29 MARCH 1913

Page 1

In the House of Commons on Monday there was a

The Spectator

dis- cussion on the grievances of unemployed insured persons under Part II. of the Insurance Act. Labour members protested that it was a hardship for unemployed insured persons...

*,* The Editors cannot undertake to return Manuscript in any

The Spectator

case.

Mr. Godfrey Isaacs there stated that "on April 17th the

The Spectator

English Marconi Company held 35,000 shares of twenty-five dollars each in the American Company." Twenty-five dollars is £5. We therefore assumed that the American shares were £5...

The composition of the new French Ministry formed by M.

The Spectator

Barthon was given in the papers of Monday. M. Pichon is Minister for Foreign Affairs; M. Ratier, Minister of Justice; M. Baudin, Minister of Marine; M. Klotz, Minister of the...

NEWS OF THE WEEK • D IMING the week the Marconi

The Spectator

inquiry has continued to hold the first place in public attention, and the news- papers of Wednesday and Friday were filled with verbatim reports of the proceedings running into...

On Wednesday Adrianople fell before a combined assault by the

The Spectator

investing Bulgarian and Servian armies. This important triumph came close upon the news of the surrender of Djavid Pasha to the Servians on the banks of the Skumbi. The general...

Page 2

As certain of the Great Powers reserved to themselves the

The Spectator

right to convert merchantmen into cruisers, arrangements had been made with the leading shipowners to equip a number of first-class British liners, the Admiralty paying all...

Mr. Churchill, in making his statement on the Naval Estimates

The Spectator

on Wednesday. expressed his fears that there was no prospect of avoiding large and continuing increases in the Naval Estimates unless the present period of acute rivalries and...

Passing to the air service, Mr. Churchill said that by

The Spectator

July he hoped to have seventy-five machines and seventy-five pilots. They had not discontinued the use of monoplanes, and their hydro-aeroplanes, which could carry guns and were...

Nothing had happened in the past year to lead to

The Spectator

any alteration of the numeriml programmes submitted to the House in March and July 1912. The British programme, as revised to meet the increase in Germany's new construction for...

As regards the new types of ships, Mr. Churchill observed

The Spectator

that the differences between the super-Dreadnoughts and Dreadnoughts were not less great than those between the Dreadnoughts and the pre-Dreadnoughts. At the moment, including...

In reply to a question asked by Major Archer-Shee in

The Spectator

the House on Wednesday, Mr. Asquith said that at the end of last July or early in August the Master of Elibank informed him that he and the Attorney-General and the Chancellor...

The Commons on Monday also renewed the Army debate. Colonel

The Spectator

Seely was pressed for more information about the number of efficient aeroplanes, and said that if the test of efficiency laid down by the Opposition (viz., the ability to fly at...

On Tuesday in the Commons Sir Edward Grey unexpectedly made

The Spectator

an important statement on foreign affairs. Albania had been the most difficult problem, but the northern and north- eastern frontier of the new independent State had been at...

He hoped that if the Servians and Montenegrins did not

The Spectator

respect the wishes of the Powers collective pressure would be brought to bear upon both countries. As to the war in its more general aspect, he did not assert that the Powers...

Page 3

The text of Mr. McKenna's Bill for preventing the successful

The Spectator

practice of the hunger strike by suffragist prisoners was published in the papers of Thursday. It provides for the temporary release for a fixed period of a prisoner who is...

The large number of items of news this week will

The Spectator

only allow us to notice the great American floods very shortly. We regret to say that there seems only too much reason to fear, in the words of the message sent by the Times...

Bank Rate, 5 per cent., changed from 4 per cent.

The Spectator

October 17th. Consols (2i) were on Thursday 741—Friday week 73i.

Last Sunday the Conference of the Independent Labour Party at

The Spectator

Manchester was temporarily brought to a standstill by the interruptions of suffragettes. The more earnestly Mr. Keir Hardie avowed that he would have nothing to do with a...

We greatly regret to record the death on Tuesday of

The Spectator

Lord Wolseley in his eightieth year. We need not reproduce here a list of his numerous campaigns. His -Ashanti campaign in 1873, his Egyptian campaign in 1882, which included...

The Dean of Durham sends a powerful and convincing letter

The Spectator

on the Divinity Degrees to Tuesday's Times. He explodes the unsound arguments of those who object to the change as leading to scandal. "To my thinking a morally debased D.D. is...

Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The Spectator

AN APPEAL TO THE CABINET. "These are bad things to happen."—(Lord Haldane's Speech, December 10th, 1900.) 1N - 0 more serious or more difficult situation has ever confronted...

Page 5

THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER.

The Spectator

S IR RUFUS ISAACS has been under examination by the Marconi Committee during the week, and as we write on Friday morning his evidence has not been con- cluded. Mr. Lloyd George...

Page 7

THE FUNDAMENTAL ERROR. T HE general position of the Unionist Party

The Spectator

is rapidly improving, and for the best of reasons. The party as a whole, outside the House of Commons, is coming, if it has not already come, to the determination that its...

Page 9

THE PROSPECTS OF PEACE. T HE quiet and security for which

The Spectator

Europe thirsts have been brought much nearer by the substantial agree- ment of the Ambassadors gathered in London as to the hibanian frontier line, and by the fall of...

Page 10

A TWO-HUNDRED-MILLION BUDGET. B ITDGET day is drawing near, and it

The Spectator

is just as well that the British public should realize in advance that the sum for which Mr. Lloyd George will have to ask the nation will fall very little short of...

Page 11

THAMES BARGES. T HE primitive explorers who came up the Thames

The Spectator

in their rough craft examined the site of what was afterwards to be London, and saw that it was good. The river was the making of London ; London is where it is because of the...

Page 12

THE COUNTRY TEMPER.

The Spectator

T HE born and bred countryman may become as confirmed a town-lover and town-dweller as Dr. Johnson, but the born and bred townsman who lives in the country is and remains a...

Page 13

WAR IN THE GARDEN. T HERE are certain matters which trouble

The Spectator

gardeners, and they are not all of them concerned merely with the growing of flowers and fruit. They involve wider questions; they deal with more difficult issues ; and,...

Page 14

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Spectator

THE MARCONI CASE. rTo THE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR:I Sin, — In your long article of March 22nd on "The Marconi Case," you have apparently missed the point in morals. Certain...

Page 15

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

The Spectator

Sra,—While you are discussing the ethics of investments by Ministers of the Crown you may be interested in the following episode in the life of the late Sir William Russell—"...

GERMANY AND THE "SPECTATOR."

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOE."] SIR,—I feel that I cannot be the only reader of the Spectator who is shocked by the unconciliatory and aggressive attitude you so often...

Page 16

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

The Spectator

San,—Your readers will perhaps be interested to see the enclosed quotation from the Minneapolis Sentinel of March 9th, commenting upon the article on Dr. Woodrow Wilson, which...

WHY THE DEVIL HAS A COUNTRY IN MISSISSIPPI.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.] SIE, - I notice, not with pleasure but with a sad satisfaction, the article in the Spectator of March 1st, entitled "The Devil's Country." It...

Page 17

THE LAND TAXES.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR...1 is not only the landowner who is affected by these taxes, but the working man also. I happen to live near the outskirts of a large and...

LAND, CAPITAL, AND COTTAGES.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR 01 THE "SFECTATOR.1 SIR,—We were formerly taught to "do good by stealth amt blush to find it fame," but to-day it is the fashion to do good by Act of Parliament...

THE RITES ON AGRICULTURAL LAND.

The Spectator

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:1 SIR,—We agriculturalists are indebted to the Spectator for its persistent advocacy of the just treatment of agricultural land for taxing...

LTO THE EDITOR 07 THE “SPECTATOR."]

The Spectator

SIR,—You say "The practical point which we wish to urge is that now that landowners have shown their willingness to help, it is the duty of capitalists to come forward and play...

LYNCHING IN AMERICA.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.'] SIR,—President Wilson's feelings in relation to the burnings of negroes are, of course, quite as strong as your own or of your...

FIFTEEN SHILLINGS A WEEK.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "8PECTATOE.”1 SIR,—Tbat unimportant creature, the cottage house-mother,, so seldom makes her voice heard that I thought one of her rare utterances might...

Page 18

THE FUTURE OF PARLIAMENT.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, — I have waited for the quiet of Eastertide to express the dismay with which I read that the Government designs to abolish every vestige...

[TO TEE EDITOR Or Tax “SrEcxwron."] SIR,—Poultry-keepers will read with

The Spectator

pleasure the very sympathetic article in your issue of last week on the Fox Question. There are, however, two points on which some misapprehension still exists. The...

FOX-HUNTING AND POULTRY-KEEPING.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOP. OT TIIE "SPECTATOR...I SIR,—I was interested toreadyouradmirable article on theabove siubject in the Spectator of March 22nd. Little can be added to so lucid an...

Page 19

GIRLS IN CANADA.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR 01 THE “BrEcrAma.”] Sis s —In a most interesting article on daughters in the .Speetafer of February let, the writer winds up with what is almost a veiled threat...

CIVIL SERVANTS IN INDIA.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOE OF THE " BrxcrAToft. " ] SIR, — I have only to-day happened to notice the pleasank letter of "A. F." in your issue of March 8th controverting my letter of...

THE " LANDSGEMEINDE" AT BERNE.

The Spectator

[To TEE EDITOR OF THE "SPECT.ITOE."] Sfa,—Many of your readers sympathize, I know, with the efforts the Swiss are making to preserve their country from the invasion by the...

A NON-REPEALED LAW FOR NATIONAL MILITARY TRAINING.

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOE."] SIR, — In your issue of March 15th, in a review of the lately published "Windham Papers," there is the following passage :— "He (Windham)...

Page 20

LIVINGSTONE : A CORRECTION.

The Spectator

[TO HY EDITOR OP THE " STECTATOR."] Sta,—In reading to-day's Scotsman I perused with great interest a long paragraph from the Spectator eulogizing Livingstone and his work, and...

THE ORIGIN OF " OXFORD " AND "CAMBRIDGE."

The Spectator

[To THE EDITOR OF THE “srEcvAvott."l Si,—With reference to Mr. Francis Darwin's statement that Can in Cambridge signifies "crooked," may I point out that all the available...

MACAULAY ON WINDHAIL

The Spectator

ETO THE EDITOR OF THE " :SPICTATOR."] ‘Srit,—In your very interesting account of Windham (Spectator, March 15th) there is a reference to the praise bestowed on him by Macaulay....

Page 21

CHER WELL HALL AND MILHAM FORD SCHOOL, OXFORD.

The Spectator

I TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."' SIB,—By desire of the governing body of Cherwell Hall, Oxford, a Training College for Women Secondary Teachers, I beg to bring to your...

"NE SUTOR ULTRA CREPIDAM." Fro THE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR."'

The Spectator

SIR,—" sutor ultra crepidam" is a hardy annual whieh I suppose will always be with us. It has no classical or other authority that I know of, and its meaning is rather vague....

"MAIR WAS LOST AT SHERRAMUIR."

The Spectator

LTO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."' 'ZIR,—It is quite a pleasure to a veteran reader to be able to catch out the Spectator. In the current number a leader- writer quotes "Mair...

BOOKS

The Spectator

LETTERS FROM THE NEAR EAST.* MR. Ma.unicE BARING'S letters from the Near East were written partly just after what was called the counter- revolution in Turkey in April, 1909,...

POETRY.

The Spectator

MARCH WINDS. WINDS go streaming, shouting loul At their play about the sky, And my soul is like a cloud Blown about with them on high. Like a hawk unbooded she From my body...

NOTICE. — When ' Correspondence" or Articles are signed with the writer's some

The Spectator

or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked ." Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily be held to be in 'agreement with the views therein expressed or with the mode...

Page 22

NEW COBBETT CORRESPONDENCE.*

The Spectator

Mn. MEsvrssa's chief object in compiling these two volumes , has been to string together a selection of Cobbett's corre- spondence which has not previously been published. This...

Page 23

RUSSIA AND THE LIBERAL POINT OF VIEW.*

The Spectator

• [COHMUNICATED.] THERE are a certain number of people in England who, like Mrs. Jellyby, are always occupied with the atrocities com- mitted in distant lands, and among them...

Page 24

MORE BOOKS ABOUT ANIMALS.*

The Spectator

AMONG the numerous books about animals which are now being issued by the publishers and, we believe, eagerly bought by an ever-increasing body of readers, many depend almost...

Page 26

THE CASUAL WARD.i.

The Spectator

IN prose Mr. Godley is a parodist and a very deft one ; in verse he is an original humorist on his own account. His parody of the Cicero translation on the proposal to place •...

A SECOND EXPERIMENT.*

The Spectator

A FINE literary style is sometimes a dangerous possession. It is invaluable when its owner has the right subject with which to mate it. But when the subject is wanting the style...

MY AFRICAN YEAR*

The Spectator

Mn. CULLEN GOVLDSBURY has written a singularly attractive book. He gives us the record of the daily life of an official somewhere on the Tanganyika Plateau for a complete year,...

Page 27

CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM.* THE American author of this book takes a

The Spectator

line which differs from most pleas for Socialism. There is the usual fluency, not to say diffuseness, in these four hundred and thirty pages, but it is the fluency of a writer...

FICTION.

The Spectator

FORTITUDE.* WHAT Mr. Walpole says of the novel written by his hero may with some reserves and modifications be said of his own. It would be unfair to say that any of it is...

Page 28

Widecombe _Fair. By Eden Phillpotts. (John Murray. Os.)— Four years

The Spectator

of life in Widecombe are spread out before us here, much as the parish can be viewed in detail and in panorama from a neighbouring tor on a clear day. There is no particular...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

The Spectator

[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not buts reserved for review in other forma] Social Environment and Moral Progress. By Alfred Russell Wallace, O.M....

Veiled Women. By Marmaduke Pickthall. (Eveleigh Nash. 6s.)—Mr. Marmaduke Pickthall

The Spectator

gives so intimate a picture of life in the women's apartments in an Egyptian Pasha's house that one wonders how he managed to obtain his facts. His heroine is an English...

RZADABLII Novats.—A Knight of Spain. By Marjorie Bowen. (Methuen and

The Spectator

Co. 6s.)—An historical novel in which the hero is the illegitimate son of the Emperor Charles V. The local colour is cleverly laid on, but it is as well to warn the reader that...

Page 29

The Influence of Baudelaire in Francs wad England. By G.

The Spectator

Turquet-Milnes. (Constable and Co. 7s. 6d. net.)—We cannot help feeling that the " Baudelairian spirit" is almost ridden to death in these pages. Mr. Turquet-Mihaes is...

NEW EDITIONS.—Stories of Red Hanrahan ; the Secret Rose ;

The Spectator

Rosa Alchemica. By W. B. Yeats. (A. H. Buller/. 6s. net.)— Some of the best of Mr. Yeats's prose writing occurs in this volume, which was originally published in 1897 under the...

Our readers may be glad to know of a reprint

The Spectator

in leaflet form of the letter from the Bishop of Carlisle upon Evening Communion, which appeared in our columns on December 21st, 1912. Copies of this leaflet can be obtained...

The Baconian Heresy : a Confutation. By J. H. Robertson,

The Spectator

M.P. (Herbert Jenkins. 21s. net.)—The sane reader may feel more than a moment's doubt as to whether it can have been worth while to write gx hundred pages in refutation of the...

Fifteen Years of a Dancer's Life, with Some Account of

The Spectator

her Distinguished Friends. By Lobe Fuller. With an Introduction by Anatole France. (Herbert Jenkins. 10s. 6d. net.)—M. Anatole France in his preface speaks with the greatest...