31 JANUARY 1920

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It is still uncertain whether the Southern Slays will accept

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the reasonable compromise made by the Allies in regard to the Adriatic frontier of Italy. The Allies have, of course, been much to blame in leaving the question unsettled for so...

At the same time we hope that if many electors

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at Paisley who are not in general sympathy with Mr. Asquith vote for him on the grounds we have mentioned, he will not consider that his mandate has not limitations. For...

The Lord Chancellor in the Weekly Dispatch of Sunday last

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repeated his complaint that the Coalition was " invertebrate " as a fighting force in the constituencies, and urged that it should be transformed into a single party "which will...

Mr. Asquith began his by-election campaign at Paisley on Monday.

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The local Unionists have put forward a candidate Mr. MaoKean, and it is said that, besides the Labour Party candi- date, Mr. Biggar, there will be a fourth candidate for the...

In his speech on Tuesday Mr. Asquith said that he

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had come forward as a candidate for Paisley because the country needed an instructed and effective Opposition. Tho House of Commons represented a passing mood. It was incapable...

As the Allies must have expected from the outset, the

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Dutch Government have refused to hand over the ex-Kaiser for trial. In a Note presented on Friday week, they reminded the Allies that Holland had no part in the Peace Treaty and...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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p OLITICAL interest at home revolves round the Paisley by-election, with all its implications for the future of the parties. We have written elsewhere on this subject,...

It has been stated that Mr. Barnes is about to

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resign from the Cabinet, and though the statement is not yet officially confirmed there is little doubt of its truth. At the last General Election Mr. Barnes decided to remain...

41 , 6 * The Editor cannot accept responsibility for any articles or

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letters submitted to him, but when stamped and addressed envelope-s are sent he will do his best to return contributions in case of rejection.

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Some of the more moderate leaders of the Labour movement

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have issued a manifesto demanding immediate peace with Russia. The manifesto is signed by Mr. Bowerman, Mr. Brace, Mr. Brownlie, Mr. Clynes, and others. The signatories state...

The miners' leaders apparently asked the Government to sell coal

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at a lower price to manufacturers and to reduce the prices of mannfactured goods, or, alternatively, to-increase the millers' wages still further. They evidently think that ....

Thenew French Premier, M. Millerand, was not received with much

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favour when he presented himself to the Chamber last week. His Minister of the Interior, M. Steeg, was made the object of a bitter personal attack on the ground that he had been...

The Miners' Federation Executive, who waited on the Prime Minister

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on Wednesday, had the' hardihood tonoraphtin of the high pribe of coal. Inasmuch as the cost of coal:getting had been greatly increased by the miners' own action in insisting...

The Irish Roman Catholic Hierarchy met at Maynooth on Tuesday

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under the chairmanship of Cardinal Logue and adopted a long resolution on the political situation. They declared that in the case of Ireland "the acknowledged right of civilized...

A young Berlin student on Monday tried to assassinate Herr

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Erzberger, the Roman Catholic leader who is Finance Minister in the German Coalition Government. Herr Erzberger received two bullet-wounds, but was-not seriously injured. The...

The ballot taken by the' itonmoulders' Unions last week' showed

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a majority of about three - to two in favour ' of resuming work on the terms flied by the arbitrators last July and accepted by all the other engineering Trade' Unione. The...

The Sinn Feiners in County Kerry tried again on Tuesday

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to murder Serjeant Sullivan -While he was going by train to Tralee to give evidence against - the'men who attacked him three weeks ago. The train was fired on, and a policeman...

Eethonia is said to be on the point of making

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peace with the Bolsheviks. The other Baltic States and Poland are reported to be willing to make peace also, but they are still obliged to resist Bolshevik attacks. The'...

We should like to ask the Hierarchy one question. When

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they speak about the "acknowledged right of civilized nations to choose their own Government" being denied to Ireland, do they intend to deny this right to the Protestants and...

The Wigan Town Council has expressed approval of a Labour

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Committee's propoSel to .finenee its housing scheme by issuing paper money °tithe security of the rates. The idea is to borrow money without interest, and thus get cheap...

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It is particularly absurd to complain of Government " profiteer-

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jug" on the raw wool. The Government, having entered into the risky speculation of buying vast quantities of wool, were bound to make sure that they did not lose money. Their...

It is said that the Government ought to have adopted

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last spring a scheme for the supply of a certain quantity of "standard clothing" at fixed prices. This clothing might have been made from the wool sold by the State to the trade...

Sir Frank Benson's production is for the most part adequate .

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but Mr. Masetield's incomplete conception of the leaser character. was necessarily reflected in the acting. The ghost who cries ir at the window in the first act, with his...

The amalgamation of the New York Herald with the Sun

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by their new proprietor, Mr. Munsey, ends the independent career of a very famous newspaper. The Herald was founded in 1835 by James Gordon Bennett, then a poor journalist, and...

We regret to record the death at the age of

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eighty-two of Dr. Edmund Warre, formerly Head-Master and Provost of Eton. He was a great Etonian figure, and his influence and his memory will last for generations. He was...

The Times of Wednesday stated that the Government have decided

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that the terms of enlistment in the Territorial Force shall include the obligation to serve oversee "in a moment of extreme national emergency, but not until the Reserves have...

Last week Mr. John Masefield's Pompey the Great was revived

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by Sir Frank Benson at the St. Martin's Theatre. The play ir an attempt to illustrate an historical character with as much realism as may be, and to reconstruct the events for...

Lot it be admitted that the safeguards are now so

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drawn that a Territorial soldier need be under no apprehension that he would be required to leave his civil occupation unless there wore a groat emergency. Nevertheless he would...

There has been a great outcry at the high price

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of clothes and at the large profits made by the woollen trade. The Report of a Board of Trade Committee, published on Tuesday, showed that the Government Kaki not fairly be...

Bank rate,6 per cent.,ehanged from 5 percent. Nov. 6, 1919.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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IF REASON RULED. T HE Government Bill for the future government of Ireland will soon be before the country. As to its exact nature we have not been informed, for Mr. Lloyd...

TO OUR READERS.

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We have decided that after the last Saturday in February- i.e., an Saturday, March 6th—the price of the SPECTATOR must be increased to 9d. We had hoped till quite recently to...

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SHALL THE KAISER BE TRIED? T IME has a notoriously dulling

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effect, and though it is difficult to judge in such a matter, we should say that the British people arc much more conscious now than they were immediately after the Armistice of...

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MR. ASQUITH AT PAISLEY.

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T HE by-election at Paisley promises to be one of the most important in recent times. It may be a turning-point for the Coalition. There are rumours that Mr. Lloyd George is...

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WHO SHALL NURSE THE NURSES T HE following correspondence in regard

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to Hartsleap, the V.A.D. Convalescent Home near Camberley, has passed between the Editor of this paper and Sir Arthur Stanley, the Chairman of the Central Joint V.A.D. Com-...

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"20 Berkeley Street, London, 11'.

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24th January, 1920. MY DEAR STRACHEY.—In reply to your kind letter of 12th January, I am asked by the V,A.D Committee to say that we should be most grateful if you would put an...

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1.1:11, ONLY SUBSTITUTE. T HERE is only one substitute for money,

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and that is brains ; but money is by no means the most important thing for which brains alone prove a working alternative. At the present moment it is the best educated class of...

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A VEGETABLE TERROR.

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T is generally known that in the rich and warm lands of the North of New South Wales and South and Central Queensland one of the worst pests is a vegetable, the prickly pear,...

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CORRESPONDENCE.

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UNIQUE CHANCES FOR BRITISH CAPITAL IN AUSTRIA. - [To THE EIHTOR OF VIE " SPECTAT 01 L ." Sia,—Having just returned from a six months' visit to Austria, the interesting letter...

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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(Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than Those which Oil treble the space.] THE IRISH CRISIS. [To THE...

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—At the present time

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the Government in Ireland has rendered itself peculiarly obnoxious to a section of the working class because of its decision to enforce a special type of identification-permit...

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THE NEED FOR A BRITISH LEGION.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR,"] SAL—Permit a very old student of the columns of the Spectator to express hearty approval of the suggestion con- veyed in the article under...

THE IRISH REPUBLIC AND MURDER.

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(To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—I see that the Times in an article on the murder of Commissioner Redmond adopts the view that these outrages have not the approval of...

FRENZIED ECONOMICS. [To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."]

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Sin,—Can any reader explain to a very bewildered "man in the street" why in present-day economics 90 x equals Nothing. though x is made out to Ile the factor responsible for all...

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A LABOUR GOVERNMENT.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sie,—One important factor has been overlooked in the discus- sion on this subject. Apart from the Law Officers, and such political...

MR. MONTAGU.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—As a co-religionist of Mr. Edwin Montagu, may I take exception to your description of him in " National mismanage- ment — IV., The New...

TAXATION OF JUDICIAL SALARIES.

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[To TEE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."' S1R,—The letter of "Y?' in the Spectator hardly calls for a reply. The point of my letter was that the High Court Judges of the United...

THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE ENABLING ACT. [To THE EDITOR OF

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THE "SPECTATOR."] Sia,—Surely " An English Churchman" is making a mountain out of a molehill. The abrogation of the right of the Crown to appoint Bishops is not in the...

THE FUTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

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[To rem EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."' Sia,-1 have to thank you for your courtesy in printing my long letter, and, in particular, in choosing it from amongst the many you had...

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WOMEN AND FAIRY-TALES.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR." SIR,—In connexion with the subject of women and fairy-tales, may I point out that the brothers Grimm did not invent the stories published in...

BOOKS.

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THE GEORGIAN POETRY BOOK, 1918-1919.* IN his prefatory note to the fourth volume of The Georgian Poetry Book "E. M." remarks that he hopes the collection will prove that "what...

A SHAKESPEAREAN SUGGESTION.

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[To THE EDITOR OF TEM " SPECTATOR ."J Sla,—May I offer a new reading of a line in Cymbeline that has troubled the commentators ? In Act V., Scene i., Posthumuq, groaning with...

POETRY.

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A MID-WINTER DAY. THE day was mine, was all my own to spend, The- road, the shining road, was mine at last, The forest leaned towards me as a friend— Let me recall my day and...

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

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or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked" Commu.nicated," the Editor must riot necessarily be held to be in agreement will& the views therein expressed or with the mode...

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THOMAS COUTTS, BANKER.*

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Mu. 1TARTLEY COLERIDGE has written a highly interesting Life of Thomas Coutts, the shrewd and sentimental Scotsman who made the reputation of Coutts's Bank in the days of George...

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A HISTORY OF EVERYDAY THINGS IN ENGLAND.*

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ALL readers of the first volume of Marjorie and C. H. B. Quennell's History of Everyday Things in England will welcome the second —and last. The second part is as original and...

ROADS AND DITCHES.*

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IN Modern Roads' Mr. Percy Boulnois writes not merely as a great road- b uilder, but as one fully conscious of the close connexion existing between a good road system and...

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AN IRISHMAN LOOKS AT HIS WORLD.*

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CANON Harerear offers no solution of the Irish question. It is well to be clear upon this point, because in the present volume he has achieved the very difficult task of talking...

NURSAIRY RIMES.*

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PARODIES of nursery rhymes are as a rule detestable. They are generally sophisticated, they are apt to rely for effect upon a double meaning, and they almost always miss the...

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SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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!Notice in this column does not necessarily prided. tubsnusfat miss./ A weighty and searching criticism of Mr. Montagu's India Act appears in the Church Quarterly Review for...

Mr. Sheppard, the energetic Vicar of St. blartin-in-the-Fields, ha.s transformed

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his parish magazine into a Monthly Review (6d. net), the January issue of which is a spirited and enter- taining production. General Maurice writes on the League of Nations and...

Sir George Newman in a Preface to the Medical Supplement

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of the forty-eighth Annual Report of the Local Government Board, 1918-19 (Cmd. 462, Is. 3d. net), recalls the history of the series of Medical Reports begun by the late Sir John...

The Acceptance of the Welsh Church Temporalities Act, 1919. By

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the Bishop of St. Davids. (S.P.C.K. Is. net.)—This pamphlet, written for the diocese of St. Davide, gives a lucid account of the financial position of the Welsh Church and of...

A Thin Ghost and Others. By M. R. James. (Edward

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Arnold. 4s. 6d.)—Some seventy years ago there lived in London a young brother and sister who christened their favourite book of ghost stories Sights and Frights. The "thin...

Gild Socialists and others who have formed a false conception

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of the mediaeval craft gilds and base fantastic theories upon them should read a short article on the subject by Miss Eileen Power in History, the organ of the Historical...

FICTION.

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STORM IN A TEACUP.* Tiaz scene of Mr. Eden Phillpotte's new story is laid in Devon- shire. But readers who are familiar with the tragic atne - phere which invests so many of...

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An Anglo-Saxon Reader. By Alfred J. Wyatt. (Cambridge University Press.

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12s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Wyatt's anthology of Anglo-Saxon poetry and prose is an excellent piece of work. It is much more varied than the older books of the kind. The editor has...

Naval History and National History. By J. Holland Rose. (Cambridge

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University Press. 2s. 6d. net.)—The new Cambridge Professor of Naval History's inaugural lecture is a spirited plea for his subject. He points out how persistently our...

Beyond Baghdad with the Leice.stershires. By E. J. Thompson. (Epworth

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Press. 3s. net.)—This little book should not escape the attention of any one interested in General Maude's brilliant Mesopotamian campaign. It contains much new detail con-...

WORKS OF REFERENCE.:--PoOk-PriCe8 Current for 1918-19 (Elliot Stock, 32s. 6d.

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net) is the thirty-third volume of an invaluable series. The alphabetical arrangement is convenient for reference. Mr. J. H. Slater as usual prefixes a brief note on the...

The Political Scene. By Walter Lippmann. (Allen and Unwin. 55.

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net.)—Mr. Lippmann has reprinted from the New Republic of New York his comments on the proceedings of the Peace Conference up to March last. At that time he was a sup- porter of...

The History of the Monastery of Holyrood and of the

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Palace of Holyrood Howse. By John Harrison. (Blackwood. 25s. net.) —This is an interesting and well-written book, with some good illustrations by Mn W. D. M`Kay. The monastery...

The Housing of the Unskilled Wage-Earner. By Ethel Elmer Wood.

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(Macmillan. 10s. net.)—Mrs. Wood is concerned with the housing problem in the United States, where it seems to be even more acute than it is here. We commend her admiring...