S IGNOR MUSSOLINI finds himself in a difficult situation, as his speech at Cagliari on Saturday indicates. Italian projects regarding Abyssinia un- doubtedly received a firm...

fourteen demands by Japan to China, and the complete capitulation of the Nanking Government, is serious and alarming. What the demands are we do not know. They have not been...

Free Church manifesto on peace and unemployment reaches us too late for any detailed comment, and in any case full discussion of the aims there set out will be more relevant...

1721. Entered as second-doss Mail Matter at the New York, N.Y. Post Office. Dec. 23rd, 1896. Postal subscription 308. per annum, to any part of the world. Postage on this issue...

The Steel Trade Pact The agreement between the British Iron and Steel Federation and the International Steel Cartel is to be welcomed, because it ensures to British, iron and...

The staffs of local governing authorities in this country form now in effect, though not in organization, a municipal civil service on an enormous scale ; and " Nalgo " (the...

have ended. It would be unwise to speak more certainly as yet, for there have been false reports of peace before, and either army is capable of repudiating arrangements made by...

The Prince of Wales's speech at the close of the British Legion's annual conference, supporting the idea that the Legion might send a deputation to Germany, since " there could...

of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council regarding the power of the Irish Free State Parliament to abolish the right of appeal from Free State Courts to the Privy Council...

The French Socialists' Problems The orthodox French Socialist party, which has been holding its annual congress, is decidedly in a bad way— not so much so as the I.L.P., but...

:security which sat last week at Chatham House reached some interesting, though not always entirely convincing, conclusions. Broadly speaking its members endorsed the general...

Eustace Percy from the back benches to the Cabinet. What the Government has always lacked is a Minister with the leisure and ability to look ahead. Immersed as the Cabinet must...

Association to appoint a committee to inquire into the hospital system is amply warranted by the changing conditions in the hospital world. Since the Poor Law was abolished and...

products laid before the International Labour Conference by the Australian and New Zealand delegates contains considerable possibilities. The proposal is that the repre-...

is general disappointment at the fact that Mr. Eden has not been made Foreign Secretary. Indeed, when it became known that it was very unlikely that he would be offered the post...

after the Whitsun recess the pressure will increase for an election in the autumn. All the indica- tions are that the appeal to the country will be made in November at the...

disgruntlement both among the young Conservatives and the Government Liberals. The latter do not feel that another -representative in the Cabinet is adequate compensation for...

M R. BALDWIN has appointed his Ministers and proclaimed his policy—the latter at the Himley Hall demonstration last Saturday and in a broadcast address the same evening. There...

W HEN the Convocations of Canterbury and York about three years ago sanctioned the appointment of Joint Committees on " The Church and Marriage," it was presumably thought...

Mr. Beverley Nichols writes : I can honestly say this novel has great merit.' Well, it has, or rather its author has, the merit of sincerity and earnestness."—,Spectator. and...

that Lord Halifax, having gone temporarily to the War Office, intends to retire from active political life after the General Election. If there is any grain of truth in that, I...

British Government to close the Suez Canal in the event of hostilities between Italy and Abyssinia would be wise not only to reflect on the effect such menaces may have in...

world by wireless that " the English Parliament has decided that wine is not a poison at five minutes to three, but becomes a poison at five minutes past three." What English...

O NE Cabinet change which has what may be termed extra-political consequences is the appointment of Lord Hailsham to succeed Lord Sankey as Lord Chancellor. Why Lord Sankey...

to be laboriously explained is a poor pitiable thing. One such of my own, better left dead and sepulchred, must, it seems, be resurrected to dispel misunderstanding. In the...

T O attain at the age of 33, and six years after entering Parliament for the first time, the position of Secre- tary of State with a salary of £5,000 a year is a sufficiently...

By FRANK DARVALL T HE Supreme Court has added to the confusion of the American political scene. It would, however, be a mistake to imagine either that that scene was clear...

By J. L. HAMMOND T O his own generation Cobbett was chiefly known as a reformer, and reformers were chiefly known as disagreeable people. Bentham said of them that they were...

By E. E. KELLETT T HOLD in my hand A Century of Best Sellers, by I Mr. Desmond Flower. It stirs strange reflections. Among these are some of the worst books in the world, and...

By J. VIJAYA-TUNGA I N a village such as ours, where everyone knows everyone , else, and where you are seen daily by almost everyone else, I do not know which is the more...

By ROSE MACAULAY A NOTHER protest has been raised at a clerical assembly against the respectable and ancient name of clergyman. The protestor complained that, it was "...

" THE SPECTATOR," JUNE 13TH, 1835. The distress in the West of Ireland generally, but especially in Mayo, is quite appalling. Some of the peasantry are actually living on...

Great Britain and Scandinavia [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR, Wide as his been the scope of recent Parliamentary Debates on European affairs, little attention seems to...

" The Thirty-Nine Steps." At the New Gallery Tins unusually exciting and entertaining British production might have been called Variations on a Theme by John Buchan. The...

Yahoo is an ambitious and an exceptionally interesting play. There are two barriers between it and a general appreciation : its subject is Jonathan Swift and for its full...

[Von einem Deutschen Korrespondenten] IN diesen Tagen jiihrt sich zum zehnten Mal der Todestag des deutschen Philosopher Moeller van den Bruck, den man den Vater des Dritten...

The Perfect Comic Opera - PERFECTION is a word to be used with caution, but I have no hesitation in applying it to Mozart's Cosi fan Tulle and to the performance of it given at...

In a great many places cottagers have been forced to throw out their slops anywhere, and the results have often been unhappy though sometimes botanically interesting. The ground...

Garden Colours The zeal to instil new colours into old flowers, the accumula- tion of infinite varieties in a species, was very apparent at Chelsea and at subsequent shows. For...

necessity to the young, for the partridge adapts his feeding habit more nicely than other birds to the necessities of the seasons. He begins life as an insect eater, like most...

There are many which will compare with any urban slum, so far as the house itself is concerned. One cottage consisted of three rooms. The walls were a joint affair of brick,...

Giant Buttercups Most country people perhaps have noted the unusual size of the buttercup flowers this year ; and I heard a holiday maker exclaim : " Look at the daffodils " on...

Trade in Ants Passengers along certain roads in the Eastern Counties may have wondered at the appearance of two great lorries that were making their way back to the most famous...

to the fall in price of their bodies and to the excessive trapping of their enemies, will leap to the eye of all who motor early in the morning or towards evening on almost...

Friendly Nests In two ventilators of a cottage in Hertfordshire are now in being four nests, belonging to four pairs of blue tits. The nests are side by side and each has...

at least a propos to this subject. It is called " A Countrywoman's Prayer " : " Give me the little common blooms, That no one greatly praises, They are not rare ; but, oh, how...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] have read with deep regret the letter of Mr. S. K. Ratcliffe, for whose journalistic work I have had a high regard. It is surely intolerable...

SIR,—Mr. Ratcliffe's letter of your issue of June 7th emphasizes a remarkable truth. Religious opinion in this country does not seem to realize the danger of the New Paganism in...

[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our " News of the Week" paragraphs. Signed...

SPECTATOR.] SIR,—However well-deserved and popular the elevation of Mr. Eden to Cabinet rank may be, is there not some danger in the appointment of two Cabinet Ministers to deal...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sm,—May I be allowed space to observe that the Marquess of Tavistock in his letter in your last issue appears to have dropped the attack on the...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Can nothing be done to prohibit the traffic in small birds now being carried on in British and Portuguese East Africa ? Since the birds...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—It may interest your correspondents to know that the question of altering the voting system at the Royal Midland Counties Home for...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sul„—Some amusement has, I notice, been caused by the fact that the London University Authorities have received a suggestion that prisoners...

[To the Editor of TIIE SPECTATOR.] Sin, — As a contemporary of Mr. Calder-Marshall, may I be permitted a brief reply ? School ended at 5 o'clock, and three hours' homework could...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR,] SIR,—The late Mr. Justice Holmes entrusted to Professor Felix Frankfurter, of the Harvard Law School, and to me the task of arranging for...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR, Will you allow us to call attention to a matter which may interest many Cambridge graduates among your readers ? A few years ago a...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sta,—I am glad to accept some corrections from Mr. Harlow. One mistake, my statement that Ralegh's men were harassed by snipers as they went up...

By DESMOND FITZGERALD Mn. PAKENHAM writes with distinction. He can seize his reader's attention and hold it to the end. It is clear that he can make history as interesting as...

• Tins is a better and more important book than either its jacket or its somewhat provocative title would lead one to expect. It is more than a biography ; it is a vivid sketch...

Can Land Settlement Solve Unemployment ? By George Herbert. (Allen and Unwin. 3s. 6d.) LET us see first what answer Mr. Herbert gives to his question. For £100,000,000 a hundred...

Basic Rules of Reason. By 1.• A. Richards. (Kegan Paul* 2s. 6d.) Bisic in Teaching - -By-I. A.-Richards:. (Kegan Paul. 2s. 6d.) Basic Rules of Reason . was a paper to the...

The Letters of Queen Anne. Edited by Beatrice Curtis Brown. (Cassell. 10s. 6d.) QUEEN ANNE, as Miss Curtis Brown remarks, was not a stupid woman ; she had ordinary intelligence,...

The Brontes. Compiled with an introduction by E. M. Delafield. (The Hogarth Press. 8s. 6d.) Miss E. M. DELAFEELD OpVITS this exasperating book with a most exhilarating preface,...

THESE books should be in the library of every British liner, and on the railway bookstall at every British port. The two books are complementary ; the first is a survey of...

THE reviewer's wallet is apt to collect a strange medley of alms for remembrance ; but these four additions, so different in temperament and scope, are allied by their close...

Romilly. (Hamish Hamilton. 7s. 6d.) A Lrrri..a more than a year ago the activities of the brothers Hominy provided the Daily Mail with an opportunity to make the flesh- of its...

Sailor's Wisdom. By William MeFee. (Jonathan Cape. 7s. 6d.) BETWEEN the professional and the-amateur author there is a .plain gulf : it is only a source of unfairness not to...

Half Way East. By David Footman: (Heinemann. 7s. 6d.) 0. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories. Selected by Harry Hansen. . (Heinemann. 7s. 6d.) • Selected Short Stories. By...

By SEAN O'FAOLAIN 7s. 6d.) Gone to Ground. By T. H. White. (Collins. 7s. 6d.) THE- first three novels here are by American writers who Seem to present themselves as candidates...

Travel in Ireland SPRING has been more fickle than :ever this year but the holiday season is already upon us, and many a choice of ways has soon to be made. Ireland has superb...

Go for a cruise is undoubtedly the simplest answer to those who have left the question of summer holidays as late as this. A cruise saves endless trouble. It obviates the...

The Fixed Trust Mo vement—II IN my article last week I dealt with some of the general considerations concerning the development of the Fixed Trust Movement in this country; and...

ANNOUNCEMENT of the £35,000,000 plan for the extension and improvement of London's transport services, and of a £4,000,000 loan for Manchester, served to divert Stock Exchange...

P ress for Although the results of the Amalgamated Press for the year to February 28th must be-considered highly satisfactory, permitting the maintenance of. the ordinary share...

After the first effect of the outline of the London traffic development, electrical manufacturing shares of all descriptions advanced strongly, and many other leading...

Two aspects of the business of Boots Pure Drug Company which gave the annual meeting an exceptional interest were the continued expansion in the size of the undertaking and the...

BY ZENO [A prize of one guinea will be given to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword puzzle to be opened. Envelopes should be marked " Crossword...

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