13 JULY 1929

Page 1

News of the Week

The Spectator

The King AST Sunday the King and Queen attended the long- A expected Service of Thanksgiving in Westminster Abbey, which was conducted by the Archbishop of Canter- bury. All...

This amount seemed incredibly large and both Sir Laming Worthington-Evans

The Spectator

and Sir Herbert Samuel ridiculed it. Later Mr. J. H. Thomas felt called upon to save Sir Oswald's face by explaining that the figure, though correct, represented a gross amount,...

[Signed article* do not necessarily represent the views of the

The Spectator

SPECTATOR.]

Sir Laming Worthington-Evans pointed out that the Government were now

The Spectator

urging the importance of transfer- ence which they had previously condemned. The Chair- man of th?. Unemployment Grants Committee himself had declared that the Committee had...

The Unemployment Debate

The Spectator

In Parliament the week has been spent in elucidating —if that be the right word for a process which has not shed much illumination—the policy of- the Government: It will be...

Enrroaiai. AND PUBLISHING OFFICES : 99 Gower Street, London, W

The Spectator

.0.1.—A Subscription to the SPECTATOR coats Thirty Shillings per annum, including postage, to any part of the world. The SPECTATOR is registered as a Newspaper. The Postage on...

Page 2

The Liberal Amendment On Wednesday Mr. Macpherson moved an amend-

The Spectator

ment to the Address demanding the suspension of the Scottish Local Government Act The Prime Minister' explained that his pledge to suspend the Act had naturally been conditional...

The Fiscal Debate On Tuesday the Unionist amendment to the

The Spectator

Address was moved by Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister. The amend- ment deplored the failure of Ministers to make any plain declaration of their policy on " the Safeguarding, McKenna...

Mr. Joseph Chamberlain's " Tariff Reform " frankly required taxes

The Spectator

on foreign food and raw materials, but even Mr. Neville Chamberlain admits, if sadly, that such taxes are just as impossible to-day as they were found to be in 1906—and perhaps...

This fiscal debate, which lasted till Tuesday night and gave

The Spectator

the Government the unexpectedly large majority of 120, did not produce new arguments. The Govern- ment, however, came very well out of it. Much was said about the injury...

On Tuesday' by far the most interesting speech came from

The Spectator

Mr. Amery, who made a point of flatly disagreeing with Mr. Churchill's recent statement that there was an unbridgeable gulf between Unionists and Socialists. He took the line...

On Friday, July 5th, the Government were questioned on foreign

The Spectator

affairs. Sir Austen Chamberlain repudiated a suggestion of Colonel Wedgwood that Great Britain and America, " the two unegotistical nations of the world," should definitely ally...

We are all for encouraging the internal trade of the

The Spectator

Empire, the great increase of which has been one of the most remarkable economic facts of recent years, but we part from Mr. Amery when he tells us that our Imperial salvation...

Mr. Snowden in his answer to Mr. Amery refused to-

The Spectator

say when he would repeal the McKenna duties, though he was firmly pledged to repeal. He could not " anticipate the Budget." As for the Safeguarding duties, he claimed the right...

Allies. Mr. Henderson, the new Secretary of State for Foreign

The Spectator

Affairs, agreed that the evacuation of the Rhineland ought to be simultaneous, and he believed that France and Belgium would not put obstacles in the way. He left it to be...

Page 3

The Loss of a Submarine We deeply regret to record

The Spectator

the loss of the British submarine ' II47,' which was sunk on Tuesday morning off the Pembrokeshire coast by a collision on the surface with submarine ' L12.' Twenty-four lives...

The necessary measures to assimilate, as far as possible, the

The Spectator

legal position of the Crown to that of the private citizen are already under way, and we think that Lord Sankey need not be uneasy on that score. On the other hand, he very...

The Bose Institute The Secretary of State for India paid

The Spectator

a striking tribute to the work of Sir Jagadis Bose, after a lecture, delivered by the latter at the India Office on Tuesday. Sir Jagadis is in England to explain the bearing of...

Bank Rate, 51 per cent., changed from 4i per cent.,

The Spectator

on February 7th, 1929. War Loan (5 per cent.) was on Wednesday 1011 ; on Wednesday week 100$; a year ago, 1011. Funding Loan (4 per cent.) was on Wednesday 87; on Wednesday week...

The Cambridge Preservation Society On Monday an appeal was issued

The Spectator

on behalf of the Cambridge Preservation Society for assistance from lovers of Cambridge in their efforts to save her from the insistent demands of the builder. As with the...

Democracy and the Law The new Lord Chancellor is known

The Spectator

to be something more than the conventional ornament of his profession. At the Judges° Dinner, on Friday, July 5th, he showed his mettle by broaching various subjects which, in...

Rhodes House and Chatham House On Friday, July 5th, there

The Spectator

was a unique gathering of Rhodes Scholars, past and present, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Foundation. Rhodes House could not have had a better or more...

Page 4

The Optional Clause I T was generally assumed that if a

The Spectator

Labour Government came into power they would sign without delay the Optional Clause in the Statutes of the Permanent Court of International Justice. Labour is in power, and,...

Page 5

In view of the importance of the Government's decision to

The Spectator

sign the Optional Clause of the World Court at The Hague we have devoted our first leading article to the subject, and we have omitted this week our usual League of Nations...

A Great Editor

The Spectator

T HE retirement of Mr. C. P. Scott, after fifty-seven years as Editor of the Manchester Guardian, is an event which has called forth all over the world admiration of what he has...

Page 6

The Week in Parliament

The Spectator

T HIS is going to be an extremely interesting House of Commons. It has already proved itself to be a first-rate political audience—keen, critical, quick in the uptake, and...

The Press as a Mirror

The Spectator

This article is the fruit of an analysis, made by the author for an American news agency, of the relative amount of space devoted to certain subjects by American, British and...

Page 7

Alexandre Dumas and England

The Spectator

I N view of the great popularity of the romances of Alexandre Dumas in this country, where they have, so to speak, become nationalized, it is interesting to glance back at its...

Page 8

Dawn at Vallombrosa

The Spectator

I LET myself out of the hotel in the dark and passed behind the old Benedictine monastery where Galileo was educated and where the Brownings stayed, climbing the path to the...

Page 9

THE INDEX TO VOLUME 142 OF THE " SPECTATOR "

The Spectator

WILL BE READY FOR DELIVERY ON JULY 27TH, 1929. Readers resident outside the British Isles, and Libraries Overseas, are asked to inform the SpEcrATOlt Office in advance as to...

Teaching English in Japan O NE of the chief difficulties which

The Spectator

face the teacher of En g lish in Japan is the extreme pride (some call it " vanity ") of the students. They find En g lish q uite as difficult a lan g ua g e as I am findin g...

Page 10

Wimbledon 1929

The Spectator

" W ASN'T it a fine show ? " The speaker was a stocky little Englishman, obviously of the pro- fessional class, using that inexpressive and characteristic slang which we inherit...

Page 11

Art

The Spectator

[EARLY ENGLISH WATER-COLOURS. WALKER'S GALLERY.] Mr. Auguste Walker is an acknowledged authority on the Early English School of water-colour painting, and for his 25th annual...

The Theatre [" THE FIRST MRS. FRASER." By ST. JOHN

The Spectator

ERVINE. AT THE HAYMARKET THEATRE.] ABOUT five years before we meet her, the first Mrs. Fraser (Miss Marie Tempest) has had the misfortune to mislay her middle-aged husband in a...

[MISS FLORA LION. BARBIZON HOME.] Miss Flora Lion's portraits need

The Spectator

no introduction, as they have been seen and admired by those who frequent exhibitions of present-day art, but in this exhibition at Barbizon House, besides showing portraits,...

Page 12

[BRITISH LINO-CL - TS. THE REDFERN GALLERY.]

The Spectator

Those responsible for the first exhibition of British Lino-Cuts have made certain that we shall have plenty to look at, for they have got together nearly a hundred prints at the...

Correspondence

The Spectator

A LETTER FROM OXFORD. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Although much is pending in the way of important changes, the term has passed with very little to disturb the even...

A Hundred Years Ago

The Spectator

Generally speaking, the periodical press betrays a remarkable ignorance of the state of society, and the changes which are taking place in habits, modes of life, and thought....

Page 13

* * * * CONSCRIPTION.

The Spectator

Secretary Good's conscription bill appears to have very little hope of survival. It has already been bitterly assailed by several influential Republican Senators, including...

* * * *•

The Spectator

NEW CURRENCY NOTES. The Treasury Department is issuing a new and smaller- sized paper currency this month in substitution for a sub- stantial part of the $5,000,000,000 of...

THE PRESERVATION Or THE COUNTRYSIDE.

The Spectator

The campaign against unslightly billboards is being fol- lowed up by steps to remove the even more unsightly dumps of disecirded motor cars left to rust and rot -along the...

THE FIVE-DAY WEEK.

The Spectator

The recent adoption of a five-day week by the building trades, affecting some 150,000 workers in New York City, marks a signal advance of the movement, which has been growing...

American Notes of the Week

The Spectator

(By Cable) BRITAIN AND RUSSIA. The impending visit, of American industrial and banking representatives to Russia, and discussion of the renewed recognition of the Soviet...

INTEREST IN ENGLAND.

The Spectator

It is notable what a large amount of attention is being given in American papers to English news of all kinds. To-day's New York Times, for instance, contains nearly nine...

Page 14

The general scene is not unattractive to the eye of

The Spectator

the countryman. Little woods and spinneys and many trees remain. Though some houses are freakish, though the " agricultural belt " and central avenue are not constant or true to...

Country Life

The Spectator

The Garden City Idea GARDEN CITIES. Most of the leading spirits in the campaign for the preserva- tion of rural England and Wales assembled with other distinguished persons at...

This cardinal fact has converted me, if I may speak

The Spectator

personally, to the garden city idea. It will slough its unhappy phraseology, its irritating mannerisms. It will straighten out its cranks and laugh at its own false enthusiasms...

SUMMMER FLOCKS. * * * * We are accustomed to

The Spectator

taking great congregations of birds as one of the standard signs of autumn. Recently more than one observer has been astonished to see birds flocking in the spring. One...

We have to deal with alternatives. Perhaps the preservers of

The Spectator

rural England, including Lord Crawford and Professor Abercrombie, Mr. Morrison, Minister of Transport, Sir Basil Blackett, Lord Salisbury—who sold some of the land— Lord Lytton...

* * BENEFICENT RAIN.

The Spectator

Rain was seldom quite so successful, as during last week, in " plumping " the fruit. Potatoes about the size of marbles swelled beyond all expectation, currant bunches began to...

NEGLECTED CRAYFISH.

The Spectator

English people have been abused by all sorts of gourmands and gourmets for neglecting the kindly fruits of their native country. The boletus, puffballs and other fungi, pignuts,...

All this is mere prejudice. The words and phrases are

The Spectator

not essential. What of the central idea ? We were told at Welwyn that there is plenty of room for a thousand garden cities in the Home' Counties and their neighbourhood alone....

Page 15

Letters to the Editor

The Spectator

THE SOCIALIST MYTH [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —If you think that the Labour Party has deserted entirely its Socialist creed, I think you are mistaken. When any...

AN UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

The Spectator

SIR,—Not having completely mastered present-day economics, may I through the columns of the Spectator ventilate some aspects of a problem which is worrying me not a little at...

EUROPE AND AMERICA [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

The Spectator

SIR,—Mr. Angell's article in last week's Spectator will delight some of your American readers. The idea behind the article can, of course, be readily classified as belonging to...

THE REAL CLEAVAGE [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

The Spectator

SIR,—The following quotation from the Liberal booklet Britain's Industrial Future might be of interest to your readers. After examining in some detail the various types of...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

The Spectator

Snt,—I have wanted this little article " The Socialist Myth" for twenty years, and now I have it from you. So, I say, thank you very much indeed. I hope that all the young...

THE PERMANENT DANGER OF UNEMPLOYMENT [To the Editor of the

The Spectator

SPECTATOR.] SIR,—It would help the solution of the unemployment problem if two questions—foreign trade and our debt to America— could be viewed in proper proportion. As to the...

Page 16

"RELIGION WITHOUT THE CREEDS " [To the Editor of the

The Spectator

SPECTATOR.] SIR, —A correspondent (on my article " Religion without the Creeds ") " complains " of my statement that the Bishop of Birmingham, in dismissing Italy and all the...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, I congratulate Mr.

The Spectator

Noyes on his able article, " Religion without the Creeds." Justice must, however, be done to those Anglicans who follow Bishop Barnes. The apparent dis- crepancies between their...

BANKERS AND INDUSTRY [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—May

The Spectator

I, on behalf of the Manchester Economic Research Council, reply to Mr. Kiddy's comments under this heading in your issue of May 18th? It is not the purpose of the Association to...

Page 17

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Sir S. H. Scott's

The Spectator

thoughtful article in last week's Spectator throws a good deal of light upon a difficult problem, but surely he goes too far when he says that the question of cruelty is...

CRUELTY IN SPORT

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,--I was greatly interested in the article by Sir S. H. Scott, but would like to know how he would define the word " sport." Of course, I...

ORIGINAL SIN

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I think your correspondent " Z." mistakes the nature of sin : sin is our habitual falling short of a standard which our conscience tells...

DESTITUTE BRITISH IN RUSSIA

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I am writing once more on behalf of our destitute fellow-subjects still in Russia. It is now nearly three years since I appealed last, on...

Page 18

HOUSES wren NORTHWARD ASPECT.

The Spectator

A well-known - builder who lived here and built many houses in the neighbourhood some fifty years ago wished to build all his houses facing north. His argument, was that any one...

Poetry

The Spectator

Withdrawn No water bubbles Now to fill My brook's fountain And wake the hill. Where mint glistened, Marigold shone, Sorrel must live On sand alone And running blackberry...

" A VANISHING BIRD."

The Spectator

I am glad to be able to corroborate your correspondent's assertion that in this district, at any rate, the picturesque bird, the yellow-hammer, has been in great abundance. I am...

Bums IN INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS.

The Spectator

In the critique of " Exiled " in the Spectator of June 29th Mr. Jennings suggests surprise that an owl hoots from the solitudes of the sylvan mining district." He is probably...

POINTS FROM LETTERS

The Spectator

GENERAL GORDON. I am engaged upon the collection of material for a book upon the last twelve years of General Gordon's life. If any of your readers happen to possess any...

CRUELTY IN SPORT.

The Spectator

The test of " innovation." At first sight this appears to be a good test. There is no doubt that with modern standards of cruelty hunting would not stand this test. But Sir S....

HUMANELY KILLED FURRED ANIMALS.

The Spectator

I am very grateful for your correspondent " Kitty Ritson's" letter. I have for long wanted to know if it would not be possible to buy furs that are certified to be those of...

ITALY IN CYRENAICA

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Stn,—In your editorial note on the recent submission of the rebel chiefs in Cyrenaica you express certain doubts as to the manner in which...

EXHUMATIONS IN ART.

The Spectator

I have read with the greatest interest the article " Exhuma- tions in Art " in your issue of June 22nd. In Greece I was always familiar with these beautiful relics of Byzantine...

Page 19

Georges Cain, as curator of the Carnavalet Museum, had great

The Spectator

qualifications as a guide to Paris, and in Nooks and Corners of Old Paris (Richards Press, 21s.) he described for us twenty years ago some of the byways and foul dens on which...

One of the most eminent of Swedish psychotherapists is Dr.

The Spectator

Paul Bjerre. In Death and Renewal (Williams and Norgate, 10s. 6d.) he has written a book which is neither psychology, philosophy, nor religion ; it is a tentative and...

Some Books of the Week

The Spectator

Ativ one who knows what it means to travel by ox-waggon over rocks and through sand in what the Boers so expressively c all " the Thirst " will smile a little to hear the...

Now that the English Place-Name Society is putting this fascinating

The Spectator

study on a sound basis, it is most important that its work should be made widely known. We are delighted, therefore, to see that Mr. M. J. C. Meiklejohn has written a little...

The Spectator

Although Mr. F. A. M. Webster's Athletics of To-day (Frederick

The Spectator

Warne, 12s. 6d.) is marred by some small inaccur- acies, it is probably the most entertaining and complete history of modern field sports yet written. As Lord Burghley says in...

A Holiday Competition Tun Editor offers a prize of five

The Spectator

guineas for the most practical suggestion for a holiday on a stated sum, which may be any- thing from £10 to E100 (including all travelling expenses), in not more than seven...

The best short story in Arabic was written in the

The Spectator

middle of the twelfth century in Southern Spain by Ibn Tufail, the Wazir of the Moslem Lord of the West, Caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf. It is the account of a man-child alone like...

Is there any stranger character in history than Le Rol

The Spectator

Soleil, with his high-heeled shoes and airs and graces, disguising a short stature and a long head ? Certainly Louis was a great King by whatever canon we judge him : the...

Page 20

Two Rascals and a Dupe

The Spectator

Moan than thirty years ago Mr. H. B. Irving attempted a eulogy, which was also some sort of an apologia, for Judge Jeffreys. It was no good. Not all the ingenious whitewash in...

Vae Victorianis

The Spectator

The Eighteen-Seventies. Essays by Fellows of the Royal Society THE Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature enjoyed them- selves recently in reconsidering the England of the...

Page 21

Cricket: A Game or an Art?

The Spectator

The Summer Game. A Cricketer's Journal. By Neville Cardus, (Grant Richards and Humphrey Touhnin. 6s. net.) The Turn of the Wheel. The M.C.C. Team, Australia, 1928 - 29. by P....

Drazer subscribers who are changing their addresses are asked to

The Spectator

notify the SPECTATOR Office BEFORE MIDDAY on MONDAY OF EACH WEEK. The previous address to which the paper has been sent and receipt reference number should be quoted.

Page 22

Modern Italy

The Spectator

A History of Italy, 1871-1915. By Benedetto Croce. Translated THESE two histories of Modern Italy form an illuminating complement one of the other. Benedetto Croce's canvas is...

Interior Decoration To-day

The Spectator

"PRIMITIVE men owned their own bracelets and their own pots before they owned their own canoes, and civilized men are likely to retain their own cigarette cases and their own...

Page 23

The Official as Judge

The Spectator

Administrative Law. By Frederick John Port. (Longman. 21s.) Tax growing tendency of departments to arrogate to them- selves judicial as well as administrative powers has long...

Fiction

The Spectator

Changing Fashions G. K. Chesterton. (Arrowsmith. '78. 6d.) Grand Manner. By Louis Kronenberger. (Gollancz. 7s. 6d.) Miss Elm dates her own novel, and one really needs to have...

Page 24

THE PATH OF GLORY. By George Blake. (Con- stable. 6s.)—This

The Spectator

is beydnd question one of the best War novels that have been written. - Passionately vital and sincere, remorselessly realistic and ironical, yet pervaded by whimsical humour...

THE MEN OF SILENCE. By Louis Forgoine. (Dent. 7s. 6d.)—This

The Spectator

is a book for the serious student of Italian history or of crime rather than for the average novel reader. It deals with the last phase of the Camorra, the famous secret...

CLOTH OF GOLD. By Elswyth Thane. (Murray. 7s. 6d.)—This sequel

The Spectator

to Riders of the Wind reintroduces Alexandra Ingarsen, that young daughter of the Vikings. She is about to settle down to married life in Devorishire with Blaise Doris, the...

General Knowledge Questions

The Spectator

Oun weekly prize of one guinea for the best thirteen Questions submitted is awarded this week to Mr. M. Mills, " Rock," Durlston, Swanage, for the following :- Questions on...

Page 25

The Health of the Nation, by Colonel Fremantle (Philip Allan.

The Spectator

3s. 6d.), republished with additions to the 1927 edition made necessary by recent legislation, is a good com- panion volume to The Housing of the Nation by the same author, who...

Mrs. Rhys Davidson, in Stories of the Buddha (Chapman and

The Spectator

Hall, 21s.), has published a selection of the Jataka stories relating to the traditional previous incarnations of the Enlightened One, from the Pali text, which she has done so...

The twelfth and last volume of that unique record of

The Spectator

French rule in India from the native standpoint, The Diary of Ananda Ranga Pilled, has just been issued by the Madras Govern- ment Press (3 rupees) in the translation edited by...

Travel

The Spectator

Ancient Bridges and Bridge Chapels ith the advent of motoring we can now all become con- noisseurs, whether of inn signs or, like the writer of this article, of bridges. This...

The Hertfordshire County Council has set an example to other

The Spectator

local bodies by taking proper care of its records and making them accessible. It has already published four volumes dealing with the county sessions rolls and with the St....

More Books of the Week

The Spectator

(Continued from page 55.) An American geologist of repute, Professor H. F. Cleland, of Williams College, has written a useful book on Our Pre- historic Ancestors (Williams and...

In our issue of June 29th the price of Mr.

The Spectator

L. B. Namier's book The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III. was stated as 30s. each for the two volumes. It should have been 30s. for the set.

Page 26

" TIPPING."

The Spectator

It will be noted that in most instances the shares which were rushed to boom prices—and some of the Greyhound Racing concerns might be added—have been connected with activities...

How THE BOOM BEGAN.

The Spectator

It is often difficult, too, when a boom has passed, or is , dying down, to determine precisely the nature of its origin.. • I _think, _howev2r, that in_ the tease. , ok certain...

PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE.

The Spectator

Not only in those shares I have mentioned, and others which might be cited; has, there been a deplorable - diff, erence between promise and performance, but in Some ,cases...

MELANCHOLY COMPARISONS.

The Spectator

It is, however, as unhappily many readers know, a melancholy task to compare present quotations of some of these issues made during the last year or two with the highest points...

Finance—Public & Private

The Spectator

The Bait of the Shilling Share IT seems inevitable, but is distinctly regrettable, that great activity on the Stock Exchange, and, not least, activity in the matter of new...

THE SHILLING SHARE.

The Spectator

It is curious, too ; how in almost every boom there is some special fancy or slogan which becomes an out- standing feature, and which _seems to capture the imag- ination of the...

Page 28

Manufacturers Limited, further particulars were given of the plan which

The Spectator

had been formed, in conjunction with the British Cement Products and Finance Company, Limited, for effecting a merger of the shareholders in Greaves, Bull and Lakin (Harbury...

SAFETY FIRST. -

The Spectator

In many instances, no doubt, there is no need to waste sympathy on those who have suffered losses through the collapse of boom prices. Sheer recklessness and cupidity have been...

ARGENTINE NAVIGATION.

The Spectator

The Argentine Navigation Company, which is under British direction, with Lord Kylsant, Chairman of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, as its head, provides an example of the...

Financial Notes

The Spectator

BANKING AND DISCOUNT DIVIDENDS. As anticipated,_ interim banking and discount dividends for the past half year have been in all cases maintained at the level of a year ago. So...