3 AUGUST 1945

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NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Spectator

I T is characteristic of the secrecy—reasonable up to a point, but carried here to what seems needless excess—that the Potsdam Conference should have concluded without issuing a...

Japan's ‘, No Surrender "

The Spectator

In ignoring, and so rejecting, the terms of the proclamation issued by the heads of the British, American and Chinese Govern- ments, Japan has lost the opportunity of...

The Charter Ratified

The Spectator

The United States Senate has been prompt in giving a lead to the world by the ratification of the Security Charter with a vote of 89 for and 2 against. It thus reverses the...

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The National Trust's Jubilee

The Spectator

The National Trust celebrated its fiftieth birthday at the Mansion House last Monday, when Lord Zetland announced the transfer to its care of one more historic mansion, Coughton...

Back to the Universities

The Spectator

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of securing a flow of able and well-educated young men for recruitment into the public services and professions in the...

General Weygand's Evidence

The Spectator

General Weygand's evidence in the trial of Marshal Petain throws a good deal of light on the confusion that prevailed in France in May and June, 194o, in political and military...

A Cultural League of Nations

The Spectator

When the San Francisco Conference was drawing to its close it came to be realised how important a part in the new world organisa- tion was allotted to the Economic and Social...

The French Constitution

The Spectator

Last week the French Consultative Assembly took the bit between its teeth and rejected the Government's Bill providing for a referen- dum on the constitutional issue, and voted...

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THE NEW CHAPTER

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T HE one essential factor about the General Election and its result is that it marks a sharp transition from national to party government The transition, of course, had to be...

Page 4

The Nineteenth Century has served both its own ends and

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the public interest by printing in its current issue, to the length of over twenty pages, the lengthy and important judgement by Mr. Justice Birkett in the recent libel action,...

From the crowding multitude of reflections which the election-and- all-that

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excites it is hard to sort out the two or three that seem to predominate. But about the first there can be no question. Thousands, perhaps millions, even of those who cast votes...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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T HE first day of Parliament, I gather frcm a new Member who was there, was marked by unusual ebullience. The immense Labour contingent which much more than filled the...

That having been said, little room is left for further

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reflections, and I will be content with one alone. Readers of this column would no more forgive me than I could forgive myself if I did not express the deep regret that everyone...

Having been slightly concerned in a University election held under

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the system known as the single transferable vote, I have had an opportunity of studying the system at close quarters. This is no place for a general disquisition on the subject,...

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WHY IT HAPPENED

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By KENNETH LINDSAY, M.P. T HE election result has staggered the closest observers of public opinion. A witty American visitor told me last week that he thought we should be...

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TRANSPORT AND THE STATE

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By MORRIS STEPHENSON T HE future of inland transport has become an immediate political issue. The Labour Party promises a comprehensive scheme of nationalisation ; the...

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THE SACRED TRUST

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By LEONARD STEIN A FEATURE of the Charter of the United Nations which has not attracted as much notice as it deserves is the group of articles dealing with dependent...

RUSSIA IN PALESTINE

The Spectator

By E. M. L. BLYTH "ij ERUSALF,M," said the Russian Pilgrims of thirty years ago, " is the centre of the world." In proof of their belief they would point to the exact spot,...

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LADY OXFORD

The Spectator

By SIR ANGUS WATSON N O one who ever had a conversation of any length with Lady Oxford is likely to forget it. It is some five years now since I spoke at two meetings with her...

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We adopt this sanguine attitude, since it is a valuable

The Spectator

British habit to make the best even of personal disappointments. Our optimism on this occasion is sliced through by a knife-edge of poignant regret : we cannot rid our minds or...

Temporarily, at least, there will be aching gaps. Mr. Richard

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Law will not be there to still a restless House by the utter truthfulness of his demeanour and the sedative qualities of his calm slow way. Mr. Hore Belisha will not be there to...

Mr. Attlee as Prime Minister will continue to display the

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sincerity and good sense which he has always displayed ; what will be interest- ing to observe is whether he also retains his attractiv: diffidence. I have seldom seen a man to...

It is a disappointment also not to be able, by

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constant attendance, to assess the value of the new House of Commons and of the new Members who have been elected. However often one may visit the House as an outsider, it is...

MARGINAL COMMENT

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By HAROLD NICOLSON O NE of the incidental regrets which assail those of us who have been swept aside by the electoral avalanche is that we shall not be there to witness the...

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THE CINEMA

The Spectator

Volga-Volga." At the Tatler.—" Pieges." At Studio One.—"La Grande Illusion." At the Academy. — "National Velvet." Generally Released. Volga - Volga is one of the most...

BRAVE NEW WORLD

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WHAT cavalcade of horses, bright as fire, Inspired by lovers, shook their bridled passion From smoothly-braided manes into the air, Lit conflagration on all upturned faces (A...

ART

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Artists of Fame and Promise. At the Leicester Galleries.—John Armstrong. At the Lefevre Galleries. WHAT do the famous artists promise, and what fame will the promising artists...

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R.A.F. TRAINING

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Stx,—May I take the liberty of complimenting you on making public the expression of views on the R.A.F. Education Scheme. Such a dissection cannot fail to have a beneficial...

LABOUR AND TORY

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SIR, —In your leader today you say " There is no probability that Labour will be able to form a more efficient administration than the one it has displaced, or as efficient,"...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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FROM COVENANT TO CHARTER SIR,—Dr. Garnett is anxious that public opinion here and elsewhere shall support the Charter agreed to at San Francisco, and so am I. But, I submit to...

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THE " SIGNING " OF MAGNA CARTA

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Snt,—Historical Revision, No. XLVII, one of a series which appeared in History, deals with the execution of the Great Charter. The article occurs in the number for October,...

FRATERNISATION

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Sm,—May I be permitted to offer some solace to that Dutch lady, E. H. Fermin, rightly perplexed at what she considers the British, in particular the British soldiers', keenness...

EVANGELISM BY ADVERTISING

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Sto,—I am happy to notice that there is no real point at issue between Canon Roger Lloyd and myself so far as labelling these suggested adver- tisements is concerned. I concede...

ETHIOPIA AND THE ITALIAN COLONIES

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Sut—Brigadier Longrigg's article on the future of Eritrea and Somalia will disturb not only the friends of Ethiopia but those who believe that we have renounced Imperialism. His...

FRUIT

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h; sc Pt la in fruit is now being picked and sold in in unripe condition. It has therefore not one-tenth of its proper health Value, to say nothing about flavour. Could not...

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BOOKS OF THE DAY

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Facts for the " Big Three 19 Eastern Europe Between the Wars 1918-41 By Hugh Seton- Watson. (Cambridge University Press .1s.) Most-, if not all, of the problems dealt with by...

Creative Chemistry

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RECENT advances in applied chemistry have given us many sub- stances that are entirely new and " man-made" in the sense that they are not found in Nature, and increasing use is...

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Holiday Report on Children's Books

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Books. 6s.) Books. 6s.) GROWN-UPS reviewing children's books should keep clear the distinction between the books they enjoy reading ; those they would like to see their...

English Church Music

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The Singing Church. By C. Henry Phillips. (Faber and Faber. 21s.) THE music' of the Church in England is the one branch of the art in which, despite momentary lapses, our...

Page 16

Bombed Churches as War Memorials. With a foreword by the

The Spectator

De of St. Paul's. (The Architectural Press. 3s. 6d.), THIS delightful small book ought to find a large public and widely read both for the sake of its informative text,...

Shorter Notices

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How Should We Rebuild London ? By C. B. Purdom. (Dent. 12s. 6d.) AN appendix of this sensible book appropriately reminds us of the excellent opportunities perctived and then...

Fiction

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Joseph the Provider. By Thomas Mann, translated by H. T. Lowe- vorter. (Secker and Warburg. 15s.) Now With the Morning Star. By Thomas Kernan- (John Lane. 7s. 6d.) JOSEPH THE...

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SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 332 SOLUTION ON AUGUST

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Winner of Crossword No. 332 is Miss MARGARET TAYLOR, 33, St. eonards Road, Bournemouth. 17th

THE SPECTATOR" CROSSWORD No. 334

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t( ACROSS r. Ungrammatical arrangement of my- self and her token of betrothal. (10.) . The opening letters of t across are here the subject. (5.) 9. Lilies in old Salisbury....

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COUNTRY LIFE

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AN ingenious suggestion for one of the many forms of war memorial th are being meditated has been put forward—and illustrated-:--on beh3 of the Men of the Trees, now an...

THIS official account of submarine operations during the war is

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the latest and one of the best of the series of Admiralty books about the war at sea. There is a great deal to tell, for the Submarine Service has been hard at it since the...

Herb or Poison ?

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Not long since I found growing in a much war-damaged line of dun in North Devon a number of plants of henbane, a species I had nev seen there before. This poisonous growth,...

In My Garden While suggesting recently that the best of

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all the Aubrietias, or r cresses, was A. Gurgedyke,- I wondered where it got its name. One the family of its maker writes to tell me. It was raised by a lad in a Reigate .garden...

A Blue Harvest The harvest is good, but harvesting slow.

The Spectator

In my neighbourhood Ian girls were engaged as an advanced guard to the cutters-and-binder and found the work hard. Their instructions were to lift the heavy oa flattened by the...

The Cornhill, July, 1945. (John Murray. 2s. 6d.)

The Spectator

THE July number of The Cornhill keeps up the high standard of this review and is distinguished by an article, " Art and Democracy," by Sir Kenneth Clark, which is an outstanding...

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MPANY MEETING COMPANY MEETING

The Spectator

GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY GREAT VOLUME OF WAR WORK annual general meeting of the General Electric Company, Limited, held yesterday in London. Sir Harry Railing (the chairman)...