of Prime Minister and Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Mr. J. R. Clynes is Lord Privy Seal and Deputy Leader of the Commons. Lord Parmoor is Lord President of the Council, :Lord...

C. B. Thomson Secretary for Air. One wonders whether General Thomson, as a soldier, will be convinced of the necessity of maintaining the independence of the Air Ministry. Mr....

rilHE character and quality of Mr. Ramsay MacDonald's -I- Government, as well as the proMptness with which it has been formed, justify the feeling of relief which is general,...

the debate which led to the fall of Mr. Baldwin's Government on Monday night. On Thursday, January 17th, the debate was chiefly remarkable for Mr. Asquith's speech, although the...

will have difficulties enough in all con- science without having any fabricated for him. No rational person can envy him his position. He takes office with a strike upon his...

Duchess of Atholl made a distinct success of her maiden speech. She showed truly enough, and in graceful and persuasive words, how progressive and constructive a programme was...

themselves who had asked for the verdict of the electors—and they had got it. He had not been moved from what he conceived to be his duty by his experiences of the past few...

in which he differed from Mr. Asquith's policy. He expressed the opinion that the installation 'of -a Socialist Government - would be " a serious national misfortune, such as...

was too bad to happen, and that Mr. Bromley, of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, was bluffing till the last-moment in the hope of winning concessions,...

sadly what might have been if there had been a fusion of the anti-Socialist parties. Co-operation did not mean " wangling." Mr. Asquith had been so " frightened of getting a...

left with a clear conscience - and the best friends any man ever had. He had been accused of committing_. suicide, but there were worse crimes. Mr. Asquith was bringing a child...

by clause. It was an easy task for him to ridicule the statement that our relations with foreign Powers remained " friendly." What about Russia ? What about France ? One point...

try tai settle - matters which were outside- the reference to the Wages Tribunal. The companies made an offer that if the policy of a strike were abandoned they would confer...

realist. With the saturnine smile of the fatalist he would accept what he believed to be inevitable ; and thus under his own hand the Communism of Russia was gradu- ally and...

nave been amused by the preposterously contradictory statements which were issued by Mr. Thomas and Mr. Bromley on Monday. Mr.. Thomas declared that the strike was a "fiasco,"-...

book, The Referendum (Fisher Unwin, 3s. 6d. net), and puts with- his usual clearness, power and point " the other side " to the propsed addition to the Constitution. We will not...

died on Monday evening near Moscow. His death has been announced many times, but this time the announcement has been made officially, so that we need not doubt it. This man was...

we are sending the paper to press this week a few hours earlier than usual, and we have with- held some book • notices and letters which it had been our intention to publish....

the working-classes have ever had. He was, of course, one of the very worst friends. Human life was accounted as nothing by this maniac of theories. He caused the execution of...

away from the leadership of Mr. Thomas, which has been very firm and explicit, and would join the strike. In this he was disappointed, and his attempt to reopen negotiations...

July 5, 1928 ; 5 per cent. War Loan was on Wednesday, 95} ; Thursday week, 99 ; a year ago, 101i.

-THE ALTERNATIVES TO , SOCIALISM. B EFORE we deal with the alternatives to. Socialism we must make our salute to the new Ministry. 'Given the opinions and aspirations of the...

BY CAPTAIN R. BERKELEY, M.P. VOR the first time in the history of England a Govern- ment ment holds office claiming, indeed boasting itself, to represent only one class of the...

BY VILIIJALMUR STEFANSSON. V.-THAT FROSTBITE IS CURED BY SNOW. /T HERE are a few who still believe in the general soundness of the homely medical lore of our grand- moners,...

BY H. W. MASSINGHAM. M R. STRACHEY, as the readers of the Spectator are well aware, is an active, acute, and formidable politieal controversialist, zealous in presenting a...

American people to drink more tea I should like to see a national campaign in this country to teach British housewives how to make good coffee. Ask American or Continental...

increasing amount of attention in the Commonwealth. Last year, as I recorded in these notes, General Sir T. Bridges, the Governor of South Australia, made an expedition across...

issue of the Spectator. In the meantime it is not without interest to note that the well-informed correspondent of the Times at Delhi writes :—" The general temper of...

developments pending King Fuad's return on January 25th. Before His Majesty's departure Zaghlul Pasha had a lengthy discussion with him. The coming into power of the Zaghlul...

have not been tea-drinkers in the sense that the white citizens of the British Empire are. Of the world's tea-drinkers probably Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans...

an agreement between the British Empire and the United States on the Liquor question was then practi- cally arrived at, only the details being referred back for further...

Viceroy on January 31st is awaited with keen interest in view of the political crisis in _ the Central Provinces which . has ,arisen out of the adOption by the local Legislative...

ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD. BY EVELYN WRENCH. T W O readers of the . Spectator in India have written to me asking why it is that so few references to the Indian Empire have...

" THE FLAME " AT WYNDHAM'S. Loan BLANTYRE, in his young days, was attach6 at the British Embassy in Paris. With the laudable object, no doubt, of perfecting his acquaintance...

the opinion you express on trans- lation from Greek and Latin, in your article on " The Loeb Classical Library," of what a great scholar and teacher, Dr. Kennedy, used to say to...

LITERAL TRANSLATION AND PARAPHRASE. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Your deeply interesting paper on Loeb translations tempts me to say a word on the subject of literal-...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I am unwilling to trespass further on your valuable space, but I wish to take a final exception to one of the six advantages which Lady...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Srn,—We are a curious people. What we worshipped we have burned. What we burned, we worship. We throw away the victory won by the blood of our...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—When in Cairo, and after his retirement, Lord Cromer always declared " that the Spectator is a real friend of the Egyptians," and the...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—I should advise my friend, Mr. Edward Clodd, to go very carefully in this matter of Ectoplasm. I do not wish to see his honoured name...

Sin,—With reference to the excellent article, " Church Before Party," in your issue of December 29th, I am reminded of what S. T. Coleridge truly said :—" They who indulge in it...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Among the contents of the Spectator for January 5th are included a short account of Eliezer ben Yehudah, and an article entitled " Irish...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I note in Mr. Lowther Bridger's letter the statement that " the proposed alterations in the Communion Service which have received the...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. A. J. Best's reference to the dramatic work of the above Society, which appeared in an article in your last issue, does not seem to...

THE BONNY IVY TREE. A WELSH IDYLL. IN hand I took a heavy hook, And down my rocky garden strode To strike free from a larch tree The Ivy's heavy load. But as, to prove its...

SPECTATOR.] Sut,When spending a winter in Algeria many years ago I - was given the following account of ostrich hunting by the 'great Arab sheiks of the Sahara. This hunting, I...

• on this question :— " And the ostrich is not the fool it is thought to be—burying its head in the sand ! Knowing how the long stem of a neck will catch the eye, it lays it...

the popular belief that the ostrich puts. his head in the sand in order to hide himself is -most entertaining. But what is his authority for stating that it has been universally...

A STATESMAN ON STYLE. Studies and Sketches. By the Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith. (Hutchinson and Co. 10s. 6d. net.) BY far the most notable portion of Mr. Asquith's Book of...

THIS WEEK'S BOOKS. Orro BRAUN, whose Diary is published in translation by Messrs. Heinemann, was a German youth of great energy and beauty of character who was killed in the...

Du. SCOFIELD has written a very distinguished work which at once takes a place in historical literature of the first rank. It is a most detailed narrative of the political...

Tim scientists and scholars of the nineteenth century threw up enormous mounds of material with their analytical spades. It is inevitable that we, who have taken over the...

The Man of To-Morrow (J. Ramsay MacDonald). By "Iconoclast." (Leonard Parsons. 8s. 6d. net.) Tins is a lively piece of journalism which by its very energy of style carries the...

THIS is an age when, consciously or unconsciously, most of the serious thought of social reform is turning in the direction of some form or other of co-operation among...

theme, which is rather refreshing. It expresses the reaction from such things as psycho-analysis, aestheticism, consciously educational homes and a certain type of modern...

THE AMERICAN MERCURY, Vol. 1, No. 1 (annual sub. scription, 6). Mr. Mencken and Mr. Nathan, the editors of the American Mercury, have a reputation for iconoclasm, energy, rhodo-...

Ibanez. (Fisher Unwin. 7s. 6d. net.) There is in the work of Ibanez a large humanity which probably explains his popularity. For one usually finds that whether .a popular book...

Review, and under his editorship it was amazingly good. It is Mr. Ford Madox Ford (the same Mr. Ilueffer) who, now starts a more ambitious magazine. The Transatlantic Review,...

between children and parents, or rather, of the effect of parents upon children. Superficially it concerns, the emotional inter-relations of three young Americans in Boston, two...

THE HIGH PLACE. The High Place. By James Branch Cabell. (Lane. 7s. 6d.) FLORIAN PUYSANGE is a descendant of Jurgen and, like that very great bore, preoccupied with the pursuit...

died at the age of twenty-four in 1922. The volume of poems contains work done between the ages of four and twenty-four. Some of the earliest poems are of extraordinary quality...

" the horrid scrape of being born a woman " have never been more wittily pointed out than by Mrs.. Dowdall in her light essays on the subject of that impersonator of all...

We have received the first number of a weekly newspaper for the blind, which is printed in Dr. Moon's embossed type. This type is said to be simpler than that of the Braille...

[By OUR CITY EDITOR.] POLITICS , STRIKES , AND MARKETS. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The City is disposed to regard the Foreign Exchanges as constituting a more...

COUNTRY CONVERSATIONS. (John Murray. 3s. 6d. net.) This most amusing little book is far too good for one to believe the publisher's statement that the conversations were taken...

Museum Publication No. 12. ls. net.) Primarily a sketch of Sir John Soane's office from within, and more especially of George Basevi (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Belgrave...

Gordon Phillips. (Nisbet. 5s.) Mr. Gordon Phillips is " Lucio " of the Manchester Guardian, from which paper he has collected the majority of these amusing trifles. Every one...

There is little doubt that, but for the domestic political crisis, to- say nothing of the railway strike, we should have seen some important capital flotations during the month...