3 FEBRUARY 1939

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NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Spectator

T HE two comments Mr. Chamberlain felt called on to make in the House of Commons on Tuesday on Herr Hitler's speech the previous evening were that the speech did not seem the...

Germany and the Soviet Union The direction of Soviet foreign

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policy in the near future remains obscure ; but the rumours of a diplomatic rapproche- ment, leading to a new trade agreement with Germany, should serve as a hint to the Western...

Mr. Roosevelt's Plain Words The controversy in the United States

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over the sale of aero- planes to France is completely overshadowed by the reports of the nature of President Roosevelt's observations at a meet- ing of the Military Affairs...

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Indian National Congress Strains The result of the election for

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the Presidency of the Indian National Congress is significant of the tension between the Right Wing and the Left, and suggests the possibility of a complete rupture, though...

After Barcelona After the surrender of Barcelona, without resistance, last

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week, the Army of Catalonia retreated in disorder to the north; the advance of General Franco's troops along the Pyrenees leaves them in a perilous position and without any...

The Cabinet Changes A Cabinet reconstruction must be considered always

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from two points of view—the effect on the efficiency of the Cabinet as a whole and the effect on the efficiency of the Departments primarily affected. As regards the former...

The Risks of War Sir John Simon's statement, in the

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House of Commons on Tuesday, on compensation for war damage to life and pro- perty will be well received by the country. Full compensa- tion will be paid for death or injury to...

Support for Sir Stafford Cripps The Labour Party Executive may

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already be regretting its expulsion of Sir Stafford Cripps ; though no admission of regret can be expected from Transport House. Sir Stafford has been given a vote of complete...

Anglo-German Coal Agreement The agreement reached this week between representatives

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of the British and German coal industries lays the basis for a division of world export-markets between European pro- ducers. Britain and Germany control 8o per cent. of the...

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Lord Chatfield's appointment carries on the tradition begun by Mr.

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Lloyd George in the War, and revived by Mr. Chamberlain, of putting non-politicians to do politicians' work. Lord Maugham-as Lord Chancellor, Sir John Ander- son as Lord Privy...

The singularly assorted trio who have authorised the publication of

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their views on colonies in a German news- paper have at a bound achieved a greater notoriety in Ger- many than any distinction that has fallen to them here. That is least true...

The first part of Mr. Chamberlain's speech dealing with Spain

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was heavy going. He had a difficult case to defend, and he failed even to confute his supporters' doubts on the continuance of non-intervention. In the last few minutes,...

The Chatfield and Dorman-Smith appointments are held to be very

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adroit, a further credit, it is said, to Captain Margesson. There is, of course, no sign of the Cabinet being broadened, so far as its political complexion is con- cerned, but...

The only speech of merit during the whole day was

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Sir Archibald Sinclair's. He spoke far too long, but those who stopped to listen heard one of the best speeches on foreign affairs he has yet made. His point that the attacks of...

Traffic in London London traffic problems are bringing the Minister

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for Transport under criticism on several sides. Of the 38 specific proposals for new or improved routes within the County of London made in the Bressey report three schemes, two...

The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary correspondent writes: The sole

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topic of conversation when the House reassembled on Tuesday seemed to be Herr Hitler's speech of the night before. The new Ministerial appointments and the Cripps rebellion went...

Splitting of the Atom The splitting of a uranium atom,

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announced from Columbia University last Tuesday, marks an important step forward. The breaking up of atomic nuclei by bombardment with various particles is now a commonplace of...

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HERR HITLER'S MEANING

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H ERR HITLER'S speeches must be judged by the general impression they create rather than by the specific declarations they contain. When the Fiihrer declares spontaneously that...

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THE NURSES' CHARTER

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T HE Athlone Committee, appointed in 1937, to inquire into the condition of the nursing services, has been so much impressed by the urgency of its task that it has presented an...

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Current jokes are often a good index to current thought.

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Here are two from Munich: " What's the difference between Germany and Russia? " " Russia is a little colder." " The Sudetendeutsch can't wear ordinary gas-masks. Their faces...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK HAVE heard so much from various sources

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in the past I week about the growth of anti-war and anti-Nazi feeling in Germany that it is difficult to pick out salient cases to quote. There is, of course, a danger of...

The daily papers (with the exception of the Daily. Tele-

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graph) paid, in my judgement, far too little attention to the inaugural meeting of the Association for Service and Recon- struction in the City last week. I have rarely been at...

The length of Herr Hitler's speech seems to have baffled

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the calculators rather badly. According to Mr. Vernon Bart- lett in the News Chronicle, the speech was " almost half the length of the normal novel," and the normal novel, a...

In commenting on Lord Chatfield's appointment Thy Observer remarks that

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the Prime Minister to some extent cut across precedent " by going outside Parliament." So the House of Lords is eliminated summarily from the constitu- tion—by a paper owned by...

A peculiarly sinister aspect of racial and political persecu- tion

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by the totalitarian States is revealed by two cases which have been brought to my notice quite independently this week. Both happen to concern people of high academic...

After some two months spent in this country Dr. Benes

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has left for America, where he is to deliver twelve lectures, on contemporary forms of government, at Chicago ; the last of the twelve, on " The Future of Democracy," will be...

St

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" What Lancashire Says Today . . • A Manchester correspondent in touch with the Jewish refugee problem writes that the committee formed there is largely concerned in placing...

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IS CHAMBERLAIN RIGHT ?

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By DR. HERMANN RAUSCHNING * T HE most popular man in Germany today is neither Hitler nor Mussolini, but the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. Few things astonish the...

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THE FUTURE OF THE EMPIRE : V. CO-ORDINATION

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By ERNEST BENIN [Mr. Bevin is General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union. The sixth and last article of this series will be by Professor Noel Hall, on "...

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WHO ARE THE DEFEATISTS ?

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By SIR ARNOLD WILSON, M.P. D EFEATISM, like " defeatist," first appeared as an English word in a great newspaper in June, 1918. The O.E.D. defines it as " conduct tending to...

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SHOULD STATES BE UNSELFISH ?

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By DR. EDWYN BEVAN A LETTER appeared in The Times on January 3oth, signed by the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Master of Balliol, and two others, which raises a question of some...

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MUSIC AND DEMOCRACY

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By EDWARD LOCKSPEISER A FEW years ago critics still indulged in a prophetic type of article entitled " Art and the Future." With tip-toe excitement over what was coming next,...

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NEWS IN AMERICA

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By JOHN CARTER T O anyone crossing the Atlantic, in either direction, the only thing more astonishing than the quantity and quality of news which America is absorbing today...

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THE BURNT OFFERING

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By H. R. JUKES I T is no secret that we have just removed. The transfer of one's household gods is one of those phenomena which it is rather difficult to hide, especially in a...

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A HUNDRED YEARS AGO THE SPECTATOR, FEBRUARY 2ND, 1839 BRITISH

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INSTITUTION-PRIVATE VIEW THE private view of the Modem Pictures at the British Institution took place to-day. This exhibition is getting worse and worse; there is not a single...

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I do not blame my Tyneside questioner for displaying confusion.

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Under modern dynamics even the most alert among us adopt a " That's Shell, that was " expression when observing current events. The paradoxes of one week become the commonplaces...

The British people, in fact, have for years been the

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victims of too little information and too many phrases. Until 1935 they crooned themselves to sleep with the lullaby of " collective security," using the words as some magic...

I replied that, before I could answer that question I

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must ask her to define what she meant by " imperialist." For instance, the Italian war against Abyssinia was certainly an " imperialist " war since it was waged for the purpose...

Left-wing slogans are even more detached from reality. They deserve

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careful study. There are the old Marxist formulas of 1848. And there are the later formulas of our own Gollancz-Laski period. The adherents to the latter school are apt, a...

PEOPLE AND THINGS

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By HAROLD NICOLSON S IR ARNOLD WILSON adorns the sombre loneliness of his mind with a comradely gift for quotation. There are those, I know, who contend that Sir Arnold quotes...

How came it that on this historic occasion Parliament should

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merely have hemmed and hawed? The answer is simple. Nobody had really had time to digest Herr Hitler's appeasement pottage of the night before. Three months ago that speech...

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THE CINEMA - Angels With Dirty Faces." At the Warner

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THE Dead End Kids are, it seems, likely to provide one of the safest and most long-lived of box-office formulae which Hollywood has hit on for many a weary year. Their youth,...

STAGE AND SCREEN

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OPERA Il Trovatore " Revived A FEW weeks ago I was taken to task for saying in this column that the action of Verdi's Il Trovatore is ridiculous. Now it is perfectly true that...

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Cantankerous Thrushes

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Two examples within the week have to be recorded of the strange effect of snow on the moral character of the missel thrush. In one garden a great hubbub was heard, and was found...

West Australian Charms

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Until large-scale land reclamation and homestead build- ing becomes economically possible, far the best method is child emigration, accompanied with a life that ensures the "...

A Great Bird-lover

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The whole company of English naturalists will grieve greatly at the death of Dr. Sydney Long. He was more than a good and ardent observer. He was a pioneer in the art and craft...

COUNTRY LIFE

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Ingenious Meals Hunger, if not necessity, is the mother of inventiveness. As scon as snow or frost covers up or shuts off supplies of food r ah birds and beasts find out new...

In the Garden Several critics of the garden have been

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lamenting English conservatism in the potager or vegetable garden. The charge has a general truth, but a very large proportion of the vegetables that have more or less...

Little Empire Migrants

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Every month in this year a number of children from our overcrowded towns will go out to one of the Fairbridge Farm Schools in Australia or Canada. The scale of this form of...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

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Sin,—When Miss Beryl Savage argues about the Eastern standards and individualistic traits of the foreign Jew she opens an interesting line of argument, although it would be open...

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AMERICA AND MUNICH

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—I am sorry if Mr. Hadley finds that I do not under- stand America. I was trying, not to build a bridge of understanding across the...

THE SPEWS REPORT

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR, —Dr. Terry Thomas, together with those of his colleagues who share his „views, is taken to task by Lady Simon for contending that the too...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

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Sta,—Hasn't Lady Simon let the cat out of the bag? The Report (page 329) at least pays lip-service to the single tradition of secondary education. She seems to be undismayed by...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR, —A certain man went

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down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed leaving him half dead. And a certain Samaritan as he...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Sta,—In her letter in

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your last issue, Lady Simon describes the " public schools " as excrescences on our national system of education, and considers it of almost no importance that the gulf between...

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THE ADVERTISER AND THE PRESS [To the Editor of THE

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SPECTATOR] SIR,—There were points in Mr. Bishop's article on " The Advertiser and the Press " in your issue of January 6th which I had hoped to see discussed. The great...

THE FIRST PROPHET OF FLEET STREET [To the Editor of

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THE SPECTATOR] Stn,—Strange as it may seem, the following words were written, nearly 18o years ago, by, of all people in the world, Doctor Samuel Johnson, who might almost have...

THE EFFECTS OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT [To the Editor of THE

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SPECTATOR] SIR, —The experiences of a " recipient and executioner " over- simplify the problem of corporal punishment. His implied comparison of the receiving part of the small...

THE CASE FOR OPTIMISM [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

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SIRS I am afraid to say that I consider The Spectator to be one of the chief " jitter-bugs " in this country. After reading three articles in your last week's issue, " The...

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AUSTRIANS IN ENGLAND

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—The Austrians in this country have been very anxious to help their compatriots coming over as refugees. They started the Austrian Self-Aid...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—May I submit Thackeray's

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idea of a " gentleman "? " What is it to be a gentleman? Is it to be honest, to be gentle, to be generous, to be brave, to be wide, and, possessing all these qualities, to...

THE BURDEN OF POVERTY

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—Commenting upon the social survey in Bristol, you conclude: " The main cause of poverty here and elsewhere is unemployment." Surely...

JUVENILE EMPLOYMENT IN KENYA

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—Having heard of and read in the British Press state- ' ments concerning the controversy which has arisen over the employment of juveniles...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—Livy's definition will take

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some beating- Libertatis alienae et dignitatis state memor. Would that our Caesars remembered it faithfully, W. HARVEY MOORE. Exeter, Devon.

WHAT IS A GENTLEMAN " ?

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—Is not a gentleman a gentle man? That is, a man who is a real man—what we mean when we say " manly " and " virile "—and at the same time "...

CANADA AND SECESSION

The Spectator

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—In your issue of January 6th, Sir Alfred Zimmern, in writing about the future of the British Empire, says : " As regards South Africa and...

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—In my opinion, a

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gentleman is one who in no circum- stances would permit himself to offer any contribution what- soever to a discussion, whether in conversation or in print, on the subject of...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] -

The Spectator

Sut,—Before this interesting correspondence is closed, I am sure many of your readers would be glad to be reminded of Henry Drummond's definition of a gentleman. It is as...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—" To be a

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gentleman," says R. L. S. in The Dynamiter, "is to be one all the world over and in every relation and grade of society." His international outlook has apt significance today....

A CORRECTION

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Sta,—I have read with interest the review of Political Thought by J. P. Mayer, to which I have contributed, a chapter on " Political Thought in...

HERBERT SPENCER'S HOUSE

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR, — I suppose that there are still some people who like myself enjoy The Home Life of Herbert Spencer as a bedside book. They will be sorry...

ZEITUNGSSTERBEN

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[Von einem deutschen Korrespondenten] DER lange Frost hat im deutschen Blatterwa:de schon vie Opfer gefordert. Von den dreitausend Zeitungen and Zee schriften, die das Dritte...

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BOOKS OF THE DAY

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William Butler Yeats (Sean O'Faolain) The Young Melbourne (Bonamy Dobree) . . Economic Problems of the Next War (Honor Croome) A Short History of Science (Michael Roberts) The...

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THE MID-DAY EINZIG •

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Da. EINZIG stands in the same relation to the staider fraternity of economists as does the evening Press to the solid morning daily. The world's economic insanity rolls on its...

WILLIAM AND CAROLINE LAMB

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The Young Melbourne. By Lord David Cecil. (Constable. los.) IT is always a difficult question to decide whether the his- torical imagination is better employed in seeing those...

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AN ASPECT OF SCIENCE A Short History of Science. By

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F. Sherwood Taylor. (Heine- mann. 8s. 6d.) DR. SHERWOOD TAYLOR is primarily a chemist, more interested perhaps in materials than in theories, and the bias that appeared in his...

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THE GROUND-PLAN OF DEMOCRACY

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Educating for Democracy. Edited by J. I. Cohen and R. M. W. Travers. (Macmillan. ros. 6d.) THE best introduction to these books, as to so many books of the day, would be to...

THE REAL THING

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Jungle Trader. By H. R. Taylor. (Jarrolds. 8s. 6d.) THIS is far the best book which has been written about the Liberian coast since Theodore Canot's Memoirs of a Slave Trader...

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WHERE STONES ARE IRON Rhymney Memories. By Thomas Jones, C.H.

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(Newtown: The Welsh Outlook Press. 5s.) MR. THOMAS JONES knows more Cabinet secrets than any man in the country except Sir Maurice Hankey, but those who will look for political...

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THEODORE OF CORSICA

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His Majesty of Corsica. By Valerie Pirie. (Collins 18s.) A MAN who would be king and a romantic island make an irresistible combination, but his Corsican adventure of 1736 was...

THE ANNUAL AUDIT

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The Year's Poetry, 1938. Compiled and Edited by D. KiLham Roberts and Geoffrey Grigson. (Bodley Head. is.) EDITED, as usual, with knowledge and discrimination, this annual...

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FICTION

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By KATE O'BRIEN The Daughter. By Bessie Breuer. (Cape. 7s. 6d.) THE entertainment level is fairly high m new fiction just now, as it usually tends to be at this time of year....

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CURRENT LITERATURE

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In common with the majority of successful Victorian writers of the second rank, Charles Lever is little read today, and it would be difficult to maintain that his neglect is...

Mrs. Malachi Whitaker has a reputation as a writer of

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stories. And So Did I (Jonathan Cape, 7s. 6d.) is a dangerous attempt to make new ground. It consists, apparently, in damp comments and scrappy reminiscences written at odd...

Profzssor Macmurray's use of the definite article in the title

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of his thesis (Student Christian Movement, 7s. 6d.) may well inspire doubt in those who have been offered various other explanations . of the historical process. But it is none...

THE FEBRUARY MAGAZINES

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THE Nineteenth Century gives first place to Vice - Admiral Usbome in "The German Submarine Menace." Now that Germany is to build as large a tonnage of submarines as we have, we...

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THESE CITY " JITTERS "

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- I see that the politicians have again been waxing eloquent about City " jitters," by which, presumably, is meant an irrational display of nerves. This is a matter in which a...

LORD WARDINGTON SPEAKS OUT

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There is plenty of plain speaking in Lord Warclington's address to the shareholders of Lloyds Bank. First of all, on the subject of deposits, he made it very clear that in the...

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

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MANY, and especially those outside the City, will feel it is an odd world in which a speech as bitter as that of Herr Hitler at Monday's assembly of the Reichstag can send stock...

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COMPANY MEETING

The Spectator

LLOYDS BANK LIMITED ERITAIN'S STRONG MONETARY POSITION COMPARISON WITH 1914 LORD WARDINGTON'S REVIEW THE eighty-first ordinary general meeting of the shareholders was held on...

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Venturers' Corner Few shares are able nowadays to stand up

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to the announce - ment that additional capital is to be raised, however attractive the issue terms may be. The jobber's reaction, which I admit is usually correct, is that such...

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT In a more favourable market environment Imperial

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Tobacco kr ordinary units would have responded to the announcement of the maintenance of the 25 per cent. tax free dividend. Allowing for the final dividend and cash bonus...

WOOLWORTH'S BIG EXTENSIONS

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If there were any doubts remaining about the further expansion possibilities of F. W. Woolworth and Co., the multiple bazaar undertaking, they must surely be dispelled by Mr. W....

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INVESTMENT TRUST POLICY

The Spectator

Mr. R. B. H. Ottley, in his thoughtful address to the share.. holders of General Consolidated Investment Trust last Friday, raised two points which all those concerned with...

" CHARTERED " COMPANY RESULTS

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The full accounts of the British South Africa Company confirm the suggestion made last week on that basis of the preliminary figures. The dividends received in the year ended...

THE chairman of William Deacon's Bank, Mr. Gerard Powis Dewhurst,

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speaks with particular authority on the problems of the cotton industry since he is also head of an important textile house. But nobody could describe the review which he gave...

DROUGHT IN AUSTRALIA

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There seems recently to have been some relief from the drought conditions which have prevailed over a large part of the Australian pastoral area. At Monday's meeting of the...

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COMPANY MEETINGS

The Spectator

THE UNION BANK OF AUSTRALIA CONDITIONS IN THE COMMONWEALTH SIR JOHN DAVIDSON'S ADDRESS THE annual meeting of the Union Bank of Australia, Limited, was held on January 30th in...

GENERAL CONSOLIDATED INVESTMENT TRUST

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DISTRIBUTION OF HOLDINGS THE forty-third ordinary general meeting of the General Consoli- dated Investment Trust, Limited was held on January 27th at Winchester House, E.C. Mr....

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RHODESIAN RAILWAY POSITION

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One other very important interest of the " Chartered " Com- pany's is its majority holding in Rhodesia Railways Trust which, in turn, holds all the ordinary shares of Rhodesia...

ASHTON BROTHERS RECOVERY

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It is heartening in these times of cotton trade depression to find a spinning and manufacturing company which has greatly improved its position even if the company be a small...

SOLUTION NEXT WEEK

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The winner of Crossword No. 331 is Mr. Eric R. Wilkinson, Bootham School, York.

" THE SPECTATOR " CROSSWORD No. 332

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BY ZENO [A prize of a Book Token for one guinea will be given to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword puzzle to be opened. Envelopes should be...