T HE Government's statement on the seizure of various London buildings by squatters at the instigation of the Communist Party is not a syllable too strong. Nothing but 4 ` a...

All that can be said at the moment about the talks in progress between a British delegation headed by Mr. Bevin and representatives of the Arab League is that something worth...

The agreement freely reached by direct negotiation between Italy and Austria over the South Tyrol is the best fruit the Paris Con- ference has yielded so far—if . indeed' it is...

There is as yet no indication of an early ending to the strike seamen affiliated to the American Federation of Labour which started on September 5th and has since resulted in...

The British delegate spoke not a whit too strongly at Paris on Monday about Bulgaria's preposterous claim to territorial aggrandise- ment at the expense of Greece. That a...

The long report, published on Thursday, of the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health, Sir Wilson Jameson, " on the state of the public health during six years of war,"...

The Trade Agreement with Russia announced by the Board of Trade on Wednesday is singularly welcome. It is the result of long and often trying negotiations, and Mr. H. A....

Attention to the destructive power of atomic energy must not be allowed to preclude consideration of its revolutionary potentialities when applied to industry. Sir Amos Ayre,...

T HE speech delivered by the American Secretary of State at Stuttgart last Friday will remain historic as a milestone in the process of German, and therefore of European,...

to appoint its Ambassador at Ottawa to the post of Ambassador in London. The agrement of the British Government has, of course, to be obtained in such cases,'and it has been...

B.B.C.'s incursion into the field of finance last week, but it must have resulted in at least a temporary diminution of a great many people's capital by a considerable sum....

week on the " Tradeston" by-election. But" there was no such thing. It was Bridgeton, where the vacancy resulted from the lamented

reported this week. In one, a vicar was bound over on a charge of what was evidently a purely nominal assault on a journalist who was pursuing his professional activities at a...

W HATEVER may be said of publicity at diplomatic conferences generally it is quite obvious that publicity at Paris is doing far more harm than good. Some4delegates—if not a...

in reaching an agreement on the South Tyrol puts the regulars of the Peace Conferette t e to shame. But some of them, notably Mr. Bevin, will not mind that when so happy a...

re- quisition of its latest recruit, Sir Ernest Simon... It has reason to, and it would not be surprising if it was soon finding him a seat and giving him office. Sir - Ernest...

in this case, her) it is perhaps a little harsh to observe that he (or she) almost deserves it. But that is the almost inevitable comment when you read that a lady has had that...

By FRANK BESWICK, M.P. T HE primary purpose of the Bikini tests, as stated in the directive to Admiral Blandy, was " to determine and measure with pre- cision what happens at...

By T. K. DERRY "ORWAY and France the Brokers of the Peace Conference " N - a large claim to make, even on a newspaper placard, for a people of less than three millions. It is...

By MALCOLM - BURR Istanbul TATURK, on creating his republic twenty-three years ago, soon discovered that in those days a second political party was i l ly a vent for vengeance...

By GRAHAM WATSON N O one who, in the past, has looked for a job will easily forget the attendant humiliation. But the past is fortunately the past, and now an organisation has...

By ANTHONY BUXTON N most springs, generally in March, letters appear in the papers I reporting golden orioles in various parts of England. I believe that most of the birds...

By HAROLD NICOLSON I N order to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Paul . Verlaine, the Centaur Press have published a charming edition of his " Poemes...

" Zero de Condulte " and " Children on Trial." At the Academy. SomE years before the war, by the enterprise of Mr. Fairfax Jones of the Everyman Cinema (now happily reopened),...

But for the Grace of God." By Frederick Lonsdale. At the St. James's. Vuituns, one has the impression, are neither as plentiful nor any- thing like as strong on the wing as...

THE Tat; having celebrated its reopening with justifiable. joie-de- vivre (to remain a lasting feature of its policy, one hopes), is now showing pictures from its permanent...

•• La Traviata." At Covent Garden Opera House. —The Promenades. THE San Carlo Opera Co. of Naples whicll has given so much new and unexpected pleasure to so many members of our...

Stn,--We have read your note of August 23rd on the Civil Service marriage bar with interest. On March 8th, 1945, we received, as members of an all-party deputation representing...

Sts,—The Danish subscribers of The Spectator note with much interest and satisfaction the articles and letters to the Editor dealing with Anglo- Danish relations and the South...

A VOICE FROM GERMANY Sm,—Since my return from Germany I have received from one of the Germans I met there the following letter, for which I hope that you will find space. The...

Snt,—Mr. Henn, in reviewing the lessons from the working of U.N.R.R.A. (The Spectator, August 3oth), reveals a remote acquaintance with its pur- pose and _ methods. A...

the countries of her Allies is not without justification. But you ought to state also the other side. If Russia regards Britain and America as possible enemies in a future war...

SiR,—Mr. Havelock in your issue of September 6th tells us that in this last war the Russians fought " better than they have ever done," and attributes this to the Soviet system....

Sta,—As a description of the facts your article on a World-Wide Fifth Column is substantially correct. But your conclusion that organised Labour is the body best fitted to deal...

Sm,—Two passages in adjoining paragraphs in your Notes of the Week in The Spectator of August 30th make strange reading when taken together. In one paragraph you say: " The...

buy some herrings, but was refused on the ground that I had come too late to get things in such short supply. At Teigrunouth, six miles away as the fishing-boat sails, 40,000...

abnormal number of windfalls, victims to recent gales, may care to be reminded that no flavouring so delicately enlivens this often dull conserve as a leaf or two of the scented...

SIR, —Mr. M. H. Middleton in his critical though not unfriendly review of the second four books in the Faber Gallery asks: " What does one say about such picture books?" One...

mouse takes a very high place in local practice. It was held (in Huntingdonshire, as I wrote last week) to be a cure for' measles. Apparently, it is also appreciated in...

dismay the Arch- bishop of York's demand for prayers for seasonable weather to be offered in the churches. This is a retrogression to the age of superstition, and as now most...

An adjacent wheat-field, from which the produce was safely stacked before the bad weather grew yet worse, was most thoroughly gleaned, and the amount sb recovered was scarcely...

revival of our canals, destroyed by the railways ; and no one would benefit more surely than the farmers and those who desire undamaged food. A deal of soft fruit simply will...

SIR,—I pray you, do not assent to the somewhat cool suggestion that Janus should be superseded by Strix, although the latter is a very agreeable writer. As one of your readers,...

our •lawns, and it may be the well-fed thrushes that have sung exuberantly, the one living thing that seems to have enjoyed the recent weather, in spite of the low temperature,...

Sm,—The experiment in fuel may be good politics, and so far, of course, it has been a necessity, but for the unfortunate city-dwellers in Eire it has been a severe trial during...

The NeW Testament. Revised Standard Edition. Translated from the Greek, being the version set forth A.D.1611, revised A.D. 1881 and A.D.1901, compared with the most ancient...

The Discovery of India WHILE Pandit Nehru was interned, along with his fellow members of the Congress Working Committee, in Ahmadnagar Fort, he set himself the task of...

The Mint. Edited by Geoffrey Grigson. (Routledge. 8s. 6d.) A FEW months ag o the Director of the National Gallery, writing in The Times on the present medley of styles of...

Tim study of politics in England owes a very great debt to Ernest Barker. A natural teacher and expositor, he has devoted a life- time to the selfless but invaluable mission of...

ON the way home 'from the East in winter, it is no uncommon ex- perience somewhere between Gibraltar and the Channel to pass under a lid of stratiform cloud, through which we...

Feint variously up - to - standard entertainments trais week, all easy to read if you like, and all quite easy to forget — and one good, sophis- ticated hovel, malicious and...

ANOTHER book on Spain, and at such a price! What are war-weary English readers to make of it? They may be partly responsible for the present state of affairs in Spain, but need...

for one guinea will be awarded to the sender of she first correct sc;laion of this week's crossword to be opened after noon on Tuesday week, Cep:ember 24th. Envelopes must be...

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By CUSTOS Wrrilout wishing to advocate anytiling but a cautious investment policy—I do not think this is a time to be fully invested—I am im- pressed by the behaViour of the...