10 JANUARY 1941

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ROOSEVELT AND HITLER

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B Y the programme he laid before Congress on Wednesday the President of the United States carried to what is so far its culmination the policy he has been pursuing with...

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NEWS OF THE WEEK N OTHING can detract from the brilliance

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of the co- ordinated strategy, by land, sea and air, which led to the fall of Bardia last Sunday. General Wavell's dispositions attained their success so flawlessly and...

The Re - making of Britain It has been suggested that there

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might be some overlapping between Mr. Greenwood's field of inquiry and that of Lord Reith as Minister of Works and Buildings. Planning for re- building might indeed be regarded...

To Speed Up the War Effort

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There has been no concealment of wide-spread dissatisfac- tion about progress in war-production, distribution of man- power and other urgent problems of the Home Front. The...

A Soldier and a Statesman

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In the New Year message broadcast from Cairo by General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East, one heard the inspiring voice of a soldier who combines...

Greek War Aims

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General Metaxas, the Greek Prime Minister, has stated in a Press interview what are described as the war-aims of Greece. They were expressed in the simplest terms—to assure the...

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Rumour in the Balkans

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The Balkans have been recently a fertile source of con- flicting rumours, many of them deliberately set about by the Germans to cause doubt, fear or suspicion. To add to the...

The Author of " Creative Evolution "

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The death of Henri Bergson at the age of 82 removes a philosopher who had a far-reaching influence on modern thought in the earlier years of the century. He reached intellec-...

The Planning of Public Health

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The report of the Chief Medical Officer of Health issued last Tuesday shows that up to the present shelter life has not led to so much increase of disease as had been feared—but...

Why America Should " Buy British "

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Mr. Oliver Lyttelton, President of the Board of Trade, in a broadcast to Canada and the United States last Sunday, appealed to a principle which President Roosevelt himself...

Bombs on Eire

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What was Germany's motive in dropping bombs on Dublin and other parts of Eire last week? The Berlin suggestion that the bombs were British is foolish in view of the fact that...

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AXIS TROUBLES

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B RILLIANT as the continuing successes of our three co-ordinated services in the Eastern Mediterranean are, both in achievement already registered and in the promise of further...

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I am glad to see that some religious papers by

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no means to be suspected of pacifism are joining in protest against the B.B.C.'s alleged ban on certain prominent religious leaders of different denominations on the ground of...

Is there, I wonder, some subtle distinction between war babies

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and war-babies? I was a little startled at a newspaper heading this week, declaring " We Want More War Babies," for the war babies, or war-babies, of the last war were the fruit...

Quotation of that rather hackneyed epigram, by the way, is

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rather tragically apposite at a moment when the Nazi-fed flames have destroyed so much of its truth. But it serves to remind one of Dr. Inge's brilliant emendation. " Whenever I...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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I T is too soon still to assess fully or finally what Lord Baden- Powell did, first for the British Empire and then for the world, when he founded the Boy Scout movement...

I have referred before now to the question of waste

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in the Army, with special reference to petrol. Here are some solid facts that seem worth attention. At a police-court in one of the Home Counties last week a Canadian soldier...

The news that Major Ronald Gartland, M.P., is not, as

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we so long hoped, missing and probably prisoner but dead will leave many hearts sad. Ronald Cartland was one of the most attractive, as he was one of the most promising, of the...

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THE WAR SURVEYED : THE CAPTURE OF BARDIA

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By STRATEGICUS I N spite of the fine impression made by the capture of Sidi Barrani, there must have been many who held their breath until the occupation of Bardia was...

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AMERICA AND THE FAR EAST

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By PRINCE VLADIMIR OBOLENSKY HE warning of the late Lord Lothian in his recent speech that Britain and America may be confronted with a two- ocean attack launched...

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A.R.P. OUTSIDE LONDON

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By KENNETH LINDSAY, M.P. A T last, after two months' outside agitation, the Govern- ment have resolved an outstanding conflict between two Departments responsible for control...

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THE BOMBED BOOK-TRADE

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By STANLEY UNWIN J UST as a spoilt child who cannot get his own way delights in destroying things, so the Nazis in their anger over their failure to invade England seem to...

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THE CINEMA

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They Knew What They Wanted." At the Plaza. — " Gold Rush Maisie." At the Empire. IT is a lively pleasure to see Charles Laughton in an acting part once again. His film...

Diversion " No. 2. At Wyndham's.

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THE second edition of Diversion is a great improvement on the first. Miss Edith Evans instead of reading us poetry recites one of Elizabeth's speeches to the Commons, which she...

STAGE AND SCREEN

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THE THEATRE 4 , Berkeley Square." At the Vaudeville. THE name of Henry James has never, so far as I know, appeared on the programme of Berkeley Square, though the story was...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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[In view of the paper shortage it is essential that letters on these pages should be brief. We are anxious not to reduce the number of letters, but unless they are shorter they...

GOLF-COURSES AND FOOD

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4m,-I confess to some disappointment in the fact that golf-clubs Fiave not, so far as I know, offered to put at the disposal of the nation the golf-courses for the purpose of...

FLATS OF THE FUTURE

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Snt,—John Armitage, in his article, " The Family House," speaks of a stevedore saying " We all want a little house and a bit of garden," and " We all hate these flats." Here, we...

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SrR,—I strongly support your view that the Elgin Marbles should

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be offered to the Greek Government. Further, may I add that I think the offer should be unconditional, and that a nation that has done so magnificently in the field may be...

Snt,—In your issue of Friday, December 27th, 1940, there is

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a para- graph in " News of the Week " of vital importance to the world on "Peace Aims "; these are founded on the Pope's statement just a Year ago, and are endorsed by all the...

THE ELGIN MARBLES

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Snt,—In all the correspondence I have seen about the Elgin Marbles, nobody seems to have thought of what would be happiest for the figures themselves. I have always felt they...

A CHRISTIAN FRONT

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SIR, —As you say in your issue of December 27th, the points adopted by the Anglican and Catholic and Free Church leaders in The Times letter of December 21st, on the foundations...

Sta,—It seems to me that those good people who are

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everlastingly calling upon the Government to declare its " war aims " show con- siderable confusion of thought. The essential war aim of the country has again and again been...

AFTER VICTORY

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Snt,—Most people, I am sure, will have read Dr. Edwyn Bevan's thoughtful letter on " A New Order " in your issue of December 27th with a great measure of approval. The crux of...

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THE QUESTION OF " IT "

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Sm,—With reference to the mild controversy on the subject of IT, surely the credit for IT'S invention (though he might not have coveted it) belongs to Rudyard Kipling? I quote...

Log Fire

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In view, perhaps, of possible difficulties about coal, one or two cor- respondents have asked me to include here a note about woods for burning. The log fire is a romantic...

Ste,—In your note in "News of the Week " in

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the issue of January 3rd on " The Burned City Churches " you remark that no restoration can give us back Wren. This seems to me quite untrue. One cannot recover a picture from...

Worst Casualties

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Mr. Lockley's list of those birds which suffered most is also interesting, and again, I think, a little surprising. One would expect to find among them such fragile creatures as...

THE NEW GREAT FIRE

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Sm,—To praise The Spectator would too often be to gild the lily : and neither task does any moderately sensible man take in hand. With that premise, may I express a feeling of...

WYKEHAMIST DEPORTEE

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SIR, —On July 26th you published a letter from me concerning a Winchester College boy, a German Jew refugee, who had been seized by the Hants police and subsequently deported to...

Correction

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Some readers have searched in vain for The Gardeners' Calendar, which I mentioned here a week or two ago. It is not very surprising that they have been unable to find it, and I...

COUNTRY LIFE

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Expert Report That birds are very little affected by air-raids, and that they " get used to anything which does not directly interfere with their move- ment," is the expert...

IMPORTANT NOTICE

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Readers are again reminded of the necessity of ordering " The Spectator " regularly, since newsagents can no longer be supplied on sale-or-return terms.

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Books of the Day

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Rebels and Eccentrics Autobiography. By Eric Gill. (Jonathan Cape. tzs. 6d.) ROMAN CATHOLICISM in this country has been a great breeder of eccentrics—one cannot picture a man...

An International Police

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THE chief purpose of this book is to show that the " police principles " embodied in the establishment of the Metropolitan Police in London are applicable to international...

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They Were There

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Their Finest Hour. Edited by Allan A. Michie and Walter Graebner. (Allen and Unwin. 7s. 6d.) THE narratives in these five books are all in the first person. One is the work of...

Trade Unions Today and Tomorrow

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No one knows the British • Trade Union movement—or for that matter the international—better than Herbert Tracey. From the vantage point of Chief Publicity Officer, he now sees...

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From Plough to Press Room

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Land Truant. By Crichton Porteous. (Harrap. 8s. 6d.) Land Truant is the third part of Mr. Crichton Porteous' auto- biographical trilogy of the land. In the first, Farmer's...

The Machinery of the Church

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Tins is a book of the " What an X requires to know about Y" variety, and excellent in that kind. Some people like facts, others prefer estimates and impressions. Miss Ady is...

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FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

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By CUSTOS NOBODY should be surprised at a moderate fall in banking profits. Gross earnings in 1940 were doubtless helped by. the use of a substantially larger volume of...

The Colours of Their Trade

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Exit to Music. By Neal Shepherd. (Constable. 75. 6d.) Now that the redoubtable Mrs. Bradley seems to be feeling her years, a new psychiatrist-detective is very welcome upon the...

The ten pamphlets on British institutions published by Messrs. Longrnans,

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which were the subject of Mr. G. M. Young's article, "A Fair Picture," in The Spectator of January 3rd, were pre- pared by the British Council.

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COMPANY MEETING

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KAMUNING (PERAK) RUBBER AND TIN COMPANY HIGHLY SATISFACTORY YEAR'S WORKING MR. CHARLES EMERSON AND SIR JOHN HAY'S SPEECHES THE thirty-first annual general meeting of the...

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SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 94 SOLUTION ON JANUARY 24th

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The winner of Crossword No. 94 is Miss N. C. Morton, 34 Headingley Lane, Leeds, 6.

" THE SPECTATOR" CROSSWORD No. 96 [A prize of a

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Book Token for one guinea will 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...