17 JULY 1941

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NEWS OF THE WEEK I N spite of the paucity of

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news from the Russian front there is evidence that the Germans' second offensive if anything exceeds the first in violence. On all the three main sectors progress appears to...

Peace in Syria

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The manner of the ending of the war in Syria will do some- thing to modify the bitterness arising from a conflict between British and French soldiers. In the...

The American Army

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It is clear that the United States administration must soon go to Congress and ask for an extension of the terms of the conscription-law. President Roosevelt himself has...

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German Propaganda in Iran

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The coup (Feint in Iraq which necessitated a British military expedition to restore a Government friendly to the Allies was one of the conspicuous successes achieved by German...

" Our Turn Now "

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In his speech at the London County Hall on Monday Mr. Churchill spoke of the lull in the German bombing-attacks on British cities, and of the preparations for dealing with them...

Defects in War Production In the two-days' debate on war

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production last week a gloomy picture of shortcomings was built up as member after member exposed defects in organisation and results far short of the proper maximum To the...

Crisis in Japan

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The resignation of the Japanese Cabinet on Wednesday has plunged the country into an unexpected crisis, for though the Government was known to be contemplating moves—probably...

Shipping Losses

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The losses of British, Allied and neutral shipping in the month of June totalled 329,296 tons—a figure which does not include vessels damaged but taken into port. The losses are...

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LONDON, MOSCOW, PARIS

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1 HE conclusion of a treaty between Great Britain and Russia, and a convention between Britain (and the Free French) and Vichy France, synchronise most opportunely. By the one...

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It seemed a little shabby on the part of some

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London morn- ing papers to refrain deliberately from mentioning the Sunday Express in connexion with the really remarkable lunch which that paper gave last week in honour of...

In her new book, The Chesterton, which I have just

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been reading (without admiration) Mrs. Cecil Chesterton emphasises her view of the migration of G. K. C. from Battersea to Beaconsfield by observing that " it was as though, in...

More expressive, if unconventional, English—this time from Hong-kong: More expressive,

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if unconventional, English—this time from Hong-kong: " Dear Sir,—I am Sing Eu. It is for my personal benefit I write for a position in your Honourable firm.' I have a flexible...

There seems to be the same dualism on the vexed

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question of playing the International. There are obvious reasons for playing that jingle with the other national anthems now that Russia is our ally, if it really is the Russian...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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N OTHING I have heard on the wireless for a long time involves the B.B.C. in greater apparent discredit—I em- phasise the adjective for reasons that will appear—than the...

The Nazi broadcast picked up by the Daily Express's radio

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station on Monday, and printed in that paper the next day, was sensational. " We are attacked almost continuously by Russian fighter-planes," declared Joachim Richter, war-re-...

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The War Surveyed

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THE THREAT TO LENINGRAD By STRATEG ICUS HE detached friends of Germany must regard it as a pity that she persists in announcing her wishes as achieve- eats when, in fact,...

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THE GERMAN ARMY [This considered estimate of the efficiency of

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the German army of today reaches us from a former Staff Officer in the Imperial German army.] I may be asserted without exaggeration that the course .1 of the first three weeks...

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ROOSEVELT'S TACTICS

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By ERWIN D CAN HA1■1 T HE precise status of American policy and opinion toward the war must puzzle Britishers; it puzzles Americans. I have just returned from a journalistic...

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THE PLIMSOLL LINE RISES

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By JAMES HANLEY [The line which indicates the limit to which a ship may be loaded is generally known as the Plimsoll Line] S AILING in and out of bombed ports and dodging the...

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EAGLE-HEART

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By DAVID RINSER W ITH deep curiosity Henry Begay surveyed the Hopi village. He had heard of the Hopis, whom the Americans would have found it difficult to distinguish from his...

THE GUESS

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WE buried them beneath the deep green hill— A little Ark full, women, men and cattle, Children and household pets, engrossed by war. And then one morning they were back again,...

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MUSIC

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The Promenade Concerts A MONTH earlier than usual, and in the Albert Hall, Sir Henry Wood opened his forty-seventh season of Promenade Concerts last Saturday. It is planned to...

THE CINEMA

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46 The Devll and Miss Jones." At the Gauniont.-- ,, The Flame of New Orleans." At the Leicester Square Theatre. FEW of the strikers who provide New York's assorted picket-...

THE THEATRE

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- King John." By William Shakespeare. At the New Theatre. THIS is one of those rare Shakespearian productions which recreate the play, and it is an infinite pity that London...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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BRITAIN AND A NEW ORDER Sm,—In an article which Cominander King-Hall contributes to your number of July 11th he gives utterance to a cry which now sounds in our ears from all...

SOUTH AFRICA AND AFRICA

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Snt,—South African " native " policy is a theme apt to generate heat, rather than light. In The Spectator lately the northward spread of the Union's colour-bar, denounced in Dr....

was much interested in Commander King-Hall's article in your last

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issue on the subject of a declaration of war and peace aims, and am wondering if he can see his way to be rather more precise in saying just what he wants. Lord Halifax, in his...

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Six,—Mr. David Sharp, in your number of July Intl, refers

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to the " social retrogression " by which boys in certain boarding-schools are now performing " menial tasks," such as making their own beds, cleaning their own shoes, and...

SIR,—As a member of a public school I feel that

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I cannot overlook Mr. Sharp's letter dealing with " schoolboy-slaves," which contains not one atom of truth. For the last twelve months I, together with some Soo...

THE TRADE IN MUNITIONS

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SIR, My letter, published in The Spectator of June 27th, on this subject has brought me a number of personal replies which demon- strate the wide public interest that there is...

"YOUNG ENGLAND "

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Sta,—Your correspondent, " A. R.," may have reasons of his own for despising Cambridge historians, but he could plainly afford to emulate their practice to the extent of...

SCHOOLBOY-SLAVES

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SIR, —My first reaction on digesting Mr. Sharp's opinions was a touch of the delight I should feel if the contents of the fossil-section of the Natural History Museum were to...

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STATUES AND SITES

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SIR,—A newspaper illustration shows a group of London's evacuated statues standing in the grounds of a ruined castle somewhere in the country. One of them is Rodin's "Burghers...

LORD WOOLTON'S LOAF

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Sia,—Criticism of those in authority coping with the difficult problems of war-time administration, to be permissible at all, must be con- structive and disinterested. With...

THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD

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SIR,—There is no greater fallacy than that contained in the oft- heard statement that the via media is the place in which to look for the truth. On the contrary, truth,...

MR. COWARD'S PLAY SIRS I have read Mr. Graham Greene's

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notice of Bluhe Spirit in your last week's issue, and would like to have the opportunity of saying how very different his reactions are from my own, and from those of the...

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OUR NEW ALLY

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SIR, —Now that we are at last in alliance with the Russian people we must not forget the pioneers for a better understanding with Russia, such as my old editor, W. T. Stead. One...

Country Petrol

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Has the countryman a right to expect a larger petrol-allowance than the townsman? As a countryman myself I should say there are good reasons for saying yes, and certainly a...

MINING REALITIES

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Sut,—I feel that I would like to write to you about mining and miners, as both are very much in the news just now. The country at large is hearing now of the failure of the "...

COUNTRY LIFE

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July Promise There are summers when hay-time and harvest overlap. If they overlap this year it will be rather because of the earliness of harvest than of the lateness of...

THE HOLMES-POLLOCK Lis 1 ERS

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Sm,—With reference to Mr. Geoffrey Russell's article in your July nth number, perhaps you will allow me to state that the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press have just...

Sur,—I hold no brief for Russia, but if the action

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she took against Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland was solely with the object of pushing out her line of defence against an anticipated attack by Germany, it might...

Wings of Fancy The following are not the names of

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English inns—The Spotted Elephant, The Black Arches, The Ground Lackey, The Glory of Kent, The Green Forester, The Lulworth Skipper, The White Admiral, The Purple Shades, The...

In the Garden March to May is the critical period

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for vegetables ; July and August are the months to plan for that period. Ground cleared of potatoes should now be sown with kales, to be thinned later, but not trans- planted,...

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BOOKS OF THE DAY

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Mrs. Woolf's Last Novel Between the Acts. By Virginia Woolf. (Hogarth Press. 7s. 6d.) It is with curiosity as well as delight that we have learnt to approach a new book by...

Death of Leviathan

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The Crisis of Civilization. By Alfred Cobban. (Cape. x2s. 6d.) . THE title of Mr. Cobban's new book sends a shiver down the back. So many crises, so many turning-points, so...

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An Unfinished Portrait

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Edward Perry Warren. By Osbert Burdett and E. H. Goddard. (Christophers. z8s.) This book is worth while, in spite of its self-condemning nature —for it has no economy or...

Self-Portrait

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The Chesterton. By Mrs. Cecil Chesterton. (Chapman an I2S. 6d.) THE most obvious feature of Mrs. Chesterton's book is steady under-current of rather petty dislike : dislike of...

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Fiction

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The Man Who Loved Children. By Christina Stead. (Peter Davies. los. 6d.) No Homeward Course. By Walter Havighurst. (Peter Davies. Is.) SAM POLLIT, an anthropologist, is the...

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AFrEn The Bible Designed to be Read as Literature comes

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another enormous volume, printed in double-column, with a rather odd title (one had believed that the Bible had always been " for today "). Unkindly, one might call this the...

The Man in the Cap. The Life of Herbert Smith.

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By Jack Lawson. (Methuen. I25. 6d.) HERBERT SMITH was known to his friends and to his opponents as a man who could say " No " with such force that the word became more than a...

Shorter Notices

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Congo Doctor. By W. E. Davis, M.D. (Robert Hale. I2S. 6d.) IN spite of punctures to his bicycle, swamps, ants, cockroaches, damp, smoke-filled huts, the lack of a bath (he...

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FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

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By CUSTOS It may seem ironic but it is essentially realistic that the London Stock Exchange should be staging, if not a boom, at any rate a lively rise on the strength of the...

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD No. 121 SOLUTION ON AUGUST 1st

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The winner of Crossword No. 121 is Mr. Duncan Coomer, i7 Cambridge Road, Southport.

" THE SPECTATOR " CROSSWORD No. 123

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[A prize 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...

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GLACIER METAL COMPANY

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WAR TAXATION AND THE INDUSTRIAL EFFORT THE twenty-first ordinary general meeting of the Glacier Metal Company, Limited, was held on July 9th at the company's works. Mr. W. B....

COMPANY MEETINGS

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GOPENG (PERAK) RUBBER ESTATES THE fifteenth annual general meeting of Gopeng (Perak) Rubber Estates, Limited, was held on July 9th, 1941, at Haywards Heath. Mr. A. H. Doherty,...