15 AUGUST 1931

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News of the Week

The Spectator

The Economy Discussions B Y far the most important event of the past week in the domestic field has been the emergency meeting of the Cabinet Economy Committee. The Prime...

[Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the

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SPECTATOR.]

Dr. Bruning at Rome The little that has be2ome known

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of the conversations between Dr. Bruning and Signor Mussolini at Rome indicates that a definite increase in the cordiality of the relations between the two countries resulted....

A Naval Holiday ?

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The report that President Hoover has the idea of pro- posing a two years' naval holiday as America's contribution to the Disarmament Conference appears to rest on no very solid...

EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING OFFICES: 99 Gower Street, London, W.C. 1.—A

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Subscription to the SPECTATOR costs Thirty Shillings per annum, including postage, to any part of the world. The SPECTATOR i8 registered as a Newspaper. The Postage on this...

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The Third Degree in America The Wickersham Commission's last interim

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report is a document on which, if it had been published two hundred or three hundred years ago, civilization could not look back without a feeling of shame and revulsion. To-day...

Round Table Uncertainties As the date of the Round Table

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Conference in London approaches the outlook is not improving. Both the All-India Congress Committee and the executive of the All-Indian Moslem Conference have been in session,...

Reconstruction in Spain While the Catalan question still causes anxiety

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at Madrid the Provisional Government is strengthening itself in another direction by its agrarian reform programme. Details of the new Land Bill are still awaited, but the...

Facing Facts in Australia Australia is providing for such countries

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as need it an instructive object-lesson in methods of economy. The Conversion Loan has made an excellent start, some £150,000,000 of stock being converted the first day into...

The Cotton Glut Cotton has now been dramatically added to

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the list of commodities—among them wheat, coffee, tin, rubber, oil—of which the supply hopelessly exceeds the effective demand. That there should be a cotton surplus is no...

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China

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Appalling havoc has been caused by the flooding of the Yangtse in Hupeh, Hunan, Kiangsi, Anwhei, and Kiangsu. At Hangkow the floods have risen above a high-water level which has...

Bank Rate 4/ per cent., changed from 3/ per cent.

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on July 30th, 1931. War Loan (5 per cent.) was on Wednesday 1011 ; on Wednesday week, 1011; a year ago, 1030. Funding Loan (4 per cent.) was on Wednesday 92k; on Wednesday week,...

Cuba A serious rebellion has broken out in Cuba. Martial

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law and a strict censorship are in force throughout the island. Although Senor Menocal, a former President and the reputed leader of the insurgents, has the support of the...

The Right to Broadcast The correspondence between Mr. Winston Churchill

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and the B.B.C. regarding Mr. Churchill's request to be allowed to broadcast his views on India raises questions of some importance. The monopoly of transmission enjoyed by the...

St. Stephen's and Lemberg The criticisms in the Polish Press

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regarding the visit of two British Members of Parliament to the Ukraine raise rather delicate issues. The relations between the Polish Government and its Ukrainian subjects may...

High and Low From Mr. F. S. Smythe and his

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companions, encamped before Kamet among the Himalayan snows, 20,000 feet above sea-level, to the divers of the Artiglio, many fathoms below it and at last in sight of the...

The Foundling Site

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In another column this week we publish a letter from Mrs. Trevelyan, the Honorary Secretary of the Foundling Site Appeal. We are delighted to hear that such a mag- nificent...

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Berlin and London

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T HE result of the referendum held in Prussia last Sunday represents something that has not happened rather than something that has. It must be interpreted not as a ground for a...

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The Colour Bar

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[The Spectator does not necessarily agree with all the views of tho writers contributing to this series on the Colour Bar. Our object in publishing the series is to attempt some...

Crime and the Police

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T HE Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Lord Byng, has just issued his report for 1930, and the figures disclose that, although serious crime, including murder, remains...

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An Alternative to the Casual Ward

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BY MURIEL KENT W AYFARING men in search of the Alternative must often miss the nearest route, which is not easy to find. My visit involved a long drive, and harking back a mile...

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Anglic : An International English

The Spectator

BY A. LLOYD JAMES T HE modern world is a place of unrest ; kingdoms, creeds and alphabets are tumbling about our ears with disturbing clatter. Novelists lay bare the secret...

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The Malvern Festival—II

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English Comedy, 1668-1931 BY PETER FLEMING. N O one would mistake She Would If She Could, by Sir George Etherege, for anything but a Restora- tion comedy. It has the charm of...

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Bird Migrants at Rossitten BY D. YORKE. R OSSITTEN is a

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lonely and primitive little fishing village far off the beaten track in the very farthest north-eastern corner of Germany, but it has an inter- national reputation among...

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And so I had my first rendezvous with death. .

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. . and worse than death. Death, it is true, on this occasion only tapped me on the shoulder and hurried on. But some contagion remained from his passage. To this day, for...

Towards evening, when the bombardment had stopped under threat of

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artillery retaliation, I revisited the scene of the explosion and salvaged the mortar undamaged. The dug-out was a complete wreck, and the gun team which it had sheltered wiped...

The Explosion : A Memory of 1915

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By DENIS IRELAND. O N a sunny morning in June, 1915, during a tour of duty as trench-mortar officer in the trenches opposite Armentieres, I was standing half in and half out of...

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A DRAIN ON THE EXCHEQUER.

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"The world," said The Times on Monday, "has been looking for some sign that we intend to live within our means " ; and on Tuesday announced that the Board of Education had...

TArroos.

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In recent years the popularity of the Tattoos has grown steadily. And quite right, too. For our part, we shall always be conscious of a thrill of pride and a glow of reas-...

A Ballade of One-sided Correspondence

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"DEAR Smith "—No I won't, once again I decide, (You've been waiting, you say, for a year more or less) I know I've not answered, I've not even tried, (Dear, dear ! And you...

A Penny of Observation

The Spectator

ARMADO : How haat thou purchased this experience ? Mom: By my penny of observation. (Love's Labour's Lost.) HOLIDAY TASKS. In these days the popular Press is now so fatuous...

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India

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Good Will in India BY DURGA DAS. [The writer is a well-known Indian publicist, holding a detached, non-political position as Editor of the Associated Press of India at New...

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Two new marking schemes of the right sort are being

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carried through in the North, whither our social world is now itself migrating. One is centred in the Orkneys, and concerns fish. Thanks to such stalwart workers as Mr. Nall...

PROFITABLE ROUGH BORDERS.

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Twice of late in the wall gardens of country houses I have come upon broad patches of flowers grown for sale. In one, summer chrysanthemums and pyrethrums were held to be the...

RINGED GROUSE.

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As the fate of a jest, however good in itself, "lies in the ear of the listener," so the success of these marking schemes lies as much with the receiver as the producer. It is...

Country . Life

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MARKED MIGRANTS. The marking of animals in order to trace their movements is being extended in new directions. It would be good news if these new lines of activity would divert...

A SCENTED MUSK?

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Can the new world "redress the balance of the old" in the following small particular detail. A letter reaches me from G. F. Richardson, South Pender, B.C., Canada, containing...

GOLFERS AND MOLE DRAINS.

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narrow a slit is made at the surface of the soon it levels itself. Golf secretaries as may be urged to "think mechanically." It is a favourite theory of some of us that the...

After much searching the second nest of the sandpipers was

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found. They had built, this time well above the river's most extravagant excesses, in the grass under a large dock, the leaves of which hung down and made a good screen. But...

AN ECCENTRIC SNIPE.

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May I put a query to migrationists about a bird whose movements have long seemed to me peculiarly" eccentric " (an adjective especially applied to snipe by the mediaeval monks...

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In a letter published

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in your issue of August 1st, Mr. F. M. Avis states that the Mental Deficiency Committee of 1929 sums up definitely against sterilization. This is scarcely accurate. The report...

OCCUPATION FOR THE UNEMPLOYED [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

The Spectator

SIR,—One of the recognized problems tangled up with the main unemployment issue is the risk of deterioration— physical, moral and spiritual—following long enforced idle-...

Letters to the Editor

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[In view of the length of many of the letters which we receive, we would remind correspondents that we often cannot give space for long letters and that short ones are generally...

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OIL FROM COAL

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Your correspondent Mr. William A. Bone, in writing on the above subject, has seen fit to ignore the very important question of...

SLAVERY IN THE INDIAN STATES

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sta,—Professor Rushbrook Williams' denial of the existence of slavery and forced labour in the Indian States is emphatic but unconvincing....

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. Paul Robeson's emphasis

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on the danger of" planting the seeds of hatred and fear" in coloured people—a cruelty from which he was himself saved by the fortunate circum: stances of his early...

THE COLOUR BAR

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. Paul Robeson's delightfully expressive contribution on the subject of the Colour Bar gives a comprehensive outline of the other "...

KENYA

The Spectator

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—I shall be grateful if you will allow me to reply to Mr. Charles W. Buckby's letter contained in your issue of August 1st. In my...

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THE FOUNDLING SITE

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The Spectator has taken so kindly and, what is more, so effective an interest in the Foundling site Appeal, that I venture to ask you to...

A CHARTER FOR WALKERS

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] S1R,—I am not as sure as I would like to be when the author of" A Penny of Observation " is being sarcastic at my expense, and when he is...

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ANOTHER UNRULY TUDOR [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—The

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Tudor of whom " Moth " wrote in the Spectator of June 27th is not the only one of that name and alleged lineage I have known to be fined for causing an obstruction. In my...

THE R.S.P.C.A. AND HUNTING [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

The Spectator

SIR,—Your correspondent Mrs. Binstead refers to a pamphlet by the late Mr. Walker King in which he advises that the Exmoor deer should be kept down by shooting with a rifle as...

As THRANG AS THROP'S WIFE.

The Spectator

In reply to the query in last week's Spectator, the above is an old saying, current generally in the North Country. In Northumberland they say (or did say) "As flirting as...

"ADVICE TO AN EDITOR" [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

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SIR,--I trust that you will not allow yourself to be influenced by the cynical verse of Jan Struther. Without in any way detracting from the excellence of the rest of the paper,...

AN AGE LIMIT FOR HORSES [To the Editor of the

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SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Your correspondent who appeals for an age limit for the sale of working horses brings up again the question of our treatment of worn animals—one, unhappily,...

BISHOP AND ARCHBISHOP.

The Spectator

Your two correspondents and many others on this issue may like to be reminded of a saying of a French wit that "the early Church ate Bread and worshipped God but the later...

POINTS FROM LETTERS AMERICAN SLANG. • Among points from letters

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in your issue of July 11th appears an extract from a letter from Mr. Edgar R. McGregor, of Wheeling, W. Va. regarding American slang. I am always ready to enter the lists in...

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A NEW WATERING PLACE.

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There are two classes of visitors at watering places—those who flock to the crowded haunts of fashion, whether high or low, civic or courtly ; and those who seek out some...

A Hundrcd Years Ago

The Spectator

On Friday night, nine acres of wheat in the Isle of Thanot were unbound and scattered abroad, because it had not been reaped. Similar scenes have occurred in tho neighbourhood...

A GUIDE TO SOUTHAMPTON.

The Spectator

A gui de, whether in person or book, is usually a cheat. Tin legged impostor is usually some idle and very ignorant person, who, knowing nothing himself, lives upon those who...

"Spectator" Competitions

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RULES AND CONDITIONS Entries must be typed or very clearly written on one side of the paper only. The name and address, or pseudonym, of the competitor must be on each entry and...

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Henry Kingsley

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Henry Kingsley, 1830-1876. By S. M. Ellis. (Grant Richards. 12s. 6d.) THE sub-title of this volume is "Towards a Vindication." Henry Kingsley was born on January 2nd, 1830, and...

The Home Farm's Ancestry The Manor Farm. By Francis Henry

The Spectator

Cripps-Day, to which are added Reprint Facsimiles of the Boke of Husbandry . . . and the Boke of Thrift. (Quaritch. 36s.) HERE is a book which should please, say, Mr. Orwin and...

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Ageless Woman Once More

The Spectator

Ma. PERCY BROEMEL has thrown together rather carelessly a glittering heap of wit and wisdom ostensibly about Her and incidentally about Him. The present reviewer has read the...

The Human Mind

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Our Superconsclous Mind. By Edith Lyttelton. (Philip Allan. 10s. 6d.) A Study of Conversion. By the Rev. L. Wyatt Lang. (Allen and Unwin. 10s. 6d.) BOTH these books discuss,...

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Nemesis

The Spectator

ONE of the aims of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures, under whose imprimatur this book is published, is to enable Africans to become articulate....

A Good Deed

The Spectator

The Slum, its Story and Solution. By Harry Barnes, F.R.I.B.A., F.S.I. (King. 18s.) JUDGED by the ordinary standards of reviewing, this book has almost every imaginable fault....

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Fiction

The Spectator

A New Novelist Seventh Sin. By Joy Baines. (Harrap. 7s. 6d.) Two Thieves. By Manuel Komroff. (Heinemann. 7s. 6d.) DEVON has found a new novelist. Miss Joy Baines does not...

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Messrs. Methuen's valuable new series of "Country Archaeologies," which began

The Spectator

well with volumes on Middlesex and Kent, is continued in a first-rate Archaeology of Berkshire (10s. 6d.) by Mr. Harold Peake, who combines an intimate know- ledge of his county...

My Greatest Adventure, by Captain Malcolm Campbell (Thornton Butterworth, 6s.)

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is something of a surprise. Most people would have been prepared to bet that they knew what Sir Malcolm's greatest adventure was, but they would have been wrong. It was...

The attempts of revolutionary France to invade Ireland in 1796-98

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were unsuccessful. But Mr. P. Brendan Bradley shows in his Bantry Bay (Williams and Norgate, 10s. 6d.) that the French plans, encouraged by Wolfe Tone and other Irish...

For some years now The Dublin Magazine has not only

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weathered the difficulties attendant on the production of a quarterly in a small country, but has kept a high standard and maintained a distinct personality. One cannot help...

Current Literature

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wE approached The Grass Roof (Scribner's, 10s. 6d.) with high hopes. It was the autobiography of a Mr. Younghill Hang, a native of Korea, who entered this life in 1903 under the...

THE GREEK SLAVE. By Mr. Douglas Sladen. (Werner Laurie. 7s.

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6d.)—This is the story of an irresistibly beautiful Syracusan girl of noble birth, who is carried off by pirates a few days after a love marriage. She is bought by a certain...

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The society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings has worked

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hard of late to save the old bridges that are threatened with destruction by the Ministry of Transport and the local authorities, anxious to provide for motor traffic. To assist...

Historical students will be glad to know that the late

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Professor Paetow's Guide to the Study of Medieval History has been revived and enlarged by a committee of the Medieval Academy of America (Kegan Paul, 21s.); It first appeared...

Travel

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[We publish on this page articles and notes which may help our readers in making their plans for travel at home and abroad. They are written by correspondents who have visited...

Very few writers of modern fairy tales succeed in their

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task, for they are, as a rule, too conscious and too descriptive : they merely tell an old story in a new and laborious manner. But Lady Frazer, perhaps because she has lived in...

If the reality is only even half as good as

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the promise of Mr. Frank Ward's Lakes of Wales (Jenkins), the trout-angler of modest aspirations will find the book well worth the half- guinea which is its price. It is a...

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As OTHERS SEE Us.

The Spectator

But for the great confidence felt all over the world in our banking and monetary system, the effect of these unsatisfactory and unsound conditions upon the Foreign Exchanges...

Finance—Public & Private

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A National Crisis I THINE that to the most superficial observer it must have become evident that record figures of unemployment in this country, record low prices for Home...

POLITICAL SHORTCOMINGS.

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Scarcely at any time has there been a stimulating lead from any of the political parties which, for the most part, have vied with each other in bribing the proletariat with...

SOME BASIC FACTS.

The Spectator

Now there are certain basic facts from which we cannot escape, but which have received wholly inadequate recognition for many years past. One of these is that the people of...

A TURNING POINT ?

The Spectator

With intent I have headed this article "A National Crisis." I have done so not in the alarmist sense but because I believe that we have just about come to the turning point when...

WORLD AND LOCAL DEPRESSION.

The Spectator

In what follows it must not be supposed that I am for- getting that we are now passing through what may fairly be described as a world depression, amounting almost to a world...

THESE FACTS DISREGARDED.

The Spectator

As a consequence of the four years of war, the direct financial losses suffered, and the losses suffered through disorganization of our manufacturing activities, this balance,...