23 NOVEMBER 1934

Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK T HE publication of the report of

The Spectator

the Joint Committe e on India on Wednesday afternoon was the climax to seven years of political effort, and its findings will determine the political future of 350 million...

OFFICES : 99 Gower St., London, W.C. 1. Tel. :

The Spectator

MusEtrE 1721. Entered as second-Hass Mail Mawr at the New York, N. Y. Post Office, Dec. 23rd. 1896. Postal subscription 30s. per annum, to any part of the world. Postage on this...

Mr. Churchill on the League Mr. Winston Churchill's broadcast on

The Spectator

war last Friday was a strange mixture of belligerence and pacifism. He insists that Great Britain must proceed instantly to provide itself with the strongest air force in Europe...

An Arms Control Convention The Arms Control ConventiOn laid before

The Spectator

the Disarma- ment Conference on Tuesday deserves cordial support from every quarter, and it is satisfactory that Mr. Eden was able to assure the American delegate of the fullest...

Page 2

Common Sense and the Peace Ballot The very sensible replies

The Spectator

given by Mr. Marcus Samuel, the Conservative candidate at Putney, to the so-called Peace Ballot questions may with profit be commended to some of Mr. Samuel's...

Sanity from Japan The article contributed by Admiral Saito, who

The Spectator

was Prime Minister of Japan up to four or five months ago, to Wednesday's Christian Science Monitor is of very eon- siderak 1 importance. It reflects the views of a common-...

* * * * Broadcasting and the British Colonies The

The Spectator

Federation of British Industries has raised a point of great importance in regard to British colonies and broadcasting. The president points out in a letter to Sir Philip...

* * * The King's Speech The King's Speech serves

The Spectator

to remind us that Parliament is now face to face with the most momentous legislation initiated by the present Government. India, of course, has the first place in the programme,...

* The Indian Elections With the Report of the Select

The Spectator

Committee on- India almost completely monopolizing attention, the results of the elections for the Legislative Assembly are in some danger of being overlooked. In fact they are...

The Depressed Areas' Hopes Too many critics of Mr. Chamberlain's

The Spectator

statement about the depressed areas failed to realize that he did not limit the commissioners to the tasks that were specially mentioned in his speech, nor, did he restrict the...

Page 3

Overhead Roads in Cities The traffic problem, and especially as

The Spectator

regards the congested approaches to London, is one of those matters which will not brook delay ; and for that reason Mr. Oliver Sinunonds and other Members of Parliament arc...

* * * * The statement of Mr. Neville Chamberlain

The Spectator

that was the prelude to the debate on the Distressed Areas, though it did not evoke much enthusiasm at the time has had a fairly good reception, now that the Government...

Though the debate was spread over two days the time

The Spectator

available was not nearly sufficient for all who wanted to speak, even a man with the detailed knowledge and fine record on this question of Mr. Harold Macmillan being unable to...

The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes : Members

The Spectator

hurry up and down the corridors with the massive blue volumes of the Indian Joint Select Committee's Report under their arms, but so far none can boast that they have read it....

* * * * The debate that followed the King's

The Spectator

Speech was notable if only for the speech of the mover of the Address, Mr. Kcr Lindsay, a Conservative, still under thirty, and a member of Lord Eust ace Percy's group of young...

Shorter Hours—More Workers Though the Government took its stand at

The Spectator

Geneva on the proposition that it is not possible to establish a Uniform reduction of hours of work, unrelated to wages, by international convention, the Minister of Labour is...

Page 4

THE FUTURE OF INDIA

The Spectator

T HE immensity of the experiment which is carried a stage nearer to consummation by the issue of the Report of the Joint Committee on Indian Constitu- tional Reform can best be...

Page 5

THE CHURCH'S MISSION

The Spectator

T HE answers which have appeared in our columns in the last few weeks to the question " What does the Clmrch stand for ? " have brought certain facts into clear relief. They...

Page 6

I am indebted to several correspondents for suggesting alternatives to

The Spectator

Sir John Simon's " most moving single sentence in modern English literature." Unfortunately there is not room to quote them all. Two correspondents suggest the closing words of...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

The Spectator

T HE dark horse of the Joint Committee was Sir Austen Chamberlain—dark because with his scrupulous correctitude he has kept his own counsel on the whole question so religiously....

A curious story reaches me about impending legislation in regard

The Spectator

to non-provided schools in rural areas—or, for all I know, on a larger scale. The authority is the Rev. S. Morris, who is secretary of the Church Education Committee in the...

A well-known American newspaper-owner, Mr. Frank E. Gannett, to whom

The Spectator

I listened at a lunch at the English Speaking Union on Tuesday, mentioned the interesting fact that a movement is on foot in the United States, with apparently some serious...

Page 7

THE JOINT COMMITTEE AND ITS FINDINGS

The Spectator

By LORD EUSTACE PERCY, M.P. I T is difficult, when one has been a member of a Com- mittee, to discuss impartially one's own conclusions ; it is impossible, when one has been a...

Page 8

FROM U-BOAT TO PULPIT

The Spectator

By R. H. S. CROSSMAN O NE of the curious by-products of the Nazi revolution is the sympathy aroused by it in the most unexpected quarters for the religious conscience in its...

Page 9

JAPAN AND THE WORLD-VI : HER AIMS ON THE MAINLAND

The Spectator

By A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Tokyo, November. T HERE - are many highly cultured Japanese with no political interests, who are aware of the debt of gratitude their country owes to...

Page 10

A Hundred Years Ago

The Spectator

" THE SPECTATOR," NOVEMBER 22xxi, 1834. An elderly lady at a village in Norfolk has adopted the singidar idea that she is an old' hen. Her restlessness and vexation were...

Page 11

THE STABILITY OF ENGLAND

The Spectator

By the VERY REV. W. R. INCE time is long past when Englishmen could be justly reproached for arrogance and self-com- placency. It is an old charge against us. Goldsmith's...

ASPECTS OF ENGLAND I T is a strange deficiency in the

The Spectator

English language (who has ever talked yet of a British language ?) that it has found no adequate term to apply to the inhabitants of these islands as a whole. No adequate term ;...

Page 12

A Vain Hope HERE is fresh matter, poet, Matter for

The Spectator

old age meet ; Might of the Church and the State, Their mobs put under their feet. 0 but heart's wine shall run pure Mind's bread grow sweet. That were a Cowardly song,...

Page 13

THE ENGLISH CHARACTER

The Spectator

By CHARLES MORGAN W HEN the time comes—and some believe it may—in which to be English is no more an emotional impulse than to be an elector of Marylebonc, then, at last, on a...

Page 14

ENGLISHMEN AND THE THRONE

The Spectator

By HENRY W. NEVINSON " T HE KING ! " It is the first toast at nearly all public dinners. Lately some dispute has arisen as to the degree of rank in Army. or Navy which is...

Page 15

ENGLISH FREEDOM

The Spectator

By E. M. FORSTER E NGLISH freedom is one of the most precious of man's creations on this earth. Its quality is supreme. But its bulk, alas ! is very small. Viewed with the...

Page 16

PAST AND PRESENT: HAVE WE IMPROVED ?

The Spectator

By ROSE MACAULAY A RE the English_ (British, of course I mean) on the whole a more agreeable and virtuous people in the twentieth century than in centuries past ? The only...

Page 17

Two Epigrams T.

The Spectator

To Cynthia Tan sculptor's chisel slid askance And dinted Aphrodite's cheek : But ah ! the blemish woke a glance So lively-lovelier than the Greek That Nature, copying, forebore...

Page 18

ENGLAND'S FINANCIAL RECORD

The Spectator

By VISCOUNT SNOWDEN T HIS is a Christmas Number of The Spectator. It would be out of harmony with the spirit of the season to indulge in party controversy. There is much in the...

Page 19

THE ENGLISHMAN'S RELIGION

The Spectator

By DR. W. R. MATTHEWS A RE the English a religious people ? Two remarks by distinguished contemporaries come to mind. A very eminent German theologian, visiting this country...

Page 20

ENGLAND IN THE WORLD'S EYE

The Spectator

By SIR STEPHEN TALLENTS V ISITORS to England in bygone centuries were fond of recording their impressions of her. The English Channel, no doubt, in days when the Manor of...

Page 21

THE BRITISH SEAMAN

The Spectator

By H. M. TOMLINSON S OME 'years ago—years before the . fateful August— the Kaiser was to visit us, but he had not arrived, • because of fog. I was in Portsmouth at the time....

Page 22

Stage and Screen, Country Life, Letters to the Editor, Motoring,

The Spectator

Finance, Travel; etc., wilt be found on page 803 and the following pages.

THE ENGLISH VILLAGE

The Spectator

By A. G. STREET " M ARY, why is there no string in the left-hand drawer of the kitchen dresser ? The string's always been kept there." So I heard a man speak to his...

Page 23

THE WOMEN OF ENGLAND

The Spectator

By RAY STRACHEY G ENERALIZING about women has been a favourite pursuit of inferior writers in all ages. In the seventeenth century there existed in Italy a library entirely...

Page 24

ENGLAND FROM THE OUTSIDE

The Spectator

By KAREL 6APEK O N two or three occasions before this I have received the same flattering invitation to tell the English how they look to a foreigner. Accordingly, I am tempted...

Page 25

THE ENGLISH ABROAD

The Spectator

By BARBARA WORSLEY-GOUGH A CURIOUS change in the demeanour of the English takes place directly they set foot on the continent of Europe. An aggressiveness which one would have...

Page 26

A Broadcasting Calendar

The Spectator

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd 1.15 • Friday t Midday Concert, cond. Johan Hock, from Bir- ming ha m 5.'5 Children's Hour : J ava Igo I-a new serial story read by Howard Marshall. S....

Page 28

" The Richest Girl in the World." At the Plaza

The Spectator

Tins poor little poor rich girl is so afraid of being married for her money that she employs another girl to impersonate her, posing herself as a secretary. When a likely suitor...

The Cinema

The Spectator

"The World Moves Qa." At th.s. Tivoli No perfectly sensible producer would have tried to deal with so much unwieldy material in a film of normal length. Yet the attempt was...

STAGE AND SCREEN

The Spectator

The Theatre " Ding and Co." By C. K. Munro. At the Embassy A NEW play by Mr. Munro is an important event, and if it seems something of a disappointment it must still be given...

Page 30

A Capacious Crop A beneficent believer in posterity is afforesting

The Spectator

a small area of his property with oaks that he has himself grown from acorns. One little plot that has flourished was sown with acorns taken from the crops of birds. I have this...

"Knocking" England The truth is that we have " knocked"

The Spectator

(as Sam Slick said) our land, while more ardent spirits have boomed land in America and Australasia. That we have " knocked " our land to a nether absurdity has been proved , by...

COUNTRY LIFE

The Spectator

Pioneer Farmers Nothing more remarkable or suggestive in the history of British husbandry has been published than the latest pamphlet Progress in English Farming ,Methods," a...

Courageous Husbandmen England is very busy with agricultural experiments of

The Spectator

all sorts. One new adventure is being made on a very large scale on the Wiltshire Downs, near the scene of Mr. Hosier's triumphs, but is of a diametrically different nature. A...

The English Ranch , Another method, also of sheep farming, is

The Spectator

interesting the Oxford agricultural economists. In the latest number of The Farm Economist, the invaluable organ of the Oxford Agricultural Econoniie Research Institute, facts...

Romantic Machines If there is romance in machinery—and after all

The Spectator

" Romance brought up the nine-fifteen "—the story is as good as fiction. You cannot condense romance into a paragraph. Here I can mention only the bare results of these new...

Page 32

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Spectator

[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...

A EUROPEAN FOREIGN POLICY

The Spectator

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sne,—I have read with great interest your article entitled " A European Foreign Policy " and your remarks concerning General Smuts's...

Page 34

WAR AND MR. CHURCHILL

The Spectator

[To the Editor of •THE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Mr. Winston Churchill's broadcast talk had a strangely familiar sound. Most of his speech, and some Of his sonorous periods, might have...

MR. LLOYD GEORGE AND PASSCHENDAELE

The Spectator

[To the Editor of Tim SPECTATOR.] Sin,--I read with some-surprise the opening of " A Spectator's Notebook " this week, containing the formal letter of con- gratulation which was...

Page 36

THE HIDDEN FEAR

The Spectator

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I would be grateful if you would allow me to appeal to your readers for support for a scheme to help us general prac- titioners in dealing...

RUSSIA AND JAPAN

The Spectator

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Your Special Correspondent in Tokyo must indeed be complimented on his ingenious attempts to represent the danger of war in the Far East...

Page 38

NOT QUITE MEDIAEVAL

The Spectator

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Educationists will endorse your criticism (The Spectator, November 16th, page 743) of Lord Hugh Cecil's defence of child labour in his...

IN DEFENCE OF BASIC ENGLISH

The Spectator

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I write to protest against a sneer at Basic English. It is perhaps excusable that Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, an older man, should riot -...

TOO STRENUOUS SPORT

The Spectator

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Surely you make an overstatement in saying that sport can evidently promote antagonism . . . between nations. I do not believe that Italy...

Page 40

THE INTERDICT OF INNOCENT HI

The Spectator

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR. ] . , . - SIR,----May I very briefly - correct an error in my letter on this subject ? I stated there that the ,document quoted by Sir Arthur...

Poem .

The Spectator

WHAT the eye delights in no longer dictates My-greed to enjoy ; boys, grass, the fineed-off deer–. It leaves those figures that distantly dance - On the horizon's rim : they...

"THE INCREASE OF DRUNKENNESS"

The Spectator

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—While I do not dissent from the general conclusion indicated in your comment on the Iatest:drunkenness figures, may I add a consideration...

Page 42

Motoring The Ideal Car and English Comfort IT is inevitable

The Spectator

that at just this time of year every owner of every sort of car should begin the winter-long game of designing his own ideal. Perhaps it is not so much a game as a protest. The...

Page 44

7ochpass—Engeterg

The Spectator

I N the popular mind the words " Winter Sports " immedi- ately conjure up a vision of Switzerland and its beautiful towns, but many other centres have also achieved renown in...

Page 46

Finance

The Spectator

Another Year of Recovery Two years ago, when writing the financial article for the Christmas number of The Spectator, conditions were such that it was difficult to say anything...

Page 47

7115 SPECTATOR NOVEMBER 23. 1934

The Spectator

LITERARY SUPPLEMENT CHRISTMAS NUMBER

Page 49

Books of the Day Charles Dickens

The Spectator

By BONAMY DOBRgE THERE are probably very few people who are altogether happy in the company of Charles Dickens, at all events among those .who have any power to discriminate....

Page 50

The Imperishable Past

The Spectator

By E. F. BENSON THERE is probably not a single person who ever reads any- thing at all, however high-brow or low-brow his taste, who does not enjoy browsing over the files of...

Page 52

Art as Life

The Spectator

Art as Experience. By John Dewey. (Allen and Unwin. Dn. JOHN DEWEY, like the late Professor Babbitt, is a man that no one can fail to respect and admire, however much the...

A Theistic Philosophy

The Spectator

Nature, Man and God. By William Temple, Archbishop of York. (Macmillan. 18s.)- WE never cease to be astonished at the vigour and versatility of Dr. Temple's mind. The Gifford...

Page 54

The Renaissance European

The Spectator

Erasmus : Lectures and Wayfaring Sketches. By P. s. Allen. (Clarendon Press. 12s. ed.) Erasmus. By Stefan Zweig. Translated by Eden and cedar Paul. (Cassell. 10s. 6c1.) THESE...

Page 56

The Road to Happiness

The Spectator

Tins book has the interest and the significance of an explorit- t Lin into the interior of some knoWn but almost unpenetrated continent. The writer, " Joanna Field," had certain...

The New World Order

The Spectator

Waking World. By Olaf Stapledon. (Methuen. 7s. 6d.) Tins is an exceedingly difficult book to review, for Mr. Stapledon uses a broad brush upon a large canvas. The canvas has...

Page 58

A Polemical Biography

The Spectator

Berlioz. By W. J. Turner. (Dent. 10s. 6d.) IT is a pity that Mr. Turner should have found it necessary, in writing this book, to proceed on the robbing-Peter-to-pay- Paul...

Page 60

" Honest George

The Spectator

GEORGE DEMPSTER, the subject of this agreeable volume, was an interesting character, mixing in an interesting society and living an interesting life. Two years before his death...

George Hudson

The Spectator

The Railway King, 1800-4871. A Study of George•Fludson and the business morals of his time. By Richard S. Lambert. (Allen and Unwin. 12s. 6d.) WHEN a man goes too far in the...

Page 62

A Minor Elizabethan Dramatist

The Spectator

The Life and Work of Henry Chettle. By Harold Jenkins. (Sidgwick and Jackson. 12s. 6d.) As much by an improvident bohemianism which landed him once in the Marshalsea as by his...

Page 64

Poe

The Spectator

Edgar Allan Poe. A Critical Biography. By Dame Una Pope-Hennessy. (Macmillan. 10s. 6d.) BIOGRAPHER QUOTING J. R. LOWELL : " Here comes Poo with his raven like Barnaby Budge....

Science Made Plain

The Spectator

Biology for Everyman. By Sir J. Arthur Thomson. Two vols. (Dent. 15s.) IT is a very difficult thing to make the truths of s2ienec plain to the man in the street. One might say...

Page 66

- - Triviality and Truth

The Spectator

Sherborne, Oxford, and Cambridge. By Mrs. Ernest Stewarel Tun first secret about a good autobiography is the fact that there is no such, thing as triviality, if only the author...

The Italian Scene

The Spectator

THESE essays by the Rome correspondent of the Morning Post take us from Vitipeno in the Alps, past the Lago di Garda, where d'Annunzio lives in solitary splendour, alOng the...

Page 68

The Insane Root

The Spectator

The Mystic Mandrake. By C. J. S. Thompson. (Rider. 15s.) As lately as 1916 a labourer at Headington, near Oxford, dug up a root which he believed to be a mandrake ; and the...

Page 70

History in Rhymes

The Spectator

A Box of Dates for Children. By Geoffrey Moss. (Cobden Sanderson. 5s.) Mon English writers seem to have the itch at one time or another to .write the history of the world....

A Christmas Cardus

The Spectator

READING old Defoe the other evening, I was brought up by the following : I would propose that the public exercises of ' our youth should by some public encouragement (for...

Page 72

Watkins Last Journey

The Spectator

Watkins' Last Expedition. By F. Spencer Chapman. ((him e • and Windus., 12s. ad.) ' AT the conclusion of the British Arctic Air Route Rxpedition, led by Gino Watkins in 1931...

Page 74

Short Stories

The Spectator

Honeymoon. By Malachi Whitaker. (Cape. 7s. &I.) Ricochets. By Andre Maurois. (Cassell. _Ss.) - THE trouble about short stories is that one is continually beginning - again : a...

Poetry In Our Time

The Spectator

Descent from Parnassus. By Dilys Powell. (Cresset Press. Cs.) FIVE or six years ago it was a familiar complaint that no one any longer read contemporary poetry—and, such being...

Page 78

Fiction

The Spectator

By WILLIAM PLOMER The Foundry. By Albeit Helper. . (Cassell. 7s. 6d.) The Land of Plenty. By Robert Cantwell. (Bell. 7s. 6d.) . Halcyon Days in Africa. By Wilfrid Saint-Mande....

Page 82

Current Literature

The Spectator

This book (Cambridge University ,Press, Ss. (Id.) is made up, of the two Heath Clark lectures which Professor Bartlett delivered.this year at the invitation of the National...

For some years Mr. Edward J. O'Brien has published his

The Spectator

selections of the best short stories' of the year—one velume devoted to England and one to America. This year he ' printed his selection (Cape, 7s. 6d.) within the same covers,...

First the gramophone ; then broadcasting ; and by this

The Spectator

time there must - be - many thousands of people, - having one kind of car and another, still unprovided with that minimum technique of understanding and appreciation • which....

Page 84

ARTISTS IN UNIFORM

The Spectator

By Max Eastman "This is a sombre book, and will be denounced as counter- revolutionary ' by those who think the world can be saved by Soviet ballyhoo . . . I am on the side. of...

• MOUNT PEACOCK

The Spectator

By Marie Mauron : translated by F. L. Lucas This series of brief sketches (Cambridge University Press, 6s.) sets out—with advantages, but with real advantages-, the author's...