27 DECEMBER 1968

Page 1

F E px 1 969

The Spectator

'kqs. aly —Xi3;f - • Lord Lugard is deice, " roughout 1968 the SPECTATOR has been Inducting a sustained campaign against the esent Government's policy towards Biafra d Nigeria....

Page 2

PORTRAIT OF THE YEAR

The Spectator

Britain's economy lingered in a state of con- valescence throughout the year, with occasional bouts of fever hinting at relapse. The inter- national monetary system also...

Page 3

The participation craze

The Spectator

• POLITICAL COMMENTARY JOCK BRUCE-GARDYNE, MP One of the features of life at my first school which I recall most vividly was the 'craze.' One term it would be stamp collecting;...

Page 4

Why a wealth tax?

The Spectator

THE RICH HARRY G. JOHNSON Harry G. Johnson is Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics. The idea of a wealth tax is a fairly old one, generally regarded as...

Peace breaks out

The Spectator

AMERICA JOHN GRAHAM Washington—The Vietnam War is over. There was a time when it commandeered every con- versation in Washington, when someone who didn't know the difference...

Page 5

Chess mates

The Spectator

CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS It has been discovered that some of the chess masters in the International Tournament have been 'fixing' their games. I've heard the politician has his...

Could do better

The Spectator

THE 'PRESS BILL GRUNDY This has been a year to remember as far as newspapers are concerned. Much has hap- pened, many are gone but not forgotten, and the newspaper world has...

Page 6

SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

The Spectator

J. W. M. THOMPSON At this moment, in the apprehensive lull be- tween Christmas and the New Year, one remembers Wordsworth in his later and lugu- brious mood. 'Another...

Page 7

• • • and now to rescue Peter

The Spectator

PERSONAL COLUMN GILES PLAYFAIR This is by way of beiing an appeal to the National Theatre. But a word or two of ex- planation to begin with. Among the grown-ups, I take it,...

Elixir of youth

The Spectator

MEDICINE JOHN ROWAN WILSON As one grows older, certain subjects crop up in conversation with increasing frequency. One of these, perhaps not surprisingly, is rejuvena- tion....

Page 8

Open and shut

The Spectator

CONSUMING INTEREST LESLIE ADRIAN Another salvo in its battle to keep the banks open on Saturdays was fired off last week by the Consumer Council. It published figures re-...

A hundred years ago

The Spectator

From the 'Spectator, 26 December 1868—Admiral George Grey is a brave man. He has ventured to publish a letter in the Times advocating a cession of Gibraltar to the Spaniards,...

Page 9

Those barren leaves

The Spectator

TABLE TALK DENIS BROGAN It was with a sense of a great turning-point in history having been turned, that I read not tong ago in The Times that Mr Robert Maxwell, the...

Page 10

Britain and Biafra The case for genocide examined

The Spectator

AUBERON WAUGH For as long as any Christian, liberal or human- itarian tradition survives, the year 1968 will be . remembered as the one in which a British government, for the...

Page 16

Christianity and humanism BOOKS

The Spectator

THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY Christianity and humanism stand today in con- trast as rival concepts. It was not always so. Europe knew a long tradition of avowedly Christian...

Page 17

Any news?

The Spectator

PETER VANSITTART Lucia in London and Trouble for Lucia E. F. Benson both introduced by Micheal Mac Liammeir (Heinemann 30s each) E. F. Benson (1867-1940), son of an Archbishop...

All mod cons

The Spectator

MICHAEL BOBBIE Imprisonment in Medieval England Ralph B. Pugh (cuP 90s) This is a pioneer work of great importance for students of English legal and social history. The author...

Page 18

Such a rotter

The Spectator

MARTIN SEYMOUR-SMITH A good deal is known about Lawrence's troubled relationship with Jessie Chambers, in- cluding her own account of it; but until now little has been known of...

Thomas Hope and the Neo-Classical Idea David Watkin (Murray 63s)

The Spectator

Patient hope OLIVER WARNER Old-style patronage could have odd effects, among them cross-fertilisation. This is strik- ingly exemplified in the influence of Thomas Hope, who...

Page 19

Man and boy

The Spectator

JOHN ROWAN WILSON There is a good deal to be said for reading biographies backwards. Quite apart from the advantage of putting off that dreadful opening chapter on 'Early...

Page 20

Nuisance value

The Spectator

MICHAEL ROBERTS There have been many biographies of Queen Christina; so many of them written by women that one is tempted to diagnose a variety of female weakness. Most of them...

Big game

The Spectator

LAURENCE MARTIN The Bomb and the Computer Andrew Wilson (Barrie and Rockliff 30s) The bulk of this book is a highly readable account of wargaming and of all the many other...

Page 21

Gordon Craig on Ellen Terry ARTS

The Spectator

INTERVIEWED BY PETER BROOK Gordon Craig and Peter Brook met towards the end of Craig's life; he was eighty-four when he recorded this conversation for Granada Tele- vision in...

Page 22

CINEMA

The Spectator

Joys of the chase PENELOPE HOUSTON Bullitt (Warner, from 1 January, 'A') Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Astoria, 'U') Readers of Raymond' Chandler probably re- member his defence...

Toytown

The Spectator

ART PAUL GRINKE The British Museum, not usually prone to ex- hibiting its book treasures outside the purdah of the Reading Room, has mounted a very fes- tive display of...

Page 23

Love's Labours Lost (Old Vic)

The Spectator

THEATRE Sugar is sweet HILARY MAILING 'As with the Commander of an Army, or the leader of any enterprise, so is it with the mistress of a house. Her spirit will be seen...

Page 24

Winners and losers of 1968

The Spectator

MO NE Y NICHOLAS DAVENPORT All business is a bet, as Keynes used to say to me, and therefore all investment in business is a speculation. But last year it was much easier to...

Page 26

Logic as it ain't

The Spectator

PORTFOLIO JOHN BULL One set of shareholders will be spending the Christmas holiday thinking hard about its present situation, prospects and responsibilities. I refer to...

ffolkes's business types

The Spectator

Market report

The Spectator

CUSTOS Transatlantic influences have had much to do with the performance of London markets in the past few days. Gold shares responded immediately to the incoming us Treasury...

Page 27

The past and the present

The Spectator

Sir: Have Lord Robbins and Professor Hugh Trevor-Roper taken leave of their senses? Do the Metropolitan Police constables no longer exist? Viewing the circumstances of...

Table talk

The Spectator

Sir: Sir Denis Brogan (6 December) is shocked by the form 'Who do they trust?' But it isn't bad grammar. Certainly it is better than 'Whom . . . ?' which is not only prissy but...

Student Stirs: a Document

The Spectator

LETTERS From James A. Sharpe, Ronald Cholodny, Robert Brady, W. Waddington, Edward Bonney, John Palmer, Charles Schwarzenberg, Ewart Milne, Kennedy Wells, Keith Kyle, Donald...

Socialist successes

The Spectator

Sir: The recent publication of a pamphlet by the Labour party entitled Socialist Successes, price 6d, prompts rne to suggest that it is high time to issue a guide (a fourpenny...

Sir: With regard to Professor Brogan's letter of reply (13

The Spectator

December) to criticisms of his article on Bologna, when I gave the 1914-18 War dead as 812,000 for Britain (6 December), I meant exactly what I said, never supposing anybody to...

Quality not quantity

The Spectator

Sir: Of the self-inflicted wounds from which this country's financial life-blood at present gushes, the most ill-judged and dangerous is undoubtedly education. Allow me to put...

Page 28

The stupid party

The Spectator

Sir: Capitalism may never have done anything for any nation, but Patrick Cosgrave (20 December) misquotes what he calls `its most enduring statement of faith.' What Charles...

Forgotten courtesies

The Spectator

Sir: May I appeal, through your columns, to newspaper editors to restore one or two of the traditional courtesies extended to their contri- butors? I was trained as a young...

Within the meaning of the Act

The Spectator

Sir: In the First World War, my father died as an Austrian officer; this will explain why I was mildly amused to read the indignant statement of Mr Auberon Waugh (6 Decem- ber):...

Comeback

The Spectator

Sir: J. W. M. Thompson is singularly perverse ('Spectator's notebook,' 20 December). He writes that Mr Wilson had 'better hasten his nobbling of the House of Lords or he might...

Biafra and human rights

The Spectator

Sir: Of your courtesy: I think I may have been among the first non-Jewish -writers in these islands to welcome publicly the setting up of the State of Israel in 1948, in the...

No. 533: Interview

The Spectator

COMPETITION Set by E. C. Jenkins: Walter Mitty never got round to being a Robin Day or a David Frost. Before television interviews are finally banned on account of their...

No. 531: The winners

The Spectator

Trevor Grove reports: Competitors were in- vited to compose an intelligible piece of prose around ten given words, chosen from the open- ing passages of a well-known book. They...

Page 29

Chess no. 419

The Spectator

PHILIDOR Solution to no. 418 (Schumer): (a) Kt – B 6 mate. (b) I R– B 7, R any; 2 R mates accordingly. (c) I R – B 3, P R; 2 P – Kt 8 = Q, P – Kt 5: 3 Q – Q 5. (d) I Kt – B 3....

Page 30

Crossword no. 1358

The Spectator

Across I Is conflict this songster's theme? (7) 5 Bad, some foreigners would say, a hazard to shipping on the Indian coast (7) 9 Pulses have a sporting advantage for destruc-...