• The recent air manoeuvres over London have driven home once more the conviction to which all such exercises invariably point, that no adequate defences against air attack...

had no air force there would be no essential reason for the defence to maintain one. It is against air attack that air defence is. needed. The real question is whether it is...

SPECTATOR.]

The Premier in Berlin THE Berlin visit of Mr. Ramsay MacDonald and Mr. -I- Henderson, which began on Monday and ended on Wednesday, represented technically the sequel to the...

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 this...

stand in more than ordinary need impending, has been concerned mainly with questions of domestic interest. The House of Commons, on Thursday, July 25th, showed sonic anxiety for...

have to be faced in connexion with the memorandum on disarmament which the French Government has just sent to the League of Nations in anticipation of next year's con- ference....

Birmingham and the Archbishop of Canterbury has now got far beyond the question whether the Archbishop should or should not have instituted Mr. Simmonds to the benefice of St....

controversial, not only the two parties but the two Houses finding themselves at issue on the Agricultural Land Utilization Bill, which represents the Government's fulfilment of...

Government is unable, or whether it is unwilling, to let its right, or civilian, hand -take official cognizance of what its left, or military, hand is doing, the mere fact that...

disappeared on June 3rd. There is conclusive evidence that he was arrested by the military police. He was in their hands when he was last heard of on June 11th. The official...

announced lately, with some confidence, that the popula- tion question in the Japanese Empire would settle itself because the rate of increase was steadily slowing down, the...

to readers of the Spectator as parents and something very different as they notice the swarms of urchins of both sexes settling in these last few days like locusts on the London...

on July 23rd, 1981. War Loan (5 per cent.) was on Wednesday 10211 ; on Wednesday week, 1031 ; a year ago, 1081. Funding Loan (4 per cent.) was on Wednesday 921; on Wednesday...

regret the sudden death on Monday of Lord Knutsford, of whose devoted work in the cause of medical charity the London Hospital stands as a proud memorial. Sydney Holland, born...

enjoying Mr. Bernard Shaw as much as Mr. Bernard Shaw is enjoying Russia. That is not surprising, for Mr. Shaw is saying of Communists and Communism all that in their most...

is extremely disturbing, not because it betokens any widespread concerted movement—of that there is no evidence at all—but because such crimes or attempted crimes put invaluable...

T HE London Seven-Power Conference, which in a sense began in Paris, may be said in a sense to have continued in Berlin, whither Mr. Stimson betook himself immediately the...

result of the severe test applied by the investigation committee of the British Empire Cancer Campaign to the claims of Dr. Bendien, of Zeist, it should be impossible any longer...

T HE end of session fag (all too apparent among members) has had the paradoxical result of enabling Parliament to complete more legislation than the Govern- ment really expected...

By EVELYN UNDER !JILL. 1 N those corners of the daily press which give a more or -L less casual .attention to " religious topics," there have lately appeared insistent appeals...

J. STRACHEY. O UR handling of the problem of rebuilding Charing Cross Bridge and replanning its approaches on either side has not done our community any credit. " July 30th...

[The Spectator does not necessarily agree with all the views of the writers contributing to this series on the Colour Bar: Our object in publishing the series is to attempt some...

"T HE Productivity of Labour : this is in the last resort the chief and the most important condition for the victory of Socialism. Capitalism can be defeated only by a Socialism...

BY SIR WILLIAM BEACH THOIlL4S. I T was once declared from the Bench that there is no law of trespass in England. Trespassers cannot be prosecuted, as a thousand mendacious...

other day, in Chicago, a woman was granted a divorce and given the custody of the dog. She is reported as having told the Court that when her husband confessed that he had...

All that can be said about Near Beer, the sale of which is permitted in Hyde Park because it contains under 2 per cent. *Except for purposes of . taxation, landlords do not...

attacking what Mr. Joad, whimsically inverting his commas, calls the ' rights ' of the propertied classes " he should, we think, have mentioned that considerable distress and...

this experience ? MOTH : By my penny of observation. (Love's Labour's Lost.) THE NEW SIN. If there is one thing viler than a landlord, it is a landlord who, in his spare...

The Board of Education of Syracuse, New York, is consider- ing the removal of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice from their pupils' reading lists, on the grounds that the...

TURNER'S EARLY OIL PAINTINGS. THERE are those to-day who are tempted to decry Turner's greatness as an artist—perhaps because the majority of his works in the possession of the...

CHEVALIER AND OTHERS. The Smiling Lieutenant, M. Maurice Chevalier's latest film, which is now being shown at the Carlton, is second-rate as a film, and not quite first-rate as...

One of the most notable examples of intensive cultivation on a large scale in England is to be seen at Kingston Bagpuze, in Berkshire. On farms almost derelict a few years ago...

stal- wart and not unprosperous country of smallholders, who farm the black land just north of Liverpool, and his name has been associated with the district since the time of...

Is the British public, on its aesthetic side, " Therion " or Theos," a beast or an angel ? Two modern instances suggest diametrically opposite replies. Wicken Fen, a delightful...

last six months or so suggests a new form of co-operatior, which may make the merchant an ally, not an enemy, may use his incomparable skill in marketing and overcome the...

Now for the " Theos." The public-spirited owner of a lovely and precious garden by that blessed spot, Henley-on-Thames, gives free access to the public at all sorts of times and...

A FRUITFUL IDEA. One of the standard mysteries of British farming is that co-operation fails—fails as completely as it succeeds in Ireland or Denmark—though most people agree...

lilies at Alderfen Broad, which readers of the Spectator (as the Secretary of the Norfolk Naturalist's Trust writes to say) are helping to buy. The white and yellow varieties...

Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,-It is a matter of gratification that the Government of India have decided to add some more delegates to the Round Table Conference. But the...

[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...

SIR, —One can understand a nation putting up with an intolerable shortage of commodities essential to a decent human existence, such as food, clothes, habitable dwellings, &c.,...

I call your attention to the report of the Mental Deficiency Committee of 1929, which sums up definitely against sterilization? This Committee, a joint Committee of the Board of...

the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—The decision not to allow coloured boxers to take part in the Empire Games to be held in South Africa is an example of the pernicious influence of the...

a,—Mr. J. A. Watson, in a letter published on July 11th, takes grave exception to Professor Malinowski's comments on European production in Kenya, and in order to demonstrate...

SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Surely it is rash to cite the eccentric Akbar as a proof that Muslims are ready to intermarry with Hindus. Akbar was Muhammadan in name alone. He invented a...

SIR,—Mr. C. E. M. Joad, in supporting the Access to Moun- tains and Moorlands Bill in your last issue, entirely ignores the economic side of the question. Nobody will deny that...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—The statement, emanating from Government sources, was recently made that Douglas fir in British Columbia might hold out for fifteen years....

• Sra,—How refreshing it is that someone is at last willing to admit that the idea of bathing with ladies makes him feel uncomfortable ! Perhaps it is not generally 'realized...

the general stagnation of business occasioned by suspense as to the fate of the Reform Bills. Every one who lives by his industry acknowledges that he feels in his own person a...

These are the days of cheap books ; they are also becoming those of cheap prints. There are several series of Views in England, Paris, &c. published- in quarto size; at one...

, I HAVE something to say to you, Earth ; Let me lie down, stretching my arms on your breast, And be close and at rest. . As my heart leaps at each green birth of you, So let...

the Battle of Brunan- burh, I said that Anston meant " the one or lonely stone," and I said so on the high authority of the English Place-Name Survey, than which I know no...

will not adopt the practice of his eat (Spectator, July 25th, p. 112) of looking to the left when starting across the road, and to the right when half way over. Only an animal...

F. J. Leweock's review of building society progress contained in your last week ' s Banking Supplement points out that the scale of these societies ' operations has more than...

[To the Editor of the SFECrATOR.] Sta,—Mrs. Binstead's letter in your paper is Written under a misapprehension. The R.S .P.C.A. has no existence and no policy apart from its...

very clearly written on one side of the paper only. The name and address, or pseudonym, of the competitor must be on each entry and not on a separate sheet. When a word limit is...

The Cicadas and Other Poems. By Aldous Huxley. (Chatto and Windus. 5s.) Snow. Poems by Humbert Wolfe. (Gollancz. 6s.) The Collected Satires and Poems of Osbert Sitwell. (Duck-...

delayed for nine years after the first twn—Lady Gwendolen Cecil begins with a delightful chapter that sketches Lord Salisbury's relations to his children, who in the period...

Turner. By Walter Bayos, A.R.W.S. (Geoffrey Bios. 10s. 6d.) OWING to a variety of circumstances Turner, the man, has come down to us as a rather unsympathetic figure—gloomy,...

THE doctrine that high wages are one of the principal condi- tions of general prosperity was loudly proclaimed a few years ago by Messrs. Foster and Catchings. This theory was...

READY. One Shilling (or 25 cents) for each copy should be enclosed with instructions, and addressed to :- INDEX DEPT., THE " SPECTATOR," LTD., 99 GOWER STREET, LONDON, W.C. 1,...

King crime. By Collinson Owen. (Bann. 12s. M.) At the risk of truism it must be said that there exists, of course, in the United States a decent law-abiding, justice - loving...

The Significance of Karl Barth. By John MeConnachie. (Hodder and Stoughton. 6s.) The Theology of Karl Barth : A Short Introduction. By J. Arundel. (Chapman. 28.) Christ our...

Booxs on the training of youth are, as Mr. Castle himself observes, numberless. But there is always room for another good book on any subject, and on that ground the publication...

Clothes. By Eric Gill. (Jonathan Cape. 10s. 6d.) IN this little volume Mr. Eric Gill proves himself as handy with his pen as with his chisel—as handy certainly, and yet the...

India on the Brink. By a British Merchant. (King. 3s.) Boons published to-day on the Indian situation are likely to fall into one of two elasses—those which violently attack...

Tim -Hidden Child. By Franz Werfel. Translated by Geoffrey -Dunlop. (Jarrolds. 78. 6d.) MORE and more as the novel grows older is it clear that if it is to be a work of art it...

WE do not know what will be the feelings of our Scottish readers when they find in Mr. Clennell Wilkinson's The English Adventurers (Longman, 9s. fid.) James Bruce of Abyssinian...

(Murray, 9s.) has something to say about the human dwellers on the moor—their customs, land-tenures and beliefs in white magic, for example—but. much more about its wild...

David-Neel's new book with pleasant anticipations. With Mystics and Magicians in Tibet (The Bodley Head, 15s.) both entertains and disappoints. An introduction by Dr. A....

a moderate British point of view. Its author seems to hold that the Simon Report 'should be imple- mented. " Volume I is a masterly survey of a colossal problem. It is perhaps...

(Jenkins, 15s.) deals principally and exhaustively with the problem of the cartridge. This topic involvefi excursions into -the chemical composition of powders and various...

We publish on this page articles and notes whicb ma!, help o:Ur readers in making their plans for travel at home and abroad. They are written by correspondents who have visited...

BUILDING SOCIETIES' YEAR BOOK, 1931. (Reed and CO., 37 Cursitor Street, E.C. 4. 7s. 6d.) EVERYDAY GARDENING. By .1. Coutts. (Ward, Lock. Is. 6d.) THE CHINA YEAR Boox, 1931....

THE FIDUCIARY ISSUE. S031E of the proposals of the Committee with regard to Bank of England administration, and with regard to banking and currency regulations, may be...

The Financial Outlook THERE was probably seldom a time when it was more difficult to write with precision concerning the financial outlook, in which, of course, is included...

With regard to the special question of finance and industry the Committee express their belief in the need for - closer co-operation between finance and industry, • but...

RALLY IN BRAZILS. THE stock markets during -the past week have been quieter and steadier on the whole owing to a slackening of the gold drain from the Bank. Since my last...

Garden - Properties shows that for the year ending June 30th last the profits were slightly in excess of a year ago, the total being £213,925 against £213,084. After paying the...

I shall hope at an early -date to return to a fuller examination of the details of the Macmillan Report,' but without any disparagement of the very fine work done by the...

The dividend announcements (hiking the week by the Metropolitan and Southern Railway companies were generally regarded in the market as somewhat disappointing, though, of...

At the meeting last week of Waring and Gillow there was a very frank and animated discussion with regard to the general position' of the company and the proceedings ended in...