WORKS OF PREFERFNCE.- -(,ocLford's (Ur;(l Dirertory Ior 1.918 19 (Fie'd ad Qseen, 2Z.. net) is the fiftieth mnnu-. issue ,f 3 t;i .nd ,xI.blk reference-book, with which is now...

Pl.,so4 Pa.s1",. By Stailevy l.an,-Pcole. (Juhin Mrray. ,.. Od. net.)-The late Sir Charles Watson, w.ho died in 1916, was a distinguished Engineer officer who was engaged for...

)iscodl~s 911 C0ocords. Co-piled by the I History Circle. (Putian . 3s. 6i. nct.)-A num.ber of Americai- I professional men, ,ceting at the C'ity Club of New York to study '...

Diplo.atic Correspondence between t7e United States and I (-eraLuty. Edited by J. B. Scott. (Oxford University Press. .. . . . I I 1li. net.)-This volume contains the...

i Tuu,,lelr8 All. By Edward Svntou. (Grant Richards. 6e. net.)-This volume of short sketches deserves attntion. It describes vividly the magnificent work done by the...

The Bishop of Hereford contributes an interesting article on " Practical Church Reform " to the acrrent Moder- Chusrchoas (Elliot Stock, Is. net). The five reforms which, he...

I A Shodt Life of Abraham Lin-coln. By Ralph Shirley. (W. Rider. 3s. Gd. net.)-This is a readable sketch of Lincol's Career, based on well-known authorities like Curtis and...

I St. George and the Dragon. By Jolm Masfield. (HI-meinami. 5s. net.)-This is a reprint of two lectures on the war delive . l d by Mr. Mfasefield in America. One, a...

I The Culticaton of Osiers and l'sws. By W. P. Elhnorc. I Edited by T. Okey. (Dent. 3s. 6d. net.)-CAto, the editor reminds us, valued an osier-bed more highly than an ove...

Sir -Hlbe-t GAough. no,, on the retired list and free to speak, has miade it clear, ill Tesday's Maanchefer G.urdins, that ho was unjustly accused of disobeying orders at the...

We are really a little in danger of making too great coneessions to that vague abstraction, the opinion of the world. The manldates are a concession to that opinion. But what...

We hope that after all the Conference will not do more than I ilame a League which will insist upon the sanctity of interational Treaties. The absolute saisctity of contract is...

I The Dailtj Mail draws attention to the reported discooery by officers of the Army Medical Serviee hi Franco of tho bacilli ot trench.fever, influenza, nephritis, measles, and...

I Readers of the Spectaor will share our deep regret at the passing of an intellect so bright, and sO well stored With cormuumnieable knovwledge, -s found its habitation in the...

The new House of Comons assembled on Tuesday and re- elected Mr. Lowther as Speaker. In returning thanks, M1r. Lowther confessed to a desire to preside over the Refor...ed...

Even if a mandate be desirable for Great Britain in Gernman I East Africa, what are we to say of German South-West Africa ? This territory with its scattered population is...

The fact that the League of Nations has not yet got beyond I the stage of faith is illustrated by a delightful story Ot Al. CIemen.eau told in the Daily News by Sir Frederick...

The American delegates in Paris, according to the New York I Timse correspondent, have defined what President Wilson means by " the freedom of the seas." They propose that "iso...

Lord (;laud Hamilton stated on Friday week, on the authority of Ar. Bona, Law, that the Government control of the railways would contillue for two years after the declaration...

TOPICS OF TI'HE DtAY. THE STRIKES. PHE action of the (.overunment in relation to the T strikers has been very wise. The simple issue has been disentangled from its...

[TO TEE E..,OR OF Tw E SPECTATOR. Sio,--May I (rave a little space to thank Meor-. Bray and Benier for their letters ill your issue of Januarv 2'5th : I wish others had...

THE, WONDERFII, WVEAL'I'II OF 'TH1E OCEAN. [To THE EDITOR OFTHE" SPECTATOR.' ] SI-Prospeetive settlers ill British 6-oltitim--ito ong whos I num.ber myself-hove two pieces of...

[To SHE EDITO, OFTHE. SIR,-Thle A Ic dlhed (Otting fromt-he 'h, 1iA T -Hdes ( fIfe of I, I4 ins.t. perhaps shows that the North Sem, after its fou1r Ye r>rest. eoi hold its own...

ITO ,IrF E..O. -F -HE SPI'CIATOR."] SI-I am glad to find the Spectator is opening its culumns to a discussion as to the form of the ouonuments which are to be pot up in the...

( [TO THE EDITOR OF -TH "SPoCToTOR."] I SIR,-I have had many letters from syupathizers on the subject of my letter, "The Brave that are No More," inserted in your issue of...

A DRY AMERICA; [TO TE EDITOR oF TnEE S.P-CmnO."] SIR,-There are evidently many people in America who still believe that you can make all Deople sober by legislation in spite of...

[T EE EDTROF IRE SPECTA: OR."]| Sel.-Between La. Bas-s and Lille there lies, alongside the roas, a very remarkable cemetey wherein rest the remains of Ger -an officers and men...

[TO TH E DIOR OF IEE SPICSOL"] Sre,-I have just read your article and cordially endorse your sies. From it I rathe- gather it ia auggeeted that the relative. ,bloalld defray...

LTo TH.E EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR)') Sii,-'MY only son is buried in Belgium., and having read Sir F. Hesyon's Report, I wrote to Winchester House with the follow1ig suggestions...

WHITE RULE OVER N-ATIVE RACES. I T is universally believed that the German flag will wave I no more in Africa, and it is inferred that, the malefirent influence of Berlin being...

INCOME TAX. LTO .HF EDITOR oF T-D SPLCroTOf.'J S.I,-1It ny initerest Ysar readcr3 to ba-r that for an Inco- e T..x to eq-1 the present rate of six shillings in the pound we...

| 1'OFIT''-SHARING PLUTS CO-PARTNERSHIP. [T T.E EDirOR or TE E " SPECTATOR.] SIR,-I alit sore that your readers will he grateful to M'r. W. A. Jokes for his letter on the...

(st1 1' RCT AND 11AI:DSHIPS. I10 EuiTo- or THE' SE:CTATOR. ] SIR.-I'l'e ( ~ititiliO' a ut the IExheqter ,,ill 1ha shortly Ceo,"deriiig his ]tai lladget, :11"1( it t1oay tie...

[TO THE EITOR OF THE " SP-'ATOR.'3 SIR,-'I'he sucess of this scheme delends, in my opinion, on all e-ployees of eighteen yesrs of age and upwards bei.og in~lrdeol. 'ntis means...

THE RED TRfIANL E.* EVERY soldier knows what the Y.M.C.A. ha s done for the British Army in the -ariotln theatres of ocr. But mnny civilian s will be glad to read Sir Arthur...

CHAN(3E.* WlHATEVER may be said of its literary or political merits, Chasge is at least a gallant experiment in serial publishing. It denis-c no income from advcrtisements,...

THE LLOYD GEORCE-ASQUITH CORRESPONDENCE. OUR first inclination was to say nothing about the 0 correspondence between Mr. Lloyd George and 3Mr. Asquith, which was published in...

A strike of woaiters and cooks was declared in some of the chief { London hotels and restaurants on Tuesday. The men, most of w hom are said to be aliens, belong to the...

'tihe political character of the Glasgow and Belfast strikes I w-d illustrated on Monday when the London branch of the Elcettrical Trades Union, at a mass meeting, formulated...

I In Hayti and San Domingo, which were continually racked by resolutions owing to the feuds of the black populations, the United States at last stepped in, very much to the...

The Allied Peace Conference at Paris has dealt during the week I with some of the practical questions which confront it. On Thursday week it made " satisfactory provisional...

I The satisfacto7 pobit in the provisional decision about the future of Germany's former colonies is that under no oonsiteration shall Germany have them back. The regiese under...

Apprchensions and misgivings are caused, not by anxiety lest we should fall below the required standards of government, but by the danger that good government wil be made much...

When all this has been said, however, there does seem to bs a certain discrepanoy between Mr. Wilson's present proposals and quite recent actions of the United States. The...

Prcsident Wilson Vas received by the French Chamber onl I Monday, as all exceptional usark of French esteem for America. In his speech the President recognized fully that...

PO TRY. THE CROIVHURST YEW. (Near Battle.) GREAr Yew, that wist a sturdy tree in far-off fateful years, When Norman William trod thy lea. With all his robber peers, True...

BELFAST CATHEDRAL. [To -V EDmo. o. or" SP-cT o" Sim,-Your great sympathy with Ulster and understanding of her position and character encourage me to ask your assistance for the...

" BROTHER SOCKDOLLOGER." [TO -iME EDITOR OF - SPET.TO..."] Ssa,-Your correspondents have quoted Mark Twain and G. A. Sla as authorities for the American word "sockdolloger.'...

BO O KS. I :THE LONiG ROAD TO B-4GE[DAD.t Ma. CnaDLsa has written a most interesting account of the Mesopotamian campaigns, of which far too little has beeo heard. He served...

" THE NAVY IN BATTLE." (TO -1. EDITOR ow T "SP-CTATO-."] SIB,-Mr. Arthur Pollen has -ritten a book. The NAry is BOtic, which in many ways is admirable. Unfortunately he has not...

FICTIO-N. WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS.t TAszts ScoTT, dealer in prerio-s stf-e, amd anticluc j-w 1cry. wvho has alre.dy figured in one of Mirs H.nadelnfs lo-s-,es mappears as the...

R READABLE NoVELS.-Strange Road. By Maud Diver. (Constable. (6s. .et.)-The author frankly explains that this novel is only the first volume of a long story, the continuation of...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK. i,, (hi, &,. -t .--,,ily p,,,q,,.d, -b?,q-.f -i-j THE lFEBRUARY MONTHlES.- -The Niedeenth Century opens with an instructive article by Mr. G. A. B....

MR. BRANGWY'N'S PRINTS AND DRAWINGS.* I TsuuE is no doubt that this book can do nothing but raise the reputation of Mr. Branggw-yn. Here are collected many things which people...

[TO THE EDITOR OF E ' SrECIITO.."I S'5,-To you especial thanks are due from all who share responsibility for national health, for the definite lead in the elimination of...

[TO -o EDITOR OF T-E "SPECTATOR."] SIR,-I enclose a cutting fron the Liverpool Express of January 28th w hich throws sone light on the so-called demand of the workers for more...

THE STRIKES. [TO TE EDITOR OF T-E " SPECTATOR."] Sm,-Althoogh I have been intimately and tragically linked with the whole course of the war sitice 1914, I hove never so...

THE PR[OPOSED CONFERENCE AT PRfNKI4'0. I LTo - Emroit Ok THE " SPE-TTOQ-. "] SIB,-Can it really be true that the Vashington o have threatened that if the No-ther- tovennent of...

ENINKEEPERS AND PUBLICANS. [To T-.EEDITOR or THE "SPECTOR."I SIR,-Is not Mr. Lee-Warner's letter whicb appeae-d in your is-ne of Saturday last basest a u aiuionderata-diug of...

WHAT IS PEAC'E 'v* [COMMUNICATED,] WE arc a simple, a sanguine, and an ignorant station. No sooner was the rmistice signed than the vast majority of us assumed that a...

IADY VICTORIA Bt'XTON.* IN Homer we read of heroes who transcended their desliny and achieved great things i-rip p6pso. The type is familiar throughout the ages, though the...

A GREEK NAVAL ANTHOLOGY. r 'HE following epigrams, inspiredl it w-ould seem, by recent I edineretion-l dcvelopments at (':mbridge, havc re.ehed uts from a correspondent:-...

At the root of this strike mania is the lack of discipline within the great Trade Unions. A most significant step was taken on Wednesday by the Executive of the Amalgamated...

NEWS OF THE WEEK. W E are faced as we write on Thursday with a revolutionary Dlot to paralyse London by a general strike of the men I employed at electric power and lighting...

I The Glasgow strikers Lant week, having failed to cause a general cessation of labour, sent the Governmeut an ultinmatum trcatenIing to employ other than "constitutiOnal...

I The Raiwvay Clerks' Association had threatened to strike onl Tuesday if it was not recognizel by the Board of Trade. The official objection to recognizing this tUsion was...

I The eispite aro3c .s usuol out of conflicting interpretations of an agreement. The Go-ernment Ciuring the war had promiscl the railwaymier, shorter hours of labour when peace...

A new Order in Council was promulgated on Wedncsday I under the Defence of the Realm Act, by which any electrical worker who ceases work without notice, or any person who...

I Thc strike epidemic, origiiiating in G-lrksgow and thence spre.,I- ing to Belfast, only re.ched London this w-ck. A few hundred motor-men employed on the Tube rmiIh-ays and...

"11'Ti. lERS TO THll, IEl )IT011. | Lt [cero of the lesgt) of onc of onlr ledhig parargph.s ar often Snore read, and ther-efore snore efectire , thsi those Ohichfill treble...

THE EFFECT OF LIGHT. r I HE attraction of lights is felt by us all. The sight of a 1 bright interior rouses a second's envy in the heart of evcry passer-by. Outer darkness is a...

AMERICA AND SEA-POWER. IT would be an affectation to deny that the American Government's new naval programme has caused much surprise and not a little concern in this cotntry....