22 DECEMBER 1917

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The enemy's assertion that the Turks withdrew quietly from the

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neighbourhood of Jerusalem has, of course, proved to be untrue. The Turks had their guns on Olivet, and defended all the ridges round the city with the utmost vigour. The...

Such a Council as this fortunately does not arouse the

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heart- buntings and suspicions excited by the unfortunate manner in which the Central War Council was proposed. In this connexion we should like to say how heartily we agree...

A score of enemy aeroplanes made a raid on London

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early on Tuesday evening, in the faint light of the new moon. Three groups crossed the Essex coast and three others came across Kent. Five of the enemy machines penetrated the...

The Fourth Italian Army has maintained a superb defensive for

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over a week in the hills between the Brenta and the Piave. In face of the enemy's superior numbers and overwhelming artillery, it has had to yield ground, on the salient north...

The First Lord of the Admiralty announced on Monday that

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another convoy had been destroyed in the North Sea about midday on the 12th inst. Two destroyers, H.M.S. Pellew ' and H.M.S. Partridge,' with four armed trawlers, were convoying...

It has been decided to create an Allied Naval Council.

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The teak of the Council will be to watch over the general conduct of the naval war, and to ensure the co-ordination of effort at sea, as well KY the development of all...

On the French front our Allies have reported a few

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local attacks, north of Verdun, in Champagne and in the Argonne, and many trench-raids, with persistent and heavy gunfire. One German raid, which failed like the rest, was made...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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f HE Western Front is now snow-bound and operations on a 1 large scale have ceased. The enemy has, however, shown considerable activity along the whole front, making continual...

Last week wo lost by mine or submarine attack thirteen

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large merchantmen over 1,603 tons, three smaller vessels, and a fishing- boat. We had lost in the previous week fourteen large and seven smaller vessels. Eight ships beat off...

THE PAPER SHORTAGE.—We trust that readers of the "Spectator" will

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give definite orders to their newsagents for a copy of the " Spectator" to be reserved for them each week till countermanded.

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The First Lord of the Admiralty, in the House of

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Commons on Thursday week, appealed for more labour for the shipyards. He (raid that the combined output of war vessels and merchantmen built this year would probably equal the...

Signor Orlando, the Italian Premier, in addressing the Chamber last

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week, defined very clearly the position as to war aims. "The Central Powers say that they desire peace, but they keep their peace conditions hidden in a cloud through which one...

The Russian Anarchists signed an armistice with the enemy at

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Brest-Litovsk last Saturday "for bringing about a lasting and honourable peace." It is to endure from Monday last till January 14th, and to continue afterwards until either...

The civil war that began in Southern Russia a fortnight

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ago continues to rage, but as the Anarchists control the Petrograd telegraph agency, no trustworthy news of the fighting is obtainable. It seems, however, that the 'Ukraine...

Mr. Lloyd George made a very able and impressive speech

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at Gray's Inn on Friday week. After a brief reference to Lord Lans- downe's letter, which had, it seemed, been misconstrued as a message of despair, the Prime Minister proceeded...

The Russian elections for the Constituent Assembly have resulted so

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far in a large majority for the Revolutionary Socialists, the party to which M. Kereneky belongs, while many Cadets or Moder- ties have been returned. The Anarchist Council at...

The House of Lords began on Monday to debate the

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Franchise Bill on second reading. Lord Bryce attacked the Woman Suffrage clause. There was, he said, no evidence that the nation wanted it, or that the women wanted it, or that...

The correspondent asks what would happen if the British Chief

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of the General Staff and the British War Cabinet were asked by the Generalissimo to consent to schemes which they could not approve. One has only to imagine the situation that...

The Canadian General Election, held on Monday, resulted in favour

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of the Coalition Government headed by Sir Robert Borden. The Conservative and Liberal candidates supporting the Govern- ment won 70 out of 82 seats in - Ontario and at least SO...

The Prime Minister pleaded for steadiness and sanity. We must

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not be too elated at successes or too downcast over a temporary set- back. The defection of Russia had unquestionably prolonged the war and assisted the enemy. But the entry of...

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Lord Robert Cecil, who closed the debate, said that neither

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he nor any other Minister advocated an economic war after the war. But there was a shortage of raw materials in the world, and if the war was prolonged, the stocks would be...

Mr. Balfour, in the House of Commons on Wednesday, replied

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at length to the Pacificist demand for a re-statement of our war aims. He rebuked Mr. Ponsonby in severe terms for declaring that the chaos in Russia was the result of our...

The question of alien enemies who are still at large

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in this country was raised in the House on Monday by Mr. Joynson-Hicks, who said that there were 13,546 male alien enemies uninterned—namely, 6,820 Germans, 5,609 Austrians, 38...

The King and Queen attended the very impressive Choral Com-

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memoration of the heroic deeds of the First Seven Divisions front Mons to Ypres, held at the Albert Hall last Saturday. Seven hundred men of the Old Army were entertained at the...

Lord. Rhondda, in a speech to the Food Control Committees

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of North London on Tuesday, expressed his disappointment at the failure of the Local Committees to stop the queues of would-be purchasers outside provision-shops, as these...

No one has disputed the statement we made recently that

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Capta in Bowen-Colthurst, who is still in the Criminal Lunatic Asylum at Broadmoor, is being treated worse than the men and non-com- missioned officers who are suffering, as he...

We do not ask that Captain Colthurst should be treated

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better than the men and N.C.O.'e, but we do repeat our appeal that he should not be treated worse. If, as was shown at the time, what Captain Colthurst did he did unwittingly...

Mr. Clynes, on behalf of the Food Controller, told the

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House on Monday that the total consumption of food by the civil population had been greater in 1917 than in 1916, and that the consumption, especially of meat, must be...

Sir Edward Carson, in the House of Commons on Friday

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week, made a vigorous attack on the Pacificists who had objected to a vote for the National War Aims Committee. The Pacificists, he said, were the authors of the Committee. But...

Bank rate, 5 per cent., changed from Di per cent.

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April 5th.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE GOOD FIGHT. T HE events of the past few weeks have undoubtedly been the cause of a good deal of anxiety, not to say despondency. To be abandoned by an Ally, as Great...

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THE MEANING OF THE HEREFORD CONTROVERSY.

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THE dead set which is being made by a group of Church- -I. men against the appointment of Dean Hensley Henson to the bishopric of Hereford is, we hope, being noted and...

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THE OUTPOURING OF PUBLIC MONEY. 1 'IIHE Select Committee on National

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Expenditure have now 1. issued their second Report, and it is a document which deserves far greater attention both from the Press and from the public than apparently it has yet...

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THE HARVEST OF THE SEA.

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A NY one who can suggest a rational method of increasing the nation's food-supplies deserves an attentive hearing. We would therefore direct attention to a most suggestive and...

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COMMON INCAPACITIES.

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91HE mental incapecities so often to be seen in moderately, and even exceedingly, able people are a constant source of surprise to their friends, but only of occasional vexation...

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THE HARMLESS NECESSARY ENGLISH.

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O NE of these days it will happen, we may quite confidently expect: the spirit of Gallic irony will poise a moment over the British Western Front and wing back to Paris gay with...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often snore read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.] -- THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN...

THE " CHURCH TIMES" AND " UNHAPPY HEREFORD: " [To

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me Enrroa or roe " Ehoscuron."1 Ste,—The nomination of the Dean of Durham to the See of Here- ford is a source of satisfaction to wise and of dissatisfaction to foolish...

[To run Emma or THE SPECTATOR.")

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hope I may be allowed the privilege of a few lines of rejoinder to some of your correspondents. Mr. Arnold Lunn desertion my previous letter as "latently personal and most...

THE DEAN OF ST. PAUL'S ON KAISERISAL (To rat Emma

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or Stotcrarmi."3 • SIE,—Sweeping paradoxes have their controversial uses, especially when they contain a stinging core of truth. The Dean takes Kaiserism and says that it is...

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BEER AND BARLEY.

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(To THE EDITOR or THE SPECTATOR:1 Sle,—A few weeks ago I drew attention in the Press to the anomalous state of affairs by which millers were denied the barley that is grown at...

(To THE EDITOR or THE SPECTATOR.") Ste,—In my son's absence

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on his deaf and dumb work, I have attended to his correspondence, and been rejoiced at the interest his letter in your columns seems to have roused. Sines• my retirement, my son...

DEAFNESS.

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(To THE EDITOR or oat SPECTATOR...1 Sin,—The interesting correspondence about deafness which hes appeared lately in your columns originated with a sort of protest against a...

THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURER AND THE FOOD RATIONS.

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[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR:1 • Sin,—Your correspondent Mr. Chealos thinks the agriculture' labourer will find a difficulty in keeping within the allowed breast ration....

WASTE OF HUMAN FOOD.

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(To me Emma or ran " fireceiron."1 Sts,—Every patriotic and sensible person will have read the Prime Minister's speech in the columns of the Times on Saturday last with the...

LT° THE EDITOR OF ran SPECTATOR.") Snt,—I notice one of

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your correspondents stoles ElIDE 110 0110 EMI learn lip-reading who is past youth. I should like earnestly In contradict this, from personal knowledge. 1 have reason to know...

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PROSE AND VERSE CADENCES.

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(To me EDITOR or ens "SPOCIAT011."I Sia,—In your review in the Spectator of December 1st of Mr. Stephen Graham's latest book, the reviewer says: "Some of his most impressive...

"CHRIST IN FLANDERS."

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Pro rat EDITOR or Tat ". SPECTATOR:1 SIR,—In the Spectator of December 8th Mr. C. T. Whitmell makes a communication with regard to the confusion which, he says, exists regarding...

WAR BONDS AND CERTIFICATES AS CHRISTMAS PRESENTS.

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(To THE EDITOR or me " SPECTATOR:1 Sia,—There is no doubt that many people will desire to adopt the suggestion of presenting War Bonds as Christmas presents. Others will wish to...

FRENCH PATRIOTISM.

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(To Tha Enema or no e era-riven "1 Sta,—.T,Jes inspiration of the beautiful French verses of Paul DerouThde, quoted by "II. F." in your issue of December 8th, deserves to be...

THE BRONZE STAR OF 1914.

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ITo rat EDITOR Of SKIS BPECTATOR."3 Sri,—Would it not be a grand bond of union if, when all the Allies give their fighters a token of recognition for the part they played in...

POETRY.

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BABE CHRIST.. (From a Painting by Fi/ItUriCChi0.) HART kneels worshipping the Child she loves, From His sweet touch a pace or two apart, While Saints and Angels in her prayer...

A CLUB FOR YOUNG WAR WORKERS. (To raiz EDITOR or

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Sea " Seccesroa."1 Sza,—Among the many war-time needs is that of a club for the young war workers of Westminster and the West End. They have left their homes very young, and...

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BOOKS.

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TWO IRISH COUSINS.* I•r is just two years since a literary partnership for which no parallel can be found in fiction for its perfect unanimity seas broken by the untimely death...

VOLUNTARY All) DETACHMENTS.* Leommuthsceszol Ox a first glance at Mian

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Thekla Bowser's account of the work of Red Cross and St. John's detachments at home and abroad, the experienced reader will be inclined to take alarm at the lack of _ .... •...

NOTIOE.—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 agree- ment with the views therein expressed or with the...

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THE CHRONICLES OF THE SUNBEAM." , Loan BRAUER'S ' Sunbeam '

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was never a racer, but as a cruising yacht, navigated over the world's seas by her owner and master, she is famous beyond all others of her class. Nearly forty years ago the...

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FICTION.

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CHILDREN OF PASSAGE! MR. FREDERICK Wasson, already revealed as a charming humorist in The Voice of the Turtle, shows rarer qualities in this moving chronicle of the...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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[Notice in Ode column does not necessarily preclude soitssequeal reeled./ GIFT-BOOKS. The thirty-eighth annual volume of Young England (Sunday School Union, 158. net) is a...

AHAnAHLfi NoVols. — In Another Girl's Shoes. By Berta Ruck. (Hodder and

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Stoughton. 984—Though this account of an involun- tary impersonation is not very probable, it is enterta' • g reading. —Cinderella Jane. By Marjorie Benton Cooke. (Jarrolds....

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Thomas Woolner, R.A. By Amy Woolner. (Chapman and Hall,

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net.)--Thomas Woolner the sculptor is remembered mainly as one of the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, in whose magazine the Gum he published his poem, " My Beautiful...

\ COMES or Rarmeximm.—Who's Who, 1918 (A. and C. Black,

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21s. net) makes a prompt appearance, bulkier than ever but quite as accurate. It has been swelled by the inclusion of numerous naval and military biographies, for the editor has...

Bijapur and its Architectural Remains. By Henry Cousens. (Bombay Government

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Press. 61s. 6d.)—This beautiful and scholarly volume is devoted to the wonderful remains of the Mohammedan city of Bijapur, in the plains to the south-east of Bombay. It was the...

The November issue of the New East, edited in Tokyo

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by Mr. J. W. Robertson-Scott, contains some instructive passages from the Japanese newspaper comments on the unofficial French suggestion that Japan should send troops to...