Mr. Churchill, who once declared that he would never preside over the liquidation of the British Empire, accuses Mr. Attlee of doing precisely that in connection with the...

The last day of the debate on the Second Reading of the Transport Bill in the House of Commons brought more credit on the measure's critics than to its defenders, Mr. Eden and...

The long-term problem is a bigger challenge. It has been argued that the electricity and gas cuts which have disturbed both industrial and domestic consumers in the past few...

The fighting between Annamese and French forces grows uglier each day, but the very elements of the process by which order can be firmly restored are still unknown. All that is...

President Truman's recent statement on American policy in China contained nothing new, but the firm reiteration of what was already well known seems to have had a salutary...

There was once a time when British agriculture could be divided into three sectors ; an economic sector which paid its way, a strategic sector which had to be maintained for...

That so large a' minority as 74 (against a majority of 86) should have gone into the lobby against the Incumbents' (Discipline) Measure, 1946, is very much to be regretted. The...

issue of The Spectator has had to be passed for press on Monday evening. The next issue will appear as usual on January 3rd.]

T HE second peace Christmas awakes reflections that may too easily be sardonic. Is it peace? Still more, is it peace and good will? Peace is something far other than the mere...

on the Trans-Caspian Railway, I was the only passenger in the only " soft " coach who was not a Soviet railway official going to a " self- criticism conference " in Tashkent....

Act I found myself wondering why nothing is ever done for the healthy. Even in a hypochondriacal community like ours, there is a proportion of the population who, whether by...

with regard to Disability Pensions for ex-Servicemen is not a scandal. The main facts, as I understand them, are that in 1919 the basic rate for a single man who had been...

(r62, Buckingham Palace Road, S.W.i) has published a new and improved edition of Mr. Strathearn Gordon's admirable book, " Our Parliament "—im- proved in that it is now bound...

I THINK the most fiddling argument I have ever heard advanced by an Englishman in favour of his country pursuing a certain course of action is the fact that rather less than...

Hide and seek in the dark is, I suppose, hardly played at all now. It would be an eminently patriotic game from Mr. Shinwell's point of view, but in all other 'respects it is...

By KENNETH YOUNGER, M.P.• T HE end of the first session of the General Assembly of the United Nations found the delegates and the staff in a state bordering on exhaustion....

By MICHAEL GEDGE F OR the last nine months I have been acting chaplain (C. of E.) to one of the two assembly points in London for the settlement of unwanted children—an...

By RONALD CHAMBERLAIN, M.P.• T HE Political Committee of the United Nations Assembly has decided by 27 votes to 7 to ask Member States to recall their chief diplomatic...

By MALCOLM M. MacMILLAN, M.P. T HE other evening in the hills of Ross I met a shepherd at the turn of the road. His collie at his heel, he was bound homeward after their work of...

[Answers to these questions will appear in THE SPECTATOR of January 3rd.] Politics and History. Who said ? (a) " The lamps are going out all over Europe." (b) "A peerage or...

By HAROLD NICOLSON W HEN the snow speckles the holly hedge and the feet of the blackbirds leave Y-shaped traces upon the paths, it is an agreeable thing to spread large books...

THE THEATRE Pacific 1860. By Noel Coward. (Drury Lane.) SAMOLO, where the action of this musical romance takes place, differs from most theatrical islands in having a latitude...

Two main problems face the film-maker when he begins to transfer Dickens to the screen. The first problem is that of selection ; somehow, without losing the feel and spirit of...

"WHEN it's not La Boheme it's probably La Tosca" seems to be a fairly safe bet on operatic productions in London. There were two new Toscas last week—at the Cambridge Theatre...

Green silver leaves, a splash of gold, And then the river, still and old, Yet always moving Slowly beneath the bridges. Grey lichen dips into the water, While willows trail...

which was organised last year by the Berkeley Galleries. I missed it myself, and was therefore especially interested to visit a second, and more important, exhibition which is...

Oliver Introduces, I still think that the idea behind these programmes is a good one: (I am assuming that the idea is not merely the exploitation of Vic Oliver.) There are, I am...

SIR, —To one of Mr. Nicolson's admirers who saw the Greek events of 1944-46 within the country his article on John Sophianopoulos and the Greek imbroglio (Spectator, December...

SIR, —In common with many people, I feel an uneasiness at the back of my mind as to the moral validity of the use of the atomic bomb. Mr. Fleming's article in your issue of...

SIR,—I think your note on The Doctors' Demonstration puts a false emphasis on the points at issue. Neither medicine nor politics are the whole of life, but they are very...

attempt to find the criminal who committed the crime at Hiroshima, he will probably be on the road to finding the truth of this dreadful matter. Category 7 of Count 3, in the...

by so- called " humanitarians," may a humble (if in some ways heterodox) priest be allowed to commend it? To my mind it was stark commonsense throughout, and I thank Mr. Fleming...

CRISIS IN INDIA Stn,—Having lately come from India, I find the attempt at clarification in the article Crisis in India in your issue of December 13th misleading. B and C are...

SIR,—Having spent some time studying the Curtis Report of the Care of Children, may I beg, through the courtesy of your paper, every man and woman on the committee of any type...

SIR,—You have given powerful support to the Criminal Justice Bill on which a resolution was recently passed in the House of Lords, but two other measures of legal reform were...

SIR,—On a recent visit to Germany of a mission representing the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Scotland and the Free Churches, to confer with...

Sta,—I hesitate to differ from Mr. Gathorne-Hardy's opinion on such a matter ; but I question whether he is right in suggesting that Sweden has not yet decided to change her...

THERE are some who regard Christmas (not in the Washington Irving vein —and how good, though sentimental, his. Bracebridge Hall remains) as a time of expensiye charity or a...

• SIR,—Now that conscription is, or will soon be, the law in Great Britain, is it not an opportune time to abolish the totalitarian court martial, and' in its place set up...

SIR,—I was surprised at the lack of logic in your note at the foot of " Spanish Exile's" letter in your issue of December 13th. There is surely no comparison between Franco...

SIR, —In my review of Dr. Parkes' book in The Spectator of December zoth I said that the Jewish population of Eastern Europe had been reduced from about 5,000,000 to about...

Sur,—In connection with the review in a recent issue of the life of Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson by Sir, H. H. Basliford, I think some of your readers will be interested to knoW.of...

EDUCATION is clearly of absorbing interest because it is a matter of such close concern to us all, and yet it is almost impossible to present it interestingly. Education in...

The Third Chamberlain The Life of Neville Chamberlain. By Keith Felling. (Macmillan. 25s.) " WE were in no position to fight, so I attach much importance to the settlement." So...

The River Jordan. By Nelson Giueck. (Lutterworth Press. 20s.) THE author is to be congratulated on finding an original subject for a book about Palestine. The Jordan, which...

The Church and Humanity. By G. K. A. Bell, Bishop of Chichester. (Longmans. 8s. 6d.) THE Bishop of Chichester has collected together twenty-seven speeches, articles and sermons...

versity Press. 12s. 6d.) PEOPLE who are weary of reading about the Hindu-Moslem problem and the ever-mounting tale of communal butchery will turn with relief to Sir Henry...

is a fine per- formance of Mr. G. E. Lodge, at 85, to produce a book showing some of his best work and telling us how it was done. My pick of the illustrations, which cover many...

world's great, if not wholly satisfactory, buildings of its period, this book by the Dean should have been written to catch a wide public. As it is it falls between two stools....

Selected Poems. By Ronald Bottrall. (Editions Poetry. 4s. 6d.) December-Spring Poems. By Jocelyn Brooke. (John Lane. 6s.) The Merry Ghosts. By John Waller. (Editions Poetry....

The winner of Crossword No. 405 is MRS. G. W. BLAIR, 76, Ormonde DrivE, Glasgow, S.4.

(4 Book Token for one guinea will be awarded to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword to be opened after noon on Tuesday week Yanitary 7th. Envelopes...

By CUSTOS IN his defence of the Transport Bill Mr. Dalton has surely eclipsed his previous records in casuistry. I do not recollect quite such an artful manipulation of alleged...