of 1875, and establish a fixed Debt charge of £355,000,000 a year. This would extinguish the . whole Debt, internal and external, in fifty:years. Savings in interest would be...

new and simplified form which omits the so-called " self-balancing " items for the Post Office, the Road Fund and the Sinking Fund expenditure. Estimates framed with the same...

that it would yield £3,250,000. Income Tax, according to his estimate, would yield £15,500,000 less than last, year. He proposed a new tax of 4d. a gallon on petrol_ and...

Budget on Tuesday surpassed his achievement of last year. Then he did a number of conjuring tricks, and the appreciation of the singular skill with which he performed them was...

in last year's finances, but, although under-estimates of expenditure had been saved by windfalls, he must also claim credit for £10,500,000 " clawed_ back" from the...

London, W.C.2.—A Subscription to the SPECTATOR costs Thirty Shillings per annum, including postage, to any part of the world. The SpRarATon is registered as a Newspaper. The...

their draft in a hurry in order to impress that part of the French electorate which thinks that M. Briand has been careless of French safety. If that be so, it may be hoped that...

Local Government Bill on such a scale as had not been attempted since .1888. In fine the aim is " larger rating areas and lower rates." It is obvious that the whole of the Poor...

picture of the conditions which cried out for rating reform. A six- teenth-century system had been fastened upon twentieth- century industries. Although the cost of living had...

be considered side by side with Mr. Kellogg's draft. It contains all the reservations that were expected. The Pact is not to affect the right of " legitimate defence ", within...

Bulgarian shocks lasted several days. The larger part of the city of Philippopolis was wrecked, and there alone about 8,000 houses are said to be uninhabit- able. From many of...

of approaching the American proposal in this spirit. The French reservations have clearly estranged Washington because it is felt that they reveal a tendency to make...

Government at last to fuse the Treasury notes with the Bank of England notes. The Bank of England will be authorized to issue 11 and 10s. notes, and when this is done the...

Chinese Christian General, was desperately entangled and unable to carry out his project of marching on Peking. The latest news, however, indicates that it is the Southern, not...

from the • Foreign Office, which was demanded after the " Francs " case, would not be accepted. Mr. O'Malley would be allowed to return after a year with a serious loss of...

at the age of ninety-six. It was difficult to believe that one whom much younger men found invidiously strong and active till quite recently was a member of Lord Russell's...

a free vote on the scale of expenditure which is to be allowed under the new Franchise Bill. A change is obviously necessary, as the present scale is fixed at so much a - head...

Prime Minister was asked questions about " contri- butions to the Press " by Lord Birkenhead and Mr. Churchill. It was suggested that these contributions violated . the embargo...

more than 2,000 miles across the ice from Alaska to Spitzbergen, was amazing. They were not much more than twenty hours in the air, but they were storm-bound on an island for...

object to such serial publication as a " contribution to the Press," though he might take exception to another article by Lord Birkenhead which was perhaps an " error of...

been received by the Prime Minister, and is sure to have a great and perhaps a decisive influence upon the policy of the Government. The Lee Commis- sion proposed to retain...

on April 21st, 1927. War Loan (5 per cent.) was on Wednesday 1001} x.d. ; on Wednesday week 102f ; a year ago 102*. Funding Loan (4 per cent.) was on Wednesday 91 ; on Wednesday...

N OTHING comparable with Mr. Churchill's Budget for range and significance has been produced since Mr. Lloyd George's Budget of 1909. Mr. Lloyd George chaotically embedded in...

which took place last Sunday have put M. Poincare in a most promising position. It seems almost certain that he will return to power with a large majority, and it may be that at...

IV.—Prohibition (Continued) I T would be a mistake to suppose that a body of reformers all thinking alike were able to sweep public opinion off its feet in order to introduce...

A Producers' Policy A PACKED House assembled on Tuesday to hear Mr. Churchill inaugurate a Producers' Policy which must now be regarded as the basis of the Unionist Party's...

T HE first open-air school was established in a pine wood near Charlottenburg. It was a sort of hospital school for delicate children who were unable, on account of physical...

to say X that there is no longer any conflict between Science and Religion. On the other hand, in a recent volume which, for all its brilliance, is comprehended only too...

T HE Spectator and the London Zoo, if we may apply the word to years not days, are twins. They were both born in 1828, the Zoo, whose birthday falls this week, on April 27th,...

walls, and their green floors whose pattern changes as one dominant - flower succeeds another, are a new feature of the English landscape. They are new, that is to say, compared...

[Tun NAPOLEON FILM. AT THE GAUMONT PALACE, PARIS] A vuuT to the Gaumont Palace in Paris is an experience. It is said to be the largest cinema in Europe, if not in the world, and...

Tan great success of the Valkyrie records (His Master's Voice) has been well deserved. Doubtless those who own the larger types of gramophone will hear this performance to the...

Child Welfare - [Dame Rachel Crowdy, with her varied international activities, hirdlY needs an introduction" to readers of this – page. No one knows more of Child Welfare, her...

How often those whom we think to be enemies prove friends or at the worst harmless, when knowledge increases : tout connaitre c'est tout pardonncr. Dr. Collinge has proved the...

Many years ago a thoughtful little book was written, by a Times correspondent, called The Transition in Agriculture:, A good deal of it was merely descriptive, but the...

Pessimists on farming in England during the last . year or two seem to have turned a deaf ear and a blind eye tp the very salient success of many small-holders. Evidence of this...

small fruit, peaches, plums, and pears, and to very early potatoes. One of the plants that rather surprisingly suffered greatly in appearance, though not so much in reality, was...

Too few people realize how numerous the small-holdings are. Agricultural distress has been greatest in the Eastern Counties ; but it has not submerged the Cambridge small-...

One grower of fruit whom I used to visit in the neighbour- hood of Evesham kept by his bed an alarum connected to a thermometer. As soon as the temperature fell well below...

DEFEATING SPRING FROSTS. The recurrence in the Aprils of '27 and '28 of a succession of hard frosts and cold winds has revived interest in methods of protecting blossoms, just...

- Cut foliage can be saved from frost in other ways. The leaf dies and blackens solely because it cannot take up moisture, not because its tissues are torn by the actual frost....

the SPECTATOR.] Sui,—I write to correct an error made by your correspondent Mr. H. T. Wilkins in the article which you printed on April 14th. With his views on the proposed...

Sm,—Our attention has been drawn to a letter in your issue of April 14th from the Secretary of the National Farmers' Union. While we do not wish to take up your space for any...

correspondent " Conscience Stricken" uses the stock Free Trade argument to attack the slogan " Buy British Goods," and writes as follows :— " The writer, as a convinced Free...

I addressed to you on April 5th, and you kindly published, I contradicted emphatically the allegation that we suggested to the B.B.C. that " all talks on agriculture should be...

the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I am very glad that you have taken up with such energy and earnestness the Housing Question in London. We who have known the facts have tried...

the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —The great Castle at Durham is in imminent danger of falling into irreparable ruin. This fact, recently revealed, should be a matter of grave public...

your leading article , on this subject in last week's issue you refer to Sir John Simon's statement that the prospect of a boycott is not so formidable as it was. I recently...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—If any strength is left in the boycott movement it will fritter away dining the next six months, because the whole movement is based on...

" Pernickety " correspondent is really merely " pernickety " in his use of English preposi- tions. But while disregarding most of what he says I should like to take him to task...

Sin,—The article in your issue of April 14th, " Death by Misadventure," reminds me of two curious accidents I read of in two newspapers, several years ago. The first occurred...

SPECTATOR.] Sin„,--There may be a large number of golfers who fi nd it difficult to combine church-going on Sundays with their game, and many of these may not wish to cut...

Srn,—It will be of interest to many Spectator readers to learn that the Homecroft movement launched in these columns has been so far successful that it is about to enter upon...

SIR,—Under the heading " An Emperor in Exile," page 537 of the Spectator, which is regularly read in my family, I note a remark in answer to a complaint made by the Emperor's...

Sia,—As in past years at this season, I ask you to let me appeal for sunlight. Your readers have been generous in the past, and sound constructive and preventive reasons can be...

WE printed recently a -letter under this heading, from Mr. J. M. Liddell, Alberta, Canada, in which the writer mentioned a preparation used in Canada for ridding fowls of...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Would you kindly permit me to inquire through your columns about the portrait of Lord Monteagle, to whom the anonymous letter was sent...

Two Cuckoo Poems THE WANDERING CUCKOO WHILE sap runs out glad signals to the year And every budded tree looks brave again, In our far glens, when cuckoos talk I hear Blue...

THE flowers of Spring Are opening Their lovely eyes ; The little birds With warbling words Again refresh the skies ; Again the cuckoo cries From far and near With challenge...

5s.)—a charming collection of verse and prose fragments brought together by Lady Grey of Fallodon—refer to the book as an anthology, but surely no anthology was ever quite so...

Life must be well known to our readers. The second volume of English Homes is no exception to their high standard. Mr. Avray Tipping and Mr. Christopher .Hussey. have excelled...

is weighty and varied. Mr. Geoffrey Ellis, M.P., in " Coal, Power, and Industry," explains the true causes of the coal crisis—namely, over-production and unremunerative prices—...

roles is that of the wife of a creative genius. It involves a lifelong playing of second fiddle ; that is, if she intends to remain by his side. It means also a constant...

by Herr Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the foremost' authority on German literature. Nor can there fie any doubt that his m ake Lesebuch (Bremer Presse, Muni c h,' m 14 marks) will ake...

some of the Prime Minister's recent speeches under the title of Our heritage (Hodder and Stoughton, 12s. 6d.). The hasty newspaper reader will probably be surprised to find how...

by Mr. A. P. Herbert (Methuen, 8s. 6d.), as "a soldier's tale cut in stone to melt all hearts," admirably describes this remarkable novel founded on fact. It is the story—we arc...

DURING the past month the -books most in demand at- " The rimes Book Club " have been :- FICTION : Keeping Up Appearances, by Rose Macaulay ; Ashenden, or The British Agent, by...

Competition" will be found on pages 654 and 658) .

a regular feature of the Spectator, has had to be held • over this week. * * *

America. By ilendrili Loon.' (Harr* 10s. 6d.) Commodore Vanderbilt. By Arthur D. Howden Smith. (Philip Allan. 21e.) To read Professor Van Loon's swift and rollicking book is...

The War GUM. By H; W: Wilson. (Sampson Low. 21s.) It is an historic fact that Austria and Germany began the World War. Austria deClared war on Serbia, Germany declared war In...

James the Second, By.Hilaire BelloC. (Faber and Gwyer. 15s.) Ma. BELLOC'S Catholicism is so all-pervading a passion that his history often seems to degenerate into special...

New Economics. By George P. Auld, Former Accountant-General of the Reparations Com- mission. With Foreword by Rufus C. Dawes. (G. Allen and Unwin. 10s. 6d.) Tax scheme for the...

Memories. By Harry Preston. (Constable. 15s.) " Ax hotel is a swing door through which all the world walks," writes Mr. Preston—" princes and peers, and men-and-women-...

as the able, if sometimes unconventional, ambassador of his great country. But Colonel George Harvey was known as publicist and author long before he turned diplomat. He has...

Men with and without Women Therese. By Francois Mauriac. Translated by Eric Sutton. (Martin Seeker. 68.) Kai-Lung Unrolls His Mat. By Ernest Bramah. (The Richards Press. 7s....

Miss MARJORIE BOWEN'S new book is written with all her accustomed skill ; it is well documented, picturesquely expreased,. the story, in each . case, well told. Perhaps she...

The Future of Life : A Theory of Vitalism. By C. E. M. Joad. (Putnams. 6s.) EVERY theory of the universe has its own price. Mr. Joad, in his persuasive exposition of Vitalism,...

about Octavia is its old-fashioned and ingenuous air. The characters are thoroughly and even heavily described ; and, though the date is a little indefinite (they argue about...

6d.)—This exceedingly long novel describes the family life of a boy destined to become the leader of the United States. He is born when his mother is fifty-three and all his...

Loos is a genius. She has made two continents laugh. She has written a play that is not a play, which yet draws London—a feat when we remember that part of the attraction of her...

something reminiscent of Miss Edith Wharton in this sympathetic study of a Southern widow, resident, with her two daughters and her sister, in New York. The mothell brought up...

pious souls for the last three centuries. His Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations are unaffected by time or fashion's whim. We may hope therefore to be excused by hiS many...

with a full account of recent developments and many concrete examples of its working in practice, as presented in an admir- able book, short enough to be read at a sitting, and...

(Continued from page 647.) 'The fun of " throwing a monkey-wrench into the works " is a prerogative of youth, and on that score we might excuse Mr. R. M. Fox for writing The...

critical episode in the ICing's career has been thoroughly investigated by Mr. Edward B. Powley, in The English Navy in the Revolution of 1688 (Cambridge University Press. 12s....

notable articles on America. Mr. George Peel considers " The Economic Impact of America " by no means so alarmini as some people think, and Mr. W. A. Hirst points out that "...

of Pilate. There was the simple mediaeval view, of which the name of Mount Pilatus stands as a permanent witness. There have been the more subtle modern delineations of Anatole...

Forrester's historicaj biography, Louis XIV. (Methuen, 10s. 6d.), is that it goes with a swing from beginning to end. The writer quotes no ro authorities, accepts doubtful...

the Riviera (2s. 6d.) for the growing from seed of a wealth of sweet-scented and exotic-coloured flowers, from freesias to zinnias, from mignonette to nemesias. There is no...

of April 21st is concerned with sunlight treatment in the home. - The doctors who write for it emphasize the fact that ultra-violet radiation is not a cure-all and that the...

contribution froin " A Spinster on a holiday,"' for £1 to the children of the Rhondda Valley, which we have forwarded WY E, gsfk, blaes-yr-haf, Trealaw.

of the Pacific (John Lane, 8s. 6d.) gave the price as 15s. instead of 8s. 6d. * * * *

An Industrial Budget MR. WINSTON CHURCHILL'S fourth Budget is likely to be a fruitful topic of conversation in industrial and financial circles for some time to come, and,...

FAVOURABLE MARKET FACTORS. WRITING on the eve of a Budget which promises to be More than usually interesting, it would, .perhaps,' be rash to say that the financial barometer...

A further faiuurable point in the market 'Outlook, so far, at all events ; as gilt-edged securities. ,are concerned, is the recent introduction of the British 4 per cent....

The publishing house known as Odhams Press appears to be enjoying -considerable prosperity, the net profit for the Year being £151,;753 against £116,872 for -19N1. Moreover ;...

Electric RailWay ComPany seem to be in for a good time -just now ow i ng - to the keen aompetjtion on the_part of different grOups to ob control of the company. 'Commencing with...

Notwithstanding the fact that the Ordinary shares of Bryant and May are now held by the British Match Cor- poration, in . accordance with the arrangement with the Swedish Match...

characteristics of the Scottish banks and the latest annual report of the Union Bank of Scotland shows that the profit for the year was £630,000 against 1318,009 hi the,...

THE prize of one guinea:which the Editor offers each week for the best set of thirteen General Knowledge • Questions has been awarded this week to Miss Elizabeth L. Moore, The...

?Liams.Arinotis :-Peace in our Time. By Sir Austen Chain- - berlain. (Philip Allan. :12s. 6d.)-- 7 - The Freedom of . • The. _Seas: By Lieut.:Commander J. M. Kenworthy. '...

The Modern Motor Some Special Features In a previous issue I havee r ieferred to one or two features which are apt to puzzle those selecting a car or motorists who take an...