an im- portant job as a Soviet official. He was a man with his head...

speeches of the Nazi rulers that currency value which they would possess if uttered in the House of Lords. The weapon of overt insult is so recent an addition to the armoury of...

M. Duhamel crossed in the spring to England : " What of it? A Frenchman, finding himself in the midst of this spring idyll, suffers more atrociously than ever from his own...

By HAROLD NICOLSON I RECEIVED this morning a letter from a citizen of one 1 of our more enlightened provincial capitals, in which he asked me to address the local branch of the...

and all pessimists. The lethargy of those who strive to escape from realities is not more despicable than the defeatism of those who contend that our present realities are...

with Monsieur van Zeeland. I had asked him to tell me frankly what defect in the British character annoyed foreigners most. Monsieur van Zeeland is a tolerant man, and he was...

words, had considered the implications of the Tientsin challenge or had read the speech made in Danzig by the Fiihrer's representative on Saturday night. " We regard," said Dr....

AMERICA'S VERDICT ON THE VISIT By ERWIN D. CANHAM A S the King and Queen approach British shores again their peoples may well be filled with genuine satis- faction at the...

THE THEATRE " Hamlet." By William Shakespeare. Translated into modern Greek by B. Rota. The Royal Theatre of Greece. At His Majesty's Theatre. THE Greek, townsman o' peasant,...

" Confessions of a Nazi Spy." At Warner's.—" Hotel du Nord." At the Paris. Confessions of a Nazi Spy is an impressive piece of propa- ganda. Based on the recent spy trials in...

The Time-Factor IT was a strange experience to spend one evening in Mr. Christie's theatre at Glyndebourne listening to Don Giovanni and the next a thousand miles away in the...

[Von einem deutschen Korrespondenten] THEATER nach Wien zu bringen, das bedeutet so viel wie Eulen nach Athen zu tragen. Aber das arme Wien, das schon lange gute Miene zum bosen...

The partridges have hatched wonderfully, some very early, some rather late ; and the hope is that the broods grew so strong when the sun shone that they will be able to endure...

and amateurs on the subject of colour schemes for the herbaceous border; but in almost all the emphasis is laid on the big plants, while the edging plants are dismissed...

Common Changes A sort of warfare is arising between the public and those who have control of the commons. Folk in motor-cars pour out of the towns and camp for the day on any...

common has recently become so thick with gorse that it is now regarded as a fox covert. The gorse offers a glorious spectacle at one season of the year, but it is hardly the...

A good illustration at the moment may be found in the white bedstraw. It is blossoming very freely on fairways that have been subject to the mowing machine, but looks of a...

Law, as well as custom, is being rapidly and essentially altered in regard to the commons. Some County Councils, within whose jurisdiction the weekly invasion by motorists is...

A very vigorous discussion took place at the Royal Horticul- tural Hall last week between the C.P.R.E. and the Roads Beautifying Association in order to reconcile what were...

[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must...

Joad goes to work on the Gospels quite wrong- headedly. He should know by this time that no whole or true impression of Jesus Christ can be received by a " mind deliberately...

course, possible to reply to all the assertions made by my critics, but it is difficult to deny myself the pleasure of pointing out how often they reply to one another. " I am...

Snt,—Mr. H. G. Wood writes : " Early impressions go deep, and if the first fond prayers which our lips in childhood framed took the form, ' Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look...

SIR, Mr. C. W. Early's reference to Professor Joad as "a bitter enemy of the best and highest things " strikes me as fantastic as it is offensive. Professor Joad, in his...

subscription to The Spectator behind me, I can recollect reading few articles with greater interest than " The Gospels Re-read." As a young man who "did eagerly frequent doctor...

Sm,—Many must have read Professor Joad's and Mr. Wood's articles as well as your correspondents' letters with great in- terest, but there is one point upon which very little is...

Silt,—Major-General H. L. Alexander's letter, like many pub- lished in The Spectator in recent years, expresses much indig- nation and misrepresents the facts. Boys of 18 and...

SIR, —Major-General Alexander is obviously free to entertain the opinion that compulsory military service is a democratic measure, as he is equally free to make flattering...

SIR, —In A Spectator's Notebook of last week your con- tributor " Janus " suggests that to make permanent the arrangement by which men now at the Universities, and those who go...

Sm,—Lord Hampton's official reply to my letter fails to meet either of my points. I asked whether men who conceive of God as metaphysical, not personal, are forbidden to become...

Sra,—In thanking you for the courtesy of a full review of my book, Ulster and the British Empire, 1939, Help or Hindrance?, in your June 9th number, may I be permitted to...

very interested reading Mr. Nicolson's note on the curious northnesses and southnesses which have evolved in every land, for this reason. Some years ago, lecturing in America, I...

your . issue dated June znd you published a letter from Mr. L. H. Green on the subject of Subscriptions under Covenant. I doubt very much whether any reputable charity...

SPECTATOR] SIR,—On reading Mr. Betteridge's letter, I am reminded of the. teaching of history, that though men will be eager to throw away their lives for some great cause,...

Sta,—I read with interest the recent article by Mr. Archibald Crawford, K.C., calling attention to three domains of law in which " Scots law is better than English," and also...

I express entire agreement with your article " War- fare by Lies," which was badly wanted? England has nothing to fear from exposing the Nazi lies for what they arc, nor from...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR, —In his courteous notice of a book which we have pub- lished recently by Mr. Ronald Fuller, Mr. Christopher Hobhouse refers to its title as...

SIR,—I cannot accept the accusation of writing " pure bunkum " without protest, nor can I here recapitulate the argument of a forthcoming book. May I simply issue a caveat with...

Sta,—Surely the number of foreign troops in Spain has now become a question of secondary importance! General Franco now has a large and well-trained army, controlled by the...

By ROGER FULFORD IT is, perhaps, no serious criticism of this scholarly and accomplished life of Burke to suggest that, while it supple- ments, it does not supersede the late...

Building the British Empire. Vol. I. By James Truslow Adams. (Scribners. 15s.) IT is no easy task—me teste, who have tried it—to compress into two volumes the total achievement...

Theobald Wolfe Tone : A Biographical Study. By Frank MacDermot. (Macmillan. r5s.) OF all the national leaders in Irish history one might have expected that Daniel O'Connell...

STELLA BENSON might have been the subject of the famous remark about the Irish in The Moon in the Yellow River— "we may believe in fairies but we trade in pigs." Stella Benson...

Government and the Governed. By R. H. S. Grossman. (Christophers. 75. 6d.) IN his Introduction, the Warden of New College reminds readers of this book that it is no mere...

THOSE who look upon the deplorable state of man in Europe and in Eastern Asia today may be excused if they feel them- selves drawn towards one or the other of two desperate...

So Many Doors. By Anne Hocking. (Geoffrey Bles. 7s. 6d.) ON this occasion the traditionalists, represented by Messrs. Punshon and Betteridge, have a little in hand against the...

friendliness is probably perfectly sincere (individually, of course, the German is normally a very friendly person), but it might equally be that boring phenomenon which is so...

which has taken the place of what must certainly have been one of the world's most famous cars, the first and, at any rate until very recent times, the most immediately...

It is pleasant to come across a town with so gay a name, and it is only right that one of its inhabitants should have caught the spirit of the thing and called his chophouse the...

The engine is a side-valve of goo c.c. taxed at £6. It runs surprisingly smoothly and flexibly and with little noise. The 4-speed gear-box runs quietly, the dutch has an...

Touring in the Tension An odd sidelight on the tension in Europe is the fact that the motorist who normally takes his car across the Channel at this time of year, is making his...

it all, with the usual " record " bookings. I hear, officially, by the way that the fear expressed here lest, in the event of war, petrol would be unobtainable by tourists or...

and, I thought when I took it over my trial route, remarkably well. At my own rc*uest they sent me the open tourer, becaute I wanted to see .1tvhat the coachbuilders' ideas are...

tortuous and lovely road by which it is approached that makes its irresistible attrac- tion? Its nickname is plainly unique. There cannot be another town in the world...

CRUISE-TOURS THE Cruise-Tour is a popular develop- ment of recent years by which shipping companies collaborate with railways and holiday centres for the benefit of visitors....

Tifis week's behaviour of the stock markets has been little short of remarkable. With a crisis in full swing in China prices have not merely held their ground but rallied...

Two major points for shareholders emerge from Lord Bearsted's review at the Shell Transport and Trading meet- ing. One is that, whatever the outlook may be, this com- pany's...

These are difficult times for companies in the news- print producing and periodical publishing business, and Lord Camrose, with characteristic frankness, made no attempt to...

My first reaction to the new Armaments Profits Duty proposals is that the Treasury has made the best of an inherently difficult job. If one accepts that it is politically and...

WILLOUGHBY'S CONSOLIDATED COL. H. T. FENWICK'S SPEECH . The ordinary general meeting of Willoughby's Consolidated Company, Limited, was held on June 19th at Winchester House,...

" SHELL " TRANSPORT AND TRADING THE annual general meeting of The " Shell " Transport and Trading Co., Ltd., was held on June loth in London. The Rt. Hon. Viscount Bearsted,...

Sir George Albu's review at the meeting of the General Mining and Finance Corporation underlines the strength of the position this Kaffir finance house has been building up in...

the recent setback in markets has been Cable and Wireless ordinary stock, a recent favourite of these notes. A fortnight ago the price was up to £55 ; a little profit-taking has...

Like Associated Electrical Industries, the General Electric Company has achieved a new high record of trading profit in 1938, but returns a rather lower figure of net profit....

OTTOMAN BANK DIVIDEND MAINTAINED SIR HERBERT LAWRENCE'S REVIEW THE annual general meeting of the Ottoman Bank was held on June 20th at Winchester House, London, E.C. Gen. Hon....

Tim twenty-first ordinary general meeting of The Great Universal Stores, Limited, was held on Friday, June 16th, in London. Sir Archibald Mitchelson, Bt. (the chairman)...

SIAMESE TIN SYNDICATE DIVIDEND OF 40 PER CENT. THE thirty-second ordinary general meeting of the Siamese Tin Syndicate Limited was held on June 21st, at Winchester House,...

BANGRIN TIN DREDGING CO. PAST YEAR'S OPERATIONS THE 19th ordinary general meeting of the Bangrin Tin Dredging Company, Limited, was held on Wednesday, June 2ISt, at Win- -...

countries in which the Ottoman Bank operates and political disturbances in some of them, General Sir Herbert A. Lawrence was able to find plenty of ground for optimism in his...

Neither the chairman of Great Universal Stores, Sir Archibald Mitchelson, nor the managing director, Mr. Isaac Wolfson, left the shareholders in any doubt that they expect the...

A TALE OF Two QUOTAS REGULATING Committees which control two of the world's vital raw materials, tin and sugar, have in the past week been taking steps to deal with a threatened...

THE annual general meeting of' the General Mining and Finance Corporation, Limited, was held in Johannesburg on June 6th. Sir George W. Albu, Ban. (the chairman), who presided,...

TELEPHONE RENTALS, LIMITED THE tenth annual general meeting of Telephone Rentals, Ltd., was held on June 19th at Southern House, London, E.C. Mr. Fred T. Jackson (chairman and...

AMALGAMATED PRESS, LIMITED THE annual general meeting of the Amalgamated Press, Limited, was held on June 19th, at Southern House, Cannon Street, London, E.C. Lord Camrose,...

signs of industrial recovery this year must be counted Mr. Fred T. Jackson, chairman of Telephcne Rentals, who reported to the shareholders on Monday that trade was now...

Colonel H. T. Fenwick spoke with considerable confidence of the prospects of Southern Rhodesia when he addressed the shareholders of Willoughby's Consolidated on Monday. The...

Although the Siamese Tin Syndicate, like other tin-mining companies, has earned a smaller profit for 1938 than for 1937, Mr. K. 0. Hunter, the chairman, was able to strike a...

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

The winner of Crossword No. 15 is the Honbte. Mrs. Home, The Tiled Cottage, Beaconsfield.