8 SEPTEMBER 1939

Page 1

NEWS OF THE WEEK

The Spectator

T HE war has been slow in gathering momentum in the West. When people went to church on Sunday morning, if they did, we were at peace; when they came out the country was at war....

Frightfulness from the First

The Spectator

The decision of the German Government to begin the war with an exhibition of that form of frightfulness which concentrated the execration of the world on Germany twenty-five...

The Neutrals and Their Motives The various declarations of neutrality

The Spectator

in the first days of the war have considerably clarified the general outlook, though it must always be remembered that neutrality is a condition which can be abandoned at any...

Page 2

America's Position

The Spectator

On Tuesday President Roosevelt, taking the only course that was open to him under existing American law, signed a general proclamation of American neutrality. The consequences...

South Africa's Decision

The Spectator

The victory of General Smuts over General Hertzog in the House of Assembly at Capetown by 8o votes to 67 brings South Africa into line with the rest of the Dominions, for it...

Labour Agrees to Control The acceptance by the Labour Party

The Spectator

of the Government's Control of Employment Bill is reassuring. The many adjustments which had to be improvised in the last war to secure the dilution and proper distribution of...

Entertainment in War Time

The Spectator

The closing of all theatres and other places of public entertainment at the beginning of the war was perhaps a necessary precautionary measure, and in London and other...

The Extension of Conscription

The Spectator

On Saturday the Government introduced a comprehensive measure of military conscription—the Nationa Service (Armed Forces) Bill—extending liability t■ service to all men between...

Page 3

Germany and Russia

The Spectator

The speeches made in Moscow on the occasion of the r..;ification of the Russo-German Pact seem already to !,:long almost to a past era, but since they may have a i-earing on...

More New Ministers

The Spectator

The creation of a War Cabinet is discussed in a leading article on a later page, and comment here may therefore be confined to the few Ministerial changes outside that...

Italy's Peace Endeavours

The Spectator

The eleventh-hour attempt of Signor Mussolini to avert the war -calls for some examination in view of the terms in which the official announcement issued from Rome is couched....

The Lot of Refugees

The Spectator

The statement made by Sir John Anderson in the House of Commons on Monday regarding the treatment of refugees will be generally welcomed. The two cardinal facts regarding them...

Eire's Neutrality

The Spectator

EIRE'S declaration of neutrality, regrettable though it is both for political and stratepi.: reasons, will havc surprised no one at all in touch with Irish politics. It may be...

Page 4

THE WAR THAT HITLER WILLED

The Spectator

H ERR HITLER has chosen war. Perhaps the most tragic feature of the whole vast tragedy is the readiness of a great people to leave that fatal arbitrament in the hands of one...

Page 5

THE HON 1E FRONT

The Spectator

When the tension became acute and war certain, all internal differences were put aside; no word was spoken in the House of Commons that did not reveal a just sense of the...

Page 6

. A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

The Spectator

Most of us, I suppose, who remember the opening of what we shall no doubt still call for some time the Great War, have already been comparing or contrasting the way in which the...

Page 7

LAND, SEA AND AIR

The Spectator

By CENTURIO r )R Germany's attack on Poland preparations had heen going on for months, and the whole scheme of ,ttategical and tactical operations was planned down to the last...

Page 8

MOSCOW AFTER FORTY YEARS-I. RELIGION

The Spectator

By SIR EVELYN WRENCH R ETURN1NG to Moscow after an absence of forty years is a never-to-be-forgotten experience. Three visits to Tsarist Russia, from Helsingfors and Warsaw to...

Page 9

THE GREAT EVACUATION

The Spectator

By R. C. K. ENSOR THE evacuation of school-children, mothers with young children, and expectant mothers, from the most endangered British cities, has in its planning and...

Page 10

THE VILLAGE AND THE WAR

The Spectator

By WARREN POSTBRIDGE T HE village has adjusted itself quickly to the war. The evacuees began to arrive on Friday, and they are already part and parcel of us. There will be...

Page 12

PEOPLE AND THINGS

The Spectator

By HAROLD NICOLSON H AVING devoted much study to the causes of the First German War, I have always been perplexed by the importance attached by serious historians to the events...

Page 13

A Believer in Progress

The Spectator

By D. W. BROGAN THE publication at this moment of a book bearing the title The RI e of European Civilized/on is a challenge; for to many of us the rise is not an u..i.iterrupted...

Page 14

Economics for Democracy

The Spectator

INCOMES, MEANS TESTS AND PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. By P. Ford. (King.5s.) EARNING AND SPENDING. By William A. Morris. (Nelson. 2S.) ECONOMICS FOR DEMOCRATS. By Geoffrey Crowther....

Influenced Writing

The Spectator

WHEN NERO Was DICTATOR. By Geraldine Cummins. (Frederick Muller. los. 6d.) I DID not like the rather catchpenny title of this book, but I read it because I was interested in the...

Page 15

FICTION

The Spectator

By FORREST REID BLOSSONI LIKE THE ROSE. By Norah Lofts. (Gollancz. 7s. 6d.) THE MIDDLE PASSAGE. By Roland Barker and Willisun Doerilinger. (Macmillan. 8s. 6d.) MR. CINDERELLA....

Page 18

Partridges and Corn

The Spectator

Early in the autumn, just twenty-four years ago, I flushed a very large and strong covey of partridges from a deserted gun-carriage in a field between the Marne and the Aisne....

Artistic Cows

The Spectator

An Oxfordshire farmer was asked the other day by a learned person whether he had ever noticed in his cows or bulls a dislike of red. Is a red rag offensive to a bull? His reply...

Peacocks

The Spectator

I had been noting not without surprise, for there were none last year, that the sole visitor to a particular Buddleia bush was the Peacock butterfly, when a letter from a friend...

In the Garden

The Spectator

It is a pretty and useful habit of the organisers of Kew Gardens to put up at the gates a list of the flowers best worth a visit each week. • A list for the year would be...

The Lure of the Game

The Spectator

It is an ill wind—how many thousands of young partridges and their parents will be longer on the wing for the end of the weapon-still-stand in another field than the stubble!...

Page 20

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

The Spectator

Wm remarkable smoothness the nation's financial organisation has passed from preparedness to defence, and the regulations necessary for the prosecution of war. That the...