27 JULY 1934

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OFFICES : 99 Gower St., London, W.C. L Tel. :

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MUSEUM 1721. Entered as second-class Mail Matter at the New York, N.Y. Poet O f fice, Dec. 23rd, 1896. Postal subscription 308. per annum, to any part of the world. Postage on...

But the international situation remains in any case gravely aggravated.

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What Germany's direct respon- sibility for Wednesday's events may • be no one knows. Her indirect responsibility is beyond question great, and if the Austrian question is raised...

NEV S OF THE WEEK

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T HE smoke enshrouding Vienna has only begun to roll away as we go to press. But the fact that Ehe Nazi coup has to all appearance failed is of immense importance. The crisis...

What Labour Proposes The Labour Party's new programme is evidence

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that the Party has no intention of letting itself being run away with by the Socialist League. In view of its dependence on the trade unions that is natural enough. Gradualness...

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Control of the Banks The financial and economic programme is

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of quite another order. Broadly the intention is to spend prodi- gally and get the money by drastic taxation of the non- wage-earners. Hours are to be shortened and wages...

The French Crisis Postponed For the second time M. Doumergue

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has saved France from disaster. No one but he could have held the Cabinet together after the Tardieu-Chautemps episode. As it is, though the crisis is only postponed—for all the...

Britain's Historic Houses Some years ago Lord Lothian drew attention

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to the effect of death duties in diminishing or even destroying the power of the agricultural landlord to perform his functions as responsible owner of the land. And now he asks...

Australia Resurgent The figures of the Australian budget are a

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striking indication of the extent and rapidity of Australia's recovery. An anticipated deficit of over .a million has been converted into a surplus of £1,302,000, every, source...

Lancashire and India Though Mr. Churchill contends that his efforts

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on behalf of the Lancashire cotton industry have been " well repaid " any unbiased person reading the official account of the proceedings of the recent meeting of the Manchester...

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More Freedom for Civil Aviation The report of Lord Gorell's

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Committee on the Control of Private Flying recommends a large number of changes with a view to relaxing the tightness of the regulations which have undoubtedly limited...

An Appeal for the Herring The destruction of the herring

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industry would be a calamity for Scotland, but there is no short road to the industry's preservation. There is undoubtedly truth in the allegation that protective tariffs here...

Doctors and Abortion The British Medical Association handled the problem

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of abortion judiciously at its Bolirnemouth meeting on Monday. It recognized that the problem existed, that it was partly medical brit mainly social in character, and that the...

Road and Rail This country and other countries will watch

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with the closest attention the far-reaching experiment in road and rail transport which Sir Felix Pole has recommended to the Government of Northern Ireland, and which has now...

The Commons had a dull week. They put through Mr.

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Elliot's Beef Bill without much demur, and extracted some help for herring fishermen from the Government. Otherwise, the chief debate was a very general appeal on Wednesday,...

The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes ; The

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debate on air expansion in the House of Lords was extremely disappointing, both attack and defence appearing to be perfunctory. Any competent journalist could have written Lord...

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GREAT BRITAIN AND THE AIR L ORD LONDONDERRY believes the Government's

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new air programme will avert a race in armaments. Lord Cecil and other of the Government's critics believe the inevitable effect of the programme will be to promote such a race....

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PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1

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TN the brief period since his dramatic escape from 1 prison nine months ago, John Dillinger, having beaten most of the records in his own department of crime, seems likely to...

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I am inclined to think that Lord Rothermere's decision to

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withdraw his patronage from the British Union of Fascists will affect Sir Oswald Mosley's prospects con- siderably, for while on the one hand the vast amount of free publicity,...

In connexion with the Slave Emancipation Centenary luncheon which I

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mentioned in this column last week, I hear, incidentally, of another slavery celebration of much personal interest. As many of the descend- ants of the Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton...

With all apologies to the medical profession, I pass on

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an anecdote—whose truth I can confidently vouch for —going to emphasize the extent of the depression in America. An undertaker in a substantial way of business appealed to a...

I always find a considerable fascination in works of reference,

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in spite of a certain lack of continuity which marks them. And having lately suffered a sustained bombardment by questionnaires issued on behalf of a new work known as The...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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T HE atmosphere in London on Wednesday evening when the first news of the Vienna coup came through was charged with sinister , reminiscence. Everyone was already thinking of...

I hear that the arrangements for the celebration of the

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twenty-fifth anniversary of the accession of King George, which coincides with his seventieth birthday, are already well advanced. There will be a state procession and a...

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DOCTORS AND THE _ RIGHT TO KILL

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By HARRY ROBERTS A FEW weeks ago, a patient of mine, having shaken hands, - handed me a note. He had, for several days, been reduced to this method of communication, the...

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AN INTERNATIONAL AIR POLICE

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By PIERRE COT [At. Cot was Minister for Air in four successive French Governments.] T HE peoples of Europe are beginning to take note of the perils in which air warfare may...

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REHOUSING AND ITS PITFALLS

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BY R. C. K. ENSOR I N the year 1912 the London County Council had on its hands a property of 226 acres (177 in one con- tinuous piece) known as the White Hart Lane Estate,...

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WALKERS AND STALKERS IN THE HIGHLANDS

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By JANET ADAM SMITH T HE encouragement now being given to walkers and climbers in Scotland by the quick spread of the Youth Hostel movement is bringing again into prominence...

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FLIGHT TO CHINCHOW

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By PETER FLEMING E wore a thick black suit, a stiff collar, and a felt hat. He was a short, sturdy man, and there was a sort of sulkiness about his face which made it rather...

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ORGANISIERTE FREUDE

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[VON EINEM DEUTSCHEN KORRESPONDENTEN] IE D " Deutsche Arbeitsfront " (DAF) hat sich eine nationalsozialistische Gemeinschaft (NSG) - Kraft durch Freude " angegliedert, die den-...

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STAGE AND SCREEN The Theatre

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Evanv generation has The Sign of the Cross it deserves, but Mr. Drinkwater's version has suffered a little from the time-lag. Although this story of a Jewish family in...

The Cinema

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"The House of Connelly." At the Re g al FOR some time nothing at all unfamiliar happens in this picture. Its setting is Carolina, and the Southern States, on the screen, are...

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Art

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The End of the Season Exruarrroxs rather lose their attraction as the season closes. I say (3e9ibitions, not pictures. It is perhaps almost more interesting to look at pictures...

Music Naming No Names

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IT was no fault of circumstances, of dismal surroundings, bad weather or ill-cooked food, that gave rise to this dis- gruntlement. Having motored in ideal weather through some...

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What Bird ?

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A very strange bird is abroad in Hertfordshire. Several good observers have watched it closely, and no one has any idea of its style and title. It is about the size of a jay and...

The Lure of an Owl As strange a device as

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ever was borne by a banner has just been introduced into England. It is a habit of gamekeepers in Czecho-Slovakia, the paradise of the partridge, to keep a pair or two of eagle...

COUNTRY LIFE

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Saved ! Few men have been so roundly abused (by urban critics) or done so much good to England as the country landowners. They vary, and the demand for feudal deference is not...

Land-saving Trees Our eyes might well be turned to California

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for another reason than a longshore strike, though the reason is also longshore. One of the little promontories on the coast there is a locus classicus for the work of trees in...

* * *

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The Greedy Squirrel A similar plea cannot perhaps be made on behalf of imported harpies, such as the little owl and the grey squirrel, though both are attractive. An astonishing...

A Various Diet

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The grey squirrel, as we all know, is almost omnivorous ; but its fondness for grain has been little noticed in England. It was certainly not known by the Duke of Bedford when...

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An Afforestation Scheme It does not, I imagine, give away any secret to say that conversations, if not negotiations, are proceeding between politicians (or should I say...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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[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...

THE VICTIMS OF INDUSTRIAL ASSURANCE To the Editor of THE

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SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The article entitled "The Victims of Industrial Assurance," contributed by Mr. W. E. Mashford, to your issue of July 13th, gives such a biased, misleading and...

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" DOGS OF WAR " [To the Editor of THE

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SPECTATOR.] SIR,— Although I heartily dislike putting critics in their places, there are some forms of insult which cannot be passed over in silence. Professor Alfred Zimmern...

SPEEDING UP IN THE MINES [To the Editor of THE

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SPECTATOR.] SIR, —Mr. Brierley's article in your issue of July 6th gives a hopelessly distorted view of the conditions in the coal-mining industry. That the industry is...

BIRTH CONTROL ADVICE [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.

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SIR,—I am afraid that your correspondent, Mr. T. Magnus Wechsler is far too optimistic in thinking that not a single Local Authority can be cited which does not provide for con-...

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THE GOVERNMENT'S SHIPPING POLICY

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Everybody connected with the sea will agree with Mr. W. H. Coombs of the Officers' Merchant Navy Federation Ltd., who in his timely and...

LEGISLATION FOR ANIMALS

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I trust that before closing this correspondence you will allow me to reply to my critics. Since Mr. Coleridge brings in the personal note...

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TITHE [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-The Government's recent

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Tithe Bill was condemned by all the tithepayers' organizations. In these circumstances it is difficult to understand why, on June 15th, you described it as " a compromise...

An Unpublished Fragment

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By Isaac Rosenberg [The following fragmentary draft of a poem was written by the poet Isaac Rosenberg, one afternoon in 1914, at Camp's Bay, near Capetown, while he was on a...

A Broadcasting Calendar

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FRIDAY, JULY z7th 17.40 Here and There : Stephen King-Hall on the week's news zo.00 Organ Recital : Thalben Ball from Broadcasting House .. 20.40 A Japanese Dinner Party :...

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The Old School

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By E. M. FORSTER SUPPOSE me a schoolmaster, called (say) Mr. Herbert Pembroke, and I have a boarding-house in the imaginary public school of Sawston. My day's work is over, my...

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The Slavery of Mark Twain

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By SEAN O'FAOLAIN SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS died in 1910 with a reputation, and a fame, equalled only by such writers as Dickens and Shaw. Mr. Kipling thought of him as " great...

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The Unconquerable Fantastic THIS is an extremely interesting biography, from

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two points of view : firstly because Lady Hester herself is such a gloriously fascinating person, and secondly because the book raises so many problems in the art of biography....

I can speke lewedly to a le-wed

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man " Geoffrey Chaucer. By John Livingston Lowes. (Oxford University Press. 8s. 8d.) " No holder of an academic chair ever exerted himself with more benevolent solicitude to...

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The Future of Medicine THE science of medicine, like social

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politics, is passing through a revolutionary phase, the pace of its movement being appreci- ated by but few of its official exponents. Nothing in this world is static ; but the...

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The Chinese Complex

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Children of the Yellow Earth. By J. Gunnar Andersson. (Kogan Paul. 25s.) Chinese Testament. By S. Tretiakov. (Gollancz. 8s. 6d.) Da. ANDERSSON began his career as an expert...

The Skinners

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The Records of the Skinners of London, Edward I to James I. Compiled and Edited by John James Lambert, of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law, Clerk to the Worshipful Company of...

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Indian Economics

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VOLUME I of India Analysed suffered from an ingrained " gormlessness," bumbling on in generalities. The series continues rather like a meeting with a bad chairman. Some- one...

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Fiction

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BY GRAHAM GREENE bias. MILLER'S novel has won the Pulitzer Prize for 1934 ; the prize - giving has even less literary significance than our own Hawthornden high-jinks at the...

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THE STATESMAN'S YEAR BOOK

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Edited by Dr. M. Epstein The Statesman's Year Book (Macmillan, 20s.), which this year celebrates its seventieth birthday, needs no commendation at this date. At the same time...

Finance

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The Investor's Plight . " FOR more than a year I have been refraining from investing my balance at the bank, expecting that Govern- ment stocks must decline, and instead they...

Current Literature

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CONVERSATIONS •WITH - NAPOLEON III Edited by Sir Victor Wellesley and R. Sencourt. This collection of letters (Benn, 21s.) has a certain interest— particularly for the period...

THE ROMAN FORT AT GADDER By John Clarke The study

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of Antonine's Wall from Forth to Clyde, which Sir George Macdonald revived in our day, is carried a further stage to completion in Mr. John Clarke's admirable monograph on The...

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* * * *

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SOME GOOD OIL REPORTS. The latest reports of the Mexican Eagle Oil Company and of the Canadian Eagle Oil Company are of a satisfactory character. In the case of the Mexican...

Financial Notes

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HorEria, MARKETS. CONSIDERING that we are now virtually at the height of the holiday season the Stock Markets, though quiet, are pre. senting a very cheerful appearance, and if...

No FUR.NESS Wrruv DIVIDEND.

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For something like forty-one years Furness Withy have had a continuous record of dividends on the Ordinary shares and it is significant of the effect of the protracted...

GOLD FIELDS RHODESIAN.

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It must not be supposed that the rise in the sterling price of gold is the only influence responsible for the strength of Gold Mining shares, for profit results are also proving...

PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE.

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It is always satisfactory to be able to record the occasions when the first report of a public company fulfils the forecasts of the prospectus. Such is the case as regards the...