A MID much that is obscure in the present relationship between France and Italy one fact stands out crystal- clear, that all the trouble is of Italy's making. At every point she...

the Catalonian front the spear-head is said to have been a special corps of four Italian or Italianised divisions under an Italian officer ; and the very outstanding part played...

"Japan's Peace Terms for China," as outlined by Prince Konoe last Thursday, is the suggestion that the visit of Mr. Wang Ching-wei, Chairman of the Chinese Political Council, to...

emerged at Lima, which are appearing in the Press of Italy and Germany have little substance. The totalitarian States have gained nothing. That at least is clear, however much...

envisaged by M. Reynaud, has much in common with that adopted for British finance in and after 1931. The first step was drastic retrenchment and taxation ; then comes a rise in...

to the English law about slander and libel, as it affects journalists and authors, are agreed upon two conclusions—first, that it opens Much too wide a door to speculative or...

a glaring light their fundamental schism. In a division taken as between a policy of resisting the foreign dictators and a policy of complete pacifism—the former championed by...

Lord Halifax's intention to attend the League of Nations Council meeting at Geneva after his visit to Rome will be carried out. The last Assembly, and the Council meetings which...

to the local loyalty was strikingly illustrated at West Perth. Not only had the Duchess of Atholl represented the division for 15 years, but she had during the summer months...

so manifest during the last six or seven weeks. The existence of an enormous Government majority might have been expected to loosen rather than draw tighter the bonds of party...

course so strong that all defections can be ruled out for the future. However, as the fate of the Duchess has shown, the way of the single transgressor is hard.

developments are, as Mr. Malcolm MacDonald observed recently in a striking speech, rendering the future both of British Dominions and British Crown Colonies far more uncertain...

its resources as a port by the resources of a manufacturing centre. And though some features in Liverpool's case are peculiar—the fall in cargo traffic through the cotton...

on the last three months one cannot help being struck by the amazing solidarity of the Conservative Party. There have, of course, been acute differences of opinion within its...

M.P., whose recent series of broadcast talks, entitled "People and Things," attained wide popularity, will as from next week's issue, the first of 1939, contribute a weekly...

T HE tension between Washington and Berlin today is more acute than that between Berlin and London or Rome and Paris. Considering how little the interests of the United States...

.T HE Press of this country as a whole has had con- siderable attention directed to it of late. The newspapers have been called on to rally to their own defence in face of an...

in the English they are so rapidly acquiring, "of a time what lost the belief to humanity. If we would know and would be certain that our victim [sacrifice] has really saved the...

By RENE MACCOLL TN a world of frantic rearmament, and with an aggressive colossus on her eastern marches, Holland is quietly pre- paring for whatever the future may hold. The...

By JOHN INMAN T HE question of nutrition is still in the forefront of political issues, and seems likely to remain so. Nevertheless, as yet, a great deal of the discussion of...

By W. E. PURCELL and G. W. LAMPE O NE frequently hears it said that the Post-War age of destructive " rationalism " is over, that the modern man craves for a secure and...

By FELIX FRIES D EMOCRACY today is on the defensive. Sympathy may therefore be felt with any attempt to resist infringe- ments of the freedom and independence of the Press,...

By NICHOLAS SISSERMANN T HE other day in Manchukuo I met a hunter from the Yablonja-station, which the Japanese call Yapuloni. He was a man of about forty, a broad-shouldered...

By DR. T. K. DERRY [Headmaster of Mill Hill) T HE Mayor of a London Borough was heard to remark recently, in an address on Citizenship, that hardly one of his constituents knew...

By H. W. FOX H ENRY FOTHERINGHAM was a very ordinary person, colourless alike in complexion and character. If you passed him in the street or sat opposite to him in the Tube,...

Commonwealth and Foreign By MARC T. GREENE As the Sino-Japanese undeclared war continues on well into its second year it is clear that Japanese internal economy, if not the...

PANTOMIME "Babes in Hood." Lyceum IN all three of the pantomimes the Principal Boy bursts into a medley of old songs, and in at least two out of the three the medley includes...

Retrospect "WHERE be your gibes now ? your gambols ? your songs ? your flashes of merriment ? " Chap-fallen indeed must the Cinema appear each New Year's Eve before such an...

Christmas Cheer WHEN that I was and a little tiny boy, my entertainment at Christmas consisted, as to its theatrical element, of a visit to Drury Lane Theatre, where there was...

[D'un correspondant parisien] jAMAIS on n'avait tant parle de nos colonies. C'est rev ene. ment du jour. Naguere nous traitions ici-meme de l'Empire frangais, en soulignant que...

Zero Hour Our forbears have told us how on Christmas Eve, 1860, the thermometer fell to zero and the river Ouse bore on Christmas morning. The experience has not been repeated...

of greater or less acuteness in all parts of the world—directly, through the anti-Semitic propaganda of National Socialism hitherto unknown in history ; indirectly, by the...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—I have just read in the excellent Christmas number of The Spectator, an interesting article by Mr. Richard Freund on Mahatma Gandhi. The...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Snt,—In your issue of December 23rd, Sir James Milne does me the honour of commeating upon my article on "The Railways and the Roads." I do...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Elspeth Huxley is usually so accurate that I am surprised at some of the points in her letter in reply to My criticism of Mr. Michael Huxley's...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR, — It is announced in the Press that the Deputy Chief Scout has issued a notice drawing attention to the binding nature of the first...

STANDARD PRICES FOR AGRICULTURE [To the Editor of TIIE SPECTATOR] Sir,—Under this heading in your Weekly Notes you discus'; this question with much less than the fairness...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR, —In order that the annual income may be more adequate to the demands made upon it, the Friends of the National Libraries are anxious to...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—I ask the hospitality of your columns because I fear that many people may form the opinion, after reading Mr. Dyneley Hussey's article...

[To the Eator of THE SPECTATOR] Stit,—In her charming review (December 9th) of my book, Pilgrim to the Left, Honor Croome charges me with ignoring certain criticisms of the...

BOOKS OF THE DAY By RANJEE G. SHAHAN' To know what books educated Indians read, I went, first, to my old college. I was well-acquainted with the librarian. Indeed, I had been...

well-balanced book, a book of cautious and temperate judgement, on a period which in certain respects is one of the most formative in European history. It is the age of...

Lord North. By W. Baring Pemberton. (Longmans. 2 1s.) GEORGE THE THIRD had great good fortune in two respects. Twice, when he had a difficult job, he found ideal agents. In...

DISCUSSION BOOKS National Self-Sufficiency. By P. H. Asher. Drama and Life. By Roger Dataller. What About India ? By L. F. Rushbrook Williams. Physical Education. By M. L....

THE length of Lord Maugham's foot, though, doubtless. a subject of personal pride and satisfaction to its owner, is not a matter of importance to litigants of the present day....

Demosthenes. The Origin and Growth of His Policy. By Werner Jaeger. Translated by Edward Schouten Robinson. (Cambridge University Press. los. 6d.) THIS series of lectures,...

THE fiery instability of the Welsh character, with all its dark frustrated genius, has appeared often in the pages of history and of romantic fable. It is at once a positive and...

Tins volume, introduced in accordance with the now established tradition by Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb, is described as " not a propaganda book," but "a record of the first...

Tins kind of book is rather difficult to review. Owing to its being a "slim volume of essays" it is likely to get overlooked ; so I should say at once that it is extraordinarily...

By Kingsley Martin. (New Statesman and Nation. 6d.) MR. KINGSLEY MARTIN'S pamphlet is an able statement of the views of those who hold (with, as some may think, undue...

Death from a Top Hat. By Clayton Rawson. (The Crime Club. 7s. 6d.) Antidote to Venom. By Freeman Wills Crofts. (Hodder and Stoughton. 7s. 6d.) Death of a Friend. By Margaret...

A Sign of Better Tithes During the past fifteen months or so I have had more letters from Spectator readers asking for information about various sorts of cars than ever before...

stock markets just now is that they are revealing certain powers of resistance. In the speculative sections _there is still no sign of any broad buying movement—nor do I...

IMPROVING RUBBER FIGURES THOSE rubber shareholders and directors who feel that the International Rubber Regulation Committee was gambling when it decided upon an increase in...

The winner of Crossword No. 326 in N. E. F. Corbett, Orchard Cottage, Fetcham, Leatherhead.

BY Z4No [A prize of a Book Token for one guinea will be given to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword puzzle to be opened. Envelopes should be...