9 JULY 1942

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THE TWO-PRONGED OFFENSIVE I F the atmosphere of crisis in the

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war may seem to us in this country a little less intense than it was a week ago, it is still the case that in Egypt the dangers which threatened then have not been removed, and...

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CRITICS IN PARLIAMENT

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e HEN things go wrong in the planning and conduct of the • war the first target of criticism is, of course, the Govern- ent ; but Members of Parliament should remember that...

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A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK A S a bicyclist, I am disappointed by

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the great number of private cars still left in the London streets ; they stood all about the parks on Sunday, and in rows outside the shops on Monday and Tuesday. Many, no...

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THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE GATHERS WAY

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By STRATEGICUS There can be little doubt that the capture of Voronezh, or the interruption of the railway line, is an established fact, and it is literally true, as Reuter's...

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POLITICS AND THE PUBLIC

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By JENNIE LEE I WISH something could be done to narrow the gap between what politicians say and what they do. I don't make that remark querulously. It is a very serious matter....

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THE WAR AND RUBBER

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By SIR ANDREW McFADYEAN T HERE is evidence of considerable misunderstanding—to use the mildest word reasonably applicable—regarding the attitude of rubber-producers in the...

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THE DECAY OF THE NOVEL

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By FRANK SWINNERTON Some of the immediate badness is due to the war. Almost no male novelists under fifty are practising their craft. Concentration upon imaginative work is...

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PASSING THROUGH SPAIN

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By JOHN LODWICK HAVE always liked Spaniards. The odour of garlic clings about them, of course ; but then I like garlic, too. I was not, like so many other people, mixed up in...

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MARGINAL COMMENT

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By HAROLD NICOLSON T may seem belated, after so much has happened since, to refer I to last week's Non-Confidence Debate in the House of Commons. Yet if we are for ever to be...

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ART

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Recording Britain. At the National Gallery. THE second exhibition of the work of artists entrusted with the task of recording the " changing face of Britain " is now on view at...

THE CINEMA

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` March of Time." At the Empire.—" The Young Mr. Pitt." At the New Gallery and the Marble Arch Pavilion.—" The Bride Came C.O.D." and " The Gay Parisian." At Warner's. r is a...

THE THEATRE

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" Lifeline." At the Duchess. Time—weekly newsmagazine published in New York—dated July 6th: " By this week the unofficial total of sinkings in U.S. waters was 323 . . . no one...

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SIR,—Dr. William Paton's article, entitled " 1662 and All That,"

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which appeared in your issue of July 3rd, stresses again the urgent need of reunion among those who openly profess the Christian religion and are active members of a particular...

A NATIONAL CHURCH OF ENGLAND

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SIR, —The Rev. William Paton, in your issue of July 3rd, refers to the plea of the Chairman of the Congregational Union for a bold attempt at unity...

THE TEMPER OF BRITAIN

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Sta,—If this war could be won by the Prime Minister's speeches in the Commons and elsewhere we should be getting on famously. Un- fortunately, it cannot. Rommel outweighs...

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INDUSTRY AND EDUCATION

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1 1. • Dunsheath has complained that the present system for the couragement of post school education is, from a national point of ew, hopelessly inadequate, and he advocates a...

Ste,—Your anonymous correspondent, " Prebendary and Rural Dean," writing from

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Laodicea, which is midway between Rome and Geneva, asserts that the High Church bodies never have made a practice of buying up advowsons in order to staff a ministry with their...

THE STATUS OF THE CLERGY

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Sta,—As a loyal member of the Church of England, I protest most strongly against the suggestion made on page 570 of The Spectator that " Low Church " bodies " make a practice of...

HOURS OF WORK FOR JUVENILES

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tit,—In order to increase the productivity of the limited man-power avail- ble, the Government proposes to standardise a minimum 52-horn week ✓ industrial work, and a 46-hour...

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Sm,—Allow me please just to intervene between " Janus '

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and Dr. Mozley with a quotation from La Divina Commedia Dante's words are "Nessun maggiordolore the ricordarsi del tempo Felice nella miseria." This statement that there is no...

THE NATION'S HEALTH

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Sia,—In your article on " The Nation's Health " in The Spectator of July 3rd, you say that the shortage of nurses " is really serious. Means must be found to induce more young...

COUNTRY LIFE

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OF all our plants none responds more successfully to drought than cereals. The Canadian prairies flourish because the wheat is usuall started in growth by a little rain, but...

CONTRA JANUM

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Sin,—Let me support Canon Mozley, or rather supplement his protest. We of the Wine and Food Society hold that a man can dine well for a guinea, or dine badly for a guinea; and...

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Two Brahmins

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IT was Oliver Wendell Holmes the elder who found the pr descriptive term for the hereditary learned class of Boston. Th were the Brahmins soaked in books and controversy from...

BOOKS OF THE DAY

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Re-examining Democracy Reflections on Government. By Ernest Barker Oxford University Press. 21s.) I REMEMBER, as though it were yesterday, listening in the year 1910 to Dr....

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Victorian Vivacity

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IF Civil Defence's distinction between Light and Heavy Rescue parties could be applied to those who salvage the past, Sir Edmund Chambers would, of course, hold honourable rank...

A Scholar's Climb

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A Cornish Childhood. By A. L. Rowse. (Cape. us. 6d.) MR. ROWSE has produced a strange mélange. All autobiograp are necessarily in some degree egocentric and self-revelatory....

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Shorter Notices

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• And Hell Followed." By Odette Kelm. (Constable. 8s. 6d.) THE writer sets out in the 30o provocative pages of this strange named book to convey to English readers the...

The New Men

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The Last Enemy. By Richard Hillary. (Macmillan. 75. 6d.) " THE pilot," Hillary writes, " is a race of men who since time immemorial have been inarticulate." Nothing,...

Fiction

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The Moon is Down. By John Steinbeck. (Heinemann. 5s.) Requiem for Robert. By Mary Fitt. (Michael Joseph. 8s. 6d.) Mrs. Frensham Describes a Circle. By Richmal Crompton. millan...

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"THE SPECTATOR " CROSSWORD No. 174

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IA B wk Token for one guinea will be awarded to the sende. cf the first correct solution of this week's crossword to be opened after noon on Tuesday week. Envelopes should be...

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 172 SOLUTION ON JULY 24th

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The winner of Crossword No. 172 is the REV. R. H. J. STEUART, 4 Motint Street, Grosvenor Square, W. i.

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FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

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By CUSTOS THIS week's performance of the stock markets has again demo strated the City's capacity in present circumstances for giving hopes rather than its fears the benefit of...

The Living Garden. By E. J. Salisbury. (Bell. 6s.) Now

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that war has made gardeners of us all, there could be no mo timely appearance than this revised edition of Professor Salisbury' scientific guide (first published in 1935) to The...