19 MARCH 1921

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NOTICE.

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Owing to the Government having taken over our old premises, we have removed to new offices, 13 York Street, Covent Garden, W.C. 2, where all communications should be addressed.

Lord Robert Cecil, who presided, made several further suggestions. He

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proposed that a Budget Committee should be formed in order to help the Chancellor of the Exchequer by discussion and advice ; that a Standing Committee on Admin- istration...

*** The Editor cannot accept responsibility for any articles, poems,

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or letters submitted to him, but when stamped and addressed envelopes are sent he will do his best to return contributions in case of rejection. Poems should be addressed to the...

We are grateful to several correspondents who have written to

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us—we print two or three letters elsewhere—but we must point out that we shall adhere to our plan of action described last week. We cannot promise to help " Taxpayer " to...

It is consoling, however, to think that the People's Union

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for Economy, though it has not exactly got a plan for "organizing victory," is acting on thoroughly sound lines. We urge every- body to join the Union. It is more deserving of...

In approving in general of " Taxpayer's " scheme we

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said that the creation of such an organization would require a good deal of money, and that it would be impossible successfully to launch it unless several rich men who were...

Finally, Lord Robert Cecil proposed that in order to reduce

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expenditure and eradicate the abuses of large Supplementary Estimates a scheme should be introduced for rationing all the Departments. The principle should be that expenditure...

All this is excellent, and we congratulate the Parliamentary Committee

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of the People's Union for Economy. They have only to persevere on these lines and they will have the whole country with them. The situation is critical. Already the hope of a...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE Parliamentary Committee of the People's Union for Economy—this Committee consists of sixty-five members of both the Houses and is a non-party organization—met at the House...

TO OUR READERS.

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Should our readers experience any difficulty in obtaining the SPECTATOR during their absence from home at Newsagents or Railway Bookstalls. will they please communicate at once...

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The Allies went on, under cover of pious phrases, to

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abandon the idea of freeing the Kurds. As for the Armenian remnant, Turkey was asked to recognize the rights of Turkish Armenians to " a national home on the eastern frontiers...

Talaat Pasha, who as Grand Vizier was mainly responsible for

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the wholesale massacres of the Armenians in Turkey in 1915, was shot dead in a Berlin street on Tuesday by an Armenian student. We detest political assassination, but we cannot...

The Prime Minister, in reply, said that Mr. Clynes's speech

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would only stiffen the German resistance to the Allies' just demands. Mr. Clynes admitted that Germany ought to pay and that she was not paying ; what was the use of treaties if...

The Allied Ministers on Saturday received the Greek and Turkish

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delegates and proposed far-reaching modifications of the Treaty of Sevres. Mr. Lloyd George, it was apparent, had yielded at last to the Turcophiles of Paris, Rome, and the...

Lord Robert Cecil, in the House of Commons on Thursday,

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March 10th, raised the question of reparation, and reminded the House that the Treaty of Versailles must be carried out. He regretted the attitude of the German delegates at the...

Dr. Simons, the German Foreign Minister, described his London negotiations

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in the Reichstag last Saturday, and was accorded a vote of confidence by 268 votes to 49. He had, he said, offered more than the German Ministry was willing to give, and he...

The Kronstadt soldiers and sailors are still in revolt against

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the Moscow despots. They demand " a regular Republican Government freely elected by the people." Such a demand is of course abhorrent to the Bolsheviks who are more...

The trade agreement with Russia has been signed after negotiations

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lasting more than two years. The text of the agreement shows that there is no essential change from the drafts which had already been published. Those who dislike any dealings...

Lenin and Trotsky are in fine being dealt with as

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a de facto and not as a de jure Government. A covering letter draws attention to the wicked mischief-making of the Bolsheviks in India and elsewhere. It is not necessary for our...

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Owners of historic ruins used to be reluctant to hand

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them over to the State, under the provisions of the Ancient Monuments Protection Acts. But now that landowners are all crippled by heavy rates and still heavier taxes, the...

Mr. Bottomley moved the rejection of the Bill as "

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economic- ally unsound, politically mischievous, and commercially im- practicable." He would prefer to occupy Berlin and seize the German Customs " and everything else " ;...

In the House of Commons on Tuesday Sir L. Worthington

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Evans said that the Army Estimates were two and a-half times as large as in 1914 because the value of money had declined to that extent. The numbers of officers and men would by...

The Army Estimates for 1921-22 were published last Saturday. The

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net total expenditure is set down at £106,315,000, as com- pared with £164,750,000 for the year now ending. The Army at home and abroad, except in the mandate territories, is to...

Lord Lee said in his memorandum that the need for

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the gradual replacement of the older battleships by " modern ships embodying the lessons of the war" could no longer be dis- regarded. No capital ship had been laid down and...

The German Reparation (Recovery) Bill was read a second time

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in the House of Commons on Monday. Mr. Chamberlain asked for the unanimous support of the House in carrying out the decisions of the Allies. Dr. Simons had challenged the whole...

We hope that the National Gallery Trustees will reconsider their

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decision to charge an admission fee on four days of the week, instead of on only two days as at present. In the interests of students, the charging of a fee on two days of the...

The Navy Estimates were issued on Monday. The Admiralty asked

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for £82,479,000 net for the coming year—a reduction of £8,393,300 on the current year's expenditure. Lord Lee, in his explanatory statement, said that the number of capital...

Bank rate, 7 per cent., changed from 6 per cent.

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Apr. 15, 1920; 6 per cent. War Loan was on Thursday, 87i; Thursday week, 85}; a year ago, 87i.

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HOW TO DEAL WITH THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

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T HE late Lord Salisbury spoke wisely when he pointed out that there was only a certain amount of power in any Constitution. Therefore if you gave more power to one section of...

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE PERIL OF THE UNIONIST PARTY. T HE Unionist Party is in a very dangerous condition. Its life-blood is being sucked by a Piime Minister who is not a Unionist, and by a...

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MAKING GERMANY PAY. T HE more the schema for making Germany

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pay as set forth in the German Reparation (Recovery) Bill is exa- mined the more evident the difficulties become. Reduced to its elements it is a scheme for applying part of the...

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WHY A NAVAL COMPETITION ? T HE Government have evidently made

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up their minds that, in spite of Sir Percy Scott and others, the capital ship is not obsolete as an instrument of war, and that so far as they can see ahead it will be necessary...

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OLD HEADS ON YOUNG SHOULDERS.

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I S old age to be done away with ? The story goes-- we have all read it—that by inoculation from the gland of a monkey the disease of senility is to be destroyed, and we are all...

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A SNIPE SHOOT IN PERSIA.

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T T was a real spring morning ; the sun was shining from a clear sky, not with the cruel intensity which it develops a month later and which parches the land- into a tawny and...

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FINANCE—PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.

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CHEAPER MONEY PROSPECTS ?—THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS. [TO THE EDITOR OF TRY " SPECTATOR. "] Sin,—So many events of financial importance have occurred within the brief space of a...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.] LORD HUGH CECIL ON CHRISTIAN...

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(To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."1 SIR,—Mr. Lawson misses

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the point of my letter, though he answers my questions fairly and squarely, and in the only way in which a true follower of Christ could reply to them. What I wished to convey...

(To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—Permit me, as

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a Presbyter of that Province of the Church Catholic established in Scotland, to enter a remonstrance against an offensive expression in Lord Hugh Cecil's second article, which...

(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.")

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Sion,—Lord Hugh Cecil's communications, criticizing Dean Inge's speech, suggest one of the outstanding problems of Christian Reunion—which is that when we speak of Angli- canism...

(To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—All the Churches

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must be grateful for the clear statement of the views held by Dean Inge and Lord Hugh Cecil on Christian Fellowship. The pronouncements of the Lambeth Conference were so...

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IDENTITY TESTS IN ALLEGED SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATIONS.

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[To THE EDITOR Or ME " SPECTATOR.") SIR, —The test piece which you quoted in your issue of March 5th from Lady Glenconner's The Earthern Vessel ran thus:— " It is to be found in...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.")

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SIR, —I am strongly in favour of the policy of " Taxpayer." I am convinced that unless drastic steps are taken to compel the Cabinet through Parliament to reduce public...

[To ens Einem or MN " Eamerwroa."] Suz,—I have read

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"Taxpayer's" communications in your last two issues with much interest, and having done so I ask myself in what does the proposed policy differ from that of the Middle Classes...

[TO THE EDITOR Or SHE " SPECTATOR."] Sia,—The statement by

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Lord Hugh Cecil in the Spectator of March 5th that assent to the view that humanity is by nature in a state of moral perdition could be the only possible, or indeed desirable,...

"TAXPAYER'S" SCHEME. TO FORCE ECONOMY ON THE GOVERNMENT.

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[To THE EDITOR or ens •• SPECTATOR.") Sue—The outlined plan-of "Taxpayer." will heartily commend itself to all who have anything left. I live in a remote country ,district, but...

THE STANDARD OF VALUE AND THE EXCHANGES. [To THE EDITOR

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OF Tut " SPECTATOR.") Sza,—I am sorry that in attempting to be picturesque I over- stepped the limits of the possible. But the principle is as sound as the illustration was...

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[To THE EDITOR or THE " EIFECTLTOR21 Sia, — Stimulated by Mr.

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W. W. Reid's experiment, I last night made a similar one on my own book-shelves. Third shelf, eighth book, counting from right to left, fourteenth page, three-quarters down the...

THE LAND QUESTION.

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[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.] Sta,—Notwithstanding your expression of agreement with the views of your correspondent whose letter appears in your issue of March 5th,...

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A VOLUNTARY REDUCTION IN WAGES. (To THE EDITOR or THE

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" SPECTATOR.") Sia,—The employees of Messrs. Robert Williams and Sons (Gorton), Ltd., Gorton, Manchester, were glad to read the reference you made in your issue of March 5th...

THE NATIONAL RESERVE.

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(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") believe you were instrumental in obtaining War Office full recognition of the National Reserve, and that it was your scheme of Classes I....

SOUTHERN IRISH LOYALISTS DEFENCE FUND. (To THE EDITOR or THE

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" SPECTATOR.") Sia,—In April of last year the Southern Irish Loyalists Defence Fund was created to afford assistance and relief to law-abiding citizens in the South and West of...

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THE THEATRE.

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1.11/: BADNESS OF BAD PLAYS. IT is sometimes not a little difficult to decide why a play is bad, for there are as many kinds of badness as of excellence. It is, however,...

"1:l31, SAVAGE AND THE WOMAN " AT THE LYCEUM TBLEATRE.

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The Savage and the Woman is a play very perfect of its kind. It contains a Rightful Earl, two capital villains, a comic China- man, serious Red Indians, an immoderately heroin...

POETRY.

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DAWN SONG. LOW-LIDDED dawn now trembles on the hills, And lifts her maiden eyes above the way, The winding way, The climbing way, The way that winds and climbs athwart the...

gbe Siptrtator

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TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. Including postage to any part of the United Yearly. Kingdom .. • £2 3 4 OVERSEAS POSTAGE. Including postage to any of the British Dominions and...

NOTICE.—When " Correspondence" or Articles are signed with the writer's

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name or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked " Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily be held to be in agreement with the views therein expressed or with the...

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BOOKS.

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SUGGESTION AND AUTO-SUGGESTION.* We write too much, we talk too much, and we think too little. If the pessimist's view of the situation is true, Professor Charles Baudouin's...

SOME PLAYS WORTH SEEING.

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COURT.—King Henry IV. (Part IL) .. • • 8.15-2.15 [On the whole a satisfactory production of an admirably competent play.] GAIRTY.—The Betrothal .. . . .. 8.15-2.15 [Mr....

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A DIPLOMAT IN JAPAN.*

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IF ever a man was intended by destiny for a particular career, Sir Ernest Satow was destined to be a diplomat in Japan. When he was a boy his fancy was aroused by pictures of...

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THE WAR OF JENKINS'S EAR.*

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ADMIRAL RicHmown's account of the war with Spain and France between 1739 and 1748 is a most valuable and interesting addition to our naval history. The author says that—like...

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A NEW GUINEA MAGISTRATE.*

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CAPTAIN MorreKrox's account of his experiences in New Guinea twenty years ago is one of the most entertaining books of its kind that we have ever read. The author at the age of...

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THE GREEN RING.* The Green Ring is a very curious

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play whose object is the apotheosis of the young. It has been acted in Moscow with a certain success. I wish that the Stage Society or some similar organization would act it...

As the Queen of Roumania says in her preface to

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these trans- lations (Roumanian Stories Translated from the Original Rou- manian, by Lucy Byng ; John Lane, 6s. net), " Very little is known in England about Roumanian...

READABLE NOVELS. —The House of Silence. By C. N. and

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A. M. Williamson. (Hodder and Stoughton. 3s. 6d. not.)— The adventures of two American women, one of whom chooses to marry an Egyptian Pasha. They both, when they get to Egypt,...

FICTION.

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NOT KNOWN HERE.t THE war has seldom been used to lend point to a domestic tragedy more ingeniously or painfully than in Mrs. Wilfrid Ward's new novel. Twenty years or more...

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The Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the

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Empire has resumed its useful activities, interrupted by the war, and has published the first part of a new series of its Journal (A. L. Humphreys, 2s. 6d. net). This contains...

POEMS WORTHY OF CONSEDERATION.—Poons. By Gilbert Thorne. (Humphreys. 4s. 6d.

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net.)—Mr. Gilbert should beware of such words as " gonfalon " and " forthright." " Hymn to Aphrodite," " Heart's Refuge," and " On Heigham Sound " are the best poems in the...

The Seventh Annual Report of the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust,

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Dunfermline, contains some interesting particulars of the small rural libraries scheme and of the good work that is being done for English music. The Trust is publishing ten...

POETS AND POETRY.

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TRAGIC MOTHERS.* MR. &URGE MOORE has an immense output. His latest volume consists of three short poetic plays which are intended for chamber presentation. The first of them,...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent review.] English Philology in English Universities. By H. C. Wyld. (Clarendon Press. 2s. 6d. net.)—Professor...

The Challenge of the Dead. By Stephen Graham. (Cassell. 78.

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6d. net.)—Mr. Graham describes his new book as " a vision of the war and the life of the common soldier in France, seen two years afterwards between August and November, 1920."...

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The Proceedings of the National Rifle Association for the past

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year have been published in a neat pamphlet (Waterlow and Sons, 2s.), and show that the Association, now sixty years old, has plenty of vigour and enterprise. The last Bisley...

The Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Textiles, has published

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a scholarly Catalogue of Textiles from Burying- Grounds in Egypt by Mr. A. F. Kendrick (Stationery Office, 5s. net). This first volume of the catalogue describes some three...

From Kastamuni to Kedos. Edited by C. L Woolley (Blackwell.

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42s. net.)—This clever and light-hearted record of the experiences of prisoners of war in Turkey from 1916 to 1918, written and illustrated by many hands and edited by an...

BOOKS WORTHY OF ATTENTION.

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THE following Books just published, but not already reviewed, are worthy of the attention of our readers :-- The Great Munition Feat, 1914-1918. By George A. B. Dewar....

The Log of H.M.A. B 34.' By Air Commodore E.

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M. Maitland. (Hodder and Stoughton. 10s. 6d. net.)—Since this book was published ' R 34' has fallen victim to an English storm. But the log written during her famous voyage...

The Text of Henry V. By Hereward T. Price. (Newcastle-

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under-Lyme : Mandley and Unett. 2s. 6d.)—Mr. Price's scholarly and well-reasoned essay seeks to show that the Quarto edition of Henry V. was not a first draft, but a...

Linguistic Survey of India : Index of Language Names. By

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Sir George A. Grierson. (Calcutta : Superintendent of Govern- ment Printing. 2s. 7d.)—We commend this book to the thought- less politicians who talk of " the Indian people." It...

Black's Gardening Dictionary. Edited by E. T. Ellis (A. and

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C. Black. 15s. net.)—This substantial volume of over twelve hundred pages, compiled by a large number of experts under Mr. Ellis's direction, will be of the greatest value to...