3 MAY 1924

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NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE Budget is a great relief—relief not in material shape to the hard-pressed paYer of Income Tax, but to the feelings of people who had feared that there might be such a...

The figures for the financial year just ended and Mr.

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Snowden's estimates for 1924 - 25 may be most conveniently shown in the following table, which we take from the excellent summary in the Daily News :- 1923-24. REVENUE (Actual)...

In describing the duties which have been reduced and those

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which are abolished, we will take the reductions first. The tax on tea is reduced from 8d. to 4d. per lb. at a loss to the revenue of £5,400,000 for a full year. The duties on...

Under the heading of Income Tax a small concession is

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made to widows and widowers who have children. Legislation dealing with minor matters is also promised. For example, persons whose claim to be " ordinarily resident " outside...

At all events, there are remissions that will be welcomed

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I r by every class ha the nation. There is a little for everybody. The Budget is a Free Trade Budget after the heart of the old-fashioned - Radical. It comes as near as possible...

EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING OFFICES :

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13 York Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C. 2.

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The reparations situation does not seem to have ' changed greatly

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since we wrote last week, but what change there has been is, on the whole, hopeful. On Thursday, April 24th, the replies. of the British, French and Belgian Governments reached...

We pass now to the abolished taxes. First of all

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we are extremely glad to record the disappearance of the Corporation Profits Tax, which has been a heavy load upon every kind of industry and commerce. The cost is expected to...

Sir W. Davison inquired whether it was not a fact

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that the boundary was definitely fixed by the Act of 1920. " How," he asked, " can a statutory provision of that kind be set aside by any agreement to which Northern Ireland is...

In the Daily News of last Saturday Sir Frederick Maurice,

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writing from Dortmund, reported that the Italian engineers in the Ruhr had suddenly demanded that their country should take part in the M.I.C.U.M:J agreements. This action, he...

Finally Mr. Kenworthy pressed his pertinent question again : "

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No legislation will be required ?" Whereupon Mr. Thomas said, " I cannot go further into the matter.", What does all this mean ? We take leave to hope that it means that the...

Finally, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, true to his well-known

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economic opinions, announced that the powers of the Land Valuation Department, which were taken away last year, will be restored. An inquiry is to be conducted as to the...

In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Mr. J. H.

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Thomas, in answer to a question by Mr. Baldwin on the Irish Boundary, reminded the House that his predecessor had received a request from the Irish Free State last July for the...

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The death of Herr Helfferich, who was killed in the

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Swiss railway accident at Bellinzona on Thursday, April 24th, may have an important effect on German politics, and so on the chances of European recovery. Helfferich was perhaps...

At Briton Ferry on Monday the Prime Minister made one

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of those reflective and spiritually-minded speeches which excite the fury of Bolsheviks and are described in Moscow as being inspired by a hideous bourgeois pietism. Mr....

Meanwhile, another aspect of the situation is the fact that

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Mr. Shinwell, the Secretary for Mines, is said to be preparing a Bill for the nationalization of mining royalties. This measure, of course, would have nothing to do with the...

On Thursday, April 24th, Prince George opened the new Harwich-Zeebrugge

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train ferry. Thus at last the project of linking these islands with the Continental railway system is realized. As has been already said in the Spectator, the vessels used on...

On the other hand, the internal German situation seems to

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have definitely improved. The Government has taken its courage in both hands, and has evidently made up its mind to go to the country with the acceptance of the Experts' Report...

Bank:Rate, 4 per cent., changed from 8 per cent. July

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.5, .1923 ; 5 per cent. War Loan was on Thursday, 100; Thursday week, 102! ; a year ago, 101.

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W E have things to say in strong criticism of the

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Budget, though those criticisms, as we shall show, arc not on the lines on which most Unionists have assailed Mr. Snowden's proposals. Before, however, we make our criticisms,...

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THE IRISH BOUNDARY DANGER.

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TTN LESS the situation in Ireland is very carefully lJJ and wisely handled the people of Great Britain may find themselves once again • with all the burden of Irish chaos upon...

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PRIVATE PROPERTY : A UNIONIST

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IDEAL. BY NOEL SKELTON. I N past issues of the Spectator . Mr. Strachey has expressed fears, obviously deep and sincere, as to the future of Unionism. It may be doubted...

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MR. SNOWDEN'S BUDGET: THE SCENE IN THE HOUSE.

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FROM A POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT.] T HE day of the Budget is always awaited with the keenest anticipation, and never more so than this year, when it was a Socialist Chancellor of...

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WHAT IS ROTARY ?

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BY EVELYN WRENCH. M OST great movements started in a humble way.; this certainly is true of the Rotary Club movement or Rotary International as it is now termed. " Most of the...

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Only a few weeks ago in these notes the return

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of a very successful Indian. Governor, Sir George Lloyd, was mentioned. On. Saturday, Lord Willingdon, another distinguished Indian Governor, returned after eleven years'...

* * There have been several dramatic features about the

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great flight round the world which is being attempted by British and American airmen and at the eleventh hour by the French pilot, Lieutenant Peltier d'Oisy. After preliminary...

THE

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ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD. BY EVELYN WRENCIL A CURIOUS situation has arisen in Newfoundland. The recent scandals which wt-e referred to in the Spectator at the time are responsi...

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The question of the ratification of the British-American Liquor Treaty

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afforded the deputies in Dail Eireann an opportunity to air their views on the Free State's inter- national position. During the debate Mr. Fitzgerald, the Minister for External...

Congratulations to Captain Victor Gordon on his 1:,ppointment as High

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Commissioner for Newfoundland and to the Government of Newfoundland for making so excellent a choice. Ever since Sir Edgar Bowring resigned two years ago Captain Gordon has been...

THE • THEATRE.

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" TO HAVE THE HONOUR," AT WYNDHAM'S THEATRE. Tim first thing that will strike you about Mr. Milne's new light comedy is that it is very good. When you begin to consider its...

* Mr. William Hughes, the ex-Prime Minister of Australia, who

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is at present engaged on a lecture tour throughout the United States, has made his bow to the American public at a luncheon given in his honour by the Australian Commissioner in...

NOTICE TO OUR READERS.

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Wrrn the approach of the holiday season, during which many readers will desire their copies of the Spectator sent to temporary addresses, the publisher feels it necessary to...

" The Public School boys—some from Dulwich and from Christ's

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College at Horsham, the latter with its attached farm on which boys are trained—who lately went out to New Zealand have been received with acclaim on the stations to which they...

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M U SIC.

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THE COMING OPERA SEASON. ON May 5th, for the first time since the War, a company of German operatic artists will be heard in London : a solemn thought. For those who have had...

THE CINEMA.

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A COMPARISON OF ARTS. SOME glib fraud long ago invented the detestable phrase " the silent stage," as though the cinema were nothing more than the theatre docked of its words....

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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THE DAWES REPORT. [To the Editor of the SPEcreaou.] Sie,—Will you allow me space to supplement my comment on the Dawes plan? Let me again emphasize my sincere admiration for...

BOOK COLLECTORS' NOTES.

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(This is She second of a series of Monthly articles intended to interest book collectors and having special reference to the work of the First Edition Club.) THE continual...

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PRAYER-BOOK REVISION : BISHOP KNOX MEMORIAL.

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[To the Editor of the SrEcTivron.] Six,—Canon Richardson disputes several of my statements, not always very exactly. I did not stigmatize the " Evan- gelicals in the Assembly as...

BIRTH CONTROL AND HYPOCRISY. [To the Editor of the SpEcrAzoa.]

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Sia,--1 do not know whether Mr. Julian Huxley himself is responsible for the heading " Birth Control and Hypocrisy " to his article in the Spectator of April 19th, but as you...

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A CIVIC SENSE IN SHEFFIELD. [To the Editor of the

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SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I have read with unusually keen interest Mrs. Williams- Ellis's articles on a civic sense as they have appeared weekly in the Spectator. I have also read the...

CURRENCY REFORM AND INTOLERANCE.

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[To the Editor of the SracTaros.] SIR,— Bearing upon the all-important question of the relation of finance to industry, there are several aspects of the problem Which will have...

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" BRITISH SOLDIERS' GRAVES IN ITALY. [To the Editor of

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the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—May. I crave the hospitality of your columns on a matter which seems to me deserving of attention ? I visited to-day the British Military cemetery, and I...

NONCONFORMISTS AND INDIVIDUALISM. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR ,—While

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not wishing to intervene in the discussion con- cerning Prayer-book Revision, may I, as a Congregationalist reader of your excellent paper, venture to demur to the description...

THE CURE FOR FROSTBITE.

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[To the Editor of the Srzervroa.] Sut,—I was much interested in Mr. Stefansson's article on frostbite. I have just read the letter by Mr. Tweed in your issue of February 16th....

HOW TO STOP STRIKES.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sra,—As it is about forty-five years since the first interference of Trade Union delegates in the previously existing most cordial relations...

THE GENERAL THANKSGIVING. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

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SIR,—" Irishman " wonders that the General Thanksgiving is said in churches by the clergyman only. May I remind him that this, and many other Prayer-book anomalies, are going to...

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EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS.

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REPARATIONS AND WAR DEBTS. MR. MARK B. F. MAJOR writes :—If it were found—as I am satisfied it would be—that the receipt of reparations would in the main be harmful to us, it...

POETRY.

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AN OLD LADY READING. EARTH iS predominant, clay vessel emptied, Hollow and void of all but memories, Gone—gone—the eternal soul of laughter, The loveliness, the hopefulness,...

THE LATE MIGRATION OF REDWINGS.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The publication of letters on the above has brought me communications on the same subject—one from a correspon- dent in Co. Cork, who...

" SWANS SING BEFORE THEY DIE."

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —Your correspondent will find the Latin version of " Swans sing before they die " in Arundines Cami, page 323 (5th edition), under the...

FROM A WINDOW.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—One of the many attractions of Hythe is the number of birds one sees almost everywhere. On Thursday, April 17th, I was looking through...

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A BOOK OF THE MOMENT.

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MAHATMA GANDHI. IN the epilogue to his Jean-Christophe, that vast epic of a disappearing age, M. Romain-Rolland makes Saint Chris- topher, after struggling through the river...

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BOOKS.

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THIS - WEEK'S BOOKS. Mn. ROY CAMPBELL'S verse is rowdy and alarming : The Flaming Terrapin (Cape) stands like a giant among the bagatelles and delicacies of most modern poets....

IN DEFENCE OF MAN.

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Problems of Belief. By F. C. S. Schiller. (Hodder and Stoughton. 38. 6d. net.) THE devil has all the best talent. Dr. Schiller is the only modern English philosopher who "...

THE STUFF OF ROMANCE.

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The Ships and Sailors of Old Salem. By Ralph D. Paine. (Heath Cranton. 21S.) The Ships and Sailors of Old Salem. By Ralph D. Paine. (Heath Cranton. 21S.) THIS book, its author...

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FIIIMUS TROES.

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The Lost Dominion. By Al. Carthill. (Blackwood. 15s. net.) WITH fire and imagination, in a rhythmic prose that is a constant pleasure, with historical and biblical allusions to...

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MODERN ARCHITECTURE.

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The Smaller House. (The Architectural Press. 25s.) Vanbrugh, by Christian Barman; Chambers, by A. Trystan Edwards ; Inigo Jones, by Stanley C. Ramsey ; Hawks- moor, by H. S....

A CRITICAL ENTHUSIAST.

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The Contemporary Theatre, 1923. By James Agate. (Leonard, Parsons. 7s. 8d. net.) Ix this volume Mr. Agate gathers together a selection from; his dramatic articles in the...

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STELLA NASH. By " Ganpat." (William Blackwood. 6s. net.)

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Although this book is fashioned on a rather familiar theme of Anglo-Indian romance, the author contrives to introduce a certain originality into his material. Not only is the...

THE HOUSE OF PROPHECY. By Gilbert Canaan. (Thornton Butterworth. 7s.

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6d. net.) Two years is a long interval to elapse between the first and second volumes of any novel ; but Mr. Gilbert Cannan's Sembal made a strong enough impression for the...

FICTION.

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AN ELUSIVE ALLEGORY. Lady into Fox was a romantic episode treated realistically, and when people shook their heads over it they were, con- sciously or not, finding fault with...

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THEORIES OF MEMORY. By Beatrice Edgell. (Oxford : Clarendon Press.

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7s. 6d. net.) MODERN THEORIES OF THE UNCONSCIOUS. By • W. L. Northridge. With an Introduction by ProL J. Laird. (London Kogan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. 8s. 6d. net.) Miss...

THE COMEDY OF PETER TAUNTON. By G. P. Robinson. (Duckworth.

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7s. ed. net.) THE COMEDY OF PETER TAUNTON. By G. P. Robinson. (Duckworth. 7s. ed. net.) For once an author has completely justified his title, and the reader will find in The...

ISLAM AT THE CROSS ROADS. By De Lacy O'Leary. (Kagan

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Paul. 6s. 6d. net.) Dr. O'reary, a learned Orientalist who knows the Near East well, deals in this instructive book with the history of Moham- medanism, its numerous sects and...

ROME AND HER MONUMENTS. By Harold Stannard. (T. Fisher Unwin.

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15s. net.) Those who know Rome best will perhaps take most pleasure in reading Mr. Stannard's thoughtful book, which is in part descriptive, in part concerned with early and...

SHORTER NOTICES.

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PHOTOGRAPHING WILD LIFE ACROSS THE WORLD. By Cherry Kearton. (Arrowsmith. 25s.) As its title implies, the principal attraction of this book is its collection of photographs of...

In this age it is perhaps futile to expect the

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art collector to collect only that which appeals to him aesthetically irre- spective of its scarcity and antiquity ; for this form of collect- ing amounts to an act of creation....

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rINANCE—PUBLIC & PRIVATE.

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[BY OUR CITY EDITOR.] THE CITY AND THE BUDGET. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sri,—It is too soon to give you a carefully considered view of the City concerning the Budget,...

THE OVERSEAS SETTLEMENT GALLERY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION.

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We have received an illustrated pamphlet produced by the organizers of the Overseas Settlement Gallery. In form it tells the story of the frieze in the Gallery. It would be...

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FINANCIAL NOTES.

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There are still few bankers who speak with greater authority on questions of currency and the gold standard than Sir Felix Schuster. No small amount of interest, therefore, will...