23 MAY 1931

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Mr. Henderson, we are glad to say, has been invited

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to preside over the Disarmament Conference next year. On Tuesday, in asking the European Commission to appoint a Committee on Procedure he took the opportunity to make a speech...

The B.I.S.

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The first annual general meeting of the Bank for Inter. national Settlements was held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Mr. McGarrah, and the representatives Of the...

EDITORIAL AND PUBLLSRINO OFFICES : 99 Gower Street, London, W.C.

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1.—A Subscription to the SPECTATOR coats Thirty Shillings per annum, including postage, to any part of the world. The SpEcrs:rou is registered as a Newspaper. The Postage on...

News of the Week

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Geneva T HE European Commission of the League of Nations appointed to consider the scheme for the closer federation of Europe has met at Geneva, and been in Session alternately...

Parliament On Thursday, May 14th, the Prime Minister made a

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statement on British airship policy. The shadow of the destruction of the R101 ' and with it of the best human knowledge of the subject that we possessed, hung over the House....

[Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the

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SPECTATOR.]

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Mr. Chamberlain opened the attack vigorously, exposing the anomalies of

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the Bill and the inconsistencies between the effects threatened and those at which such legislation . as the • Town and Country Planning Bill aimed. .He accused the Government...

Sir Henry Buckingham, whose knowledge and experi- ence of Income

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Tax administration are very wide, spoke forcibly upon the proposed changes, which would cen- tralize administration in" Somerset House and inevitably lead to more and *More...

The National Liberal Federation At the meeting of the National

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Liberal Federation held at Buxton on May 15th, Mr. Lloyd. George made a brilliant speech in defence of his Parliamentary tactics and carried his audience enthusiastically with...

On Monday Russian iniquities were the subject of questions and

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of the debate on the Foreign Office vote. Sir Austen Chamberlain had nothing really new to say in attack, nor the Government anything new to say in defence. The Prime Minister...

India Simla now waits for London to fix a date

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for the resump- tion of the Round Table Conference. India's fears that it may not be the very earliest possible date are the more unfortunate in that one of the most hopeful...

On Tuesday leave was refused for the introduction of a

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Hospital Lotteries Bill. We dislike interference with liberty ; we distrust efforts to legislate in moral matters ; but having watched the change in our country as its national...

• * * On Friday, May 15th, the Commons discussed

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our telephones on the Post Office Bill. The Assistant Post- master-General gave a rosy account of development up to now and expected to spend over thirty millions in development...

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The End of " Solitary Confinement " We are glad

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to hear that Mr. Clynes, by Statutory Rule under the Prison Act of 1898, has finally abolished the preliminary fortnight which every man condemned to hard labour has hitherto...

International Currency Reform With the statesmen of Europe consulting together

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at Geneva for the economic recovery of their continent, the moment might be ripe for the introduction of some measures to control the vagaries of gold-standard currencies. Lord...

* * * * The Wheat Conference The Wheat Conference

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which is being held at the invitation of Canada opened in London on Monday. Mr. Howard Ferguson, the High Commissioner for Canada, in his opening speech to the delegates of...

* * * * Lord Beauchamp, the Chancellor, who lately

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returned from a tour of the American universities, said at the London graduation ceremony last week that he wished to see our rich men endowing our universities on some- thing...

By-Election The result of the by-election in the Ogmore (Glamorgan)

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division, caused by the death of Mr. Vernon Hartshorn, can give little satisfaction to the Labour Party. Mr. Edward Williams (Labour), although he was opposed only by a...

Miners' Wages The negotiations between the Cabinet, the Miners' Federation

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and the Mining Association were temporarily suspended, but are to begin again. The International Labour Conference at Geneva will very soon be called upon to decide the question...

* * London University .

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The University of London acquired a fine Bloomsbury site for its headquarters some years ago, but• has done nothing with the land yet from lack of funds. The Gold- smiths'...

* * * * Bank Rate 21 per cent., changed

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from 8 per cent. on May 14th, 1931. War Loan (5 per cent.) was on Wednesday 1021; on Wednesday week, 1021 ; a year ago, 102k, Funding Loan (4 per cent.) was on Wednesday 961 ;...

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Empire-citizenship and World-citizenship

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[The country has been shocked by the fact that for some days past the DAILY EximEss has thrust upon its readers a fierce attack upon the League of Nations. It has tried to pour...

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Europe

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G ENEVA is this week once more the most interesting scene in the world. The meetings of the Assembly generally far surpass those of the Council of the League of Nations in...

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The Week in Parliament

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A S one looks back on the work of this closing week of Parliament before the Whitsuntide recess, a question • has suggested itself : Has, it ever occurred to a Member to make a...

Ramblers and the Countryside

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D URING the Whitsuntide holidays an experiment is taking place in Derbyshire which will be watched by the rest of Great Britain with interest, especially by those who care for...

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The Colour Bar

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[The Spectator : does not necessarily agree with all the views of the writers contributing to this series on the Colour Bar. Our object in publishing the series is to attempt...

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The Idea of God—VIII

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Christian Theism—A Unitarian View BY S. H. MELLONE. [Dr. S. H. Mellon is an examiner in Philosophy at the University of London, and has published numerous philosophical and...

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May 30—Feast of St. Joan of Arc

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By CECILIA TOWNSEND. (The Fifth Centenary of the death of Joan of Arc will be •om- memorated in Rouen on May 30th.—En. Spectator.] "T HE Book of the Wars of the Lord " is...

THE SPECTATOR.

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Before going abroad or away from home readers are , advised to place an order for the SPECTATOR. The journal will be forwarded t) any address at the following rotes :— One...

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Of Poetry and Pigs

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By LORD HOWARD OF PENRITH. T T is really strange that the pig, a most useful animal, should have been so studiously neglected by poets. He has, however, qualities which should...

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A Penny of Observation

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TELEPHONE REFORM. We shall be sorry indeed if the projected reform of our tele- phone system does not include the appointment to an advisory position in the Post Office of at...

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THE CHIMNEY-SITTER. Flying a small black flag and eating hard-boiled eggs, a young man recently sat at the top of a 130-foot factory chimney in Tokyo for no less than 314...

RATIONALIZE THE SONG-BIRDS.

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" The Nightingale," wrote Izaak Walton, " breathes such sweet lowd musick out of her little instrumentall throat, that it might make mankind to think Miracles are not ceased."...

• ' * * *

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THOUGHTS ON MISREPRESENTATION. Reflecting on the news that the Chinese Government is being asked to make a diplomatic protest against the British film producers' habit of...

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Art

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No happier nor more appropriate title could have been devized by Mr. Richard Sickert, A.R.A., for his exhibition at the Leicester Galleries than " English Echoes." Mr. Sickert...

The Theatre

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[" THE GOOD COMPANIONS." BY J. B. PRIESTLEY AND EDWARD KNOBLOCK. AT HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE. " PAY.. MENT DEFERRED." By JEFFREY DELL. AT THE ST. JAMES'S THEATRE. " THE HAIRY APE."...

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Correspondence

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THE LEAGUE AND EUROPE. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—As I write the League of Nations is applying itself to the twofold task of damping down the agitation the...

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* * * * HOSPITABLE ENGLAND.

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While some natives were complaining of our spring weather I met an Australian, enjoying his first visit to England, who could not contain his lyrical admiration. " This spring...

*

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THE VOGUE OF BLUE. Two of the more recent introductions to our gardens from very remote places are flourishing in a certain Kent garden and are worth the attention of every...

Blue is a colour after which most gardeners thirst. Some

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have a mania for the blue border, and how much time and labour have been spent vainly, and indeed foolishly, on the creation of a blue sweet pea and a blue rose passes com-...

RECLAMATION FOR SPORT.

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A new excuse for reclaiming the Wash is under discussion. Every year for many years I have visited the banks of the Nene, near its outflow, and watched, beyond the eastern bank,...

* * * * This May the natural beauties would

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be enough if there were no more animals than the skunks, wombats and llamas which were the only inhabitants when first I visited the place ; and the keeper's delightful spaniel...

* * *

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A little annual that is not enough grown is the nemophila, of a delicious blue. Probably it has been ousted by the nemesia—originally a bronze-yellow, but now procurable in...

Perhaps Australian flowers—which are very lovely—are less seen in Britain

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than the flowers of any part of the world. That island-continent is peculiar to itself in many ways. The marsupials and many of the other animals, from tree bears to platypus or...

Country Life THE NEW ZOO.

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The opening of the Whipsnade Zoo this week is a wonderful Whitsuntide present to the public. The place is as good almost as a National Park. It has all the qualities desired in...

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SLAVERY IN SIERRA LEONE

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SM,—I am much interested in Mr. John H. Harris's letter in the Spectator of May 16th. As one who spent nearly fifteen years, first an an...

Letters to the Editor

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[In that The new of . the length of many of the letters which we receive, we would remind correspondents we often cannot give space for long letters and that short ones are...

IMPRISONMENT OF BOYS ON REMAND

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[To the Editor of the SrEcrxron.] Sta,—Speaking from thirty-six years' experience in the London police courts, I doubt if Mr. Cadogan or Miss Cicely Craven quite understand the...

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RUSSIAN TIMBER CAMPS

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—In its issue of February 7th Forward brings together a number of extracts from different newspapers—which few people ever sec contiguously...

CENTRALIZING INCOME TAX COLLECTOR S [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

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SIR,—There is a solid case for centralizing the appointment of Income Tax collectors, even if it involves the disappearance of local assessors. The old parochial system of...

THE PULFORD STREET SITE

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. Currie, in his letter of the 9th-instant burkes the issue. He claimed originally that consequent upon the Millbank Improvement Scheme,...

" DISRAELI "

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Would you allow me to supplement, chiefly from the last work written by an avowed .Tory panegyrist, what is, I believe, the true version...

• CASTLEREAGH AND BULWER LYTTON

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Absence abroad accounts for my reading a small batch of Spectators together, and so I read the reviews of Professor Webster's Castlereagh...

DR. GUILLOTIN

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sum,—Should Mr. Churchill, Sir Herbert Samuel, and other serious students wish to know more of Dr. Guillotin, apart from his (?) machine, they...

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POLITICS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] feel Mr. D. McClure Campbell's definition of the difference between North and South as "a religious difference turned political" is...

i'HE ELGIN MARBLES

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] . Sia,—There are two points about the Elgin Marbles which I have not seen mentioned in the Spectator. There is a perfectly valid reason why a...

WHAT ARE MODERN DESIGNERS DOING ?

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—In reference to furnishing and your question, "What are our modern designers doing ? " the reply of Commander David Joel, R.N., is...

PUBLIC FOOTPATHS

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIB, —As a regular reader of the Spectator I have been much interested in the letters appearing in your correspondence columns under the...

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THE EXPORT OF HORSES FOR BUTCHERY [To the Editor of

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the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —The Spectator is ever open to appeals to our respon- sibility as to animals. Again and again the evils of the export trade in horses for butchery have been...

GREAT BRITAIN AND THE " ZOLLVEREIN" [To the Editor of

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the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The proposed Austro-German Customs Union gives Great Britain a providential opportunity, by stoutly countering France's attitude, to regain her erstwhile...

Hospital Night

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THE ward is never dark ; here patient skies Lend not their night to sweep Smoother than feathers over shuttered eyes In silver fronds of sleep. There is no silence in these...

_POINTS FROM LETTERS ,

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SUNDAY CINEMAS. Will you allow me to quote without any comment the experience of Mr. S. R. Wells, the Unionist Member for Bedford, as reported in the Bedfordshire Times of May...

. DESNEENO.

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A lad named Duggan, of sixteen years of age, died on Sunday last, in consequence of drinking gin. The Coroner regretted he had not power to punish a companion who had been...

HUMANE SLAUGHTER IN GENEVA.

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The Duchess of Hamilton and Miss Lind-atHageby arranged, under the auspices of the Geneva Bureau of the Animal Defence Society on May . 15th, a successful _ demon- stration of...

A Hundred Years Ago

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THE " SPECTATOR," MAY 21sT, 1831. " NAPOLEON BUONA PARTE AT COVENT GARDEN. . . . The de'ath-bed scene follows: it is painfully literal, and quite unfit for stage...

THE INDIAN BOYCOTT [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—However

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sorry one may feel that the Indian boycott of foreign cloth hits Lancashire hard, it cannot be said that the motive behind the boycott is either improper or unnatural. It now...

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A Christian Gentleman

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Sir Philip Sidney. By Mona Wilson. (Duckworth. 21s. ) OF historical might-have-beens one of the most fascinating to dwell upon is : What would have happened if Sidney had worn...

Homage to Hollywood

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The Life and Adventures of Carl Laemmle. By John Drink. water. (Heinemann. 10s. 6d.) THERE are in America, more than in any other country, large numbers of men who, although...

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Lytton Strachey's Portraits

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Portraits in Miniature is one of Mr. Strachey's least important and most amusing books. It contains a dozen very short biographies of all sorts of queer people, from Mary Berry...

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A Brave Bishop

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SINCE John Colenso delivered himself about the Pentateuch, no bishop has written a more courageous book than this. From time to time the author lifts up his voice in the House...

The Five Year Plan

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The Economic Life of Soviet Russia. By Calvin B. Hoover, Ph.D. (Macmillan. 12s. 6d.) THE former of these books is a scientific study of Russian economic conditions, a sincere...

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The Platonic Tradition The Platonic Tradition in Anglo-Saxon Philosophy. By

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J. H. Muirhead. (Allen and Unwin. 16s.) TUE English, it is usually held, are a tough-minded race. I do not necessarily mean that they are brutal or obtuse ; I do not even mean...

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An Augustan Age

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Georgian England : 1700 to 1820. By A. E. Richardson, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. (Batsford. Illustrated. 21s.) NOWHERE in Professor Richardson's survey of the social life, trades,...

De Vera Religione

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Christian Faith and Life. By. William Temple, Archbishop of York. (Student Christian Movement. 3s.) Tins little book contains the text of the eight lectures delivered by the...

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Sheridan

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Iv they enter public life at all, men as able, as restless, and as versatile as Sheridan are bound to externalize themselves. They have their parts to play, and the bigger and...

What is Depression.?

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The Problem of Maintaining Purchasing Power. By P. W. Martin. (P. S. King. 10s. 6d.) THERE is an old difference of opinion between economists and men of business on the subject...

F • •

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action Twopence Coloured, Penny Plain WHEN Mr. Brinig's first novel Singermann was published here last Spring it attracted a great deal of critical attention and praise. By...

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THUNDERCLAP. By John Brophy. (Eric Partridge. 6s.) —Having read other

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examples of Mr. Brophy's work, we will not judge him by this fantasy, which, despite amusing moments, is a little too heavy-footed for our taste.

TOP STOREY MURDER. By Anthony Berkeley. (Hodder and Stoughton. 7s.

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6d.)—Begins with the discovery of a murdered woman in a ransacked room. The first part is dull, the second interesting and the third thrilling. Honours arc divided between...

New Novels

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STAR DUST. By D. L. Murray. (Constable. 7s. 6d.)— The sordid and romantic aspects of circus life are both faithfully mirrored in this absorbing tale. Circus-born, convent-bred,...

THE HOLIDAY OMNIBUS. (Gollancz. 7s. 6d.)—A one volume library containing

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three novels, short stories, chapters from life, poetry and The Barretls of W impole Street. A good bargain for those who like literature in the form of a " lucky dip."

EVENING LIGHT. By Hugh de Selincourt. (Chapman and Hall. 7s.

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6d.)—This charming portrait of a Victorian woman and her relationship with two men is so tenderly and persuasively revealed by one of them, that to ques- tion the likelihood of...

MOCK TURTLE. -By Barnaby Brook. (Toulmin. 7s. 6d.)— Anecdotal reminiscences

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of eminent Victorians by an anonymous and presumably fictitious contemporary. An amusing idea and an amusing hotch-potch to dip into.

ONE NIGHT IN SANTA ANNA. By Thomas Washington- Metcalfe. (Cassell.

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7s. 6d.)—In this first volume of a trilogy, the author writes beautifully about many lovely things. His story of a ship and a woman, gallantry and romance should not be missed...

THE MAN WITH THE TWO MIRRORS. By Edward Knoblock. (Chapman

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and Hall. 7s. 6d.)—This story, which really is a story, records the life history, business and love affairs of a dealer in antiques. The author knows his subject and makes the...

Some Books of the Week

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EDWARD CARPENTER wrote his own life in My Days and Dreams, but he left ample room for the delightful volume of recollections and tributes and estimates which a number of his...

A PIG IN A POKE. By Rhys Davies. (Joiner and

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Steele. 7s. 6d.)—Fifteen short stories, mostly about the private lives of colliers, all tinged with bitter humour. They may appeal to those who like crudity, frankness and "...

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The Merttens Lecturer for 1931 was Mr. Charles Roden Buxton,

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and we trust that what he said on that occasion will reach a wider public, now that his lecture has been published under the title of The Race Problem in Africa (Hogarth Press,...

There must be some inevitable connexion between literature and modern

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golf, for practically every notable player of the game save Mr. John Ball tertius and J. H. Taylor, has written about it. In the old days golfers, though just as keen and just...

Sir Horace Plunkett in his recent articles has drawn attention

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to the work of the Foundation named after him. Its Year Book of Agricultural Co-operation, 1931 (Routledge, 10s. 6d.), a substantial volume of six hundred pages, shows how...

The new volume produced by the Hakluyt Society, Relations of

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Golconda in the early Seventeenth Century (Bernard Quaritch, 11), has the advantage of being edited by Mr. W. H. Moreland, well known as an authority on Mogul India, and deals...

That a son's biography of his father should be wholly

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dispassionate is hardly to be expected. Thus it is no surprise to find The Life of Field-Marshal Sir John French, First Earl of Ypres, by his son, Major the Hon. Gerald French...

The presentation of poetry comprehensibly and attractively to the schoolboy

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student or reader is a task more frequently attempted than satisfactorily executed, and Mr. L. S. Harris's The Nature of English Poetry : An Elementary Survey (Dent, 5s.)...

We should like to draw the attention of our readers

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to a report reprinted from the Dalhousie Review of an address delivered to the Women's Club of Montreal on The Challenge to Moral Conventions. Professor H. L. Stewart...

Have politics and politicians ceased to be funny ? The

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" Punch " Summer Number (Is.) makes no mention of either one or the other. We miss those bold political cartoons which enlivened and stimulated Mr. Punch's War-time public. But...

Professor L. B. Namier, best known for his historical studies

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of eighteenth-century politics, is also a man of affairs who has travelled widely and written for various English journals, including the Spectator. In a slim volume entitled...

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The Modern Home

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The Kitchen PENS more musical than mine—and certainly than my typewriter—have sung the praises of the kitchen, that laboratory which ministers to our only sense that does not...

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"Spectator" Competitions

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RULES AND CONDITIONS. Entries must be typed or very clearly written on one side of the paper only. The name and address, or pseudonym, of the com- petitor must be on each entry...

DIRECT subscribers who are changing their addresses are asked to

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notify the SPECTATOR OffiCe BEFORE MIDDAY. On MQNDAir OF EACH WEER. The previous address to which the paper has been sent and receipt reference number should be *toted.

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Travel

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[We publish on this page articles and notes which may help our readers in making their plans for travel at home and abroad. We shall be glad to answer questions arising out of...

POSITION OF WAR-LOAN HOLDERS.

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Probably the numerous readers of this article who are holders of the 5 per cent. War Loan will be expecting to obtain a " straight , tip " as to, whether at the present price...

Finance—Public & Private

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Conversion Prospects DURING -the past week the dominant feature has been the fairly sharp and general rise in long-dated British Government Stocks, while the depression in most...

EFFECT OF CHEAP MONEY.

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To those unacquainted with the inwardness of the Money and Stock Matkets, it may, perhaps, appear rather strange that the rise in Government Stocks should he taking place at a...

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Financial Notes

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TEE ALLIANCE. The recent meeting of the Alliance Assurance Company was rendered memorable by the fact that it marked the farewell speech of the chairman, Mr. C. E. Barnett, who...

POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION. '

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Having, however, dealt with the factors making for ease in money and a Government debt conversion operation, I will now refer to one -or two factors Which make me less disposed...

NARROWING AREA OF INVESTMENTS.

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Up to this point it will be seen that we have simply noted a general impulse driving money from trade into the Stock Markets. We now, however, have to note a further factor...

CONVERSION " TALK."

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There is another circumstance, too, which helps to explain the abnormal character of markets at the present time. It is not an uncommon experience for one country to be...

ARTIFICIAL INFLUENCES.

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But what about the course of events during the next few months ?--for professional speculative operators who are now acquiring long-dated Government loans are expecting quite an...

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CRITERION RESTAURANTS.

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When the general depression of trade, and not least the depression in the Metropolis, is considered, the latest report of Criterion Restaurants, Limited, covering the year to...

LIVERPOOL AND LONDON AND GLOBE.

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At the recent annual meeting of the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company, Limited, the chairman was able to state that the year 1930 proved to be a record year in...

METROPOLITAN HOUSING.

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The directors of the Metropolitan Housing Corporation can be congratulated upon the results disclosed in the second annual report, the profit balance for the year being £64,049...

A NEW CHAIRMAN.

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In moving a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors, the Earl of Midleton referred to the impending 'resignation from the chairmanship by Mr. Barnett, paying a notable...

LONDON ASSURANCE.

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The annual report of the London Assurance Company shows that for the year ended December 31st last new assurances were granted in the Life department for £2,378,650. The net...

GOVERNMENT STOCKS RISE.—OTHER MARKETS DULL.

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The story of the stock markets during the past week can be told in a few words. To the accompaniment of cheap money and conversion rumours British Funds have advanced generally...