6 JANUARY 1923

Page 3

INDEX.

The Spectator

FROM JANUARY 6th TO JUNE 30th, 1923, INCLUSIVE, TOMOS OF THE DAY. A GRICULTURE, the Condition of .. 501 Agriculture, the Interim Report on .. 616 Agricultural Dispute, the, in...

Page 8

Loudon : Printed by W. 8PEAKIHT & Sorts. Lin.. 98

The Spectator

& 99 Fetter Lane. E.C. 4 ; and Published by THOMAS Sermon for the " Stamm' (Limited). at their Oaks. No. IS York Street. Covent Garden, London, W.C.S. Saturday, August 11th. 1923 .

Page 9

France, remember, in occupying large tracts of territory in order

The Spectator

to enforce payment, will not only be, as Mr. Boner Law well pointed out, destroying German credit, and thus the one hope of payment, but will be, in all probability, converting...

Though the levers of Government may, for the moment, be

The Spectator

in the hands of a militaristic or semi-militaristic party, there is now, as always, in France a very large body of opinion which is intensely pacific, which desires to trade and...

Our main reason for optimism is the very imminence of

The Spectator

catastrophe, which, in spite of superficial indications to the contrary, we cannot believe is really hidden from the statesmen of France. Though the French people may be angry,...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

The Spectator

A s we write the fate of the Paris Conference, and therefore of co-operation and diplomatic sympathy between France and Britain, hangs by a thread. The adjourned COnference,...

But if these abstract considerations are strong, even stronger are

The Spectator

those which arise the moment we begin to think out the practical steps which France must take in order effectively to exact pledges from Germany. To begin with, the French army...

fli TO READERS AND SUBSCRIBERS.

The Spectator

The " Spectator " will be sent post free from its offices, 13 York Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C. 2, to any address In the United Kingdom or abroad for 30s. per annum,...

Page 10

Next follow proposals for dealing with the Inter- Allied debts..

The Spectator

(1) Gold deposits' now held by Great Britain as security for Inter-Allied debts are to be applied towards thereduction of these debts. (2) The First Series of German Bonds to be...

The official statement of the British plan for the general

The Spectator

settlement of reparation and European Inter-Allied debts was published in Wednesday's papers. To begin with, it proposes a moratorium for four years, during which time Germany...

Nor is this all. If armed intervention means, as it

The Spectator

almost certainly will, some violent political changes in Germany—very' probably in the direction of militarism —it may well have a similar reaction in France. If France were...

The news from Austria seems at last to be less

The Spectator

gloomy. The financial measures of the Government are un- doubtedly meeting with some success. The " gold loan " has already been half subscribed, measures are being taken to...

After making some arrangements in regard to the pay- ments

The Spectator

in kind to France and Italy, which, however, are to be kept as low as possible, the plan goes on to define the conditions to which Germany must agree if she is to be allowed the...

Speaking generally, these terms must be considered well designed. They

The Spectator

are not, we believe, too lenient to Germany. They are not injurious to France, but dis- tinctly beneficial, unless inflated and therefore impossible claims are to be considered...

The obligations take the form of 5 per cent. bonds

The Spectator

redeemable at call by the German Government—at the outset on easy terms, gradually rising to par at the end of thirty-two years. There is to be no sinking fund, but redemption,...

Page 11

Such procedure against a British subject must surely be unparalleled

The Spectator

since the fall of the house of Stuart. The article which Mr. Roberts published was obviously highly libellous. We have seen no reason stated why he was not proceeded against by...

An Honours list was issued on New Year's Day. It

The Spectator

may be described as mainly a Departmental list ; the political Honours list has been postponed, apparently in order that it may be subjected to the new tests recom- mended by...

New Year's Day was an important date for the railway

The Spectator

companies, as then the Act of 1921 came into force. Under the Act four large railway groups are substituted for the numerous independent railway companies. The new groups are as...

Under the new Act the profits of the companies above

The Spectator

a fixed amount will be returned to traders in the form of a reduction in rates. The rates will be regularly reviewed by the Railway Rates Tribunal. The more the companies carry...

It is becoming obvious that if and when we get

The Spectator

our unemployed millions back at work, it will not be on the same work that they left. Markets, methods of produc- tion, even the needs of individuals have changed since 1914 too...

But it must not be, supposed that though the new

The Spectator

era has been inaugurated great changes will come quickly. The companies have been given until July 1st to make their arrangements. According to the Daily News it is expected...

Mr. R. Holland-Martin's Annual Report on the Clearing House notes

The Spectator

the remarkable way in which cheques have supplanted legal tender. Barely sixty years ago, Lord Avebury, as we read in the Times, stated that out of £1,000,000 paid into his bank...

At the same time occurs an illustration of the appalling

The Spectator

complication of a Balkanized Central Europe, doubly divided by bitter national hatreds and the yet fiercer cross currents of class feeling. The. Austrian Socialists object to...

Two years ago Mlle. Blanche Garneau was found dead in

The Spectator

a Quebec public park. Last week Mr. Roberts, the editor of a Montreal newspaper, entered upon a sentence of twelve months' imprisonment, to which he had been condemned by no...

Bank Rate, 8 per cent., changed from 81 per cent.

The Spectator

July 13, 1922; 5 per cent. War Loan was on Thursday, 1001; Thursday week, 99-/ ; a year ago, 911.

Page 12

A Reuter message from Washington informs us that Sir Keith

The Spectator

Smith, the Australian airman, who with his brother the late Sir Ross Smith was the first to fly from England to Australia, has completed his plans for crossing the Western...

The Commission brushes aside most of the schemes for dealing

The Spectator

with the problem as being impracticable. Under this heading are :— " (i) The deportation of 12,000,000 negroes to Africa, (2) the establishment of a separate negro State in the...

Mr. Rodolphe Lemieux, Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons,

The Spectator

contributes an interesting letter to the Times, in which he lays stress on the facilities afforded by the port of Gaspe in Quebec Province, which he con- siders " the finest...

The report of the Chicago Commission on Race Rela- tions,

The Spectator

appointed by Governor Frank 0. Lowden, of Illinois, shortly after the horrible race riots in July, 1919, has been published, and contains much matter of interest to citizens of...

One of the most picturesque personalities in the American Congress

The Spectator

will be Mr. James Couzens, the multi- millionaire, a former partner of Henry Ford, who leaves the mayoralty of Detroit to suceed Senator Newberry. In 1903 Mr. Couzens, so the...

The very gratifying announcement was made last week that the

The Spectator

Speaker has allocated a seat in the Press Gallery of the House of Commons for the use of the London repre- sentatives of the Dominion Press. As a result of the establishment of...

THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD.

The Spectator

By EVELYN WRENCH. D EATH has removed during the past ten days two men who in their different spheres played im- portant parts in the development of the Antipodes : Mr. David...

Page 13

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The Spectator

MR. BONAR LAW AT PARIS. M R. BONAR LAW is grappling with one of the most difficult and ungrateful tasks which have ever fallen to a statesman. His main difficulty is that he is...

Page 14

THE PROGRESS OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. T HE seed grows

The Spectator

while men sleep. The growth of the League of Nations has exceeded expectation ; it has been much greater than seemed to be promised by the amount of popular support which the...

Page 16

MR. PAGE AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

The Spectator

'W E are glad to learn from a paragraph in the last issue of the Sunday Times that there is a growing movement in London in favour of expressing the nation's gratitude to the...

Page 17

THE HONOURS REPORT.

The Spectator

T HE Report of the Royal Commission on Honours reads to us like a document by a doctor who should attempt to prescribe for an illness without having observed the symptoms. No...

Page 18

W HEN the Postmaster-General of the Irish Free State invited artists

The Spectator

to submit designs for the new postage stamps, he laid down as one of the conditions of the competition that they must be symbolical. The new stamp, recently issued, is not a...

Page 20

TRIVIAL RESOLUTIONS. T HE wish to get away from " The

The Spectator

Usual " is recurrent with most of us. Ordinarily it lasts a very short time and is most keenly felt at anniversaries. The New Year brings it to nearly all of us. We become...

Page 21

AIR TRAVEL AND AN EXHIBITION.

The Spectator

O F Mr. Riley, in The Mill on the Floss, George Eliot says, " Though he had a general sense of under- standing Latin his comprehension of any particular Latin was not very...

Page 22

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Spectator

OBSCURE POETRY. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Snt,—Mrs. Williams Ellis's explanation of my poem, " Promenade Sentimentale," is so entirely admirable, she has understood it...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] have long thought that

The Spectator

the section of the Spectator headed " Poetry " should on occasion have the superscription " Verse," though I have not been concerned to say so. But now that Mrs. Williams-Ellis...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—Mr. W. H. Ward

The Spectator

dislikes Miss Sitwell's poem because he cannot understand it. Your Poetry Editor, though " very far from completely understanding the poem even after repeated reading," admires...

Page 23

REPARATIONS AND REASON.

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—The average British citizen is heartily sick of the wearisome windings of the controversy on reparations. When a man can only keep going...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—The article of your

The Spectator

Poetry Editor in last week's issue of the Spectator, in other ways pregnant, sane and gracious, does an injustice, I take it, both to Miss Sitwell and to Mr. Ward. Miss...

THE " SPECTATOR'S " CIRCULATION. [To the Editor of the

The Spectator

SPECTATOR.] SrR,—I beg leave to add my corroborative testimony as to the value of the Spectator. During the past two years I have forwarded it regularly to " Bimbashi " Erskine...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, Miss Edith Sitwell's

The Spectator

poem seems to me to present no difficulties. It describei an " old fogy " in pursuit of the meaning of a modern poem. He fails to obtain it and is consigned to the enjoyment of...

AFFAIRS IN COUNTY CORK.

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] enclose a letter received yesterday from a friend in Cork which I trust you will consider worthy of publication. Comment is needless.—I am,...

Page 24

DOMESTIC SERVICE AND DOLES.

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In the discussions on Government schemes for training girls for domestic service instead of giving them doles, one aspect of the case...

THE LATE W. H. HUDSON.

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—In your admirable review of the last book of W. H. Hudson (December 16th, 1922), you particularly emphasize that he was " essentially a...

THE NATURALIZATION OF WOMEN BY MARRIAGE IN AMERICA. [To the

The Spectator

Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—An Act of Congress which became the law of the United States on September 22nd, 1922, changes the rule which prevails, I believe, in all...

IN DEFENCE OF BRISTOL.

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,-I think the reviewer of Mr. Salmon's Bristol in the Spectator of December 30th, 1922, must have based his criticisms on a superficial...

Page 25

MINERS AND THE LABOUR PARTY. [To the Editor of the

The Spectator

SPECTATOR.] Sra,—I, too, was at the Unionist Conference and fully endorse all " A Miner " says in last week's Spectator. Such a man ought to have all possible help, and I for...

THE MOON AND RABBITS.

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Apropos the discussion in your columns as to whether or not it makes any difference what phase of the moon timber is cut in, I should like...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The letters on this

The Spectator

subject in your issue of the 9th ult. seem to be on the same lines as a local tradition, I do not think very prevalent, as to harvesting of apples. A farmer friend of mine some...

THE MOON AND WORMS.

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The following observations may have some bearing upon the question which has been raised in your columns with regard, to the effect of the...

CUTTING TIMBER AT THE TIME OF THE FULL MOON.

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In the Riviera olives are grafted about the time of the moon being full, and it is said that then only is the operation successful. It may...

REFUGEES IN GREECE.

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Snt,—The report that the financial situation of the Greek Government will no longer permit the . daily pittance of 2 drachmas to each refugee...

PUBLIC READING IN CHURCH. [To the Editor of the Sencaverou.]

The Spectator

SIR,—I think that Public Reading 'in Church is better than it was in my youth ; and at least it seems to me that more of it is passably good and less of it villainously bad. The...

NOTICE.—When " Correspondence " or Articles arc signed with the

The Spectator

writer's name or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked " Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily be held to be in agreement with the views therein expressed or...

Page 26

- 31 IT S I G.

The Spectator

THE " MAGIC FLUTE " AT COVENT GARDEN. MANY masterpieces impress us because they are culminations of a particular style, the best that has been done within a given range of...

POETRY.

The Spectator

"I SEE THIS SWEET NIGHT PASSING." IN the fields at Green Fern Farm the grass is aglow With dew like daisies tipped by an April moon. The shadows are heavy in labouring rows,...

THE THEATRE.

The Spectator

TREASURE ISLAND," ADAPTED FROM R. L. STEVENSON'S STORY BY J. B. FAGAN, AT THE STRAND THEATRE. LET me say at once that I should not take a boy under fifteen to see this play. It...

TYRANNIES.

The Spectator

HE is so palsied by his dreams, This tall and beautiful, this pitiful man, He, when a moth - wing taps him, screams. When a gull's image ran Over the blue wide shallows, he...

Page 27

ART.

The Spectator

THE NEW ENGLISH ART CLUB. TEE pictures which one would rather not see in the present exhibition are fortunately inconspicuous, hence the generally pleasant effect of the...

BOOKS.

The Spectator

THIS WEEK'S BOOKS. Tan autumn publishing season is over. The time of peace and recuperation for the reviewing departments of news- papers has, in fact, arrived. There are two...

Page 28

THE BLACK MAN'S BURDEN.*

The Spectator

WHENEVER Europeans have brought the benefits of civilization to a primitive country the ungrateful natives have begun to die out. The decrease in their numbers and the...

Page 29

MR. BECK ON THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION.* Ma. BECK'S admirable short

The Spectator

study of the American Consti- tution is based on the lectures which so delighted legal London last spring. It will, we trust, be very largely read throughout this country. It is...

AS YOU SEE IT.*

The Spectator

Mess. GARVIN'S book As You See It is one which shows in considerable relief the differences to many temperaments between narrative and reflective prose. The author always writes...

Page 30

POETS AND POETRY .

The Spectator

THE POETRY OF EMILY DICKINSON. EMILY DICKINSON was born at Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10th, 1830, and died there at the age of fifty-five on May 15th, 1886. She lived,...

MASSINGER AND THE CENSOR.* Tim political—one can hardly say judicial—murder

The Spectator

of the great Advocate of Holland in 1619 roused much excitement in London and let loose a flood of ephemeral literature. The only work, however, of more enduring interest that...

THE ORIGINS OF FAITH .

The Spectator

THIS book is an endeavour to synthesize the myriad occult sciences and religious systems of mankind. While working with the methods of the folklorists, the author has not their...

Page 32

BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE.

The Spectator

Amid some of the admirable fiction which Blaclewood's continues to provide we notice a curiously attractive article on " Changes in China." The Republic has not violently...

THE NATIONAL REVIEW.

The Spectator

" Centurion," whose identity is no secret, makes " A Plea for the Punishment of Politicians," which is directed to the address of Mr. Lloyd George. " A Bevan, for gambling with...

THE JANUARY MAGAZINES.

The Spectator

THE FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. Mr. Archibald Hurd asks, " Is the Washington Naval Treaty doomed 2 " and gives a hesitating reply, while admit- ting that the three chief naval Powers...

FICTION.

The Spectator

A REALISTIC NOVEL.* THE importance, from the point of view of criticism, of the influence of one writer on another is very much over-estimated nowadays. In the old days not only...

ANN SEVERN AND THE FIELDINGS.t Miss SINCLAIR'S new novel is

The Spectator

concerned with the reactions of various members of the Fielding family to the personality of Ann Severn, a motherless girl who passes a great deal of her life at their home at...

THE CONTEMPORARY.

The Spectator

The question of " Liberal Reunion " naturally takes first place in this Liberal Review. Mr. Harold Spender discusses it from the standpoint of policy, somewhat vaguely and not...

Page 33

THE ROMANCE OF THE SHOE. By Tle)mas Wright. (Farncombe and

The Spectator

Sons. 12s. 6d. net.) The main value of this anecdotal book lies in the repro- ductions of curious woodcuts and drawings. For the rest, it is formless but diverting. A history...

OTHER BOOKS.

The Spectator

( Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent review.) Professor Brander Matthews has given us a good many volumes of essays, in which he has proved himself a...

Dr. Greaves, who is Professor of Agricultural Bacteriology in Utah

The Spectator

Agricultural College, has been guided in writing this useful work by the needs of his students. We cannot here discuss its technical merits, but so far as we have tested it we...

THE WORLD'S WORK.

The Spectator

This vigorous monthly has reduced its price to a shilling with the New Year, and has induced Mr. J. A. Spender to write regularly on " The March of Events." Mr. Spender's first...

SCIENCE PROGRESS. Edited by Sir Ronald Ross. (Murray. 6s. net.)

The Spectator

This valuable quarterly is becoming more and more in- dispensable, both to scientific workers and to laymen who are anxious to keep in touch with the rapid development of the...

THE EMPIRE REVIEW. (Macmillan. Is. net.) This old-established review has

The Spectator

been enlarged to its former size with the New Year and promises to give once again a comprehensive account of Imperial problems. The January number is distinctly interesting....

THE LONDON MERCURY.

The Spectator

Mr. Shanks writes at length, and appreciatively, on Mr. Rudyard Kipling, whose work he finds increasingly satis- fying." Prince D. S. Mirsky explains why he regards Emily Bront8...

RELIGION AND THE FUTURE LIFE. (George Allen and Unwin. 12s.

The Spectator

(id.) These are twelve Lectures given at Yale by well-known American specialists in the development of the belief, not so much in immortality, as in the future life. The most...

THE DICKENSIAN. (Cecil Palmer. ls. net.) The continued existence of

The Spectator

the magazine, which Mr. B. W. Matz edits with skill and enthusiasm for the Dickens Fellow- ship, is in itself a proof of the abiding popularity of Charles Dickens. There is no...

THE SLAVONIC REVIEW No. 2. (Eyre and Spottis- woode. 5s.

The Spectator

net.) The vigorous School of Slavonic Studies at King's College displays its learning and enthusiasm in this excellent quar- terly. The second number contains some important...

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

The Spectator

" For the avoidance of Revolution " Major Hammond Foot advocates the rapid extension of small holdings while Mr. H. W. Household commends, as " The Right Education for the...

THE ECONOMICS OF UNEMPLOYMENT. By J. A. Hobson. (G. Allen

The Spectator

and Unwin. 4s. 6d. net.) Mr. Hobson, as usual, states a heterodox proposition with considerable ability. There is, he thinks, too much saving on the part of the well-to-do. From...

Page 34

WHERE THE TWAIN MEET. By Mary Gaunt. (Murray. 15s. net.)

The Spectator

" Perhaps in a former life," writes Mrs. Gaunt, " I, too, 'was a slave " ; and this consideration has filled her with sympathy for the negroes and half-breeds of Jamaica. She...

FINANCE-PUBLIC & PRIVATE.

The Spectator

By ARTHUR W. KIDDY. SOME FAVOURABLE FACTORS. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The New Year began well on the Stock Exchange and prices have risen a little in most...

A MODERN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. (Macmillan. 4s. 6d.

The Spectator

net.) This dictionary, wholly " free from all objectionable words and meanings," will, in every way, meet the requirements of Secondary and Elementary Schools. Modem words and...

THE QUEEN'S MINISTER. By E. M. Smith-Dampier. (Melrose.. 2s. (id.)

The Spectator

A play written from the slightly sardonic standpoint it is now customary to take up with regard to Victorian characters and episodes—a symptom of priggishness, perhaps ? The...

-FOOTPRINTS IN SPAIN. By Lieut.-Col. H. A. Newell. (Methuen. 10s.

The Spectator

6d.) Though its author has tried to cast this volume in the form of personal record, it is a guide-book rather than a book of travel. When he condescends to take us into his...

FROM SWITZERLAND TO THE MEDITERRANEAN ON FOOT. By J. B.

The Spectator

Winter. (Laurie. 5s.) This is an entertaining though often naïf account of an out-of-season, out-of-the-way tramp by two experienced pedestrians. The book is profusely decorated...

THE GREATEST AMERICAN : Alexander Hamilton. By Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg.

The Spectator

(Putnam's. 12s. 6d.) This is an interesting book and an annoying one. It is interesting not only for the Hamilton material which it includes, but also because he who reads...

This is a pleasant volume of collected essays, the work

The Spectator

of an experienced hand. The essays are gathered under four headings—" Landmarks," " Prejudices," Adventures," and " Books ' —and the contents list is very inviting, for Mr....

SKI-ING TURNS. By Vivian Caulfeld. (Nisbet. 8s. 6d. net.)

The Spectator

A detailed description of an important branch of ski-ing technique that will appeal to the expert as well as instruct the learner. Turns are used sparingly, as the good skier...

Page 36

FINANCIAL NOTES.

The Spectator

Unless there should be some untoward developments in connexion with European affairs, there seems to be every likelihood of fresh issues of capital during the current month...

Page 37

LIBERTY'S STOCKTAKING SALE

The Spectator

TO-DAY CRETONNES Usual Price 2/6, 2/11 and 3/11 a yard. Sale Price 1/3, 1/6 and 1/11 a yard. PATTERNS POST FREE. Liberty & Co., Ltd., Regent St., W.1 REAL IRISH LINEN SALE...