17 OCTOBER 1941

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NEWS OF THE WEEK THE success of the Beaverbrook-Harriman Mission

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to Russia I depended on several factors. In the first place—careful preliminary preparation before the Mission started, to find out exactly what materials could be made...

Turkish-German Trade

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The fact has to be recognised that Turkey, however sympa- thetic with Great Britain and anxious to carry out the terms of her Treaty, is not at war with Germany and is not...

The Burmese Premier's Visit

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Though Burma is a small country compared with India, and its problems have not claimed British public attention like those of her great neighbour, it has a population larger...

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The Tyranny of Examinations

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It has been known for some time that the Board of Educa- tion is seriously at work on problems of post-war reconstruction in all branches of education, though successive...

Justice to Servicemen .

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The Government have chosen-far the best way of relieving th e hardships caused to Servicemen by the loss of their civilia n earnings.. A general increase of pay and allowances...

The Railways

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Lord Monkswell built up a powerful case against the rail- way-managements in the House of Lords last Tuesday, but a great part of his criticism was directed against mistakes...

Downfall of a Nazi President

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A bloodless coup d'etat in-Panama has led to the overthrow and flight of the pro-Nazi President Arias and the succession of the democratic Seiior Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia....

Children in Danger Zones

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Few will doubt that when winter puts an end to full-scale German offensives on the eastern front the- enemy will switch over some part of his Air Force to renew the bombardments...

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THE " DO-SOMETHING " STRATEGY

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NXIETY regarding Russia is so intense, and sympathy for her army and her people so profound, that the mand that Britain should help her to the utmost limit inevitable and...

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A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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T HE proper limits to be set in a democratic State to criticism of the conduct of a war are hard to fix. Clearly the business of planning campaigns must be left to those trained...

Those quotations. Information received (and hereby grate- fully acknowledged) suggests

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that the observation that " You can do anything with bayonets except sit on them " was made by Felix von Schwartzenburg, who established order in Vienna after the 1848...

Another aspect of the paper question. A well-known public man,

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who writes to me that the publication of a book he has written is held up till January because the publisher has exhausted his paper-stocks, adds " I get the most nonsensical...

end their engagement. a b The question of pipe-smoking in

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public by officers of the p R.A.F.—on which I permitted myself some observations a fortnight ago—has now engaged the attention of the House of fc Commons, and Captain Balfour,...

Information supplying answers, which I am glad to give, some

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of my questions regarding the organisation of the Grou Movement has reached me. It takes the form of counsel' opinion and a letter from a firm of solicitors. From these I...

For months " Fido's Food Shop " purveyed cow-flux ("

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unfit for human food "), for dogs and cats at what mos t people would regard as the outrageous price of Is. 3d. a lb . Lord Woolton evidently so regarded it, for he stepped in...

Two communications, bearing rather curiously on the paper- question, have

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reached me from different quarters simul- taneously. One encloses a thick package of the familiar birth- control, rejuvenation, female-remedies puffs, dealing with ques- tions...

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The War Sur veyed

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CRISIS IN RUSSIA By STRATEGIC CS HE development of the offensive in Russia has thrown the war back upon fundamentals. The present critical cture has been reached not so much...

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THE FUTURE OF HOSPITALS

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By SIR FRANCIS FREMANTLE, M.P., M.D. T HE cataclysm of war imposes great needs for the emer- gency ; it also opens up great opportunities for the future. In the last war...

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JAPAN'S SELF-WORSHIP

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By ALVIN WILSON T HE divergence between the expressed aims and sub- sequent actions of the Japanese Government appals the European. One used to logical thinking must surely be...

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LORD GORT'S DESPATCHES

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FROM A MILITARY CORRESPONDENT S OME day, no doubt, France will realise the true measure of British forbearance in the face of the attacks and reproaches of her spokesmen This...

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CRIMEAN SPRING

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By PETER STUCLEY I TRAVELLED south from Moscow to Sebastopol with three workers from Northern Siberia. We played dominoes, ate slices of sugared toast, and in between our many...

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Norway passed through several distinct phases. Prior to the invasion

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the Norwegians scoffed at those who spoke of the German danger. What possible excuse could Hitler make for attacking so harmless a country? That was the first phase. The second...

I wonder whether that dead German officer who was so

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pleased to stamp the pavements of Oslo without feeling em- barrassed would today walk there with the same conquering assurance? Mr. Lindsay Drummond, that alert publisher, has...

There are times when I regret that the V-campaign, in-

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geniously invented by a Luxemburg diplomatist and ably exploited by Colonel Briton and the French broadcasters, should have gained such currency in this Island. We have...

Some months ago a diary was found upon the body

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of a young German officer. He had been in Poland and in Norway. He had visited Oslo. " I have to thank my Fiihrer," he recorded, " that I can now walk the streets of foreign...

MARGINAL COMMENT

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By HAROLD NICOLSON I MET the other day a citizen of a neutral country who had for two months been travelling through Europe. He had been in Germany and Italy, and had spent...

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ART

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Frances Hodgkins THE exhibition at the Leicester Galleries, Leicester Square, of recent works in oil and gouache by Frances Hodgkins is an event of importance. The general...

THE THEATRE

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"The Nutmeg Tree." At the Lyric. gERE is a piece of frippery which has a certain impudent charm. I t thumbs its nose at reality and utterly ignores the existence of war . Act...

THE CINEMA

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" Citizen Bane." At the Gaumont.—" 49th Parallel." At the Odeon. HERE at last is Citizen Kane, Orson Welles's long-awaited screen biography of a great American newspaper...

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WHICH POLAND ?

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Sne,—Mr. A. J. P. Taylor's comments on the Cambridge History o f Poland in your issue of October toth, 1941, show his unfavourable opinion of Poland, and his statements are,...

Sne,—In your issue of September /9th you print two letters

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in opposition, one from an " Independent Liberal," the other from a " Liberal National." As a young man, a soldier who likes to believe he knows what he is fighting for, and a...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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POST-WAR PARTIES Snt,—The correspondence which has been appearing in your columns on the above subject and on the subject of post-war Germany seem to be different facets of the...

THE POST-WAR LEAGUE

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Stat,—Your informative and valuable article under the above titl e should prove a much-needed tonic and enheartenment to many who have come to regard the League of Nations as...

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A, PLEA FOR REALISM

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Ste,—This is no time to cry " I told you so." The magnificent de- monstration of self-restraint shown in this respect by the Prime Minister is in itself sufficient to render...

ROAD DEATHS IN WAR-TIME

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SIR, —By whatever standard the casualties of the public highways are viewed, the problem is an urgent one, and it is indeed unfortunate that the admirable report and...

RABBITS AND MEN

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Sm,—A dig-for-victory plot on the edge of a golf-links was limed, planted and treated with artificials. Luxuriant heavy-green cabbages, sprouts and other vegetables resulted. To...

FACTS AS FOUNDATIONS

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sm,—Mr. Clough Williams-Ellis's letter makes it clear that the one important alleged fact he doubts is that there is a general demand for individual houses and gardens for...

ON INVADING

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Sm,—The possibility of invasion, by either side, causes : controversy between Invasioneers and Non-Invasioneers as acute as that between the Easterners and the Westerners in the...

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Hogarth Hoppers This year hops were rather light in weight;

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bnt never in the whole curious history of hop-picking was picking done so fast. Pickers even grumbled that there were more pickers than hops. Wherever you went there was the...

COUNTRY LIFE

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Irish Country Life It is not often that Irish country life comes into the picture; and reading through Such As I Have, by Barney Heron (Murray, 8s. 6d.), which is another of...

QUACK ADVERTISEMENTS

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Stet,—In your " Country Life " column of September 26th Mr. Bates supports the view that a Commission should examine the claims put forward by the above. This was done many...

In the Garden Several spring crops can be sown in

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late October or early Novem- ber, and are worth the gamble. Try early peas, for example, choosing a variety like Pilot, and sowing rather more thickly than in spring. Try sweet...

NANSEN ON RUSSIA

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SIR, —You may be interested in this quotation from Russia and Peace, by Fridtjof Nansen (George Allen and Unwin, 1923): It appears probable to me that not only will Russia some...

Children's Gardens

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Looking back over the summer, I find that one of the pleasantest things in it has been the children's garden. Children who watch when you are not looking, acquire an amazing...

IRAN AND PERSIA "

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Snt,—Excuse me please, but by not printing my letter on the vexed question of whether the term Iran or Persia should be used, you are displaying both ignorance and prejudice of...

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BOOKS OF THE DAY

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The Spirit of Norway Nom ay Revolts Against the Nazis. By J. Worm-Miiller. (Drum- mond. 5s.) Norway and the War. By G. M. Gathome-Hardy. (Oxford Uni- versity Press. 4d.) Norway...

Facts About Russia

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THE former M.P. for North Lanark, Miss Jennie Lee, has written in this unpretentious pamphlet one of the best books on Russia for the ordinary person that has yet been published...

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Sea-Change - The Dry Salvages. T. S. Eliot. (Faber and

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Faber. Is.) MR. ELIOT has never ceased to bring more and more experien within the confines of his poetry. In the present poem the qui almost conversational, o key in which •...

Poly-Olbion

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Michael Drayton and His Circle. By Bernard H. Newdigate• (Shakespeare Head Press. iss.) Michael Drayton and His Circle. By Bernard H. Newdigate• (Shakespeare Head Press. iss.)...

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" By delight we ail quote "

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THE O.U.P. senes of reference-books is justly famous: the latest comer, The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, is a welcoMe addition to the list. The scope of this dictionary is...

Fiction

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Conquer. By John Masefield. (Heinemann. 6s.) MR. JAN MASARYK, writing in praise of To Sing With the Angels, says of it among other things. that " it is an honest voice of...

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Shorter Notice

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Historic Thorn Trees in the British Isles. By Vaughan Cornish, D.Sc. (Country Life. 8s. 6d.) MR. CORNISH is the owner by inheritance of the Salcombe Regis Thorn, originally...

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INANCE AND INVESTMENT

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By CUSTOS HowING a nice sense of timing, the Treasury has followed up he launching of the new series of War Bonds by another large- e Vesting Order. With the now customary...

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" THE SPECTATOR " CROSSWORD No. 136

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[A prise of a Book Token for 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 with...

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 134

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C V N RiEl s A R 0 The winner of Crossword No. 134 is K. Beswick, 12 I.:'ayne's Lane, Loose, Maidstone, Kent. SOLUTION ON OCTOBER 31st