STORMS IN TEACUPS T HE casual followers of ecclesiastical news must have been surprised to find the resolution on the Church of South India so calmly and favourably received by...

BLINDNESS IN THE COLONIES FACTS do not become important until they are expressed Fin statistics, and the familiar truth that blindness is rife in tropical climates made very...

JAVELIN Is the Gloster Javelin jet fighter, on which such high hopes have been placed, only another flop? Or has its reputation been unfairly assailed by an irresponsible press...

MRS. RUTH ELLIS PDOPIJLAR diSCusSion of the q(testioll whether Mrs. Ruth Ellis should be hanged or reprieved has been confused by conmnion and fundamental irisconceptions about...

Portrait of the Week T HE preparations for Geneva go on, and if ruI]our is correct there will be 1,50() jOUrnalists and 250 radio correspoinden-Its there to cover the meet;i1g...

Bureaucracy and the B B C BY BRIAN INGLIS T 11il: niost Convincing argument in favour of commercial tclcvisio'n was thalt it would break the BBC's menacing monopoly. Thills...

A reader has complained that 'Political Commentary' deals too frequenitly with the altairs of the Labour Party. I can sympathise with her. But what can a mere political...

Political Commentary BY HENRY FAIRLIE FEW things are going to be more important in the present Parliamentary session than the Government's response to the report of the...

The BBC's analysis of the audience for the sound and tele- vision election broadcasts is fascinating precisely because, as The Times says, it is so dellationary. Not only are...

W1HATEVER TIHE RIGIITS and wrongs of the imprisonment of two men by the Australian Parliament. one defence of the proceedings that has been put forward by an Australian Member...

I SEEM [0 BE giVinlg a lot of spuac ^ to the B veavrbrook press, but there is a point at which the mean and the trivial become so mean and so trivial that they have to be taken...

A Spectator's Notebook ITHE INDEIPENDENCE of Daily Express critics,' Mr. Leonard Mosley writes to assure us, 'is the envy of most of their confreres.' In one sense at least...

IT IS MORE thin twenty years since Mr. Ogdcen Nash was moved to wriLe: Like an art lover Looking at the MI ona Lisa in the louvIe. Is the Nelw, York Herald Tribuine Lodking at...

ANOTHER INDIEIPENDENT Express critic is Mr. John Barber. The week before last Mr. Barber reported a midnight nmatinee held in aid of the Actors' Orphanage. At tlhese shows...

FROM A British Travel Association advertisement in the New Yorker: 'You'll find tranquility in Britain. Peace of mindand a chance to recharge your batteries. They're a friendly...

SCENE: the junction of St Martin's Lane and Trafalgar Square. TIME.: the rush hour. Casually, a man steps oil thie pavemelit and begins to cross the street. With a screeching...

Is Dr. Soper Consistent with Christianity ? BY LORD HAILSHAM ALTHOUGH, I hope, a sincere Christian. I have always found myself mildly anti-clerical in political matters. .it...

Awake my Soul ! It is a Lord BY EVELYN WAUGH I 'M not on business. I'm aC member of 'the House of Lords.' These moving and rather mysterious words were uttered on my doorstep...

Murderers' Reminiscences BY CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS T HERE are two quite different questions. Are newspaper articles by or about people under sentence of death desirable'? Should...

The TVA's Majority BY D. W. BROGAN IN May, 1933, in the first, fine, careless rapture of the New Deal, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Act creating the 'Tennessee...

Down with Lunch BY WALTER TAPLIN I T was twelve o'clock, high noon. in Kansas Citv 'May 1 offer.you,' said my host, fumbling for the right word and not linding it, 'a...

T. E. LawrenceAnother Point of View BY J. D. L. IT was oppressively hot outside, but wvithin the great tent it was delightfully cool. Thc sidc curtains had been raised and a...

City and Suburban BY JOHN BETJEMAN T HERE was ten minutes before my train left Waterloo. Just time to make an important London call. The public boxes flank either side of a...

Strix Help! E VERY summier the islanders, in increasing numbers, flock to the seaside and plunge into the sea. For a small minority the consequences of doing so prove fatal....

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND vSIR,- I)r. Wa1r r writes il the Spe(ctator ot June 24, 'Scotland remains staunchly Presbyterian.' In so doing, Dr. Warr says too little or too m1uch. Hc...

IAMEIS GRIFFITHS SIR,-Henry Fairlie's reniarks about the career and personality of Mr. James Grifliths in yoUr latest number clearly Cross the houndary-lilie between legitimate...

INDEPENDElNT CRITICS SIR,-If your commentator, Pharos. were closer to informed opinion in Fleet Street, he would know that the (sometimes helligerent) independence of Daily L...

JUSITICE ANI) TIHE PUBLIC INTEREST Smt,-4l was delighted to see Mr. Charles Wilson's article on this subject, for it is one of which I have personal knowledge of the anxiety...

Letters to the Editor Is the Travel-Book Dead? KingsleY Amis c James Grifliths Jol Alanchip While t Independent Critics Leounard Moslev t The Church of Scotland Rcv. Charlesv...

Opera LAST week two specimens of Italian opera in the vernacular were on view and audition. Tosca at thc Garden had Renata Tebaldi, F-erruccio Tagliavini and Tito Gobbi as...

Contemporary Arts Theatre FROM HERE ANI) IIIIHtE. (R(yal C(lol t.1B[.-jVI.UN 1IIF- I INES. (SC;la: (Cam bridge University loot lighis.) I CANNOT1 undcrstand why certaln...

AT THE SHRINE SIR,-1 do not know your Strix by sight and thereforc did not recognise him among thc worshippers at The Shrine, perched as I was on my annual vantage -beneath my...

WHIIAT IIAPIPENEI) ATr VERSAILLES? Simt.-- I am rel uictant to tr'Cspass further on o'Oiir SpriC 0II 11his subject, bul I clearly owe at leaSt one apology. The newspaper...

A PLAN FOR EVANGELISM SIR.--I was impressed by the Archdeacon's Platn for Lvlnh/jsm (July 1), a fine conception, but lie had to come to the words: 'The sermons would still need...

Cinema FAS FI IFI)IDN. (W \Vancr.) IRANCOISI STEPS Oi)i. (Acadcmv.) 1sv thinlgs lecolc in thie Inir I nLIl IulrOe deadIen illg t11haln VirIti(osit V t"c huci displaly...

Ballet lii tBallet Rambert's sho-l sCilSOl it S.aIdlci's W\Vlls Showed 111 interestingt c*'Is-seCtioli of thed vast repertoire t1h;at Ni1 adame Rambiert has beenCCI acll...

c Art C UNT11. now, when his work is otl show both at the Tate and the Gimpel Fils, I should not have called Ben Nicholson either a difficult or aln ambiguous painter, but the...

Aldeburgh Festival Tiioucit critics can hardly imagine it any longer, festivals are holidays for most pcoplc, who go once a year, and to a different one every year. To us who...

Television THAr suburban satirnalia that goes by the name of Cae Coniilwntal is getting beyond a joke. Mile Cordy is certainly thc archest and bubblingcst of a long line of...

Summer Books for Children No Common Place or Play UNDERWATER ADVENTURE. By Willard Price. (Jonathan Capc, 9s. 6d.) DANGER ROCK. By Richard Armstrong. (Dent, 8s. 6d.) How...

Traditional Tales Wi-. sii LLGENDS AND FOLK TALES. By Gwyn Jones. Pictures by Joan Kiddell-Monroc. (O.U.P., 12s. 6d.) SIoRnI!.S ot1: KIN(, ARUIIIJR AND H-lis KNICHIIIs. By...

All Remind Us INrRODUCING MOZART. Bv Kittv Barne. (I. M. Dent CRs INTRODUCING HANDEL. B3y Kitty Barne. (J. M. Dent, 6s.) LEONARDO DA VINC1. By John Thomas. (Frederick M...

History YOUNG MAN WillT A SWORID. By. Jane Oliver. (Niacmillani, lOs. 6d.) Ii I BURNISwED SWORD. By .1. 1-. N1Mc . c.hlose. (B31ackie, 7s. 6dt.) TIIE HEIR OF CRAIGS. By...

SUMMER BOOKS Poetry, Inspiration and Criticism BY DONAT O'DONNELL Hs E was not an omnivorous devourer of sensationls; he did not scour the world for them or pick tit-bits...

There's Something about a Soldier BY KINGSLEY AMIS M R. EVELYN WAUGH is continuing to check that farcical vein which founded his reputation, and upon which, even now, his...

Homosexuality: The Christian View 13Y THE BISHOP OF LONDON I ' is significant that the two latest books* on this most distressing of human frailties should be written, the one...

Country Life By IAN NIALI.. How quickly the undergrowth of a wood I .. I . changes when the trees are cut down! I stood the other day in what had been a wood of elms with a...

Other Recent Books ON ECONOMIC TIHE1ORY AND SOCIALISM. By Maurice Dobb. (Routledge and Kegail Paul, 2 1s.) TiIE TWENTIEiT CENTURY CAPITALIST REVO- LUTION. By Adolf A....

EAGLEs. By Leslie Brown. (Michael Joseph, 1 s*.) FI m' birds breeding in Great Britain offer More of a challenge to the observer than the eagle. Relatively little is known...

CROP ROTATION Crop rotation is not merely a subject of interest to the farmer. It pays dividends in the garden. Gcneral principles are to see that cruciferoLIs plants,...

DRAGONFLI ES This summer I have already seen more dragonflies than in previous years-which may be a little odd, for the dragonfly, like the trout, depends on a hatch of flies...

MOLE-CATCHING Moles may aerate the soil, but they also spoil it for cultivation in some places. If the infestation gets very bad, the pest officer is sent for and applies his...

DEMOGRAPHIC Yr ARlOOK 1954. (U.N. Statis- tical Oflice, New York; paperbound, 45s., clothbound, 55s.) 'lin sixth issue of the Denioqraphic Yearbook is even more extensive in...

Belief and Science SCIENCE AND (: IRISTIAN B3E.L.IET. By C. A. CoulsoII. (O.U.P., 8s. (6d.) I IBELIEF AND UNJI-1.J.A. SINCE1 1 850. By I-I. Go. Wood. (C.U.P., l2s. 6(d.)...

COMPANY NOTES 1BV CUST()S litil old account on the Stock Exchange closed on Tuesday on a firm note, with prolit-taking well absorbed. The extent of the recent correction,...

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT By NICHIOLAS D)AVENPORT Tiir. letter to The Tinies from Lord Aldenham and Mr. Robarts. on behalf of the Committee of London Clearing Banks, apologising...

Science Fiction I THE CURRENTS OF SPACE. By Isaac Asimov. (Boardman, 9s. 6d.) I I HELLFLOWER. By George 0. Smith. (Bodley Head, 9s. 6d.) I ANGELO'S MOON. By Alec Brown....

It's a Crime I Ni'm: MAN IN 'I I1 MNI P)1.1 By Diavid Wagoner. (tiollancz, 12s. 6d.) i |)DIAD 0)I; SUIMMER. By Daina Moscley. ('The Bodley Head, 9s. 6d.) i o'loit I)1 I F i...

Review of Reviews READING the latest batch of monthlies and quarterlies I am reminded of something Yeats said in his Reveries over Childhood and Youth: 1 had as many ideas as I...

The New India INDIA: NEW PATTERN. Bv Ladv Harlog. (Allen and Unwin, I2s. 6d.) CRESCENT AND GREEN. A Misccllanv of Writings on Pakistan. (Cassell, 1Os.) Two surprises seem...

Another Place 'rAE AN ISLAND. By Anne Spearman. (Chatto and Windus, I 12s. 6d.) PORTAL TO PARADISE. By Cecil Roberts. (Hodder and Stoughton, I 20s.) IHIRTY AcRES AND A...

Craftsmen Talk MODERN HISTORIANS AND THE STUDY OF HIsToRY. By F. M. Powicke. (Odham's Press, 16s.) THERE is no such delicious talk as the talk of craftsmen when they meet to...

HORSEPOWER POLITICS IT is possible that the witticism, 'Power corrupts: horsepower corrLupts absolittely' was not freshly minted for the benefit of the 1-louse of COImm111on0S...

Recent Poetry I THE NIC'IITFTSISING. By W. S. Grahlani. (Faber, lOs. 6d.) MY MANY-COATED MAN. By Laurie Lee. (Andre Deutsch, 6s.) I THE TREE OF IDLENESS. By Lawrence...

New Novels 'tI[l(. GLNILIS AND TIIIL (iODI:DSs. By AlIdoS ] IXtV. (Cha'ittto nidI Windtls, 7s. 6d.) rfIlE WIND BLOWEII ll.AI : nLI11 IjI By Jllul-AntdiL Lisort. | (Collins,...

THIE CHILDREN OF LIGHT. By Gerald Sykes. (Heineniann, 12s. 6d.) THERE must be an enormous number of British people who feel that, although they have never been there, they...