12 OCTOBER 1945

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NEWS OF THE WEEK

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Q 0 EIIRESIDR,14 .- 4 ,k TRUMAN st f viountries which know Uni States, Britain States, as the re Lure. add made avai last Tuesday that there are three whole secret of the...

Starvation in Germany The evil that was done by the

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enforced migration of millions of Germans from Poland and Czechoslovakia cannot be undone, but quick and drastic measures will be necessary if its consequences in starvation,...

Dockers versus the Community It may be doubted if any

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considerable strike since 1926 has been so mischievous and so completely unjustified as that which is holding up work in Merseyside, Tyneside, Manchester, Hull, London and all...

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Japan's New Cabinet

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General MacArthur has been extending and strengthening his hold on the situation in Japan, a process which was necessarily gradual before the Japanese forces were demobilised...

Coal—as Before

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Speaking at Durham last Sunday Mr. Shinwell said that there was no actual reduction per man in output of coal, but he had to admit that there was a further decline in total...

War-time Controls

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The main criticism directed in the House of Commons against the Government's Bill for the retention of war-time controls was in respect of their duration. The Home Secretary is...

The United Nations Association

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The importance of the meeting held at the Albert Hall last Wednes- day to launch the United Nations Association lies in the fact that the world security organisation can only...

The Trial of Laval

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The trial of Laval has provided something in the nature of an anti- climax to the sequence of events which was to end in the downfall and just punishment of one of the most...

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MR. BEVIN'S PROBLEMS

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91HOUGH Mr. Bevin expressed confidence at the close of his speech in the House on Tuesday that, given patience and good- will, the difficulties which brought the Conference of...

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It is a pity that the spirited protest made by

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Mr. Alfred Edwards, the Labour Member for Middlesbrough, on Tuesday night on the subject of M.P.s' disabilities came too late to be fully reported. The Prime Minister had said...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK L ORD KEMSLEY, it is announced, has acquired,

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through one of his syndicates, two Blackburn papers. The fact would not be of so much interest if Lord Kemsley did not control so many papers as it is. In London he has the...

Since General Eisenhower believes Hitler to be still alive, he

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had no doubt to avow the belief when asked a plain question on the subject, but he may be wrong. No one, I suppose, on the Allied side knows whether Hitler is dead or not ;...

" Prior to sitting down to write this letter," writes

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a pillar of the Church, " there came to my mind the proverb about ' looking prior to leaping,' as I have never written to The Spectator prior to this. My request is urgent: Sir,...

The Supplies and Services (Transitional Powers) Bill got its second

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reading on Tuesday. I hope there were some honourable members who understood what they were agreeing to. Here is part of Clause 5 of the Bill—a fair sample of the whole: 5.—(r)...

The reason why the British Museum is still closed five

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months after the end of all danger of bombing is, I understand, that the Government has declined to find labour to put the bomb-damage right. The Trustees, therefore—in the view...

The universities are beginning a new academic year a little

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less abnormally than in the past six, but with small hope of getting back to the normal for some time yet. Contrary to some expectations numbers are still down ; the two largest...

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THE ARAB LEAGUE

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By EDWARD ATIYAH R ECENT discussions and developments have brought the ques- tion of the Arabs generally and the Arab League in particular increasingly before public attention,...

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QUO DUCIT VIS ELECTRICA

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By PERCY DUNSHEATH • N view of the tremendous contribution made by electrical science I and technology to the prosecution and successful outcome of the war we are justified in...

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SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

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By DR. J. H. SHACKLETON BAILEY' In the elementary schools, although the pupils are younger, their holidays are less. The reason for this is, no doubt, that the children for whom...

THE B.A.O.R.'S VIEWS

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By W. G. MOORE T HE civilian lecturer to the Forces has to be careful not to generalise his impressions. The delivery of some forty lectures within a month means that he moves...

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FIRST CATCH YOUR MAID

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By HUGH GARDNER " W HEN we get our maid . .," says my wife, and stops with a self-conscious smirk. This phrase—or is it a clause?—has been a recurring feature of her...

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BACK TO TOKYO

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By MARTIN HALLIWELL I LANDED on Atsugi airfield and have been able to watch almost V from the beginning the occupation of the Japanese mainland—that last bloodless operation of...

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The restrained passion with which Vercors is able to render

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his love or hatred, his admiration or contempt, cannot fail to move those of us who regard the sceptical apathy of the moment, not as a symptom of convalescence, but as the...

The first story, which is called " La Marche a

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ritoile," purports to be the authentic biography of Thomas Muritz, an elderly Moravian who had become naturalised in France. Early in the nineteenth century the Muritz family...

MARGINAL COMMENT

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By HAROLD NICOLSON I N considering the work of any write: it is always interesting, and often difficult, to distinguish between his immediate and his ultimate value, between...

To what extent was the effect produced upon us by

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the first book of Vercors, as by the poems of Aragon, an adventitious effect? Is Vercors really an important writer, or merely a man of fine character and sensibility who writes...

In his second story, entitled "Le Songe," Vercors treats of

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the familiar contrast between the individual and the universal conscience. He considers how, in our waking life, in the "sordid solitude" imposed upon us by our personal...

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GRAMOPHONE NOTES

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I GIVE first place this month to the recording by Arthur Rubinstein of Grieg's Pianoforte Concerto in A minor with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by E. Ormandy (H.M.V....

THE CINEMA

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" The Lost Week-End." At the Plaza. BILLY WILDER is an important director with an almost cynical atti- tude to life. In Double Indemnity he moved his puppets through a sordid...

ART

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Ben Nicholson. At the Lefevre Gallery.—A Phase of Contemporary Swedish Art. At the Wildenstein Gallery.—Maeve Gilmore, Constantin Guys and Jean George Simon. At the Redfern...

THE THEATRE

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King Henry IV (Part II). At the New Theatre. MY one serious criticism of Mr. John Burrell's present fine production of King Henry IV at the New Theatre is that he shares the...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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FOOD FROM THE EMPIRE SIR, —As I have been stressing the importance of developing the Empire for many years and actually presented schemes for multiplying many times the food and...

PEACE THROUGH FEAR . . . ?

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SIR,—Mr. Rowland evidently does not believe that it can be "Peace Through God," but does believe in " Peace Through Reason," claiming that it is through " the embryo sciences of...

BRETONS AND FRANCE Strt,—As a Welshman, I have been very

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much pained to read the account of the treatment which has been meted out to our sister-people—the Bretons—by the French Government since the liberation of France. There has...

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WORKING PRISONERS

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SIR,—I understand the Trades Unions of this country have brought pressure to bear on the Government to prevent German prisoners under- taking any constructive building work in...

BEVIN BOYS' RELEASE

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SIR,—I understand that Mr. Ness Edwards, in a written reply, has stated that Bevin Boys are to be released from the pits, under Class A, accord- ing to age and length of service...

THE BELSEN TRIALS

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SIR, —Thousands of people must be grateful to " Janus " for his para- graph on the Belsen trials. It is maddening to see these accounts day by day when the guilt and horror has...

DRINK AND THE STATE

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Snt,—The article in your issue dated September 28th by a Licensing Magistrate seems to me to conclude on an illogical note. In the early part of the article the writer...

FEEDING EUROPE

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Stit,—The suggestion that we shall voluntarily tighten our belts in order that more food may be sent to " starving Europe " is one which reflects great credit on the people of...

Sia,—Lord Amulree states in his letter that " over-indulgence (in

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alcoholic drink) is almost inevitable if there is anxiety that the press of people will interfere with the natural wish of the average consumer." This is an extraordiary point...

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THE NORTHERN HALF

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Stg,—Mr. Philip Carr, in an article in last week's issue headed " Selling Britain Abroad," rightly says : " The Englishman 'pleading for England in another country is suspect to...

Neglected Walking Sticks

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A new term of praise which pleases me was heard the other/day on a Welsh farm. It was said of one labourer by an envious companion, " He has a wonderful eye for a walking stick...

HEALTH AND DISEASE

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Sut,—In your issue of September 28th, the reviewer of Sir A. Howard's book Fanning and Gardening for Health and Disease, in reference to my small testimony assumed on page 292...

COUNTRY LIFE

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SOME most suggestive and suggestively successful experiments in the arts of production are being carried through in the North-Western shires. Ayrshire, which names perhaps the...

EVENING DRESS

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SIR,—In reply to Janus's objection to the fiat issued by luxury restaurants, one naturally supposes that men who patronise such places can afford evening dress and laundry...

A New Mimicry

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We all know that the starling is a parrot: it can imitate many other birds, and is especially successful, at least in my experience, in pretending to be a thrush, doubtless...

In My Garden

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A South Coast gardener tells me that he has growing in close juxta- position in his garden three pimpernels, one scarlet, one a deep blue and one pink. The appearance is...

The Mushroom - Minded My postbag suggests that a large number of

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people are aruaous to test their palate with more species of mushroom, in the line of the much more catholic habits of the French and Italians and indeed most European peoples....

COUNTRY LIFE

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Stit,—It was good to see, in " Rusticus's " letter, a more realistic view of country life than often obtains among non-country dwellers. It is high time this myth of the...

Postage on this issue: Inland, xfd.; Overseas, xd.

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BOOKS OF THE DAY

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Vision in the East TRIBES of Southern Arabia beat the drums and sacrificed a bullock when Freya Stark appeared among them with a cinema projector and Ministry of Information...

Which Questions ?

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Voltaire : Myth and Reality. By Kathleen O'Flaherty. Cork Univer- sity Press. (Oxford : B. H. Blackwell, Ltd. 10s. 6d.) UNIVERSITY tutors have been known to observe that young...

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The World's Scapegoat

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An Enemy of the People : Anti-Semitism. By James Parkes. (Penguin 9d.) " It will not be possible to say how many Jews there are in the world until we know more accurately the...

Facts and Values

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Pilot Papers. Edited by Charles Madge. (Pilot Press. 3s. 6d.) THE twofold aim behind the " social essays and documents " of Pilot Papers is to bridge the gap between the...

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The Teaching of Jesus

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The Philosophy of Jesus. By Harry Roberts and Lord Horder- (j. M. Dent. 5s.) THIS is a curiously constructed little book. Claiming to be a dis- cussion of " the sermons,...

Fiction

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Both Sides of the Blanket. By Halcott Glover. (Constable. _8s. 6d.) The English Teacher (which incidentally contains some sane views on the teaching of English) is the story of...

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SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 342

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t ,.. HARLAT AN I - r t LE LINT E A m R V 0 L ',./ E'.3 t. A m a ' 1 r4 RUE A■ 1 O V 0 - 1 - E iiiemareci Lai. T E 1111111411N 1DiAl R 'VNTRAPPEO 11111614111A R. 4 . L III 0 L...

tt THE SPECTATOR " CROSSWORD No. 344 IA Book Token

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

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Shorter Notices

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In Search of Two Characters : Some Intimate Aspects of Napoleon and His Son. By Dormer Creston. (Macmillan. 18s.) Miss CRESTON has put together from well-known sources the...

There's Work for All. By Michael Young and Theodor Prager.

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(Nicholson and Watson. 5s.) SAID Vice-President Wallace in October, 1943, " Are we willing to take peace as seriously as we took the war? It will take much more ingenuity to...

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

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By CUSTOS ALTHOUGH in some respects the general, as distinct from the purely financial, clauses in the Bank of England Nationalisation Bill raise the more important problems,...

MANY people in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Holland, Norway and

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Sweden are anxious to know more about what is happening in world affairs and particularly the British view on the subject. Unfortunately the blocking of currency in most of the...