Austria are beyond prediction. Germany is delirious with enthusiasm and the British protest against the rape of Austria was rejected by the German Government in language nearer...

IT was just possible; as The Spectator went to press last Thursday, to add a mention of the plebiscite on Austrian independence which the Austrian Chancellor, Dr. Schusch- nigg,...

was invading Austria, France was without a Government ; and not even that decisive act was sufficient to bring into being the Government of National Union which is the only...

demand for an enquiry into the military. side of the Air Ministry. The Opposition based many of its arguments on the inefficiency in the administration of civil aviation shown...

flared up between Poland and Lithuania at this moment. It is true that a frontier conflict, in which a Polish guard, who for some reason was on the Lithuanian side of the line,...

has ended in the execution of 18 of the accused and the imprison- ment for long terms of the remaining three. Given the confessions of the accused, no other sentences could be...

treaty have been subjected to severe criticism by New England Congress- men this week. Their criticisms were founded on arguments which are, and will be, urged with equal force...

have occupied z,000 miles of Government territory in Aragon, and trans- formed the Government's salient at Belchite into an insurgent salient at Alcafiiz, only forty miles from...

of The Spectator will be published next week, and will include special articles by Patrick Monkhouse on " A Peak-to-Scotland Footpath " ; " The Boat Race," by E. E. D. Tomlin...

thing is clear. Within the next few days the Prime Minister must restate the foreign policy of Great Britain. What that policy should be was the question to which the House of...

much powder and shot as was furnished by the report of the Cadman Committee. Both on Tuesday and Wednesday they made good use of it, and the Front Bench underwent two of the...

have a profound effect upon the European situation. In all probability it will also determine the course of British politics for a long time to come. The House of Commons during...

these troubled days be disposed to view with favour a temporary seclusion behind the walls of Dartmoor Prison, and that impulse would be stimulated rather than otherwise by the...

the nation's accounts have already shown a surplus of revenue over ex- penditure of L286,989, which, taking account of disburse- ments for sinking fund, means a true realised...

W ITH the manner in which Herr Hitler's annexation of Austria to Germany was effected we are no longer concerned, except as an ominous object-lesson. The blow was dealt by a...

A N officer of the Association of Foreign Press Corre- spondents, in New York, has lately written in its organ, Foreign Press, that the British public receives no adequate...

and I, at least, would like to pay it. The evening paper posters, the daily paper headlines—all, no doubt inevitable, and in the tradition of the trade—produce the maximum of...

now that substantial international (not internal) justice at last exists in Europe "—ought to be inscribed in letters of gold over the garden gate at Berchtesgaden and the ex-...

fierce a spotlight turned on them that not many revelations are left to see the light in the memoirs of the dead. Among the few is Mr. Lloyd George's attempt, in collaboration...

some form of com- pulsory service in this country is identified with the group known vaguely as " Milner's young men," though one of them at least never had official contact...

more than academic interest now ; but since Dr. Schuschnigg has been accused of trying to rig his plebiscite by putting the voting age as high as 24, and so disfranchising tens...

great problems ? Mr. Chamberlain is 69, M. Blum 66. Signor Mussolini is 54, Herr Hitler 48. Lord Halifax is 56, Mr. Eden 4o. Paws-

the remarkable experience of a Parsee lady, Miss Bapsy Pavry, in recent years, in being received by President Coolidge, the Pope, King George and Queen Mary, Herr Hitler, the...

at the first night of -James Bridie's new play The King of Nowhere at the Old Vic on Tuesday. Appropriately- enough because, as Walter Elliot and 0. H. Mayor, the Secretary of...

By DEREK VERSCHOYLE This is the first of a short series of articles on Ireland in its domestic and external aspects. deal with " Religious DiscriMination and Personal Freedom...

By R. F. SCOTT T HE Community Centre movement has taken a firm hold on this country in the last few years, but among such institutions one stands pre-eminent—the Social Centre...

By PROFESSOR C. H. DODD B ETWEEN the Crucifixion and the writing of our earliest Gospel lies an interval of some thirty-five years. During that time Christianity had...

By NORMAN CRUMP L ECH-AM-ARLBERG is a little village tucked away in the heart of the Vorarlberg mountains. From December until May the whole ground is covered with snow, and...

By MAJOR LAWRENCE ATHILL N O man has ever spread his name so widely and yet remained himself so utterly obscure as did the original Thomas Atkins. Authority chose him to play...

By CLIFFORD TOLCHARD I T'S no good moaning ; there's nothing you can do about I it. You've just go to wait your turn. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Box 4, 3.15 p.m. That's your...

WHY I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN-I [The writer is an Oxford graduate, aged 24. Tke quotation with which she opens is from an article by Dr. Edwyn Bevan, who will reply next week] "...

THE SOUTH AFRICAN ELECTION By G. H. CALPIN (Editor, "Natal Witness," Pietermaritzburg) IT would be difficult to find a people, or for that matter two peoples, living side by...

" In Old Chicago." At the Tivoli IN shaping America's history Providence was a good movie- maker. The circumstances of American development— horses, Indians, natural...

THE THEATRE 61 Busmen" : Living Newspaper No. 1. " The Case of the Baffled Boss." At the Unity Theatre Club, Goldington Street, N.W. I THE Living Newspaper is a dramatic form...

Mozartiana IF number of performances is anything to go by, Mozart is at the moment the most popular of all composers. For the past week I have heard little other music—and none...

[Von einem deutschen Korrespondentenj AUF der Schulbank lag das Heft und wir schrieben, die jiingsten Burger des stolzen Gymnasiums, die geheimnisvollen Buch- staben nieder,...

But it is really good to see this urgent country problem taken up not only by an influential countryman, but realised also by the Ministry of Health. " Considerable improvement...

of Social Service set up a Parish Councils Committee. Its aim was to consider in what ways it could help parish councillors and parish council clerks to discharge their...

Nobody, nowadays, seems to love the Forestry Commission, but it is surprising, sometimes, that the Commission is as patient with the public as it is. Forest fires, it reports,...

Country Housing When a man get; a sizeable be in his bonnet there comes a time when the bee must buzz out or himself bust. One of my sizeable bees is the question of country...

flowers some momen- tary colour scheme that is pure enchantment. It was not out of mere decorative idleness that oriental painters depicted birds and flowers so often together....

Last year I was able, by some judicious scepticism, to satisfy myself that the wild English gladiolus was not a myth. In response to a note on this page many correspondents...

A correspondent reports a February egg, which he picked up unbroken. He describes it as pale blue and asks if such an egg is unusual in February and if I can identify it ; he...

St4,—Surgeon Rear-Admiral C. M. Beadnell claims that in America and certain European countries " percentage analyses of the blood have been proved efficient." Efficient for what...

[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our " News of the Week " paragraphs. Signed...

Sta,—Mr. Hore-Belisha's speech on the Army Estimates may justly be described as epoch marking and must have been read with the liveliest satisfaction by soldiers and civilians...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR, —Only the future can show whether the recent Mayfair floggings can produce upon their victims results beneficial or otherwise, but beyond...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATORT SIR,—Exactly three years ago a reference was made in these columns to the likelihood of Japan negotiating for a cut through the Km Isthmus of...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sta,—As one who missed active service in the last War, but remembers quite enough of its incidental horrors, its dis- comforts and above all...

the course of your article under this heading you refer to the Prime Minister's " realism " in connexion with the huge expenditure on armaments. May I suggest that " realism "...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—W. M. Lodge writes " One thing emerges very clearly from Mr. Bartlett's letter : he knows nothing whatever about foxes." What grounds your...

SIR, —Lovers of the Lake District who are opposed to the activities of the Forestry Commission in that region have not infrequently been told that they are judging the...

Rose Macaulay is certainly in error when she quotes Bishop Forbes of Edinburgh in favour of the view that Mass and Holy Communion are only two names for the same thing. Bishop...

SIR,—Nearly the whole Press of Britain is loud this week in its condemnation of Hitler's action in Austria. But surely there is some flaw in a philosophy that leads us to...

Fitness, in the sense in which it is used, is not a para- mount necessity." Nevertheless, it will probably be a decisive factor in any future war. The fitness which is barely...

To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In the interest of Messrs. Polak's clients, I will refrain from commenting upon their letter in your issue of March 4th, but my silence...

[To , the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Many people will agree with Mr. S. L. Bensusan in deploring " the evils resulting from over-stimulation of the soil " ; but he appears...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—A few weeks from now will see the fiftieth anniversary of Matthew Arnold's death. Perhaps it will not be thought unfitting that those who...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—My attention has been drawn to the paragraph appearing in the issue of your journal for the nth inst. over the name of H. E. Bates, in...

• • 474 The Moral Basis of Politics (Vyvyan Adams, M - .P.) • • 475 Can Capitalism Last ? (Honor Croome) • • 475 The Economy of Britain (Prof. M. M. Postan) • • - 476 Maria...

Can Capital:sm Last? By Frederick Allen. (G-311anc 75. 61) THIS question—like the I.atin particle own—invariably expects the answer No. Mr. Allen's No is better supported by...

The Moral Basis of Politics. By Naonii Mitchison stable. 8s. 6d.) THERE is one accidentally but immensely topical sentence in Mrs. Mitchison's The Moral Basis of Politics. "...

The Economy of Britain : A History. By H. M. Croome and THOUGH designed for use in schools this book is something more than yet another elementary text-book of economic...

Maria Theresa. By Constance Lily Morris. (Eyre and Spottis- woode. 15s.) THIS excellent book has a peculiarly melancholy interest at the present time. The year of Maria...

Helen Keller's Journal. With a Foreword by Augustus Muir. (Michael Joseph. Kos. 6d.) Tins is a very heartening book, a gallant, refreshing book— one of those occasional...

The Civil War in tha United States. By Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. (Lawrence and Wishart. 12s. 6d.) THE American Civil War was one of the great events of modern history,...

MR. RYNNE is the owner of one of those Irish country houses which, in the graceless phrasing of the Irish peasant, " have no one living in them, only farmers." Many farmers who...

The New Architecture in Mexico. By Esther Born. (Kern Paul. 2ts.) THESE two books supplerfient each other admirably. One shows the new forms of architecture in Mexico, the...

his admirers by this extraordin- ary performance, which I consider the finest English poetic drama written since Otway's Venice Presertz'oi. I hive not forgotten The Cenci in...

The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man. By Rudolf Otto. (Lutterworth Press. iss.) The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man. By Rudolf Otto. (Lutterworth Press. iss.) FOR a...

MRS. MOWRER is Edgar's wife, and her delightful book reflects the fiery spirit of that great American journalist. Together they lived, and worked hard, in France, Italy and...

FORREST REID . By Journey to the Border. By Edward Upward. '(Hogarth Press. 7s. 6d.) MR. SITWELL calls Those Were the Days a oc i panordma with figures," and in fact the main...

THE DIARY OF A SURGEON IN THE YEAR 1751-1752 By John Knyveton If the reader is in doubt of the authenticity of 4, diarist—and the pub- lishers' synopsis of this book (Apple-...

By T. K. Derry This book (Longmans, 3s. 6d.) was written by the present thad-master of Mill Hill when he was Civics Master at Repton, and reading it must certainly make one...

Husain This is a useful anthology rather than a critical study. Mr. Husain has not so much thrown " a new light " on Donne as furnished the tinder and faggots for some such...

In Thoroughbred Racing Stock Lady Wentworth has written a book which will be of the greatest interest and importance to all students of racehorse breeding. which is...

MARKETS are steadier after the debilde but that is the very poor best that one can say for them. To dissect a debacle may seem absurdly academic, but I think we must make the...

In his address to London and North Eastern stockholders Mr. William Whitelaw has at last cleared up one of the hitherto unsolved mysteries of the home railway market. For years...

What are the implications for investors ? In conditions such as these it is impossible to do more than indicate policy on the broadest lines. The first and most obvious piece of...

Sir Josiah Stamp's address to stockholders of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway is as communicative as ever, but it is rather more non-committal this year than last. On...

LONDON MIDLAND AND SCOTTISH RAILWAY CO. IMPROVED NET REVENUE FOR FIFTH SUCCESSIVE YEAR EFFECT ON OPERATING EXPENSES OF INCREASED COST OF WAGES AND MATERIALS TRADE IMPROVEMENT...

Is it necessary to point out that in present conditions the arguments advanced in this section of my notes should be regarded as being for information rather than for action ?...

HOME AND COLONIAL GROUP'S RECOVERY. THE substantial rise in profits shown by Home and Colonial Stores and its associated companies is more than could have been expected from...

GOOD NICKEL EARNINGS. The International Nickel Company of Canada, in common with other base metal producers, suffered a setback in earnings in the last quarter of 1937. But...

OLYMPIA LIMITED THE WOMEN'S FAIR Tan ninth ordinary general meeting of Olympia, Limited, was held on March 56th at Olympia, London, W. Mr. Louis Nicholas, who presided in the...

The full accounts of Durban Roodepoort Deep, a pro- gressive undertaking on the Western Rand, show that the company has fully justified the issue of 400,000 additional los....

Like the chairmen of many other insurance companies, Sir Edgar Horne of the Prudential Assurance Company found nothing very disturbing in last year's fall in security prices....

By ZENo [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...

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