The Election T HE stage is set and with very few exceptions the actors are allotted their parts. In very few con- stituencies are the candidates not finally chosen when we...

country in the constituency is at Darwen. No constituency should be ashamed of being repre- sented by a member with a long record so distinguished as that of Sir Herbert Samuel....

the Prime Minister, Mr. Baldwin and the National Liberals. There are points of difference which made it impossible for all to sign one document. But there is agreement enough,...

SPECTATOR.]

.C; 1.—A Subscription to the SPECTATOR costs Thirty Shillings per annum, including postage, to any part of the world. The SPECTATOR is registered as a Newspaper. The Postage on...

too ; and- these drive us to oppose them and to beg the electorate to return the National Govern- ment to power with a stronger majority than before the dissolution, and to...

attended the Minorities Committee of the Indian Round Table Con- ference, and expressed in the plainest terms his disap- pointment at the Committee's failure to agree on the...

to meet on . Tuesday for the consideration of the very grave situation in Manchuria. Lord Reading made his first appearance at Geneva as our Foreign Secretary, and M. Briand...

as necessarily well founded. Indeed, we. do not see how the Chinese delegate at Geneva can be expected to produce accurate information. There is no doubt about the extreme...

of the Government, we might imagine Unionists contesting at Seaham and Derby the seats of Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Thomas. Such opposition would only be extreme examples of the...

Committee of the Conference has been sitting again this week with Lord Sankey in the Chair, and has been chiefly concerned with finance. In the separate Round Table Conference...

leaders, but it would be a mistake to think that they cancel one another out. The aggregate reasoning on behalf of the National Government is overwhelming. The Prime Minister's...

the larger questions of international finance. At the close of this month the French Premier, M. Laval, is to visit Washington. He will undoubtedly raise the ques- tion of...

German Chancellor, has formed a new ministry and is exercising the dictatorial powers conferred by the President's decree last week. He faced the Reichstag with apparent...

on Tuesday that Church and State should be separated in Spain. " There shall be no State religion." That may mean much or little. Religion is a personal matter of the spirit. If...

Sir William Orpen, has lost two more popular and dis- tinguished members in Mr. Charles Ricketts and Sir Bertram Mackennal. Mr. Ricketts, who was sixty-five, was one of the most...

October 8th, of General Sir John Monash, who commanded the Australian Corps in France during the last year of the War. Sir John, who was born in Melbourne sixty-six years ago,...

on September 21st, 1931. War Loan (5 per cent.) was on Wednesday 961; on Wednesday week, 97k ; a year ago, 1041. Funding Loan (4 per cent.) was on Wednesday 831 ; on Wednesday...

important con- ference: with the leaders of both parties in' the United States Congress to consider the financial crisis and to devise means for restoring public confidence...

OUR political leaders have sent forth a shower of Appeals and Manifestos to water the earth from which they hope a harvest of favourable votes will spring. We take for granted...

" E VERYTHING in England," wrote a well-informed observer returning from abroad a fortnight before the General Election was announced, " is uncer- tainty and confusion." It...

P RESIDENT Hoover and President von Hindenburg arc sharing for the moment the heaviest responsi- bilities in the world crisis. It is a pity, from the inter- national standpoint,...

BY SIR ARTHUR STEEL:AIAITLAND. [Next week Mr. Lionel Robbins, of the London School of Economics, will write on the same subject.] T HE need for the restoration of our trade...

N O industry seems likely to go through a more lean time as a result of economy proposals than the building trade. In the last few weeks there has been a number of actual or...

I We publish below the second article of a new Theological Series, which we hope will throw light on some of the Most disputed ques- tions of conduct. Mr. Christopher Dawson is...

BY PETER FLEMING. I CONFESS that I had always treated water-diviners as a joke. The humour that (God forgive me I) I saw in their profession was not the rich, full-blooded...

T HE delegates who will be sent by Governments to Geneva for the Disarmament Conference next February will not be able to swing the opinion of the world to this side or that, or...

Ingenious and generous publishers are steadily popularising the " omnibus " volume which packs between covers two or more novels by one or more writers. Was not the Forsyte Saga...

GESTURES OF ECONOMY A regiment of Guards has marked the epoch of patriotic economy by marching, amidst popular applause, from Aldershot to Windsor. This fine gesture has...

Fair has con- vinced exhibitors that women's feet are not larger than they used to be, but merely that women are no longer ashamed of large feet. I believe this, since I heard...

WHAT TO RENOUNCE. It was suggested, the other day, that almost the only way of harming oneself, without hurting anybody else, is to refuse to take a pension one doesn't need. A...

already written to the Pensions Office renouncing theirs, or bits of them. These letters must make a refreshing change for the officials who are accustomed to the other or com-...

annoys him. I sympathize. But we know what it means. There are other, less intelligible offenders. I should like to select one or two of the commonest, each week. At the moment...

face weeks of political oratory. For the orators' sakes I urge newspaper proof-readers to watch for misprints in the speeches of the candidates they support. For one descends so...

The London Group and Others To the observer, familiar with past exhibitions of the London Group, perhaps the most striking aspect of the twenty-ninth exhibition, which is being...

" The Anatomist." By James Bridie. At the Westminster Theatre.—" Vile Bodies." Adapted from Evelyn Waugh's novel by Arthur Boscastle. At the Arts Theatre Club. Da. BRIDIE has...

It was said at one time that the substitution of the aero- plane for the ship had changed the scenery of England. There was this much truth in that hyperbole : the Crown (now a...

Since some brief suggestions were issued last week in this place for the purchase of British_ bulbs, with congratulations to those Wisbech firms who have begun to send out...

A tirade against the motor-car and new highways as cruel enemies to bird life has appeared in the quarterly journal—. alarays a very suggestive productioa—of the R.S.P.B. Pro-...

other voyagers, expecially if they have any interest in farming. Some of the best intensive farming in the world, by large as well as small husbandmen is to be seen over these...

The superlative is generally a mendacity ; but does one tamper with truth in suggesting that the . eccentricities of this season are beyond parallel? And. they have appeared in...

of oddly coloured birds has been quite unusual. I have heard of albinos in many species, in many places ; and this week on the South Coast came upon the haunt of a black snipe,...

WHERE THE PRESERVERS MEET. Few places in England could be better suited than Bath for the annual meeting of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England. The town itself...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—In your issue of October 3rd, and in your article on " The Prospects of the Election," you say, " and at thi s moment there is less need...

[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...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—It is rather difficult to understand your financial editor's application of the terms " economic " to the conditions imposed by the "...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —The arguments based on the standard of living being so much in evidence in the objections urged by the Opposition to the economies...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—The effect of the present Economy Campaign as regards Public Works is now beginning to appear. It is clear that the Government have in...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In view of the changed condition of affairs, and although the " Bank's " liability to redeem its notes in gold is merely suspended, it...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Will you allow a quite undistinguished, and, therefore perhaps typical, man to say what he thinks on this question ? It seems to me that...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sra,—Those of us who are aware in a vague way of new lines of thought opening out before us as the result of various dis- coveries in...

Presidential address to the British Association has, it seems to me, diagnosed the world's sickness. Near the end of his enthralling survey of the great achieve- ments of...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —Your article of July 18th, under the above caption is very interesting, but perhaps an examination of actual results of mixed marriages...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sni,—Sir Harcourt Butler and the writer of the review of " India Insistent," in your issue of October 3rd, do not agree as to the rate at which...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—We should all be very sorry if the Round Table Con- ference broke down over the communal difficulty. Per- sonally, I have always thought...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIE,—In an article on Manchuria in your issue of Septem- ber 26th, you write: " If, by some form of international co-operation, the Powers...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I understand that powers have been conferred, under the Galloway Water Power Act, 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V. C. lx-s.-x.), incorporating the...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—In your " Country Notes " of September 12th Sir W. Beach Thomas writes : " A theory has been started that the partridge is on occasion...

[To the Editor of the SrEcrxrcut.1 should like to endorse Mr. Binstead's views as to stag hunting, and quite agree that the subject is better left alone. As a land agent of some...

In consequence of the Earl of Mansfield's opposition to the Reform Bill, many of the inhabitants of Highgate and Hampstead have declared they will not eat the potatoes grown...

Nothing can exceed, considering the greatness of the public disappointment, the quiet which has prevailed in London during the whole of the week. On Monday there was a very...

the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—By the death of Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff Europe has lost her most distinguished Greek scholar. There was nobody quite like him : he was not only...

At the request of his executrix I am writing the Life of Cecil Sharp, and I should be grateful if those who knew hint would send me any letters that they may have from him, or...

We know of an old tithe barn in North Hampshire. It was the tithe barn of Crondall Parish, before that parish was sub- divided. It stands in the grounds of " Peatmoor," Fleet,...

the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—The Government of Ceylon has recently appointed .a Commission for the purpose of inquiring into the existence of hitherto unknown documents relating to the...

O ut in the Woods. . . . October CowcaoFr Woods are green yet, For oaks are late in turning ; But the copses up at Hunridge, Of beech, are slowly burning To leaflessness...

At the last Levee but one, his Majesty, with much affability, - inquired of Prince Talleyrand as to the state of his health ? The veteran diplomatist replied that he " was...

On Thursday evening, Mr. Macready repeated his part of William Tell ; a character, as our readers know, of the same cast as Virginias, Alfred, &c., and of which he is a spirited...

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

The History of Russia. By V. 0. Kluchevsky. Translated by C. J. Hogarth. Vol. 5. (Dent. les.) PROFESSOR KLITCREVSKVS History of Russia, made out of lectures delivered at the...

Foch : The Man of Orleans. By B. H. Liddell Hart. (Eyre and Spottiawoode. 21s.) IN this weighty piece of historical analysis, the most serious and objective work which Captain...

The Duke. By Philip Guedalla. (Hodder and Stoughton. 25s.) TILE Duke of Wellington's career affords an excellent example of that dictum of Disraeli's that " in order to rule...

The Gateways of Learning. By Margaret Drummond. (Univer- sity of London Press. 6s.) WHEN the history of education in the early part of the twentieth century comes to be...

TuaouGnotrr his long life Mr. Moore has been occupied with a problem that has no general solution. It can be answered only here and there, according to particular circumstances,...

and Middle East. By Margaret Smith, M.A., Ph.D. (Sheldon Press. 12s. 6d.) WE are already indebted to Dr. Margaret Smith for her admirable monograph on the mystic 'tibia. In her...

The Unity of the World. By Cuglielmo Ferrero. Translated by Howard Coxe. (Cape. 5s.) World Champions. By Paul Morand. Translated by Hamish Miles. (Heinemann. 7s. 6d.) DR....

Tins report, prepared jointly by the Director of the Rowett Research Institute and the Director of Medical Services in Kenya and issued by the Medical Research Council, is of...

to notify the SPECTATOR Office BEFORE MIDDAY. on MONDAY ' or EACH WEEK. The 'previous address to which the paper has been sent and receipt reference number should be geode.

The Story of " The Times." By William Dodgson Bowman. (Routledge. 12s. 6d.) NEARLY a century and a half ago, on January 1st, 1783, a shrewd. bookseller and printer named John...

2s. 6d.) SOME will have it that this is a lean season for the English Muse, a period which will seem to posterity devoid alike of great poets and great poetry. That may or may...

A Diversity of Creatures Sarah Gay. By Mary Borden. (Heinemann. 7s. 6d.) Wanton Ways. By Norah C. James. (Duckworth. 7s. 6d.) WHEN so many excellent novels are being written,...

with her Greek and Roman stories have modified the attitude of many modern readers to the historical novel, but there are some people who still like the escape which the...

a propaganda novel, and a good one. Its subject is capital punishment. Wisely, Miss Wilson concen- trates not on the condemned man but on those who have to carry out the...

CATHERINE JOINS UP. By Adrienne Thomas. (Elkin Mathews. 7s. 6d.).—The pity and terror of the War seen by a young girl of Lorraine. Catherine Lentz under- took the most...

waged by the Sinn Feiners against the Black-and-Tans is a romantic and sensational theme, and the author makes the most of it in this vigorous series of short stories.

and Marrot, 7s. 6d.) is the story of a Russian family on the eve of the War. The characters—the innocent-passionate heroine, her matter-of-fact sisters, her rake of a father,...

sincere and careful study of three ineffectual young people making love by quotation and trying to straighten out their emotional tangles. With her last breath the heroine is...

6d.)—The authoress of The Good Earth gives us another intimate tale of Chinese life skilfully blended, for the taste of the Western reader, with Anglo-Saxon sentiment....

charming book about an Anglo-Irish childhood before the " troubles." More vivid in its Irish atmosphere and detail than in the English.

blackmail is the mainspring of the plot ; the villains are " so-called Socialists " ; the sun is facetiously referred to as " Sol " ; and the hero dreams of Queen Mab and the...

written by, and from the point of view of, a patient suffering from the disease which she discusses. Miss Armitage, whose name appears only on the last page, here gives an...

: their Position and their Problems, by Professor Ernest Barker (Student Christian Movement Press, 3s. 6d.), and deserves to be widely read. Professor Barker, an Oxford man who...

thick as autumnal leaves in Vallombrosa ; and Mr. John Charpentier is a bold man to add yet another to the pile. Rousseau : the Child of Nature (Methuen, 15s.) is, however, a...

submarine, and presumably will soon give a full account of the adventure. What he proposed to do, his methods and his companions are described in advance in Under the North Pole...

Tins country has to thank General Sir Charles Monro, a scion of a well-known Scottish family, for three things. He was among the first founders of modem infantry fire tactics,...

dimensions cannot do better than read a little book which sets forth the conclusions of Christa Seva Sangha, a com- munity of Englishmen and Indians wedded to Indian customs and...

Studio, published at 7s. 6d., is this year devoted to Modern Photography. By modem " photography, Mr. G. H. Saxion means photo- graphy whose aim is partly or wholly aesthetic...

somewhat obscured by the activities of his later public life. Engaging, with characteristic integrity and force, upon a fresh career in controversial waters, he deliberately...

The confusion of the contest, moreover, is likely to be intensified by the manner in which the whole fiscal controversy on Free Trade and Protection is being revived. The...

I cannot help thinking, however, that in the present instance the view which is taken by the City of the forth- coming contest is the right one, and I want to set it out very...

to the great British public, one is inclined to wonder how far the enlargement of the franchise has contributed to a well-ordered judgement and decision with regard to such...

to any enquiries arising from the articles we publish on the Modern Home page. Enquiries should be addressed to the Editor, The SPECTATOR, 99 Gower Street, W .C. 1, with "...

Moreover, the difficulty of the electors will not be relieved by the fact that it is already evident that in many respects the contest will be of the most confused character...

The directors of the Bank have taken carefully into con- sideration the effect of the exchange depreciation upon the capital of the bank, which is so largely employed in South...

Indeed,._there is little doubt that the situation at the Present moment would be even worse than it is but for the, fact that the National Government during its brief period of...

It was almost a foregone conclusion that in the case of all banks operating in South America, where the exchange, have so greatly depreciated in terms of sterling, that the...

Although the trade depression which Japan and other countries is suffering has occasioned a reduction in the profits for the past half-year, the directors of the Yokohama Specie...

Imagine, then, what would be the position if the public were now told that all these reforms =were a mere pretence, that expenditure was to rise still farther, that the Dole...

Even during the heat of an election it is very important not to distort facts, and, therefore, in referring to the orgy of extravagance in National expenditure on the part of...

• Instead of perceiving that the growth in unproductive expenditure ' and .the consequent increase in taxation constituted in themselves one of the chief causes of depression,...

HOME STOCKS BETTER. THE stock markets are naturally dominated at the present time by election uncertainties. Or rather, it would, perhaps, be more correct to say by hopes of a...

It must not be supposed from the interesting address given by Mr. Eric Miller at the recent annual meeting of Harrisons and Crosfield that he was necessarily taking a rosy view...

The Reports of Raphael Tuck and Sons Limited usually make a very consistently good showing, and for the past year, notwithstanding trade depression, the net profit, after...