5 MARCH 1927

Page 1

A Press Association telegram gives the first details of what

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happened at Hangchow' just before its occupation by the Cantonese. The northern soldiers when making ready to abandon the city demanded money from the Chamber of •...

The Times correspondent says that the moderates view with ever-increasing

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disfavour the domination 01 Borodin, who is now practically a dictator at Hankow. The Cantonese General, Chiang Kai-shek, is said to have quarrelled with Gallents, the Russian...

The consultations between these former rivals are significant and very

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characteristic of Chinese warfare. Consultations about the disposition of troops arc, how- ever, only a slighter aspect of a much wider movement which is reported by the...

The Northern commanders are all speaking fair to 'foreigners, but

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it need not be thought that . the defeat of the Cantonese would be an advantage either for China or for foreigners. Chang Tso-lin was a brigand in his youth and, in spite of his...

News of the Week

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THE news from China is more confused and scantier -I- than usual. The Times - correspondent says that Sun Chuan-fang was not pursued during his retreat from Chekiang and that he...

EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING OFFICES : IS York Street, Covent (Wen,

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London, W.C. 2.—A Subscripiioa to the SPECTATOR costs Thirty Shillings per annum, including postage, to any part of the trwhl. The SPECTATOR i8 registered as a Newspaper. The...

Page 2

Some of the British, French and Italian troops who are

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-defending the International settlement at Shanghai have been stationed outside the settlement, as Sir Austen Chamberlain explained in the House of _Commons on Wednesday. The...

Perhaps the most ugly fact about this Russian policy of

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wreckage is that it is pursued in the spirit of the old Russian autocracy at its worst moments. The difficulty of dealing with Russia in the old days was that Russian agents...

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on Tuesday announced

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its considered opinion on the dispute between Canada and Newfoundland as to the possession of the doubtful Labrador Peninsula. The,dispute turned on the use of the word " coast...

In other words the Government point out that they are

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committed to consideration of the League's scheme (which aims at a reduction of all armaments by all members of the League), and that they could not even in form commit an act...

The Soviet reply to the British Note is an astute

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and -elaborate piece of -argumentation: it throws out a smoke screen, and behind this comes to an end without ever touching the real issue. It says that certain speeches and...

It must be admitted that Soviet writers emerge from wordy

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skirmishes of this sort with few wounds and a good, deal of superficial credit. The moral is that the British Government would be well advised to make their extremely well...

A householder who wanted to protect his windows from the

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bullets of machine guns would not find that it was of much use to keep all the defenders inside the house. His only effective line of defence would be in the garden. We either...

The reply of the Government to Mr. Coolidge's proposal for

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a further limitation of naval armaments is admirable in manner, proportion and emphasis. Sir Austen Chamberlain read the reply in the House of Commons on Monday. It speaks of...

Page 3

We deeply regret to record two colliery disasters, one at

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Cwm, in Monmouthshire, and the other in Nottingham- shire, both of which by a strange coincidence occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning. • No fewer than 57 lives were...

For the fourth year in succession the Indian Budget shows

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a realized surplus. Sir Basil Blackett is to be heartily congratulated upon his performance. The Esti- mates introduced in the Indian Legislative Assembly on Monday promise a...

The Stourbridge .by-election on Thursday, Feb- ruary 24th, resulted in

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a gain for Labour. were as follow :— The figures Wilfred Wellook (Lab.) .. 16,561 . • H. Cairn Hogbin (Unionist) — 13,462 A. J. Glyn Edwards (L.) .. 9,535 Labour majority...

* * * The Estimates for the Civil Service have

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risen by £ 4 ,700,000. At first sight it looks as though they had fallen, but it is always necessary at this time of year to remind readers that the official papers do not...

Thus Newfoundland has won her case. Until a few years

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ago neither Canada nor Newfoundland troubled herself about the . ownership. Labrador has become unexpectedly important through the development of wood-pulp and water power. - It...

It is very good news that Lord Tennyson has generously

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given to the nation 155 acres of High Down, near Farringford, Isle of Wight, in memory of his father. It was on _this down that the poet used to walk every day for many years....

Sir Herbert Samuel has returned to British politics after an

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absence of seven years. He has become chairman of the Liberal Organization Committee and he has the almost unique advantage of being accepted by both wings of the Party. It is...

It is a pleasure to congratulate the Nineteenth Century on

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its jubilee of fifty years. The first number of Sir James Knowles's famous venture contained a poem by Tennyson and articles by Gladstone and Matthew Arnold. That was setting a...

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

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on December 3rd, 1925. War Loan (5 per cent.) nas on Wednesday 101* ; on Wednesday week 1011 ; a year ago 101*. Funding Loan (4 per cent.) was on Wednesday 871 ; on Wednesday...

Page 4

The Eight Hours Convention 1 T is a familiar situation

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for Governments, as for A - private persons, to get the discredit of . meaning ill when they mean very well. The Government arc in such a situation now in regard to the Eight...

Page 5

Great Britain and Russia r HERE is a good deal

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of anxiety in the country at 1 the present time concerning our relations with Russia. The year 1926 was a year of trials faithfully and heroic- ally borne by the BritiSh...

In next week's LITERARY SUPPLEMENT Mr. Bernard Shaw will review

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Colonel Lawrence's Revolt in the Desert. Mr. E. F. Benson with review Jew Suss. The fifth instalment of "An Ordinary Man's Thoughts on the Drink Question " is unavoidably...

Page 6

The Week in Parliament F OR most of the week the

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Scotsmen have been left to discuss their own troubles. But on Monday a nice little breeze blew up over the non-ratification of the Washington Convention on hours of labour. Lord...

The Corning Crisis in France T HE whole atmosphere of the

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French capital has changed during the last few weeks. Obvious signs of an economic crisis have indeed been present for at least a couple of months, but the French public, led by...

Page 7

Morley and Gladstone

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M R. F. W. HIRST'S book, which has been reviewed in these columns, leaves John Morley on the door- step of the Cabinet in 1886. These early years of Morley reveal, more clearly...

Page 8

The Girl of To-Morrow

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" W ILLIAM CLISSOLD " speculating on the girls of the future says :- " These women of the days to come . . . remain conspicuously featureless. My reason evokes them . . . but...

Page 9

The Fasting Cure 1V ANY of my friends arc ill - with

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colds. Some drag I themselves to their appointed tasks, others - he a-bed, resting everything except their digestions. Some people, indeed, are so busy keeping the body on an...

Page 10

The Theatre

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[" THE LETTER." BY W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM. AT TIM PLAYHOUSE.-" THE WICKED EARL." BY WALTER HACKETT. AT HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.-" THE BLUR COMET." BY EDEN PHILLPOTTS. AT THE COURT...

The First Crocus

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-a F AGER correspondents do not rush to record the appearance of the first crocus as they do that of the first cuckoo. Yet the cuckoo but assures us that spring will presently...

Page 11

Correspondence

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Slit,—The last few days have seen two momentous events ; the North have dismissed Sir Francis Aglen, and the South have broken off...

Music

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[THE BEETHOVEN CENTENARY.] TIIE Beethoven Celebrations draw near. No centenary within memory has been organized on so large a scale. Both Europe and America are involved. The...

Page 12

A LETTER FROM STOCKHOLM. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

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SIR,—Something of a " boom " seems likely to come to Sweden, for there has been a great increase in orders booked for the coming season, especially with regard to wood goods,...

Keep Faith

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WHEN night her dew lets fall, Bringing release, Though from far-off I call, Past sundering seas, If faith thou'st kept with mime, And still wilt keep, Sweet on thine eyes shall...

Page 13

PREMATURE CUCKOOS.

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It was firmly believed in Dorsetshire last week, on the authority of very confident reports, that the cuckoo had been heard several times near Poole. It is just a question...

An Australian mining prospector, now in this country, has some

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wonderful tales to tell of the acuteness of the senses of the native races. It was noted in the War that an English country labourer could detect an aeroplane many miles further...

Helped by wireless (a revolutionary agent in village life), women's

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institutes and other societies, these councils have a great opportunity ; but they will miss it, if they do not harness their energies and, if one may say so, put on blinkers....

The present ruthless felling of very old trees in Burley

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Old, in the New Forest, offends the naturalist, because it does damage to more than the landscape. A number of birds delight in old trees, from the herons that nest in their...

Country Life and Sport Tat: NEW _VILLAGE.

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Those of us who live in country villages and take any interest in their life begin to hope, almost to believe, that they are coming into their own. A new campaign on their...

THE RETURN OF THE TROUT.

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In a very plaintive voice Mr. Noel Buxton said the other day (in the company of four other Ministers of Agriculture) that he had only one objection to sugar beet : he did like a...

As EGG-LAYING MYSTERY.

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It speaks well for our native interest in the welfare of our home animals that two Bills for bird protection are under discussion ; and Lord Desborough, to whom all manner of...

Page 14

CAN AMERICAN PROSPERITY LAST ?

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,--A recent article in the Spectator, entitled Can American Prosperity Last ?" seems to attribute the prosperity now existing in America...

Letters to the Editor

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FINANCIAL SECURITY FOR THE WAGE-EARNER [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,- May I encroach on your valuable space to put forward a suggestion which 1 feel has a very...

OUR OLDEST READER

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Having been a reader of the Spectator for over eighty years and always enjoyed it so much, I want to send you my good wishes for the...

Page 15

• UNCORROBORATED POLICE EVIDENCE ITo the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

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Sin,-- Mr. Gardner's letter on uncorroborated police evidence raises an issue which in these days may become vital to any man who remains in the neighbourhood of Leicester...

[To the Editor of the SrEcr.vron.]

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Sin.— With reference to your article on " Preserving England." I should like to call your attention to the matter of Tintagel. Cornwall. Tintagel is a slate country, and the...

PRESERVING ENGLAND [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin. May

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I add a few points to your article on " Preserving England " ? The urgent need for houses could be better met I'S Properly laid-out plans and well-designed dwelling places than...

A FREE CHURCHMAN ON PRAYER BOOK REVISION [To the Editor

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of the SPECTATOR.] Sin. Permit me to thank you sincerely for publishing- the Rev. Harold - E. Brierley's lucid and well-balanced opinion on the Composite Prayer Book. He has...

THE PLEASURES OF RETIREMENT [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

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Slit. May I point out that " M.S.," in his letter which appears on the above subject in your issue of February 12th, misses one aspect of the question ? He carefully points out...

Page 16

THE CAGE BIRD CULT [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

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SIR,—Whilst I am in most heartfelt agreement with the splendid letter of Mr. S. M. G. Gravener in your issue of 26th ult., I should like to point out that the Bird Protection...

NATIONAL LACK OF THRIFT [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

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' SIR,- -- All readers of your r6sume of the Colwyn report moist Ire struck by the serious, disquieting; but not surprising, fact of the decrease in the savings of the country....

"THE CAGE BIRD CULT" AND "THE AQUARIUM VENTURE" [To Me

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Editor of Me SPECTATOR.] SIR. I have read Mr. 'famish Maelaren's charming article entitled." The Aquarium Vent ure,'' and with your perrnbasion wish to ask him, with all...

Page 17

THE NUMBER SEVEN [To the Edithr of the Sem-TA - roll.]

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Sta.—Your correspondent suggests that we " retrace the de- velopments of the interest in the number seven to its origin in the Astrology of Babylon." But we can retrace this...

• ECLIPSES AND PLANETARIA [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

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SIR, —It has been said by a British astronomer that hundreds of years before the Christian Era there were men, both in Egypt and Chaldea, who " possessed more accurate...

THE CANADIAN FLAG [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

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Sin, — In a letter headed " The Canadian Flag " appearing in your issue of January 8th, 1927, Mr. Harry Baldwin writes "Canada has no national flag ... the so-called Canadian...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR.-- Lao-Tze was a

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Chinese born sonic fifty years before the time of Confucius. who takes high rank as a profound and original thinker. In these days of " mothering " govern- ments. the following...

THE STOURBRIDGE ELECTION AND ITS LESSON [To the Editor of

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the SPECTATOR.] SIR. — Yet - another Unionist seat has been lost, and for the old fatuous reason—the hopeless candidature of a Liberal. Altogether, 22,987 votes were cast...

Page 18

SHORT LETTERS RURAL INDUSTRIES.

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May I, as one of the authors of The Rural Industries of England and Wales, of which the second volume was reviewed so appreciatively in your issue of February 26th, suggest that...

MOORFIELDS [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] • Sin,—Few people,

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perhaps, realize to what extent the incomes of voluntary hospitals were affected by the General Strike—the business man in a bad trade year - cuts his subscription list, and...

Poetry

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A Tangle of Bells THERE are four old bells at Marston, Marston by the Dove, There's " Glory be to God on high " Tossing its cup toward the sky, Three centuries have known the...

Page 19

ne 5p e ctator

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FINANCIAL SUPPLEMENT BANKING AND INSURANCE No. 5,149.] WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 1927. [GRATIS.

Page 21

Banking in 1926 A Difficult Year—Rise in Deposits—Loan Activities By

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ARTHUR W. KIDDY. Ir is impossible to study the reports and balance-sheets of the joint stock banks in modern times without being impressed by the Continued abnormality of...

Page 25

Bankers and Trade The Outlook

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By AN OBSERVER. WuKx the tendency for bankers to be optimistic con- cerning trade prospects is borne in mind, I scarcely think that hank chairmen at the recent . annual...

Page 27

Bankers' Loans and Life Assurance

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A Sugg estion bb crestion Ax actuary informed the writer that of 2,000 surrender value quotations made during the course of a year, 75 per cent. were quoted to Banks in respect...

Page 29

Insurance Protection for the Professional Man IT is not at

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all unusual to find reported in the daily Press eases where professional men are being sued for damages for some alleged neglect of duty or wrongful advice. It may be in the...

Page 32

it.ridon: Printed by W. Srastuirr Ann Sorts, LTD., 98 and

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99 Fetter Lane. EC. 4, and Published by Tux SPEcraroa, LSD. , at their Offices. No. COVent Garden, London, W.C. 2. Saturday, March 5, 1927. •

Page 33

Mr. Cyril Asquith's Trade Union Laze for Laymen (Cassell, 2s.)

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appears at a topical moment. There is a sect ion on the very fine distinction between " informing" and "persuading " in the matter of peaceful picketing. A chapter on '• Some...

1 he Production and Distribution of Clean Milk (The Dairy- ",

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1:1 Great Tower Street, E.C. 3, 2s.) is a subject of im- INN, importance to us all. Mr. A. T. R. Mattiek tells us at England consumes only one-third of a pint per head per or...

We turned instantly to the end of Great Painters in

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Art and dre (Xewnes, 2s.) to see what Mr. Lewis Hind had to say f Sargent. He is guarded and generous, but, as we suspected, nenthusiastie. We would question the correctness of...

It is much to be marvelled at the little bird

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called a Wren, Ming fastened to a little stick of hazel newly gathered, (loth . urn about and roast himself." This is only one of a thousand plaint notions and beliefs about...

The Manual of Modern Cookery, by Miss Jessie Lindsay, and

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Professor V. II. Mottram (University of London Press, 4s. 6d.) has only some fifty pages of academic theory and two hundred and fifty pages of recipes for agreeable dishes. The...

Mr. Canby is known as a very able editor on

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the other side of the Atlantic as well as a writer of terse and brilliant English. In Better Writing (Cape, 3s. 6d.) he has made a really useful contribution to the already...

Sir Robert Baden-Powell has given young England some very wise

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and pithily expressed advice in Lifc's Snags (Pearson. 2s. 6d.). We can imagine the horror of the highbrow on looking through this volume— but it is nut for him but lOr human...

if only for the delightful photographs of Miss Beatrice Lewisohn

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in poses expressive of joy, fear, jealousy and other emotions, The Science and Art of Speech and Gesture (Daniel, 7s. 6d.) would be an attractive book. But the author, Miss...

This Week's Books

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CEnALD GOULD, is better known—and in our opinion much more readable—as a critic than as a poet, but in his precious— indeed overpriced—little volume of new poems, Beauty...

The New Competition

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WE offer two prizes in our New Competition of £2 1 Os. I.:wit, one for men and one for women. Our readers are as1;ed t.) imagine that they can only select their future husband...

Page 34

Mr. Churchill on the War The World Crisis, 1916-1918. By

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the Rt. Hon. Winston S. Churchill. (Thornton Butterworth, Ltd: 42s. net.) " But men at whiles are sober And think by fits and starts And if they think, they fasten Their hands...

The Johannine Problem

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Christianity as Bhakti Marga : A Study in the Mysticism of the Johannine Writings. By A. J. Appastuny. (Macmillan. 4s. 6d.) Born chronologically and philosophically the New...

Page 35

Shortcomings of Shakespeare

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Shakespeare's Workmanship. By Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. (Fielder LTnwin. 9s. net.) TI11:121: are miracles of stagecraft in Shakespeare's plays. He can be as dexterous and easy...

Page 36

Under White Ensign and Jolly Roger

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LORD JELLICOE hopes that The Navy To - day will be " real and studied by every citizen of the British Empire." It i, small, cheap book, with an obvious purpose, readable, and...

Hunted by the Bolsheviks

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The White Devil's Mate. By Lewis Stanton Palen. (Bodley lead. is. Od.) Tuts book is a sequel to The White Devil of the Black Sea, in which Mr. Palen describes the adventures of...

Page 37

ray Davies and Girton College

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mil? Davies and Girton College. By Lady Stephen. (Con. stable. 21s.) E ever-increasing crowd of women students who flock to the Universities to-day will be eager to read this...

Fiction

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Modern and Other Loves Sir Pompey and Madame Juno. By Marlin Armstrong. (Cape. 7s. tld.) WHEN two sane and sensitive married people discover that they do not love one another,...

A History of Switzerland

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Histoire de la Suisse : Essal sur la Formation d'une Con. ted6ration d'Etats. By William Martin. (Payot, Paris: 24 francs.) THE well-known International Editor of the Journal...

A Physician's Portfolio

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tray Leaves from a Physician's Portfolio. By Sir James Crichton-Browne. (Hodder and Stoughton. 12s. ed.) mums physician cannot well help having things to say hat arc worth...

Page 38

Novels in Brief

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The Trail-Makers of the Middle Border (John Lane. 7s. 6d. is a book of uncommon charm and distinction. Mr Hamlin Garland has the combined gifts of noveli historian, and...

PETENERA'S DAUGHTER. By Henry Bellaman. (Cape. 7s. 6d.)–•Ursula Irack—Sule, for

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short—of Basque blood, with vivacity and a head sometimes full of the strangest ecstasies and imaginings, was La Petenera's daughter. Every-: one had loved Petenera. Her...

KINDLING AND ASHES. By George Barr McCuteheon. (John Lane. 7s.

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6d.)—In the American country town of Hurdleford there are two families that matter, the Waynes and the Jaggards—the former because of their lineage, and the latter on...

THE THREE FACES. By Helen Nicholson. f(011inr. 7s. 6d.)—This is

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a tale of love,- adventure and nn;sten, brightened by occasional flashes of humour and full of exeitik, situations. Those who , enjoy .a. thriller, that has at the same time a...

THE DEADLOCK. By V. V. Vieressaev. (Faber and Gayer. 7s.

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6d.)—The Deadlock is a singularly apt title for a book which describes the hopelessly helpless conflict between Reds and Whites in the Russia of a few years ago. The opposing...

Page 41

Current Literature

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THIS BELIEVING WORLD. By Lewis Browne: "(Berm. 7s. ad.)-Mr.. Browne is obviously writing for that vast s emi-educated public which wants its thinking done for it; They want to...

A DIPLOMATIST IN EUROPE. By the Rt. Hon. Sir

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Arthur Hardinge. (Jonathan Cape. 16s.)--Sir Arthur Hardinge had a long and distinguished diplomatic career which began as long ago as 1880, ended in 1920, and was only...

TILE TRAIL OF LEWIS AND CLARK. By 0. D. Wheeler.

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0 , Vols. (Putnam. 50s.)-When in 1803 the U.S.A. aired by the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon about ne-third of its present area for a figure which worked out to (nettling like...

BRITISH ANTS. By H. St. J. K. Donisthorpe. (Rout- edge.

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25s.)- -The study of ants has made such great progress luring the last ten years, and so many important books and moms on the subject have been published, that we may be xcused...

PORTS OF FRANCE. By Herbert Adams Gibbons. Jonathan Cape. 16s.)-This

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ought to be a more attractive than it is. The ports of France are indeed a fascinating object. From Dunkirk to Toulon the French coast is studded ith strange, beautiful and...

A Library List MISCELLANEOUS :-Studies in the Contemporary Theatre. By

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John Palmer. (Marlin Seeker. 10s. 6d.)---- The Year's Work in English Studies. Vol. VI. Edited for The English Association by F. S. Boas and C. II; Herford. (Oxford University...

Page 42

Finance-Public and Private

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Banking Profits and Bank Shares Wrrii the exception of Barclays all the banks show a moderate reduction in profits for the past year. The Midland and the Lancashire and...

Page 45

Tim UNDERGROrND GROUP.

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This same view with regard to impaired travel power . . is equally emphasized by Lord Ashfield at the meeting of el . nderground group of Railways, which includes the London...

Motoring Notes

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Long Bonnets and their Death-roll Ws. do not need to be told that there are far too many accidents caused by motor vehicles and that the manlier is increasing year by year. Nor...

a- - - a * . * - • Coen - I - Art.13's, Although

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the profits of Courtatild's'for the past year showed a material reduction, - the report on the whole was a more favourable one than the market had anticipated. having regard to...

TUE DUTY OF LIFE INSURANCE.

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1 doubt whether the cause of life insurance in general has er been pleaded with greater effect than by Mr. H. Nes-ill r n,das, at the recent annual General Court of the Scottish...

Bovnie.

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Coneernilig the affairs of his company, .the chairman of vrilLimited,Sir - George-Lawson Johnston, had-nothing but stisfaetory statement to make at the recent annual meeting, he...