31 MAY 1924

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If a new Coalition could be created with the help

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of the Socialists there would be a majority for accepting the Dawes Report, whatever the Nationalists might do. Unfortunately, however, acceptance does not imply the power to...

A correspondent of the Times described in Monday's issue an

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important conversation which he had with M. Herriot, the Mayor of Lyons, who is likely to be the next French Premier. M. Herriot said that he would make the Socialists a...

EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING OFFICES: 13 York Street, Covent Garden, London,

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W.C. 2.

The new Reichstag met for the first time on Tuesday.

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The Communists did their best to disturb the formal proceedings, but their best was not very impressive or successful. The Times correspondent sagaciously suggests that...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE situation in Germany is very uncertain and even disturbing. On Monday the Government resigned, but President Ebert requested them to carry on till a new Goverrunent could...

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By a happy chance a settlement of the Jubaland dispute

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has coincided with the Italian royal visit. The dispute has attracted much more attention in Italy than here, and it may be necessary to remind our readers of the facts. Italy,...

All this makes it more , difficult than ever to understand

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the Government, Tor their Insurance Scheme is based on the assumption that a million men will be unemployed until 1926, and that even after that 800,000 will be permanently...

The Labour Party manifesto issued last November said : "

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The Labour Party alone has a positive remedy for unemployment. . . . The Labour Party has urged the immediate adoption of national schemes of productive work." Writing as mere...

The visit of the King and Queen of Italy, who

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have been taking part in all the ceremonies and entertainments proper to such distinguished guests, has given genuine pleasure in this country. All 'political parties here are...

In the House -of Commons on Monday Mr. Shaw was

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botly attacked for his proposal to extend unemployment insurance to children of 14 and 15. He defended himself on the ground that those children who have left school, -but...

* * We have dealt elsewhere with the main features

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of the Report of Lord Lee's Commission. Here we only want to say how strongly we desire that the Report should be accepted and brought into operation as it stands. It is a piece...

The correspondence between the Prime Minister and M. Poincare on

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,reparations, published in the papers of Thursday, shows that no headway had been made. The two protagonists threw a quite unusual number of bouquets at each other, but it is...

The life of the -Government is threatened by the unemployment

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problem. In the Commons on Thursday, May 22nd, the debate on unemployment which had been begun on the previous day was continued. Mr. Shaw, the Minister of Labour, again, though...

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The results of two by-elections have been announced since our

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last issue. In the West Toxteth Division of Liverpool it was necessary to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of the Unionist, Sir Robert Houston. The figures declared on...

Some newspapers have rather lost their heads about what is

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melodramatically called the Death Ray. On behalf of Mr. Grindell-Matthews, the inventor of the ray, it has been said that this invisible influence will stop a motor at a range...

In the Crumbles case the police complained that they were

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impeded in their duty of making inquiries by the parallel or counter inquiries of newspapers. Judges have no desire to frighten off criticism or to prevent a proper publicity,...

On the Second Reading of the Finance Bill in the

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House of Commons on Tuesday Mr. Asquith made the unexpected suggestion that holders of War Loan should be invited to hand it back to the Government in return For a certificate...

Sympathy has rightly been expressed with the Man- chester Guardian,

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as it is no part of the policy of that paper to conduct criminal investigations. It so happened that the murdered woman had belonged to Manchester, and a reporter was sent in...

Bank Rate, 4 per cent., changed from 8 per cent.

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July 5th. 5 per cent. War Loan was on Thursday, 10041; Thursday week, 1001 ; a year ago, 1011. 81 per cent. Conversion Loan was on Thursday, 77*; Thursday week, 78; a year ago,...

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TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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IS EUROPE DEAD? "Europe outwardly may look dead, in the sense that its old watchwords and formulas of International intercourse are dead, but the nations composing it don't...

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THE KING AND LABOUR.

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BY MRS. PHILIP SNOWDEN. W HEN it became evident that the late Conservative Government could not remain in office, and that the Labour Party, as the next• strongest group in...

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THE FUTURE OF THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE.

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- NATE congratulate Lord Lee and his colleagues on their Report. They have done their work promptly, and their proposals are in themselves reasonable and practical. For the...

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AN EMPIRE DAY LETTER.

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BY EVELYN WRENCH. - FAITRING the past week Empire Day was rightly - 1 - 7 celebrated on. a larger scale than ever, rightly in so far as it is regarded as a day for...

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ON BEING SHOCKED.

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T HE young, on the whole, are considerate, and let their elders down easily. They select with reason- able care the pieces at the theatre to which they wish to take their...

SOME " PROFITEERING " FACTS. [FROM A POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT.] IN

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some of his recent pronouncements Mr. Baldwin has expressed the opinion that investigations should be made with regard to "profiteering," and he has stated that, in the event of...

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"THE PUNCH-BOWL" AT THE DUKE OF YORK'S.

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THE first of the three parts 'of The Punch-Bowl, which began last week at the Duke of York's, is at present undeniably weak. Of the ten turns only three are good and two of them...

THE THEATRE.

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"ROMEO AND JULIET" AT THE RECI-ENT. To say that Mr. Barry Jackson's production of -Romeo and Juliet does not completely satisfy one does not imply that it 'hat not considerable...

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MUSIC.

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. TWIN WORKS OF GENIUS. TriEaz is something maddening about those who come up to one during an interval of Der Rosen/cavalier and say : "What a pity ten minutes weren't cut out...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

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DARWIN AND EVOLUTION. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—In your issue of May 17th, Mr. Julian Huxley (in an interesting and critical review, for which I thank him) finds...

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• THE LATE SIR COURTENAY ILBERT.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—Of the many Englishmen who have contributed to build up the stately fabric of Indian law, none has better claim to the grateful...

PROFESSOR MARGOLIOUTH'S ANAGRAMS.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Srn,—Mr. Alan Porter's admirable review (which appeared in the Spectator of May 10th) of Professor Margoliouth's recent book, which is entitled...

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THE PHILIPPINES.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Mr. Wrench's reference in his last article on " The English-Speaking World" to possible impending changes in the future government of the...

MR. McKENNA AND MONETARY REFORM.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—There are two points of the first importance in Mr. McKenna's speeches a few weeks ago that have escaped general notice. As regards bank...

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A VOICE FROM THE VILLAGE.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] 51a,—In our village the cry of want of houses is still heard, though I am glad to say not quite so loudly. Council houses, ugly and gaunt, or...

AN ITALIAN PROTEST.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—It is trying to us of the Constitutional Party to hear Mussolini hailed, by so authoritative a paper -as the Spectator, as the saviour of...

GROW YOUR OWN FOOD.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—" Kynmon," in your issue of May 10th, greets with a mild approval (much harder to meet than -any attack) my letter advocating a...

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"THE ADEL PHI."

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[To the Editor of the SPEcTaron.] write as one who appreciates the Adelphi. I shall always feel grateful for No. 2, with its reminder that "all that human desire can imagine of...

P.R. IN PRACTICE.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—The examples of Ireland and .Germany, which you cite in your Notes on the 10th inst., by no means justify a conclu- sion adverse to...

FRANCE—THE TWO NATIONS.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—In your issue of May 17th you give under the above heading an interesting account of the swing of the political pendulum in France, and of...

TREATMENT OF PROT ESTA.NT FARMERS IN SOUTHERN IRELAND.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—I fear the letter in the Spectator of May 10th, with the above title from "A Protestant Farmer" is liable to convey an impression which I...

THE BOOT AND THE OTHER LEG.

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In your issue of May 24th Mr. Evelyn Wrench, in comparing the paucity of British news that used to be published by the American Press...

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"EVEN IN AN AFFIDAVIT."

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Referring to the Spectator's leading article of May 24th, it was Lord Justice Bowen, a Common Law Judge, who, with a gentle dig at the...

"A SCRAP OF PAPER."

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The death of Sir Edward Goschen, formerly Ambassador at Berlin, recalls to mind the famous "scrap of paper" remark of the German...

POETRY.

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COLONEL FA NTOCK. rims spoke the lady underneath the trees : "I was a member of a family Whose legend was of hunting—(all the rare And unattainable brightness of the air)— A...

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A BOOK OF THE MOMENT.

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THE FABULOUS 'FORTIES, 1840-1850. The Fabulous 'Forties, 1840-1850. By Meade Minnigerode. (Putnam. 7s. 6d. net.) THIS is a very amusing book, in spite of a certain grimness...

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GALAPAGOS: WORLD'S END.

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DESERT islands with unexplored volcanoes in the centre, undiscovered bays on their coasts, gold and red and azure fishlets in the pools, thousands of great game fish in the sea...

BOOKS.

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THIS WEEK'S BOOKS. THE rows and rows of books published this week have a dismal look : they are for the most part tracts, or compilations, or bad fiction, or, most depressing...

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ROBERT SMITH SIIRTEES.

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Robert Smith Surtees (Creator of Jorrocks), 1803-1864. By Himself and E. D. Ouming. (Blackwood. 158. net.) Ibr the large embrace of Victorian humanitarianism there is tto be...

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TOBACCO AND MENTAL EFFICIENCY.

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Tobacco and Mental Efficiency. By M. V. O'Shea. (New York : the Macmillan Company. 12s. net.) ToE definition of life as "Just one damn thing after another" has always been of...

A NEW LIFE OF BYRON.

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Byron in Perspective. By J. D. Symon. (Seeker. 12s. 6d. net.) Ma. SYMON has added another block to the pyramid of Byron literature, but we may feel his is a corner stone. His...

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FICTION.

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KNUT HADISUN'S characters never entirely leave their childhood behind. Their emotions remain unmixed, curiously single, even when, as here in Children of the Age, the theme is...

IN STRANGE LANDS.

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Among the Brahmins and the Pariahs. By J. H. Sauter. (Fisher Unwin. 10s. 6d. net.) The Road to Timbuktu. By Lady Dorothy Mills. (Duckworth. 15s. net.) IlEna S.tirrEn's book,...

THE DISCOURSES OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.

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The Discourses of Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. (Macmillan and Co. 10s. 6d.) THE Royal Academy has issued on the occasion of the bi- centenary of his birth a new edition of The...

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SHORTER NOTICES.

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SUNSHINE AND OPEN AIR. By Leonard Hill, M.B., F.R.S. (London : Edward Arnold and Co. 10s. 6d. net.) SUNSHINE AND OPEN AIR. By Leonard Hill, M.B., F.R.S. (London : Edward Arnold...

OTHER NOVELS.—Graven Image. By Margaret Wid- demer. (Harrap. 7s. 6d.

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net.)—A very able American novel, The self-beatification of the Gaylord family is extremely cleverly described. The sympathies of the reader, however. are entirely with their...

GEORGE ill. AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:

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The Beginnings By F. A: Murnby. (Constable. 21s. net.) We have praised Mr. Mumby's earlier books in which he tells history by reprinting original letters strung upon a fine...

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RICHARD THE LION HEART. By Kate Norgate. (Mac:

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millan. 16s.) ' I This book is a welcome addition to Miss Norgate's well- known series of studies of the Angevin kings. Her intention, as she explains, is not to write a history...

FINANCE-PUBLIC & PRIVATE.

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[BY OUR CITY EDITOR.] UNEMPLOYMENT. - [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Disappointment at the failure of the Labour ' Government to deal in any satisfactory manner with...

General Dickson, late Inspector-General of Communications in East Persia, gives

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an interesting and spirited account of the work on the East Persian Line of Communications during and after the War. The object of the East Persian Cordon, which lay along the...

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FINANCIAL NOTES.

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Both the credit of the Empire and the extent of present investment resources have emerged triumphantly during the past week from, a pretty severe test. During the past few...