25 MAY 1918

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For the Allies to make any other sort of peace

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than is contem- plated in those words would be both cynicism and material failure. It would be cynicism because we should be false to our principles ; it would be material...

On March 2nd we wrote an article called " A

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Moral Test," in which we foresaw that this issue of befriending or abandoning Russia would soon have to be settled. We cannot repeat all our arguments now, but the gist of the...

The Admiralty announced on Tuesday, as the result of daily

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air reconnaissances over the Bruges Canal, that the Zeebrngge entrance was still blocked as it had been on April 23rd. Most of the enemy's submarines and torpedo craft which...

The official return issued on Thursday gave the total losses

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of British, Allied, and neutral shipping from all causes in April as 305,102 tons. This is the lowest monthly total recorded since the unrestricted ' U '-boat warfare began. The...

America, he declared, would not sacrifice " the helpless, friendless

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Russians " to secure peace. These, of course, are very critical words, because if Great Britain stands by the United States in this matter, the end of the war may still be a...

The Allies on the Western Front during the past week

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continued to improve their lines by small local attacks, while waiting for the resumption of the German offensive. Early last Sunday morning the Australians attacked on a...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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O NE of the most important declarations of the war was made by President Wilson at New York last Saturday. It would be well that people here should weigh his words and recognize...

THE PAPER SHORTAGE.

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TO OUR READERS.—The shortage of paper has obliged us to adopt the policy of refusing to allow the " Spectator" to be "on sale or return." All that it is necessary for readers...

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Commandfar..Pellegrini, of the Italian,Navy, with three men in a l motor-boat,

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peneteatedi nto th e e fortified harbour_ of rola before dawn, on the 14th inst., and torpedoed an Austrian Dreadnought. Their IVA was sunk and they were captured, as they...

Hitherto the Air Force has-treated the-bombing of German -towns as

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-an mfrs - in its -full aid 'varied - programme of reconnaissance, " spotting " for artillery; air duels with hostile scouts, - raids on enemy communications, like Wednesday's...

Enemy airmen in great fOrce made a raid on London

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on the night of •Whit44unday.- Favoured by the bright moon in a cloudless sky, betWeen twenty and thirty Gothas came in two groups, one flying up the Thames and-the other...

On Tuesday night two German air squadrons tried to raid

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Paris, but were driven off. One Gotha was brought down-in flames to the north of the city. Bombs dropped in the suburbs killed three persons and injured several. Another enemy...

It is probable that the German Staff has abandoned its

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early hopes of terrifying London by displays of " frightfulness," and that it now orders occasional air raids merely to immobilize here a largo number of anti-aircraft guns and...

The work of the Air Force during the past week

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illustrates this view. On Thursday week in daylight our squadrons visited Saar- brileken, bombed the railway and the factories, and fought an enemy squadron of twenty-five...

While this singular Proclamation, a compound of menace and argument,

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was being issued, the Irish police were arresting a largo number of the Shan Fein leaders in various parts of Ireland. Mr. De Valera, Count Plunkett, and Mr. Cosgrave, the three...

At long last the Government have taken serious aotion againt

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the Sinn Fein movement. Late at night on Friday week the Ler& Lieutenant issued a Proclamation stating that certain Irishmen had " conspired to enter Into treasonable -...

Last Sunday's raid, we fear, will not be the last,

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but theArmy and the Air Force between them have improved their defensive and offensive methods of protecting London to such an extent that enemy aeroplane raids may in time...

The Nation of last week quoted the exact sense, if

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not the exact words, of the passage in Sir Frederick Maurice's recent statement in the Daily Chronicle which had been deleted by the Censor. There can be no doubt that the...

The Irish papers have published a letter from the Rev.

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Peter Fi n l a y, Professor of Roman Catholic Theology in the National University of Ireland, which deserves particular attention. The letter embodies the claim, now openly put...

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Sir Hedley Le Baa, whose admirable services to the country

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during the war are well known, is the proprietor of a news agency, and in the course of his business he supplied signed articles by various writers to country newspapers. Some...

The Datiy Mail and the Evening News have accused Sir

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Hedley Le Bas of attacking the Government by grossly unfair and dis- honourable means. The accusation is that Sir Hedley Le Bea— who, by the way, was formerly a strong...

Sir R. M. Kindersley, the energetic Chairman of the War

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Savings Committee, points out that the small investor is in no way respon- sible for the temporary decline in the sale of War Bonds. The small investor contributed, on an...

China and Japan made a sigmiiea nt agreement on May

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16th " with a view to warding off the danger constituted for them by the penetration of German influence towards the Eastern portion of Russia." China will permit Japanese...

Thursday was the third anniversary of Italy's entry into the

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war. To mark the occasion, the Lord Mayor gave a luncheon at the Guildhall on Wednesday, at which Lord Robert Cecil, in a. felicitous speech, emphasized the great importance to...

Sir Hedley I.e Bas has, of course, exactly the same

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rights. It may be remembered that when Cobden was running his campaign for Free Trade and against the Corn Laws, he paid for the insertion of articles in country newspaper;...

Only by an extraordinary licence in the use of words

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can it be said that Sir Frederick Maurice referred to " a secret document." He referred, not to a secret document, but in the most general way to having seen the relevant...

On Thursday week, on the motion for the adjournment of

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the House to May 28th, Mr. Runciman called attention to the Austrian Emperor's letter to Prince Sixtus of Parma, suggesting terms of peace, and asked why President Wilson and M....

Mr. Balfour went on to say that there was no

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sign whatever of the willingness of German public opinion to consider a reasonable peace. It was significant that the Austrian Emperor offered France a province in German hands,...

Bank rate, 5 per cent., changed from 51 per cent.

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April 5,1917.

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H THE " PRIME MINISTER'S PLEDGE. ERE is Mr. Lloyd George's

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pledge to the people of North-East Ulster, made on March 7th, 1917 " In the north-eastern portion of Ireland you have a population as hostile to Irish rule as the rest of...

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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IRISH CONSCRIPTION AND THE GOVERNMENT PLEDGE. I T is good that the Government have at last taken serious action in Ireland. All tho reports from Ireland show that the effect of...

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PRISONERS 01? WAR.

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S EVERAL newspapers—chiefly those which may be classed as the Government Press—have broken out simultaneously into a hot agitation about the prisoners of war. Although this...

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PRUSSIA'S ANNEXATION OF AUSTRIA. T HE agreement which has been made

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between the Kaiser and the Emperor Karl provides in effect (under whatever form of words the fact may be cloaked) for a Prussian annexation of Austria. This latest Prussian...

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THE NEW CRUSADE.

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"/M ANY of the men now embarking had never before seen the sea." So wrote a witness of the setting out from an American port of a part of the Army of the New Crusade. Probably...

THE BLUEJACKET AND RELIGION.

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ri - IHE ship's bell is being slowly rung by the Quartermaster of the Watch, and up through various hatchways come the figures of men laughing and chatting on their way aft. On...

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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE.

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[C01.131IINICATED.] A 3.IONG educational problems requiring decision in the near future is the selection of the modern languages to be taken up in our schools, more especially...

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THE PRIME MINISTER AND HIS "PLEDGES.' [To TILE EDITOR OF

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THE" SPECTATOR."] you allow me, as an old reader of the Spectator—nearly half-a-century now—respectfully to ask you one question ? When you try to tie Mr. Lloyd George so...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.] SIR FREDERICK MAURICE'S...

THE SOLDIER'S DUTY.

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(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Sia,—The question whether a soldier is ever morally justified in breaking through disciplinary rules, and, if BO, when, seems to me to be...

RECRUITING FIGURES IN IRELAND. [To THE EDITOR OF THE "

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SPECTATOR.") Sue—With reference to the question of Conscription in Ireland, there is one matter that ought to be understood clearly : What has Ireland done under the existing...

QUESTIONS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

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[To THE EDFTOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sia,—Is it not time for the patriotic members of all politic,i parties in the House of Commons to join together to give either the Speaker...

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THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR, —Surely it is a significant fact that in France, a land where the academic discussion of political theory on "logical "'principles is...

WOMEN'S CO-OPERATIVE FARM COLONIES. [TO THE EDITOR OF THE "

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SPECTATOR.") SIR,—It is , probable that many of the educated women who have taken up work on the land from patriotic motives, 'and who will have to earn their own living in...

THE HOUSING QUESTION—WHERE OUR CANADIAN SISTERS CAN HELP US.

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[To THE EDITOR OF TEE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—I see in the Tinies that Mr. Hayes Fisher is reported as saying that Local Authorities are to be asked to put their shoulder to the...

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WOMEN GOVERNORS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

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(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Sia,—In view of the increasing attention given to the subject of education at present, might it not be advisable for the existing...

WAR TIME PROHIBITION.

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(To THE EDITOR OF TEE " SPECTATOR.") Conference of Women was 'held on May 14th to consider the advisability of a demonstration in favour of the above. It was well attended by...

A SHELTER FOR GIRL OFFENDERS.

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(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIE, — Metropolitan Magistrates and all who have knowledge of what is known as the social evil have ample evidence of the great unwisdom...

" TOMMY " AS A LEADER OF MEN. (To THE

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EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") STS,—I was much interested in an article by " 0. W. M." on " ' Tommy' as a Leader of Men " in your issue of February 16th. In it the writer...

THE ENGLISH SONNET.

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(To THE Enrroa or TER • " SPECTATOR."3 SIR, — Your interesting and sympathetic review on May 4th of Mr. Crosland's The English Sonnet recalls to memory a criticism —of no...

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BOOKS.

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THE ARAB OF MESOPOTAMIA.* A VERY able and informing little book, which comes to us from the Government Press at Beare, gives in ten anonymous essays the best account that we...

NOTICE.—When " Correspondence" or Articles are signed with the writer's

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name or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked " Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily beheld to be in agree- ment with the views therein expressed or with the...

POETRY.

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TRINITY SUNDAY. Is the year that King Uzziah died, (The years come in, the years go out) When daylight drew to eventide And darkness filled the ways with doubt, I heard ten...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] FTR,—I once saw

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this notice in a railway carriage in Lombardy : " It is defended to throw jugs out of the window." A friend of mine found an electric bell in an hotel in Venice which had...

" HOWLERS."

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] FIR, — In case you may be still open to the publication of schoolboy " howlers," I send you a few I came across many years ago.—I am,...

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SIR EDWARD CLARKE'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY.* Tins frank and intimate record of

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a " happy and successful career " is largely a story of self-help. Sir Edward Clarke, who was born • The Story of My Life. By the Right Hon. Sir Edward Clarke, S.C. London :...

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A BOOK OF - QUAKER SAINTS.• THERE is a Persian proverb

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which runs thus : " The ways unto Clod are as the number of the souls of the children of men." Now- adays we suppose that the great majority of men who profess any religion...

PARTERRES AND FOUNTAINS.*

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IT is strangely refreshing after nearly four years of war to breathe once more the atmosphere of moss houses, sham cascades, and bogus ruins. Readers and admirers of the works...

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READABLE NOVELS. —The Rise of a Star. By Edith Ayrton Zangwill.

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(John Murray. 6s.)—The star is theatrical and Transatlantic. The beginning of the book, while the heroine is still a child, is the most interesting part.—The Smiths in ircr...

The Historical Nights' Entertainment. By Rafael Sabatini. (Martin Seeker. 6s.)—Only

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a few of these sketches are really concerned with crimes committed in the course of a single night, though the inclusion of the others in the same series is colourable. The...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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{Notice in this column does not necessarily produde subsequent review.] Issues of Faith. By William Temple. (Macmillan and Co. 2s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Temple modestly disclaims...

FICTION.

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MEN AND GHOSTS. • Ma. MONHHOUSE'S clever novel is a variant on the autobiographical life-history with which we have become so familiar of late years. The narrator gives us an...

We congratulate the venerable Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge on

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the many new ventures they are making, in the way of popularizing the results of Biblical scholarship. Their latest series is one of " Translations of Early Documents Important...

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The Note - Book of an American Parson in England. By G.

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Monroe Royce. (G. P. Putnam's Sons. 8s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Royce, who is now the rector of St. Thomas's Church, New Windsor, New York, has filled various chaplaincies on the...

The Desert Campaigns. By W. T. Massey. (Constable and Co.

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6s. net.)—Mr. Massey, who was the official correspondent with our forces, was moved to write this highly interesting account of the campaigns in Egypt on being told by a...

The Purdahnashin. By Cornelia Sorabji. (Calcutta : Thacker, Spink. 1

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rupee.)—This charming little book deserves the serious attention of all who are interested in India. Miss Sorabji, who gives all the profits from the book to the fund for "...

Remnants. By Desmond MacCarthy. (Constable and Co. Ss. net.) —These

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occasional essays, reprinted from weekly journals, are light and amusing even when they deal with apparently stern topics like " Meredith's Method," Samuel Butler, or " The...

The Pirate's Progress. By William Archer. (Matto and Windus. 6d.

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net. )—This instructive pamphlet describes the German submarine warfare in its successive phases of ever-increasing inhumanity. Mr. Archer gives details of some typical cases,...

Welfare and Housing. By J. E. Hutton. (Longmans and Co.

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5s. net.)—As manager of the labour and catering department of Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., Mr. Hutton has gained a special knowledge of welfare and housing work in large factories...

Nelson's History of the War. By John Buchan. Vol. XIX.

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(Nelson. Is. 6d. net.)—Colonel Buchan's new volume of his very readable and interesting record of the war deals with the spring campaigns of 1917. He writes with candour and...

The Story of the Paris Churches. By Jetta S. Wolff.

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(Cecil Palmer and Hayward. 7s. 6d. net.)—Miss Wolff's readable and well-illus- trated book will humiliate most people who think that they know Paris by showing them how many...

The Tragedy of Armenia. By H. Morgenthau. (Spottiswoode, Ballantyne, and

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Co. 3d. net.)—The late American Ambassador to Turkey describes in this pamphlet the wholesale massacres of Armenians by the Turks, and . the efforts of the American Government...

Rabelais in his Writings. By W. F. Smith. (Cambridge Uni-

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versity Press. 6s. net.)—Serious readeis of Rabelais will find Mr. Smith's learned commentary highly instructive. First comes a short biography, followed by a running analysis...