14 SEPTEMBER 1945

Page 1

TRADE UNIONS AND LABOUR

The Spectator

T HE fact that the Trades Union Congress should be holding its post-election conference at the centre, Blackpool, where the Labour Party held its pre-election conference has a...

The Prime Minister's Warning

The Spectator

The speech delivered by Mr. Attlee at the Trades Union Con- gress on Wednesday covered much ground, and was devoted to curbing rather than encouraging expectations. He was no...

Page 2

The Greek Regent's Visit

The Spectator

The visit of the Greek Regent, Archbishop Damaskinos, to London comes at a moment when Mr. Bevin is heavily engaged with the Council of Foreign Ministers, but time will no doubt...

United Nations Progress

The Spectator

The executive committee of the Preparatory Commission for the United Nations Organisation has been doing useful work in the past week, and what is equally important, has been...

The Washington Talks

The Spectator

It is a misfortune, but one which there is no avoiding, that the momentous financial conversations at Washington—for, having regard to the issues, they are nothing less than...

Leniency Towards Japan

The Spectator

There is a growing and salutary feeling of restiveness, primarily in Australia, secondarily in this country and equally, it is to be hoped, in America, at indications that in...

Page 3

PEACE IN THE MAKING?

The Spectator

I T is idle to suggest that the question-mark is superfluous. Would that it were. But over the meeting of Foreign Ministers now in progress a great interrogation hangs—great in...

Page 4

Having read for the third or fourth time that Goering

The Spectator

has been cured of drug-taking while a prisoner of war, I should like to know who on earth cares what Goering has been cured of, or what advan- tage there is to humanity in...

I am very much interested (in spite of sharing the

The Spectator

affliction of tone-deafness with my friend and colleague Harold Nicolson) in what I have heard of the two School Orchestra Summer Courses held at the end of last month and the...

There cannot be many complete sets of The Spectator, which

The Spectator

published its first issue in July, 1828, in private hands. A corre- spondent, writing from as far afield as Kenya, mentions that his great-grandfather, grandfather and father...

It appears that I unfortunately used the word " uhfortunate

The Spectator

" too often last week. This is unfortunate, but there are mitigating factors. The various paragraphs which ultimately fill up the allotted space are unfortunately not all...

A SPECTATOR 'S NOTEBOOK

The Spectator

T HE keynote of the Liberal " inquest " at the week-end seems to have been abundant optimism, based on the alertness and keen- ness displayed by numbers of young potential...

The offer of philanthropic Britons to reduce their own rations

The Spectator

in order that more food may be sent to liberated Europe does credit to those who make it, but I am not sure that it is a very practical proposition. Rations here have been • cut...

There are signs, moreover, that Conservatism is not prepared to

The Spectator

play the reactionary to the extent requisite for a Liberal revival. Two statements in Tuesday's pipers were instructively indicative of that. One was an article in the Daily...

Page 5

PEACE THROUGH FEAR OR . .

The Spectator

By CANON ROGER LLOYD T HE failure of the "Christ or Chaos" pleading between the wars was dismal and absolute. Yet the alternatives offered a true choice. The failure of...

Page 6

MORE ABOUT DEHRA DUN

The Spectator

By A. E. FOOT (Headmaster of the Doon School, Dehra Dun) W HAT I wrote recently in The Spectator about the Indian public school at Dehra Dun appears to have created a desire...

Page 7

REGIONALISM AND PEACE

The Spectator

By DAVID THOMSON T HE important interview which General de Gaulle has given to the Paris correspondent of The Times, on the eve of the first meeting of the Council of Foreign...

Page 8

ITALY NOW

The Spectator

By RICHARD GOOLD-ADAMS B ENEATH his grey Alpini hat with its jaunty feather he now wore British battledress. His real name was Alessandro, but we called him Sandro and liked...

Page 9

THE FUTURE OF MALTA

The Spectator

By CANON R. M. NICHOLLS N OT least among the difficulties of post-war settlements in the Empire will be that of Malta. At any moment the question of the island's future...

POEM: 1940-1945

The Spectator

You hardly knew him, girl, before he went, Whipped into world's bedammed recriminations From youth's examinations : To give the firmament And make the air his sacrament. This...

Page 10

I received the other day a letter from a young

The Spectator

friend of mine who is serving in the ranks of the B.A.O.R. He had been in France, he had been in Belgium, he had been in Holland : and now he is in Germany, attached to a unit...

If hatred and vengeance, those two alien poisons, are to

The Spectator

provide an excuse for horrors which we shall be unable to prevent, but which we can mitigate, then indeed some dread infection will assail our national character and repute....

The Commissions of Control in Berlin can do little without

The Spectator

popular support, and popular support will not be aroused unless the public are told the facts and warned of the consequences. There is no reason why the grim silence which hangs...

MARGINAL COMMENT

The Spectator

By HAROLD NICOLSON W E have reached the time of year when the first yellow leaf appears upon the fig-tree, when the lupins have become a tangle of cracked and sodden seed-pods,...

It thus comes that hatred is adduced to justify a

The Spectator

tragedy which sympathy knows itself unable adequately to prevent. It is estimated that from the areas now occupied by Poland some eight million Germans have trekked to the west...

Page 11

GRAMOPHONE NOTES

The Spectator

THE outstanding record not only of this month but of months past is undoubtedly that of Verdi's Requiem recorded in the Opera House, Rome, by the orchestra and chorus of the...

THE THEATRE

The Spectator

Getting Married." At the Arts.—" Young Mrs. Barrington." At the Winter Garden.—" Merrie England." At the Princes. MR. Skuivies Getting Married, with which the Arts Theatre...

THE CINEMA

The Spectator

"Dead of Night." At the Gaiunont. "One Against Seven." At the Tivoli. —" The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry." At the Leicester Square Theatre. MANY films have grimly embarked on...

Page 12

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Spectator

FRANCE IN TRANSITION Sist,—Will you allow me to say a few words about the article "France in Transition" of your paper of the 31st August? The situation is bad enough, without...

UNIVERSITY REPRESENTATION SIR,--Prof. G. C. Field makes three criticisms on

The Spectator

my article. (I) That "the change in the character of University representation has nothing to do with the system of voting." P.R. introduced a new principle—a quota elects a...

FRANCE AND BRITAIN

The Spectator

find myself in agreement with Mr. Yves Mengand's letter published in The Spectator of September 7th on a number of points: as regards—. 1. The policy of this country towards...

Page 13

RHODES SCHOLARS

The Spectator

SIR,—Dr. C. K. Allen indicate3 that ‘" there is not the smallest intention of reviving the German Rhodes Scholarship either now or within any predictable time." It is generally...

DE GAULLE AND JOUHAUX

The Spectator

Si,-1s not much of the comment on General de Gaulle's attitude towards M. Jouhaux rather unfair to the General? It leaves out of account the attitude of M. Jouhaux after the...

RATIONAL FARMING

The Spectator

Snt—Mr. Walston is doing good service by tackling the difficult problem of the too-acre farm in post-war conditions, but some of his advice seems to me disastrous. I am farming...

THE HOUSE PRICE RACKET

The Spectator

SIR,—In reply to Mr. W. H. Galletly (September 7th), I cannot see why there should be any difficulty in controlling the price of a house sold by auction. If your correspondent...

STARVING GERMANY

The Spectator

Snt—Correspondents in Berlin have been sending to their newspapers a description of conditions in that city which must have been read by many with grave disquiet. Expelled from...

SIR,—In your issue of the 7th, our kindly critic Sir

The Spectator

William Beach Thomas says that "what essentially matters (i.e. in farming) is not the produce per man, but the produce per acre." On another page of the same issue, Mr. H. D....

Page 14

Returned Finches This week little -flocks of . goldfmches—almost the loveliest

The Spectator

- Of all our birds—have been Singularly busy - among some' thistles, many of them the fine hiennial thistle, growing at the roadside and near to it. These weeds are as good a...

• -- COUNTRY - LIFE

The Spectator

- -- 4 SOLDIER who had been away from England for five years called on ex-neighbours on his return and told me that at the home of each what struck him first was the height of...

Tree Enemies A special plea has been made to the

The Spectator

afforesters to see to the destruction of the grey squirrel. It is averred that it is little good replanting the felled woods in regions where this squirrel prevails, as, for...

Bees and Hornets

The Spectator

It seems to have astonished some gardeners that the bees have attacked the fruit as grerxlily as any wasps. The best of the local bee-keepers within my acquaintance has long...

In My Garden Before the war the willow garden enjoyed

The Spectator

a certain vogue, and is ali very well in congenial sites ; but perhaps most gardeners might find it worth while to grow twe or three willows especially Vitellina Pendul:. Aurea,...

The Spectator

UNRRA AND POLAND

The Spectator

SIR, —In his article on "The Pole and His Home" in last week's issue, Mr. Jozef Banasik says "other Continental countries have already received large Stipplies from UNRRA, while...

THE GUNS OF SINGAPORE

The Spectator

was delighted to read in your last issue an article dispersing one myth about Singapore. Can you now, help to disperse another—that the guns at Singapore could only shoot in the...

THE ATTRIBUTES OF SCIENTISTS

The Spectator

Sta,—Reviewing That Hideous Strength, by C. S. Lewis, Mr. John Hampson refers to "the very attributes of scientists, which make for the common distrust of their activities."...

ITALIAN BORDERLAND

The Spectator

Sia,—Publication of the article entitled "Italian Borderland" in your issue of September 7th was a public service of a very high order. Those of us in this country and the...

THE UNITED NATIONS CHARTER

The Spectator

Sus,—The League of Nations Covenant was part of the Treaty of Versailles. By the Treaty of Peace Act, 1919, the Crown was given power to make such Orders in Council as might be...

Page 16

BOOKS OF THE DAY

The Spectator

The Good Socialist • 'A l'Echelle Humatne. By Leon Blum. ;Gallimard. 60 fr.) THIS book, written in prison in 1941 (a period when, it may be observed in parenthesis, General de...

Sidelight on History

The Spectator

THE Master is the Master (subsequently Lord Mufray) of Eldiank, Chief Liberal Whip in the most critical period of the great Liberal Governments of 1906-15, the Brother Col....

Page 18

Future Air Traffic

The Spectator

THIS book is crammed with information which could not have been got into its 337 pages if the publisher had not been a little hard- hearted about the readers' eyesight ; still,...

Points for the Forestry Commission

The Spectator

Our Woodlands. By C. P. Ackers. (Torchstream. Is.) THIS booklet, by Mr. C. P. Akers, comprising 30 pages, should be read and carefully studied by everyone who has the interests...

Page 20

Fiction

The Spectator

Gvadi Bigva. By Leo Kiacheli. Translanted by Stephen Garry. (Hutchinson. 8s. 6d.) Lady Addle at Home, By Mary Dunn (Methuen. 6s.) LATE summer marks a low level in the...

Shorter Notices

The Spectator

5. International Law. By Dr. G. Schwarzenberger. Volume I. Inter- 6. national Law as Applied by International Courts and Tribunals. 1945. 7 (Stevens and Sons. £3.) Tuts is...

Page 21

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 338

The Spectator

MMMOMMETIMM MINA range n -EL° Mem mine. MELfle,0100 Herm umennerma &m amma 41€1,1c 0 A T S nagng erE4 n- 11 :me anon unlined n mem „.■.,10 unimma fl fl rime= K IPA A N SOLUTION...

" THE SPECTATOR" CROSSWORD No. 340 IA Book Token for one

The Spectator

guinea will be awarded to the sender of the first correct 10,1■11011 of this week's crossword to be opened after noon on Tuesday week, S e ptember 25th. Envelopes should be...

Page 22

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

The Spectator

By CUSTOS To the great majority of investors markets must now present a puzzling picture. After the buffetings of two disturbing months, during which the supreme direction of...

British Journalists and Newspapers. By Derek Hudson. (Collins. 4s. 6d.)

The Spectator

ArrttAcrzvE as all "Britain in Pictures" books are, this particular volume is open to one criticism. When the space for letterpress is so limited-48 pages, and much of them...

Letters to a Nurse. By a Midland Doctor. (John Bale.

The Spectator

3s.) THE writer of these "Letters to a Nurse" was a physician in the Birmingham area ' who died but a few years ago. The " Letters " were written to his niece, a nurse in one...

The Ceramic Art of China and other Countries of the

The Spectator

Far East. By W. B. Honey. (Faber and Faber. 63s.) THIS is the most important work on Chinese pottery and porce- lain to appear since R. L. Hobson's Chinese Pottery and...

THE Ministry of Supply have granted additional paper for periodicals

The Spectator

to be sent overseas. This will enable copies of The Spectator to be forwarded to friends of our readers, both civilians and those in the Porces, in any part of the • world,...