14 AUGUST 1909

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The Chinese Government's answer to Japan was that no further

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objection would be made to the widening of the gauge and the necessary changes of route. It proposed, however, that the gauge should be the same as that of the Imperial Chinese...

On Wednesday week a general strike was proclaimed in Sweden.

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The trouble originated in a wages dispute in the paper, woollen, and cotton industries, the General Federation of Trade-Unions having rejected the compromise proposed by the...

The Turkish Government took a very serious step on Thurs-

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day week by expressing through the Turkish Minister at Athens their lack of confidence in the assurances of the Greek Government as regards Crete. The Turkish Government,...

The Government's exultation at the alleged popularity of the Budget

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in the country has been short-lived. While there are no trustworthy indications that the nation at large approves of the new Land-taxes, there is abundant evidence that the...

The news from Spain is satisfactory as regards the domestic

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situation, but rather mystifying as to the war in Morocco. There have been no further disturbances in Catalonia. But in Morocco it is evident that the troops have been forced to...

NEWS OF THE WEEK

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Nv E are very glad to record that the crisis in the relations of China and Japan which occurred last week has passed away satisfactorily and rapidly. On Friday week the Japanese...

* Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript, in any case.

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As an example of the risk of injustice that may

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lurk in official valuations take the following case of urban land. Smith has a farm of four hundred acres near a big town. Valuer A, who is perhaps somewhat of a pessimist about...

You can ascertain with more or less certainty the annual

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return which is obtained, or obtainable, from a particular piece of land for agricultural purposes, because there is a constant demand for the hiring of land by the year. The...

We are glad to note the concession made by the

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Govern- ment to extend the non-taxable urban garden area from one to five acres. That will prevent the covering of many town gardens with bricks and mortar, which would...

To begin with, it is clear, as we have pointed

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out elsewhere, that though there may be some relief in the fact that the Government will pay for their own valuation, a heavy burden will still be imposed on the landowner. He...

On Thursday week in the House of Commons the Master

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of Elibank made a long statement on the Indian Budget. In 1908-9 India was still affected by scarcity and depression, and the year closed with a deficit of 23,750,000, but a...

• The position of those Liberal Members who object to

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the land clauses as likely to prove highly injurious to the best interests of the nation is very difficult. They are, unfortunately, too weak in numbers to influence the...

We feel sure, therefore, that when the report stage is

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reached the most overwhelming case may be made out, in the interests of the Liberal Party, for withdrawal, and the reconsideration of the clauses during the autumn and winter...

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Lord Lansdowne addressed a large Unionist meeting at Bowood Park

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last Saturday evening. He said that all the Budget proposals had a common feature—a violent hostility to capital—and drew a valuable distinction between the taxation of wealth...

A terrible motor accident took place on Salisbury Plain at

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half-past one on Thursday morning. A battery of London Territorial Artillery (about a hundred men) arrived at Amesbury Station and proceeded to march to Fargo Camp vid...

Mr. Beck, the Liberal Member for Wisbech, in a short

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but courageous speech declared his strenuous opposition to the principle and incidence of this tax :— " The small section of the Ministerial side who were opposing the...

Discussion of the Finance Bill was resumed in Committee at

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Clause X. on Monday, and carried on continuously for fifteen hours in a debate which revealed the kaleidoscopic nature of the Government policy. On Tuesday the debate was on the...

Mr. Asquith in his reply justified the special treatment of

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a special class of owners on the ground that they had hitherto enjoyed exceptional advantages. The difficulties of valuation were largely figments of Parliamentary imagination,...

' We have dealt at lengthS in another column with

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the new valuation policy announced by Mr. Asquith on Wednesday. On Thursday Sir Robert Perks, speaking on the Government piovision that the annual tax on undeveloped land shall...

Bank Rate, 21- per cent., changed from 3 per cent.

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April let. Cowls, (21) were on Friday 84—Friday week 84.

Turning to the question of sedition and violence in India,

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the Master of Elibank declared that it was not true that the Government had vacillated between concession and coercion. There would be no sort of supineness in dealing with...

On Monday the Royal Commission on the nature of whisky

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published its Report after sitting for eighteen months. The Report is very good reading, as might be expected of such a fruitful conundrum as : What is whisky The purists con-...

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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MR. LLOYD GEORGE'S LIMEHOUSE SPEECH. I N a note to Mr. Harold Spender's letter published in another column we have stated our reasons for opposing as unjust and unsound the...

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THE VALUATION SCHEME.

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O N Wednesday, being the eleventh day of August, the Prime Minister announced a totally new plan for dealing with the politically important part of this year's Budget. We say...

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THE NEW ERA AND THE NEW MAN.

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W E recommend to all serious students of international affairs the very striking article entitled "The Passing of the Status Quo" (from a, correspondent) which appears in the...

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THE INDIAN BUDGET. T HERE were two points in the able

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sta.tement on India made by the Master of Elibauk in the House of Commons last week to which we think not nearly enough attention has been called. All those parts of his speech...

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A DUKE'S DILEMMA.

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W E propose to ask of our readers that they will brace themselves for it vast imaginative flight, picture to themselves a Radical Duke, and allow themselves to consider what his...

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OUR DEBT TO TENNYSON. T HOSE who are not yet old

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have become so much • accustomed to regard Tennyson as a contemporary' that it is with something like surprise one is reminded that ` he was born a hundred years ago,—on August...

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COUNTRY NAMES OF FLOWERS.

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NIV- HO was it that first quoted the saying of the old countrywoman, that "as soon as a thing gets into print it dies" ? She meant, of course, that as soon 118 the old country...

SOCIAL FEARLESSNESS.

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I N the handicap of life social fearlessness is an immense advantage. It is almost the equivalent of birth. The strange thing is that it should be so uncommon. A small amount of...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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THE "SPECTATOR" AND THE LAND CLAUSES. !To T1111 EDITOR OF TRII " EPRCTATOR.".1 Si,—For many years, in spite of divergent views, I have remained faithful to your paper,—attached...

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THE LIMEHOUSE SPEECH.

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[To 1112 EDITOR OF ills "SpEorrroal SIR,—Will you allow an old reader of the Spectator to challenge—even at the risk of being chastened in a footnote–, one of your arguments of...

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THE REAL JACK CADE.

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[To THE EDITOII 01 THE " SPECTATOR.."] SIR,—Why must the memory of that much-slandered man, Jack Cade, be still insulted by these unholy comparisons with present-day politicians...

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THE LORD ADVOCATE AND NATIONALISATION.

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[To Tint Enrros or Tule "SrsorAroic."] SIR,—The Lord Advocate has announced the "principle" that "the land of the country—the land as distinct from the buildings erected on it...

SLAVE-GROWN COCOA.

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[To THE EDITOR OF TDB SPECTATOR."] Srn,—Thanks to Collier's Weekly, the fact that your corre- spondent Mr. Burtt discovered Portuguese cocoa to be slave-grown (see Spectator,...

MR. LLOYD GEORGE'S ANTI-FREE-TRADE RAILWAY POLICY.

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[To THE EDITOR or THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, — It will be within the recollection of your readers that after the railway strike troubles some two years ago Mr. Lloyd George...

THE BY-ELECTIONS.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR." _I SrD,—I entirely agree with Mr. W. M. Cooper (Spectator, July 31st) about the by-elections. We had an election in Cleveland not long ago....

THE TRUE CONSERVATISM.

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[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR," . } SIR,—Is not the present an excellent opportunity for the Conservative Party to return to Conservatism ? Let the "yellow" Newspaper Trusts...

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WHITGIFT HOSPITAL AND THE PALACE OF CROYDON.

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rTO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOE."] who value buildings which have the treble charm of age, beauty, and historical interest will thank you for your note in last week's...

SUBMARINE Cll.'

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[TO TEl EDITOR 0.0 THE " BP NOTWTOTL".1 SIR,-0 wing to the interest caused by the Fleet's recent visit to London, the review for the Tsar, and other causes, it would,. appear...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—As the Spectator

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has given great prominence to this important matter, I feel sure that your readers will be interested to learn that the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines! Protection Society has...

rTO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECT.A.TOR."f

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SIR,—I have read with much interest the correspondence on slave-grown cocoa that has appeared from time to time in the Spectator. I was twelve years in Angola, and have...

"INDIA IN 1983".

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[TO THE Eurron OF THE " SPEOCA.T011."] SIR,—You are probably quite right in saying in your last- issue that the "rollicking nonsense" of that excellent skit "does not disguise...

GLASS BOTTLES AND HEATH FIRES.

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[TO THE EDITOR OE THE "SFECT•TOR."] SIR,—In an article in the Spectator of May 15th on "Heath. Fires" the suggestion is made that broken bottles may have something to do with...

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REST-ROOMS FOR GIRLS AT THE WHITE CITY EXHIBITION.

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rTo THE EDITOR OF THE "SPIWT•TOH.1 SIR,—In response to my letter of June 26th, which you kindly made attractive by an editorial postscript, I have received £11 12s. 6d. from...

THE CHILDREN'S COUNTRY HOLIDAYS FUND.

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[To THE ROITOR OF THII "SP EUTAT011.1 Sin,—The glorious weather that has ruled over England during the opening weeks of August has brought long hours of happiness and enjoyment...

DO ANIMALS REASON P

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[To THE EDITOR. OF THE " SracrAvoa."1 SIR,—An old man in the village in which I reside went one day a few weeks ago to look at some young heifers in a field some way from his...

POETRY.

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You're eyes have penetrated to the naked end, Stared through the aching emptiness of space; In the inexorable years, was there no friend To bring some thought of gladness to...

SOCIAL STUDY COURSE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM.

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[To TIRE RIHTOIL OF THE 'HPBCTATOR."] SIR,—So much attention has recently been drawn by the Poor Law Commissioners and others to the need for a high standard in social and...

NOTICE.-1Vhen Articles or "Correspondence" are signed with the writer's name

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or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked "Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily be held to be in agreement with the views therein expressed or with the mode of...

HOW SHALL WE GOVERN INDIA.?-1 CORRECTION. [To VIZ EDITOR Or

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THE "SPECTATOIL - ] Stn,—Permit me to correct a slight clerical error, doubtless due to my bad calligraphy, in my letter on the above subject in last week's issue. The word...

"A DEAD LANGUAGE ? "—A PERSONAL REQUEST. [To THE EDIT=

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OF THE “Srsorsros. - .1 Sin,—May I ask the hospitality of your columns in the following matter? You kindly inserted a letter of mine in connexion with a poem entitled "A Dead...

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MUSIC.

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MUSIC, SOCIETY, AND FINANCE. Ix a very interesting article on "Architecture in English History" in the current number of the Cornhill Mr. Kenneth Bell commits himself to some...

BOOKS.

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A WANDERER IN PARIS.* WE should think there is no one who knows Paris so well as to fail to be informed by this book, or who will not find in it many things not only worth...

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LEAVES OF THE LOWER BRANCH.* - IN these very readable

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and entertaining pages Mr. Christian offers a modest apology for the attorneys, a body of men who for six centuries have filled so large a place both in real life and in...

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• RUSSIA AND THE FAR EAST.*

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THE literature of the Russo-Japanese War has almost reached its end, but there is room for so vivid and complete a study as Mr. McCormick has given us. We do not profess to like...

FRENCH ROYALTY AND MIRABEAU. 6 COLONEL HAGt3lARD'S books on the society

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of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are always lively and interesting, although, from the point of view both of probability and real history, he generally blackens his...

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THE QUATERCENTENARY OF BRASENOSE COLLEGE.t BRASENOSE College has celebrated her

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quaterc,entenary in a noble fashion. The foundation-stone has been laid of buildings to complete the New Quadrangle, and a charming bird's-eye view of the College in the style...

INSURANCE AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT.* EXPERIMENTS have been made in France, Belgium,

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Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Norway, and Denmark in granting subventions out of public money in aid of the unemployed insurance funds of various workmen's associations,...

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THE SEYCHELLES.*

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IN this volume, which is published by authority, we have an abundance of materials for the future historian of the Seychelles. First are the old maps, the earliest, by Alberto...

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.*

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THE writer of this book tells us that he began his life's work when he was eight years of age—just eighty years ago—in a Macclesfield silk-mill. He worked from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.,...

NO THE WHITE PROPHET4

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Wn have more than once been moved to protest in this column against a modern, and, in our opinion, a peculiarly obnoxious, form of portrait fiction. But we have never, in the...

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Sister K. By Mabel Hart. (Methuen and Co. 6s.)—The only

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portions of this book which are of interest are those which give a graphic description of life in the wards of a London hospital as seen from the point of view of the nurse. The...

The Romance of a Plain Man. By Ellen Glasgow. (John

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Murray. 6s.)—Although Miss Glasgow brings her usual high ability to the task which she has set herself, yet novels in which the hero is autobiographer are never entirely...

READABLE NOVELS.—The Disappearing Eye. By Fergus Hume. (Digby, Long, and

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Co. 6s.)—A melodrama which begins in the orthodox fashion with a murder, and only ends with the dis- covery of the criminal after suspicion has rested in turn on almost every...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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[Under this heading ri notice such Books of the week as have not Won 'Inserted for review in other forms.] China and the Gospel. (China Inland Mission. ls.)—This interesting...

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Consuls Plante. Reflections by an Old Etonian. (Grant Richards. 2s.

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6d. net.)—"Reflections," it should be observed, not " Recolleetions." Of the latter there is, indeed, a slight element, a few allusions to personages, customs, and etiquette of...

The Holidays : Where to Stay and What to See.

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(Walter Hill. ls.)—Here is an abundant choice of holiday-places in many parts of the British Isles. The volume includes the "guides" published by the railways which have the...

The Story of Iona. By the Rev. Edward Craig Trenhohne.

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(D. Douglas, Edinbergh. 8s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Trenholme has evidently worked at this book with enthusiasm. He describes the island in a spirit that shows how well he knows it ; and...

The Papacy. By Gustav Kruger. Translated by N. M. S.

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Batchelor and C. A. Mills. (T. Fisher Unwin. 55. net.)— Professor Kruger traces the growth of the Papacy, "its idea and its exponents," from the earliest times. This idea is the...

Three Years of Sport in Mozambique. By G. Vasse. Translated

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by R. and H. M. Lydekker. (Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons. 8s. 6d. net.)— " Sport " means big-game shooting, a pursuit in which M. Vasse is an acknowledged authority. Elephants—Id....

In Wind and Wild. By Erie Parker. (Sir Isaac Pitman

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and Sons. 5s. net.)—As almost all the essays collected in this volume were originally published in the Spectator, we must be content with chronicling its appearance. Many, we...