ten minutes. They were caught by two British and three French destroyers, and in the action which followed two enemy destroyers and two torpedo-boats seem to have been sunk....

as to the effect of yet another change in Admiralty organiza- tim. Lord Pirrie was a very masterful man, and there was a danger lest he should press the claims of merchant...

ton- nage, exclusive of enemy ships, had been reduced during the war by 2,500,000 tons net out of a total tonnage of 33,000,000 up to the end of last year—a net loss of eight...

from the outbreak of war to the end of 1915, owing to the demand for warships and munitions. Since then each quarter had shown a steady increase in the output, which was 420,000...

r 111HE British public, we are sure, has welcomed Sir Eric Geddes's candid and detailed statement in the House of Commons on Wednesday with regard to the vital problem of...

utmost vigour during the week. The Royal Flying Corps disturbed the enemy's communications daily and nightly, and fought many duels. Eighty- four enemy machines were destroyed...

ports, For months past the Allies have tried to come to an agreement with Holland, by which the Dutch, in return for the use of their shipping, would receive regular supplies of...

merchant- men over 1,600 tons and six smaller ships, as against fifteen large and three small ships in the preceding week. Ten ships escaped from their assailants. The hospital...

" will give definite orders to their newsagents for a copy of the " Spectator" to be reserved for them each week till countermanded.

made an important statement in regard to Russia. He was, he said, an optimist about Russia, but not about her immediate future. Unlike Revolutionary France, Revolutionary Russia...

for the cultivation of more potatoes. He says that there is no crop to compare with the potato in importance under war conditions, and that it would be quite impossible to plant...

German Vice-Chancellor in the Reichstag last Saturday. Prince Lichnowsky wrote it in 1916 " for family archives," and " with a view to my own justification or noting the details...

obviously Italy would break from her bonds in the event of war. Then " Austria was absolutely dependent on Germany in peace and war, without an Alliance," and the best way to...

hypo- crisy, told the Reichstag on Monday that the Peace Treaty " contains no conditions whatever dishonouring to Russia, no mention of oppressive war indemnities, and no...

Peace Treaty with the Central Powers. At the same time, with that amazing inconsistency which has marked all their doings, the Bolsheviks expressed their belief to the...

himself for instructing the German Ambassador in Paris, on July 31st, 1914, to demand the occupation of Toul and Verdun in the event of France agreeing to remain neutral in a...

was Ambassador in London gains weight as well as piquancy from the fact that it was a document strictly private, for the perusal of a few intimate friends only, until a copy...

Ministers attended meetings of the Supreme War Council of the Allies held in London last week under the presidency of Mr. Lloyd George. One result of this Council was seen in...

Friday week at Christie's, where the collection of his drawings, purchased from the artist by John Linnell the elder, and since preserved in the Linnell family, was sold for...

was issuing a Curfew Order for the closing of restaurants at 9.30 p.m., and theatres and all other places of public entertainment at 10.30 p.m., throughout Great Britain. There...

House on Tuesday, on a motion for the appointment of a Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs. He said that the proposal was undemocratic and impracticable, and that the evils...

the Times from a young Australian engineer who accused the workmen at Woolwich Arsenal of idling away their time. We must in fairness add that the Woolwich Pioneer for March...

pub- lished on Wednesday, has made a substantial offer of State assist- ance to Local Authorities who are ready to undertake housing schemes when peace returns. The State will...

Houses of Parliament that the Government must adhere to their decision not to secure the release of the three thousand British civilians at Ruhleben by freeing fourteen thousand...

Dillon professes to speak " for a united Ireland." This phrase seems very strange when it is tested by the greater part of the speech, which dealt with the factions in Ireland....

approve " the principle of a League of Nations and the constitution of a tribunal whose orders shall be enforceable by an adequate sanction." Such a League was, he said, the...

speech since he became leader of the Irish Nationalist Party. " pledge myself," he said, " here to-day that if the fullest measure of justice is not meted out to the Irish...

House of Commons on Tuesday after an interesting debate in which there were few dissentient voices. Mr. Marriott put the case for the Bill in a sentence when he said that, as we...

April 5,1917.

THE SANCTITY OF INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTS. T HE debate in the House of Lords on a League of Nations, though it was deeply interesting, as such a debate could not fail to be, did...

I IHE statement by Sir Eric Geddes in the House of Com- mons on Wednesday may be summarized as very grave but as containing the elements of hopefulness. To begin with, it is a...

I T is curious how slavishly the German Emperor tries to imitate Napoleon. On the battlefield, happily, he has failed to rival the Corsican, but in diplomacy and statecraft he...

T HE War Cabinet has taken a step which at first sight strikes one as peculiar. It has issued an elaborate Report of its own proceedings during the year 1917, with particulars...

E VER since Sweden lost the Aaland Islands by the Peace of Frederikshamn in 1809, Russia, until recently, had been looked upon by successive Swedish Governments as the national...

E NGLISHMEN have a prejudice in favour of prejudice. The feeling is part and parcel of their sense of justice. They have a strong sense that the best and the worst that can be...

ANGARY. ITO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR, — The apparently imminent seizure by the Allied Covernmenls of Dutch ships now lying in their harbours revives the memory of...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sia, — Perhaps a word from an American with respect to " America and the Self-Determination of North-East Ulster " may not be out of place....

Sra,—AustraTia's second refusal of conscription is due to a variety of causes which may be generally summed up as disloyalty, ignorance, eelfiehnees, cowardice, and...

[To ran Enrroa or THE " SESCr►TOB. ") Sie,—Many people sorely have long wondered at the absence of advocacy and encouragement of the growing of Dorn crops in allotments and...

(To TIM Ennsint or THE " Sezersma.") Sis,—Is it too late to protest against the proposed scheme of additional rations 1' By all means give the working man an extra coupon for...

[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") Sia,—As an instance of the display of ignorance in the House of Commons to which our long-suffering nation has to submit I would mention...

[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR.''] SIR,—If maize were planted during this spring, not too early, it would produce a lot of good food in its green stage for pigs. The parts...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Mr. J. R. Clynes in defending the continued output of beer on Tuesday week said that- " Under the conditions which he had announced,...

[To TER EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] Sia,—The following quotation may be of interest as affording rather striking comment upon present conditions. It is taken from a letter by...

SPECTATOR.") Sra,—When Herr von Jagow recalled to Mr. Gerard " an old story of the end of the Seven Years' War," that " one side got tired and so peace was made," I expect he...

SPECTATOR. " ] SIR,—In my youth " Grace after meat" was one of the maxims most forcibly inculcated. I should therefore feel guilty if I did not ask you to convey to your readers...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR, — I am very glad that you refuse to open your columns to a theological discussion, but I think you will allow a word of protest against...

[TO TEE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR. " ] SIR, — In his recenly published book, The Old Front Line, Mr, John Ifaseficld writes as follows The hollow or sunken road and the steep...

(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.'9 SIR,—The Pimlico and Westminster Committee of the C.O.S. are much in need of a volunteer worker who would take charge of their Mutual...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR. " ] SIR,—Is not a portion of the community losing its true moral balance with regard to this deadly evil P There appears to be a widespread...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTITOR:9 SIR, — On Saturday, March 9th, the children of Mr. Hugh Clarke, the largest farmer in this parish, told their mother that they had heard the...

CHANGE. vdvrg Be Ads sexplyseea "-irreg. roil yip eel Tiros etair.—(Aneaus.) Cain speaks. A DISTANT cry disturbs my age-long sleep; 'Awakened memory hears a well-known voice,...

IRISH SELF-CRITICISM.* THE five volumes here selected for notice differ in their outlook and temper, but they have at least these points of contact, that they are all written by...

[To THE EDT/OR or THE " SPECTATOR ."] Sia,—Your correspondent of last week may care to add the fol- lowing gem to his collection of howler translations from the French : Le...

name 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...

arc often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.]

English middle class is a courageous attempt to rewrite English history from a novel point of view. He defines the middle class as " that portion of the community to which money...

Tax words set down as the heading of this review are of very wide and general significance to University men ; but for Aberdeen students and graduates they have since 1883...

THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD.* OF this baker's dozen of short stories all but three are detached in time and theme from war conditions. " One of Them " describes how a...

Lancashire story dealing with the engrossing quality of work, even when not of the nature which would have been chosen by the worker. The character of the hero is drawn in • The...

Ix this record of experiences in an invaded area in France we have one of the most moving book3 of the war. The close of July, 1914, found Mine. Yerta, the principal author, and...

the Battersea Polytechnic, has prepared a second series of. Recipes for Economical and Appetialfraj Dishes (4d. post free), principally composed of vegetables, which may be of...

The Allies' Gains on the Western Front, 1914-17 (2s. net), a very useful and well-executed map of North-Eastern France and Belgium, cn scale of ten miles to an inch. The...

T. Williams. (H; Milford. 12s. 6d. net.)—Richard Cumberland will always be remembered as the original of Sir Fretful Plagiary in Sheridan's The Critic, and by Sheridan's remark...

[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent rev( w.] Secrets of the Submarine. By Marley F. Hay. (Skeffingtons. 2s. 6d. net.)—Despite its title, this little...

the War against Germany (Allen and T. T nwin, 2d. net) is well worth reading. Germany, he says, has conquered many countries, but " the Allies have conquered cotton, wool, jute,...

with the deliberate burning of Louvain and the slaughter of its people by the Germans. It consists of two Reports, L'Armie Allemande ti Louvain en Aofit 1914 and Le Lim Blanc...

by W. P. Mustard. (Baltimore : Johns Hopkins Press. $1.50.)—A modern reprint of any Renaissance Latin poetry is so rare that we may draw attention to this scholarly edition of...

has printed an instructive paper, What Freedom Means (6d.), which Mr. Percival L. Witherby read before the Empire. Service League at its first meeting at Hastings, New Zealand,...

George Pollard Bay, whose letters home have been printed by his father in this volume, was a young Australian who with some of his school-friends made the long journey to...

Cox. 10s. 6d. net.)—This curious and instructive book, by a physi- cim who is also a learned Talmudist, summarizes the views both of the old Rabbis and of modern science in...

(H. Milford. 6s. 6d. net.)—Professor Corwin in this valuable book has collected and analysed the documents and debates illustrating the nature of the American President's...