12 JANUARY 1945

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NEWS OF THE WE E K T HE prospects of victory in the

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war against Japan are brOught_ I appreciably nearer by the return of the Americans to the Philip= pines. The seizure of Leyte was of high strategic value, but this week's...

Improvement in Greece

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The outlook in Greece is considerably improved by the statement of policy issued by General Plastiras's government on Wednesday. The programme outlines the creation of a...

Poland's Rival Governments

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When the Committee of National Liberation in Lublin decid.sd to be called the Polish Provisional Government it was hoped that Russia would not commit herself on the subject...

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Outcrop Coal Prospects

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One of the more encouraging elements in the generally discouraging story of British coal production in war-time has been the success which has attended the getting of opencast...

A Local Government Scandal

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Shocking treatment of children at a nursery known as the Bowling Municipal Institution are revealed in a report presented to the Bradford City Council by a committee appointed...

A Charter for Seamen

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Mr. Bevin was right when he insisted last Wednesday thit he quarters of merchant seamen on board ship should be as good as possible and comparable with the homes they expect to...

Italy and the Italians

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The problems of Italy, as was indicated in Mr. Harold Macmillan's recent statement to the British and American Press in Rome, fall into two parts: what can be done by the Allies...

The Future of Dependent Peoples

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In a valuable contributbn to The Times last Wednesday, Lord Lugard approached the problem of colonies and dependent peoples under the coming world order, considering their...

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TEAM- WORK

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T WO speeches were reported in last Monday's papers, President Roosevelt's message to the United States Congress, and Field-Marshal Montgomery's addiess to war correspondents on...

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A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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T HE new Archbishop of Canterbury has not been too happily served by the Press interviewers who have discussed with him and Mrs. Fisher such momentous questions as the domestic...

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THE GERMAN PURPOSE

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By STRATEGICUS It is not, then, the mere fact that the Germans are fighting to relieve Buda-Pesch that puzzles us; but the great weight that is being put into the relieving...

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FACTS ABOUT U.N.R.R.A.

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By TORRINGTON GORDON I T is early yet to engage in any substantial appraisal of U.N.R.R.A. This must await its fuller employment on the tasks assigned to it. Until then all...

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ALBERT SCHWEITZER

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By GEORGE SEAVER S CHWEITZER is probably the most variously gifted genius that our age has produced, as well as its most prophetic thinker. Born on January 14th, 1875, he has...

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THE MOLES

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By SIR STEPHEN TALLENTS T HE moles, two winters ago, were playing havoc with our meadows. It was time, I thought, to master their invasion. A little research convinced me that...

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MARGINAL COMMENT

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NICOLSON Hy HAROLD those memories, and especially those sensations, which are unsullied by discomfort or neglect. The idea was well expressed : - " Homesick we are, and always,...

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THE THEATRE

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" The Critic." At the Arts Theatre. " See How They Run." At the Comedy. THE producer whose role in the theatre during the last fifty years has stead ly grown in importance has...

The Sitwell Country: Paintings and Drawings by John Piper. At

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the Leicester Gallery. ARr The Sitwell Country: Paintings and Drawings by John Piper. At the Leicester Gallery. Paintings by Michael Ayrton. At the Redfern Gallery. MR....

WHEN representing, in enormous technicolored vistas, the Demo- cratic Party

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Convention of 1912 or Wilson's Declaration of War speech to the House of Representatives, Wilson has the spectacular courage of its convictions, but round the White House...

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Sta,—Recent correspondents to this paper have suggested that religion plays

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a small and insignificant part in the soldier's life ; and that fighting in the front line makes little difference to his spiritual outlook. As an officer who has been two years...

THE POST-WAR SERVICES

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Sta,—The question of the post-war organisation of the Navy, Army and Air Force was recently (December 6th) the subject of a useful though necessarily...

Sm,—" Another Captain " says the average soldier's contempt for

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the B.B.C. and the newspapers cannot be questioned. It can. I question it very much after many close contacts with the troops, including a visit to fronts in Belgium and...

WHAT THE SOLDIER THINKS

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Sta,—Readers who accept Mr. C. S. Lewis's tasty soothing syrup will be in for a rude awakening. They had better take the harsh medicine of Captain, B.LA." and face the realities...

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Sut,—I also was astonished by the injection into the B.B.C.

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Athens news of the comment, which it is very difficult ro believe originated at Broad- casting House. If a question is not asked in the House on the subject, we are likely to...

P.M. AND O.M.

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Sm,—I read with interest the suggestion made by " Janus " in your issue of December 29th that the Prime Minister should be given the Order of Merit, but at the same time I am...

B.B.C. NEWS AND COMMENT

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Sin,—" Janus" censure of the B.B.C.'s adulteration of their " News" with their political " Views " is both timely and well merited. This flagrant abuse of the Corporation's...

THE PALESTINE MANDATE

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Eustace Gordon writes: " The Jew says, logically enough, that, under the mandate, Britain assumed the obligation of making the establishment of a Jewish National Home in...

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE SCHEME

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Sm,—In The Spectator for December 15th " Janus " states " there is no evidence that the patients as a whole, meaning the voters of the country, are in the least opposed to the...

Sm,—The letter on " Dental Ill-Health " by your correspondent

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John Porter in your issue of December 29th reminded me of a conversation with a German army officer some 3o odd years ago. I had seen soldiers carrying loaves of very dark...

DENTAL ILL-HEALTH

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Stir,—The letter in your issue of December 29th appeared at a very timely moment with the recent announcement by the Minister of Food that bread is to be still whiter. The...

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Old and - Bold

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IN his admirable introduction, Professor Gilbert Murray writes: " It was said of Walter Raleigh that he made a specially good Pro- fessor because he was really not suited to be...

BOOKS OF THE DAY

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The Air Crisis ONCE more in its age-long history the Middle East has proved itself the master key of the three united continents. Thothmes, Xerxes , Miltiades, Alexander,...

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The Biography of a Theatre

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FEW people under fifty years of age will remember all the glories of Daly's theatre in Leicester Square ; but this fascinating and well-written book is a history of Daly's from...

Mr. Nicolson's Causeries du Vendredi

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Friday Mornings. By Harold Nicolson. (Constable. 8s. 6d.) IT is natural to borrow the title of this review from St. Beuve. Mr. Nicols9n is the St. Beuve of our days. The...

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A Miniature History of the War (down to the Liberation

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of Paris). By R. C. K. Ensor. (Oxford University Press. 2s. 6d.) The War at a Glance A Miniature History of the War (down to the Liberation of Paris). By R. C. K. Ensor....

Fiction

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Alien Corn. By Alfred Peries. (Allen and Unwin. 8s. 6d.) . Dmitri Donskoi. By Sergei Borodin. Translated by Eden and Cedar PauL (Hutchinson. 10s. 6d.) The Skaters' Waltz. By...

India

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Salute to India. By J. Z. Hodge. (S. C. M. Press. 6s.) Introduction to India is an amazing little book, and it is quite an indispensable compendium for anyone, aoldier or...

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" THE SPECTATOR " CROSSWORD No. 305 [A Book Token

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for one guinea will be awarded to the sender of the first correct s aurian of this week's crossword to be opened after noon on Tuesday week, unwary 23rd. Envelopes should be...

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 303 SOLUTION ON JANUARY 26th, 1945

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The winner of Crossword No. 303 is: PREBENDARY S. H. MARTIN, Sutton Rectory, Hereford.

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COUNTRY LIFE

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A BLESSED or, some say, an accursed word is being steadily thru forward into publicity, as research promotes its significance. T word is hydroponics, which means, or is meant to...