27 APRIL 1918

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The Admiralty had previously reported that on the night of

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Wednesday in last week our Monitors bombarded Ostend and the coast batteries. On Saturday last our light forces operating in the Bight of Heligoland sighted enemy light forces,...

It was on Monday night, the eve of St. George's

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Day, that the Navy made its raid on Zeebrugge and Ostend, under the direction of Vice-Admiral Roger Keyes, commanding at Dover. The p!an was to sink five obsolete cruisers...

While the enemy's attention was thus drawn to the head

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of the Mole, which is well over a mile long, the three block-ships, piloted by motor-boats and launches, entered the harbour and steered straight for the entrance to the Bruges...

That the old cruisers were able to steam close inshore

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before they were sighted by the enemy, was due to the use of smoke screens on a very large scale. Commander Brock, under whose direction the coast from Zeebrugge to Ostend was...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE Navy haacome altogether into its own again. The details of the gloriously daring naval enterprise at Zeebrugge and Ostend have taught the nation to remember—what it was...

The enemy suspended his attacks for a few days in

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Flanders and east of Amiens, and the Allies took the opportunity of improving their lines by email local enterprises. The most important of these was a French advance in the...

On the Flanders front, the enemy on Thursday week made

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a reso- lute attempt to break our lines on his left or southern flank between Givenchy and St. Venant. He used six divisions, but his repeated attacks failed with extremely...

An account of the Zeebrugge affair published in the Daily

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Chronicle recorded that when our Marines and bluejackets landed on the Zeebrugge Mole, the Germans almost with one accord cried out : " The Americans have come !—the Yankees...

THE PAPER SHORTAGE.

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TO OUR READERS.—The shortage of paper has obliged us to adopt the policy, already adopted by many of our contemporaries, of refusing to allow the " Spectator " to be on sale...

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On the remainder of the Western Front, the chief ineident

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avas a determined German attack on a sector of the line east of St. Mihiel, in the Woevre, held by French and American troops. Last Satur- day the enemy, after -a heavy...

On Wedneeday morning, after a night of heavy gunfire, the

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enemy resumed the offensive on the.Amiens front. He attacked the British lines south of the Somme, and the French to their right on the Luce and Avre as far as the ridges west...

On 'Tuesday by far the greater part of Ireland was

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given over to a public holiday as a protest against Conscription. On that same day the Six-County area of •Ulster, in which is a virtually homo- geneous Unionist and...

The situation in Ireland is very far from promising, but

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this was only to be expected after the- Government, for reasons which we do not pretend wholly to penetrate, decided to give the insurgent Irish a long notice of ' the intention...

No Sinn Feiner wants any fantastic system of Federalism. He

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wants practical independence. So, at prevent, do the Nationalists. In spite of Mr. Lloyd George's denial that Conscription and the grant of 'Home Rule are in any way dependent...

We implore the Government, before they proceed in their policy

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of combining Home Rule with Conscription to a point at which retreat will become impossible, to consider most anxiously the meaning of the grave fact that the Roman Catholic...

Some of the leaders of the Roman Catholic clergy, at

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a preliminary meeting, pledged themselves to every opposition to Conscription that might be " consistent with -the law of God." But the official manifesto of the Hierarchy...

The withdrawal of the Nationalist Members of ' Parliament from

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Westminster is characteristically clever. No doubt they think .that since they repudiate all responsibility for what happens at Westminster, nobody will be able to say...

The Lord Mayor of Dublin has been requested to go

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to Washington and present a statement on behalf of Ireland to President Wilson. If he should do this, we hope and- believe that he will get much more than he gives. President...

The Admiralty has discontinued the weekly return of losses by

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mine or submarine, and will publish monthly the figures of the gross tonnage of merchantmen lost by enemy action or marine risk, and of the Railings to and from the kingdom. The...

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The total expenditure for the current year, Mr. Bonar Law

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said, was estimated at £2,972,197,000. The Votes of Credit, covering the expenses of the war, were estimated at £2,550,000,000, as compared with the £2,403,000,000 actually...

Mr. Bonar Law announced that the normal rate of Income

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Tax would be raised from five to six shillings in the pound on incomes of more than £500. The married taxpayer with an income not exceeding £800 would be allowed an abatement...

The Spirit Duty, Mr. Bonar Law went on to say,

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would be raised from 14s. 9d. to 30s. a gallon, increasing the revenue this year by £10,500,000, and £11,150,000 in a full year. The Beer Duty would be doubled, making it 50s....

The revenue for the past year, Mr. Bonar Law said,

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had exceeded the estimates in every branch. He expected £638,600,000 ; he received £707,235,000. The Income Tax and Super Tax yielded /239,500,000—£15.500,000 above the...

Mr. Bonar Law went on to say that the revenue

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for 1918-19, on the existing basis of taxation, would yield £774,250,000, of which £200,000,000 would come from Excess Profits Duty. He proposed to raise £67,800,000 by new...

The Report of the Conference on Second Chamber Reform was

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published in Thursday's papers, in the form of a letter from the Chairman, Lord Bryce, to the Prime Minister. Writing on Thursday, we have no time to form an opinion of the...

The nation's realizable assets to be set against the mountain

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of Debt, Mr. Bonar Law estimated, might be valued at £1,172,000,000. This sum included £375,000,000 for commodities to be resold ; £17,000,000 for land, buildings, and ships...

Mr. Bonar Law introduced the Budget on Monday, dealing easily

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with the colossal figures to which all of us are now accustomed, though few can realize their meaning. The actual expenditure for 1917-18 was £2,696,221,000 ; the actual...

In disclosing his new taxes, Mr. Bonar Law urged that

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taxation must not cripple industry and stop the flow of money into the War Loan, and that taxation must be just and fair. He would not increase the Excess Profits Duty because...

Bank rate, 5 per cent., changed from 51 .per cent.

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April 5,1917.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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THE TRUE NAVAL SPIRIT. 1 1HE naval enterprises at Zeebrugge and Ostend were glorious in spirit and action, and the influences they spread are bound to be far-reaching and...

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NEO-FEDERALISM AND THE IRISH IMBROGLIO.— QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS.

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I S it not a fact that the Sinn Feiners controlled the majority of Irish constituencies, even before their absorption of the Nationalists owing to Conscription ? Is it not...

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THE BUDGET.

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W E have so frequently criticized the inadequacy of Mr. Bonar Law's first Budget that we welcome with the more enthusiasm his second effort. Apart from certain details to which...

The Spectator believes in and supports Federalism for the Empire

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because we wish to draw the States that compose the Empire closer together. We do not believe in Federalism for the United Kingdom because we think that the Central State of the...

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THE ATTACKS ON MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN.

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W E are not sure that the attacks in the Press on Mr. Austen Chamberlain have not been the worst in the long series of attacks upon public men. We mean worst in motive and in...

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l'HE PEACE OF 1NDIA.—L S INCE the cataclysm of the great

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Mutiny, which for a time threatened the collapse of British Rule, Indian affairs have received far too little consideration in this country. We have not sufficiently regarded,...

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BOBBIE.

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T T is one thing to have a little girl to look after, and another to take charge of a biggish boy even for a short time. That is what the lone woman living under a small section...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs arc often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which treble the space.] THE LATE MR. HENRY ADAMS. [TO THE...

A FIRM HAND FOR IRELAND.

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[TO THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Your suggestion that Sir William Robertson should be sent to Ireland to control the country during the enforcement of Con-...

THE LICHNOWSKY DISCLOSURES.

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[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") Sur, — I have read the article in the Spectator on the Lichnowsky matter as well as several others. They one and all strike me as being...

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") Six,—It is impossible to

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accept Mr. Eggar's explanation of sunken roads, inasmuch as, apart from the extreme improbability cf watercourses being chosen for roads, storm water does not take the easiest...

[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") Sia,—Allow me to

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quote a passage from Herbert Spencer's Auto- biography (Vol. II., p. 321), which stands in connexion with the question : "How happens it that in hilly counties such as Devon-...

THE SUNKEN ROADS OF THE SOMME.

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[To THE Minos or THE " SPECTATOR.") Sra,—Major Stuart Love, R.E., in his letter re above published in the Spectator of March 23rd, assumes that " the gullies which contain...

GREAT BRITAIN AND AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. [To ewe Berme or me "

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SPaCtATOR.") Sia,—May I join your correspondent "S. B." in thanking you for your right attitude towards the problem of Austria-Hungary throughout the war ? In my opinion,...

TITHE REDEMPTION.

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[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPZCTATOR."] Sza,—Any one concerned with the collection of tithe will agree as to the desirability of redemption, but your correspondent " A Layman in...

GREAT BRITAIN IN 1817: A BUDGET LESSON. [To THE EDITOR

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OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Sia,—I feel that some of your readers may be cheered by a perusal of the f011oWing reflections culled from a work I lately reviewed in detail elsewhere...

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IN AID OF THE SICK AND WOUNDED. [To THE EDITOR

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OP THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—I should be greatly obliged if you would let it be known that I- have Alpine and herbaceous plants in large quantities for sale this spring for...

SIR, — May I add two more to the list of "howlers

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"? In the Junior Shall its remembrance stab _with s helves Grade of a school in Queen's County, which I attended some years-s- The heart of Rosaleen ? ago, we were reading Le...

[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Of Septimus mihi

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Originum libel- est in manibus the fol- lowing eight renderings were given in one examination, according to Prebendary Moss, formerly Head-Master of Shrewsbury : (1) " Septimus,...

SUGAR BEET AS FOOD.

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[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") Sza,--" 0. V. C." asks the best way of utilizing sugar beet as food. It is not-useful as a food unless half one in a curry, but it is very...

AN AUTHOR WANTED.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Sor,—The lines quoted by your correspondent in the Spectator of March 30th come from a song called "Life," set to music by the late...

POETRY.

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IRELAND IN "EIGHTEEN." "Who fears to speak of Ninety - eight ? " — J. K. INGRAM (1840. " Wno fears to speak of Ninety-eight ? " Was once her poet's cry. A sterner question,...

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—A few days

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since I saw painted on the wall of a hotel at Arles : "Hotel du Midi. Southern Hotel. Every Comfortability." In former years the best-known hotel in Venice used to have a notice...

INTERVALS.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") gin,—The following lines met with by chance many years ago charmingly express the pith of your most interesting article :— " The...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—As a cleric

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who does not receive tithes, may I be permitted to call " A Layman in Khaki's" attention to the fact that tithe used - to be paid in kind, and that it was arranged when it was...

FARM TENANCIES.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") have read with interest the letter of Mr. Arthur C. Dowding, with which I cordially agree. Surely, at the present time, when the tenant...

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

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BOOKS.

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THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME.* SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, in the third volume of his excellent history of the war, is mainly concerned with the battle of the Somme. His account of that...

A POET'S PILGRIMAGE.*

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MR. DAVIES'S pilgrimage, almost entirely on foot, began in Car- marthenshire, extended through South Wales, and was continued in England at Chippenham, whence he walked to...

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-ARMY MEDICAL BOOKS.*

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FaerreE, " in all - great arts famed," understands better than any country of the world how to write books of medicine and surgery. Our country comes next in Order of merit :...

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THE PRIVATEERS OF RHODE ISLAND.*

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NaartecAxsErr Bay, of which Bristol, Rhode Island, is the chief town, claims to be the Vinland of the Norse Sagas, and in later ages to have been a prolific nursery of slave...

FICTION.

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JAMESIE.• Ix writing this sequel to Hatchways, the principal characters in which reappear after an interval of seven years, Miss Sidgwick has varied her method of...

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SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent resigns.] The Quarterly Review for April opens with a frank and interest- ing article on " Eton : the Old and...

The Development of Rates of Postage. By A. D. Smith.

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(Allen and Unwin. 16s. net.)—Mr. Smith's elaborate study of postal rates, not merely in Great Britain but on the Continent and in America, is specially interesting in view of...

The Petition of Right. By Frances Helen Relf. (Minneapolis :

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University of Minnesota. 75 cents.)—This valuable essay by an American scholar, who has already done good work on the reign of Charles I., throws an entirely new light on the...

Paris through an Attic. By A. Herbage Edwards. (J. M.

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Dent and Sons. 6s. net.)—Two students, a man and a girl, having a capital of £140, decided to marry and pursue their post-graduate studies at the Sorbonne for two years. This...

A Guide to the Representation of the People Act, 1918.

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By A. 0. Hobbs and F. G. Ogden. (Butterworth. 8s. 6d. net.)—This'reprint of the new Franchise Law, with a full commentary and index and the various Orders of the Local...

The Dawn of Mind. By Margaret Drummond, M.A. (Edward Arnold.

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3s. 6d. net.)—Miss Drummond's book is a fascinating study of the psychology of babies and little children. Though the little volume is written from a scientific• standpoint,...

READABLE NOVELS.—Jess of the River. By Theodore Good- ridge Roberts.

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(John Long. 6s. net.)—A rather attractively in- genuous tale of Canadian adventure—for the reader who is not ashamed to take pleasure in the speckle and flicker of the eine-...

From Bapaume to Passchendaele, 1917. By Philip Gibbs. (W. Heinemann.

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Os. net.)/tlany people will be glad to have this reprint of the letters which Mr. Gibbs, as the Daily Chronicle's war correspondent, sent from the front last year, describing...

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The Science of Power. By Benjamin Kidd. (Methuen and Co.

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Cs. net.)—Admirers of the,-,late Mr. Kidd's Social Evolution will welcome the piesent volume, which is concerned with further aspects of the same problems. Very briefly, his...