5 JUNE 1941

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Activity in Washington

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The United States Administration was ready for action when President Roosevelt made his declaration of policy. He is now armed with extensive powers which he is capable of...

NEWS OF THE WEEK

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I HE Vichy Government has gone yet a step farther in its decision to " co-operate " with Germany and in so doing act against Britain. General Weygand's visit to metropolitan...

End of the Iraq Revolt

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The Iraq revolt has collapsed. The usurper Rashid Ali has fled, and has joined the fellow-conspirators who, with the ex- Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, had already sought safety in...

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Mr. Eden on Arab Aspirations

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Mr. Eden, with special reference to Iraq, made significant re- marks about our relations with the Arab States and their relations one with another. So far as Iraq is concerned,...

The Post - War World In his thoughtful speech at the Mansion

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House last week Mr. Eden made at least one contribution to the definition of this country's war aims. He dwelt at some length on one of the " four essential human freedoms " of...

Dictators at the Brenner

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The meeting of Hitler and Mussolini at the Brenner Pass last Monday, attended by their respective Foreign Ministers and Chiefs of Staff, has been the subject of infinite...

Coupon Clothing

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The arrangement by which most articles of clothing will in future only be obtainable on the surrender of coupons has three features to commend it,—the almost complete secrecy...

The Labour Party and National Unity

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Much plain speaking is expected and heard at an annual conference of the Labour Party, and the meetings of this week have accorded with the tradition. But they have shown that...

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Leaving Well Alone

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At a time when Anglo-American relations have developed spontaneously into a closeness and cordiality such as has never existed before in the history of the two nations tempta-...

Bombs on Dublin

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It is not easy to understand the mentality of the Germans who ordered the bombardment of Dublin in the early hours of last Saturday. Planes were first heard over the city soon...

The Shipping Situation

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President Roosevelt's statement, made, as he said, with t he full assent of the British Government, that shipping was a t present being sunk three times as fast as it could be...

Defence Against Night - Bombers How far have we got towards the

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solution of the night- bomber problem? In April 87 enemy machines were destroyed at night, that being the best up to date. In May the total increased to 143 over this country...

Miners and Absenteeism

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The executive committee of the Mineworkers' Federation have rejected the agreement reached between the two sections of the industry represented on the Joint Standing...

Subscription 3os. a year to any part of the world.

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Postage on this issue: Inland lid., Foreign and Imperial Id Canada ad.

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AFTER CRETE ?

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O PTIMISTS and pessimists are hard at work on the Cretan campaign. The Special Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph at Cairo adduces arguments which con- vince him that " Crete,...

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The results of the military exercises taking place on the

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great and small scale up and down the country are yielding results always interesting and sometimes instructive. The re- sourceful private who borrowed a " Stop me and buy one "...

Hugh Walpole was only 57 when he died, but in

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his own particular sphere he seemed to have been in the limelight as long as most of us can remember. That is because, having planned with much acumen to be successful he was...

The retirement of Mr. Charles Evans Hughes from the Presidency

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of the Supreme Court—and, so, no doubt, from public life altogether—at the age of 79 is an event of im- portance in the life of the United States. For though Mr. Hughes was...

Sir Arthur Longmore's return from the Middle Eastern Command to

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be Inspector-General of the R.A.F. at home is unexpected. The Inspector-Generalship is by no means a sinecure, but it commonly figures, and is generally regarded, as marking a...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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AVING been for practical purposes dead for more than 11 'twenty years, the ex-Kaiser Wilhelm is now to be buried. Thzre has, in fact, been something uncanny in reading of the...

I am glad that in his broadcast talk on Sunday

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on coupon clothing the President of the Board of Trade came near saying —I am not sure whether he actually did say—that it would be patriotic to be shabby. It depends, of...

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The War Surveyed CRETE POST-MORTEM

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By STRATEGICUS T HE one justification for a post-mortem is the increase of knowledge. The layman would be surprised if he knew how often an autopsy reveals a cause of death...

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THE AIR-POWER RACE

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By OUR AIR CORRESPONDENT H OW long till victory? That is an enigma which exercises the minds of everyone, and must evade solution for some time to come. Yet a close examination...

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A NOTE ON HESS

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By WALTER TSCHUPPIK [The explanation of the Hess flight to Britain here offered gains in probability, if it is the fact that a communication— whether actually by or on behalf...

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WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN ?

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By F. D. OMMANNEY A WEEK or two ago a young friend of mine was showing me over his ship, proud in the possession of a new gold wavy ring round his sleeve. It was an...

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WAR-TIME HEALTH

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By OUR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT I T is difficult to assess with complete accuracy the effect that the war has had up-to-date upon the general health of the nation. The chief...

BE PATIENT

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DEEDS up to date are bad enough ; A topical man runs mad. I should prefer to ponder things I formerly had. A sin forgotten is a sin Repented of and salved. Evil, by process of...

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THE BALLET

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Gluck's " Orphee " at the New Theatre THE Sadler's Wells ballet has returned to the t4ew Theatre, where they gave last week the first performance of a new version of Gluck's...

THE CINEMA

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Love on the Dole and " Merchant Seamen. At the Odeon -" The Letter." At Warner's. BRITISH film studios are at the moment trying to justify their future existence before the...

THE THEATRE Revudeville. (144th Edition.) At the Windmill.

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ONE doesn't look for stars or art at the Windmill: a bit of colour out of the dusty street, some lyrics about love, an art-shot of Revudebelles (here is a name to cause " Janus...

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OUR HYSTERICAL COMMONS

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Sts,—I have alas! none of those self-sealing tanks of complacency (as somebody has called them) with which Mr. MacNaughton and so many members of the Government and Commons are...

UNEQUAL SACRIFICE "

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Sift,—There remains still one point to b& made in this controversy. The " high " wages your correspondent grudges us are our only in- surance against a future likely to be...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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DEPOPULATING FRANCE SiR,—Mr. David Thomson, in his impressive article, " The Eight Frances," which appeared in last week's Spectator, casually refers to Hitler's intention in...

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LORD'S IN WAR-TIME "

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SIR,—On a day when the Germans were flooding Crete with airborne troops it is not surprising to read that the pavilion at Lord's was full, " the red tabs of the higher Staff...

FOOD FOR A SIEGE

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SIR,—The time has passed when any who dared to hint that these islands were a beleaguered fortress could be accused of " doing the nation a disservice." Today Lord Woolton has...

PROPAGANDA TO GERMANS"

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Sts,—In the article " Propaganda to Germans " John Willoughby raises two points on which I would like to comment. First, the writer's complacency is exceeded only by his...

EXPLOITING THE SERVICE MEN "

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SIR,—My attention has been drawn to a letter in your issue for May 23rd headed " Exploiting the Service Men." The anonymous writer of this letter protests against " the...

A BALD WORLD

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SIR,—If as Mr. H. G. Wells appears to think, we are in danger of being faced, within measurable time, by a " bald world," owing to the enormous demands made on forests to supply...

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The National Loaf Judging by the correspondence I have received,

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many people besides myself have had difficulty in either getting or successfully making the wholemeal-loaf. (In many shops the loaf is damned by the label " Standard Bread.")...

" CHRISTIAN CIVILISATION "

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SIR,—While in no way wishing to detract from the fundamental importance of the principles enumerated by Mr. Davis, I feel prompted to ask whether he is justified in claiming...

In the Garden

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Your celery trenches (not too deep) should be ready now. If they are fairly widely spaced remember that a quick-growing crop can be sown on the ridges: French breakfast-radish,...

COUNTRY LIFE

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Another Farmer Speaks " The average inhabitant of this island knows less about soil, on which he depends for his existence, than about wireless-telephony." " Our pre-war imports...

The Angling Season By the time these notes appear, the

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angling season for coarse fish will be almost open. June 15th is the official date. Apart from the extraordinarily tranquillising effect of angling itself (I find it the only...

" AMPUTEES "

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sm,--It is excellent to have many people watching over the purity of our language, but how often they seem to be shocked at the wrong thing! After all, language is made for man,...

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Exciting History

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History in My Time. By Otto Strasser. (Cape. los. 6d.) I BEGAN this book with all the prejudice of the professional student of history against that sort of historical writing...

BOOKS OF THE DAY

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The Federal Dream MR. SmErr's book is one of the most impressive pieces of political pamphleteering published in our time ; impressive for its sincerity, evangelic - al fervour...

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Public Spirit of the Whigs

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IT will be remembered that there was a difference of opinion between Dr. Johnson, who held that the Devil was the first Whig, and Lord Acton (I think it was), who gave that...

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Invasion

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The Invasion of Britain. By Admiral Sir Herbert W. Richmond. (Methuen. 28.6d.) THE subject and author of this book would make it interesting in any case, and there are a number...

Hudibrasticks

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New Year Letter. By W. H. Auden. (Faber. tos. 6d.) WHEN a poet has the will to write poetry and poetry does not come, he has two alternatives before him: he can relapse into...

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Short Stories

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The Horse that Could Whistle Dixie. By Jerome Weidman (Heinemann. 8s.) " THESE stories are commercial," says Mr. Weidman, of The Horse that Could Whistle Dixie; they were...

Shorter Notices

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Tilts book has too ambitious a title, and it is disfigured by some of Mr. Wells's prejudices and by the peevishness that weakens his controversial writings. Indeed, reading Mr....

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The Doctor and His Patients. By Arthur E. Hertzler. (Bodley

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Head. 12S. 6d.) THIS is a book of elderly advice on love and marriage by the author of The Horse and Buggy Doctor—a book of old-fashioned charm which had a great success in the...

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

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By CUSTOS As I warned investors before the Budget, Mr. Oliver Lyttelton, not Sir Kingsley Wood, is going to be Stock Market Influence No. 1 this year. Hot on the heels of...

COMPANY MEETING

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DUrdiAN ROODEPOORT DEEP SATISFACTORY NCREASE IN AVAILABLE OFtE RESERVE THE annual meeting of Durban Roodepoort Deep, Limited, was held in Johannesburg on May 28th. Mr. W. H. A...

THE late G. P. Antrobus—he was killed in an air-raid

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soon after finishing this book—was one of a body more select and less adventurous than is commonly supposed, namely, the King's Foreign Service Messengers, who alone are...

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COMPANY MEETING

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RAND MINES, LIMITED MR. JOHN MARTIN, presiding at the annual meeting, held in Johannes- burg on May 30th, said it would no doubt be generally agreed that the position disclosed...

COMPANY MEETING

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CROWN MINES, LIMITED Tits annual general meeting of Crown Mines, Limited, was held in Johannesburg on May 29th. Mr. John Martin, after reviewing operations and the financial...

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. PANY EET.NG

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P. H. GALLOWAY THE 12th annual ordinary general meeting of P. H. Galloway, Limited, was held in London. Mr. J. E. Galloway, M.P.S. (chairman and managing director), said: We...

COMPANY MEETING

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SMITH'S POTATO CRISPS STRONG FINANCIAL POSITION THE 12th ordinary general meeting of Smith's Potato Crisps (1929), Limited, was held on June 4th at the Holborn Restaurant,...

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SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 115 SOLUTION ON JUNE 20th

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The winner of Crossword No. 11 5 is Mrs. H. A. Scholber g , Wran g brook, Llanishen, Cardiff.

[A prize of a Book Token for one guinea will

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be given to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword puzzle to be opened. Envelopes should be marked with the words "Crossword Puzzle" and the NUMBER of...