90HE Cabinet changes announced on Thursday are I better calculated to impair confidence in the Govern- ment than to increase it. The Prime Minister's authority over the House of...

I T is obviously as distressing to the great majority of the French nation as it is to their friends in this country to learn that efforts are being made by some members of the...

In making estimates in war-time a Chancellor of the Exchequer is necessarily making provision for the unknown on both sides of the balance-sheet. Sir John Simon may congratulate...

The speech of M. Molotoff, the Russian Prime Minister and Commissar for Foreign Affairs, delivered before the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union last week, was sus- ceptible...

The German White Book, containing documents alleged to have been found among the Polish Foreign Office archives at Warsaw, is another example of the mischief which German...

The Government of Central China, under Mr. Wang Ching-wei, whom Japan has established at Nanking as her protége, was duly inaugurated with a singular absence of ostentation last...

on Wednesday night. There was little surprise, for the impression had already become general that no broadening of the basis of the Ministry was intended. Apart from the...

Conservative Associations should be submitting a resolution to their forthcoming party conference deprecating criticism " designed to undermine the authority of the Government."...

Our Parliamentary correspondent writes: Mr. Chamber- lain's statement on the progress of the war contained no surprises. It was merely the official announcement of decisions,...

The Home Secretary has now completed the appointment of chairmen of the advisory committees which are to recon- sider some of the cases of aliens who have been exempted...

On the Minister of Agriculture's statement that there were 53,000 tractors in the United Kingdom at the outbreak of war and that 17,000 more will have come into use by the...

The Labour Party was undoubtedly expressing a general grievance when it complained of the high prices of food in the House of Commons last Tuesday ; and it was no doubt right...

S INCE the last issue of this journal went to press the Supreme War Council of the Allies has met in London to take important decisions regarding the immediate future of the...

T HE Parliament which reassembled last Tuesday is nearly five years old, and in normal circum- stances would be due for dissolution. But now it sees its life extended for an...

B RITISH diplomats from the Balkans are flocking home this week, and cynics, I suppose, would suggest that some of them might with advantage stay at home. I have no idea of...

is to be called," A Victory Rally." Last year it was fixed for November as usual, and was to be called " A Pea,_. Rally." It was not held.

a tisk in inviting Sir Joseph Addison to take the place of "Onlooker" last Friday. If so it was a risk that justified itself abundantly. Sir Joseph, who was Counsellor of...

of the Ministry of Information—they were given a private showing on Tuesday, before M. Frossard and Sir John Reith —are exactly of the sort to be encouraged. (The exception is a...

years. His death removes a figure which fits into no precise category. He was an economist of real distinction, but never recognised as orthodox by the orthodox ; his theory...

me. " A man I know," he said, " has just been putting in for a commission in the Guards. The first ques- tion he was asked was ' Do you hunt? ' " At 3.3o someone quite...

an M.P. friend, a supporter of the Government, tells me, " said after Munich that he must vote against me in future because of the Government's disgraceful capitulation. Now he...

Perfectly right. Let America wrap herself in her owil virtue and constrict herself in her own corsets. JANus.

By STRATEGICUS F Mr. Chamberlain's reference to naval operations in the I neighbourhood of Jutland means a real change of policy, the event may have an influence on the war far...

By LEON BLUM [The Socialist Leader, who was Prime Minister of France in 1936-7 and 1938, is Editor of "Le Populaire "1 T HE truth must be faced. The cruel and dangerous peace...

By WILSON HARRIS DROF. LIONEL ROBBINS' article in last week's 1 Spectator reveals, as I hoped and expected, the existence of a considerable area of common ground between him as...

By AN INTERNATIONAL LAWYER O N March 1st, 1915, Mr. Asquith, when announcing the first retaliatory measures providing for the seizure of goods of German origin or destination,...

By LOUIS PIERARD (Deputy for Mons) A FTER seven months of war, the Belgians have come to believe in miracles. Seven months of war, and they continue to enjoy the benefits of...

By MARK BONHAM-CARTER O NCE more an attack has been launched against the public schools, and once more parents, politicians and schoolmasters have expressed their opinions on...

By M. ST. CLARE BYRNE T HE last time I listened to Haw-Haw he had a cold in his nose. It made his voice a little more human . but otherwise he was in good form—good enough to...

Stockholms Tidningen (Sweden): Great Britain and France insist that Norwegian newt ::; one-sidedly favours Germany, and they demand a This is a demand which the Norwegians...

A WORK-BASKET made of an old armadillo Lined with pink satin now rotten with age, A novel entitled The Ostracised Vicar With a spider squashed flat on the title-page, A...

A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT By Switzerland, March 28th, 1940. HE affair of Finland's surrender to Russia has been so I successfully exploited by the Germans that, rather than...

puny triumph plays in Nazi, and indeed in Fascist, mentality. How indicative of the uncertain and therefore ungenerous mind is this delight in small humiliations, in the tweak...

should celebrate the turn of the year by so puny and jocose a festival. Why should we disfigure that happy day by send- ing people on false errands, by providing them with false...

or may not, derive from painful experience in childhood. I cannot remember that I have ever suffered much from prac- tical jokes. My dislike of that ungainly form of humour is,...

great crisis can be taught us by the grotesque silliness of our April cele- bration. When I was a child it was a delight to me to inform my nurse, on April 1st, that her...

coming of the spring something affects the fancy of the young men and foolish things are apt to happen : " Quant les feves sont en fleur Les fous sont en vigueur." But even in...

Thuringia it is otherwise. There, upon the first of April, the young men disguise themselves as trees, are sprinkled with water by the maidens, and thereafter discard their...

By HAROLD NICOLSON I T is a cause of regret that we, who live for so many months under the pall of winter or in the harshness of a retarded spring, should possess no myth or...

British Painting since Whistler. " At the National Gallery. IN general—a well-arranged exhibition, well worth arranging. But debit side first. The usual mixed-exhibition...

"Lac des Cygnes." At Sadler's Wells. THE ballet, so far undiminished in essential strength by the calls of military service, returned to Sadler's Wells on Monday with a...

THE CINEMA Hitler, the Beast of Berlin." At the London Pavilion.— The March of Time: No. 12. MANY must have hoped that the present war would not produce the more unnecessary...

usual severity," hun- dreds of observers record the date of arrival of the first immi- grant birds, which included before March was out sand- martins, as well as wheat-ear and...

experiences of bird observers near London and in the extreme West of Wales have been closely similar in recent months. On the great London water reservoirs, as on the new decoy...

SEE, we are set for mountains, and though they lie below the horizon still we go to them. Some of us know the gains that such a conquest brings, and others fill knapsacks with...

Revolutionary Ploughs How very different are East and West England, not le. :a on the farm. More tilth is just an incident to the Eastern farm or country house. It is a...

Whether the cause was the hard winter, or some freak of albinism, I do not know, but that rarity of the south, the white stoat, has been seen in two places in Hertfordshire. One...

[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must...

Federation to Europe, firmly rejecting the proposal to draw in other democracies. Ten years' residence in America has convinced me of the utter impracticability of including...

Stem-Rubarth's idea about Germany without Prussia is no doubt a very good one ; indeed, I consider it the only solution which might bring about, if not the final destruction, at...

SIR, —Dr. Gilbert Murray's kind and generous letter prompts me to ask your leave to add something for which there was not room in my article. " He that is not against us is on...

Snt,—Heat rather than light may come from the friction between Mr. Pick and Mr. Osborn. The subject is far too important for this to be the result. Mr. Pick has succegded in...

Gilbert Murray's book, Stoic, Christian and Humanist, is thought-provoking for one who subscribes to Dr. Murray's views. The Canon is criticising the philosophy of a man whose...

very interesting article in your issue of March 29th states that Air-Marshal (General) Trenchard had in the Independent Air Force a command of " nearly 350,000 officers and...

I have met of the existence of a minority who. oppose the continuance of me war. But I do not think you over-estimate its extent and its importance. You cannot judge the...

SIR,—In the debate in the House of Commons, and in subse- quent Press comment, concern is expressed about the post- war position of the shipping industry, having regard to the...

Sul,—The sudden outburst of Nazi accusations against the American Government, timed to coincide with the return of Mr. Sumner Welles to Washington, would suggest that his recent...

SIR,—Like Mr. Steel Maitland, I was intrigued by Mr. Corbett's saying that he doesn't " use that word ever." Unlike him, I am not pained, only filled with admiration. What I...

Sta,—One of the many points in the Report of the Economic Committee on the Highlands and Islands which has been shelved because of the war was the need to encourage tourist...

SIR,—I have just received the following letter from a Norwegian friend of mine whose husband has been fighting in Finland. She says : our hearts are heavy for gallant little...

Steel Maitland's ; but tolerant is not the word I should have used myself about some of them. May I answer him? I do not knowingly use one word when obviously meaning another....

SIR,—The " Confucius, he say . . ." advertisements mer:- boned in " A Spectator's Notebook " seem to me to raise a point of taste. One is left wondering whether people would...

Sut,—The legend of the doings of the red-mantled women at Fishguard seems immortal. (Mr. Clark's pump adds a detail new to me.) Like most legends, it has a grain of truth. It is...

READERS were invited to state which of six specified famous historical characters they would most like to have been and to give their reasons in not more than 300 words. This...

PRIZES of book tokens for £2 2s. and Li is. are offered for the best list of the " Six Greatest Fools in History." Competitors should briefly give reasons for their choice, and...

A German Leader Nemesis ? The Story of Otto Strasser. By Douglas Reed. (Jonathan Cape. los. 6d.) MR. DOUGLAS REED'S latest thriller breaks new ground. Everybody knew something...

Since Yesterday : The Nineteen Thirties in America. By Frederick Lewis Allen. (Hamish Hamilton. I2S. 6d.) WHEN he wrote Only Yesterday, Mr. Allen was a pioneer, but over the...

Roman Fountain. By Hugh Walpole. (Macmillan. 8s. 6d.) SIR HUGH WALPOLE went to Rome last year under contract to describe the burial of the late Pope and the choice and...

MR. Wu was a philosophical but public-spirited eye-witness of the civil war in the Chinese province of Sinkiang during the first half of the past decade. His book (which is...

Three a Penny. By Anne Meredith. (Faber. Rs. 6d.) THERE are moments when one cannot help regretting that Nora Helmer ever slammed that Doll's House door. An occasional black ewe...

The Political Economy of War. By A. C. Pigou. (Macmillan. is.) WHEN Professor Pigou wrote his Political Economy of War in 1921 the Great War was over, though its consequences...

Festival. By Hamilton Basso. (Jarrolds. 9s. 6d.) I HOPE it suggests no disparagement of Mr. Macdonell's previous work to say that the two most interesting features of his new...

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. By Dylan Thomas. (Dent. 7s. 6d.) Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog — a barely appropriate title, for there is at least one other...

Finland. By J. Hampden Jackson. (Allen and Unwin. 8s. 6d.) FINLAND'S surrender in no way diminishes the interest felt here in that gallant country. There has for some years been...

It is apparent from Sir Felix Pole's review at the Asso- ciated Electrical Industries meeting that shareholders can look forward to steady, but almost certainly not to...

By CUSTOS EVEN better than expected must be the verdict on the nation's revenue figures up to March 31st. Actually the Exchequer has received L54 millions more than the...

The war presented the life insurance companies with numerous problems. Probably the most acute was what attitude to adopt when the assured dies from war causes either as a...

and Unwin. 16s.) THE plan of this book is excellent, given the purpose of bringing within a single volume, of 800 pages, a conspectus of New England Puritanism—its history and...

The good financial results of cinema companies since the war are striking and largely unexpected. Theatres were closed for about two weeks on the outbreak of war, during which...

In rather different circumstances the Refuge Assurance Company has also done better than its strictly contractual requirements. This company's pre-war policies, unlike those of...

GROWING VOLUME OF DEFENCE ORDERS THE thirty-seventh annual general meeting of Ericsson Telephones, Limited, was held on Thursday, April and, at Kingsway Hall, London, W.C. Col....

EFFECTS OF WAR THE forty-seventh annual meeting of the Mercantile Bank of India, Limited, was held on April and in London. Sir Charles A. limes, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., the...

In an estimate of the building society outlook in these columns last month it was sugges . ted that a downward adjustment of the interest paid to shareholders and depositors...

ASSOCIATED PORTLAND CEMENT MANUFACTURERS WAR-TIME PROBLEMS EXPORT DRIVE SIR P. MALCOLM STEWART'S ADDRESS THE forty-first ordinary general meeting of The Associated Port- land...

At the hnnual meeting of the British Aluminium Co., Mr. R. W. Cooper, the chairman, disclosed details of the contract under which this company has sold the whole of its 1940...

The telephone equipment industry is one of those which can look forward to a substantial volume of business both in peace and war. Colonel Sir Harold A. Wernher was therefore...

Ordinary stockholders in Vickers, Ltd., will find relief from their disappointment at the board's recent decision not to write up their capital in the explanation afforded by...

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE AND ELECTRIC COMPANY OUTPUT AGAIN INCREASED NATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF TELEPHONE INDUSTRY THE 20th ordinary general meeting of the Automatic Tele- phone and...

BRITISH INSULATED CABLES SATISFACTORY RESULTS FOR PAST YEAR DISTRIBUTION OF 20 PER CENT. THE forty-fourth ordinary general meeting of British Insulated Cab!es Ltd. was held on...

VICKERS LIMITED 73rd ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MR. A. A. Jamieson, the chairman of Vickers Limited, presided over the seventy-third annual general meeting of that company held on...

There is already ample evidence, in the accumulation of sterling resources in the hands of Empire countries, of the favourable effect of war on the trade balances of the primary...

Although demand from some sources has been curtailed since the outbreak of war, the activities of the British Insu- lated Cables group have expanded since last September. At...

IMPORTANCE OF CINEMAS IN WAR-TIME THE thirteenth annual general meeting of the Provincial Cinema- tograph Theatres, Limited, was held on Friday, March 29th at Film House,...

THE NATIONAL BANK OF INDIA IMPROVED CURRENT AND DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS FAVOURABLE INDIAN TRADE BALANCE THE ordinary general meeting of The National Bank of India Ltd. was held on...

STRONG FINANCIAL POSITION THE fortieth annual general meeting of Associated Electrical Industries, Ltd., was held on Friday, March 29th, at Bush House, Aldwych, London, W.C....

Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers last year delivered a record tonnage of " Blue Circle " cement. But the financial result of the year was a decline of £191,099 in the...

BRITISH ALUMINIUM COMPANY THE ordinary general meeting of the British Aluminium Company, Limited, was held on Friday, March 29th, in London. Mr. R. W. Cooper, M.C. (chairman),...

BANK OF AUSTRALASIA IMPROVED TRADING PROFIT DIVIDEND MAINTAINED Tan one hundred and sixth annual general meeting of the Bank of Australasia was held, on March 28th, at the...

HALIFAX BUILDING SOCIETY ASSETS REACH RECORD AMOUNT OF £129,000,000 THE eighty-seventh annual general meeting of members of Halifax Building Society was held on March ;oth at...

Year by year the results of Rand Mines, which is closely associated with the Central Mining in the financing of the Kaffir goldmining industry, emphasise the strength and...