6 APRIL 1918

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To the south of Arras, as far as the Somme,

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the German attacks on the Thursday were equally violent and equally fruitless. Eleven German divisions were used against ten miles of our front between Boiry and Serre without...

On Good Friday the enemy endeavoured to improve his advantage

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to the south of the Somme, developing heavy attacks on our right flank round Demuin, in the valley of the Luce stream, and Mezieres, on the Roye-Amiens road. We lost MeziOres,...

On the Thursday the enemy, while continuing his furious attacks

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to the south, delivered a tremendous blow at our Arras defences. He used ten divisions in the hope of capturing the Vimy Ridge, which we took from him last spring with three...

Last Sunday the enemy restricted his main efforts to the

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sector nearest to Amiens, between Montdidier and the Somme. A series of heavy attacks enabled him to make some progress in the Luce Valley and to capture Hangard, to the west of...

THE PAPER SHORTAGE.—We trust that readers of the " Spectator

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" will give definite orders to their newsagents for a copy of the " Spectator " to be reserved for them each week till countermanded.

General Marshall in Mesopotamia made a. brilliant stroke on March

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26th against a large Turkish force at Khan Baghdadie, on the Euphrates, about one hundred and twenty miles north-west of Baghdad. Like General Maude at Ramadie, General Marshall...

On Monday the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval

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Air Service were merged into one body, under the common title of the Royal Air Force. The development of these Flying Services has been one of the wonders of the war. The number...

General Allenby in Palestine, having occupied Es Salt, on the

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plateau east of the Jordan, on March 25th, sent his Colonial mounted troops towards Amman to make a raid on the Hedjaz Railway. Amman proved to be strongly defended. The cavalry...

Meanwhile on last Saturday the French armies on our right

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were engaged in a violent battle on the front of thirty-seven miles between Moreuil, north of Montdidier, and Lassigny. At the northern end of this great are, Aforeuil changed...

NEWS OF THE WEEK.

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T HE Wednesday and Thursday before Easter were critical days in the great battle in France. On the Wednesday, after a successful British counter-attack between the Ancre and the...

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The King, who always does of his own accord what

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his people would have wished him to do, made a special - visit to the front last week, and spent Good Friday and part of Saturday in inspecting the armies which are withstanding...

It is safe to predict that questions will be asked

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in Parliament about the present condition of the Supreme War Council at Versailles. It will be remembered that General Pooh was the principal Frenoh military representative, and...

The Prime Minister last Saturday issued a statement in which

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he said that the situation on the Western Front, though "extremely critical" for the-first few days, had improved owing to the -bravery of our troops. The struggle was, however,...

There is nothing like a time of distress for getting

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people together. Under a threat from without the British people of all classes and all shades of thought rush together as bubbles upon water quickly assemble under atmospheric...

German criticism of the value of America's man-power to her

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Allies has naturally centred upon the difficulty of transporting it to Europe—especially in view of the " knightly " efficiency of German submarine commanders. Mr. Hurley,...

Our losses by mine or submarine in the week ending

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March 23rd were fifteen large ships over 1,600 tons and nine smaller ships. Last week, however, we lost only five large and six small ships, including two little sailing...

We are glad to see that the Morning Post, in

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an excellent leading article in Thursday's issue, takes the same view of the necessity of applying conscription to Ireland as we put forward once again this week. "There is...

It was announced on Tuesday by the Prime Minister that

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America would send "large numbers of American battalions" to Europe during the coming critical months. Further, America had agreed that American regiments not yet sufficiently...

When the first successful rush of the Germans against the

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Fifth Army was announced, critics began to say that after all the recon- naissance work of the airmen had not helped us so much as had been expected. Later information has...

The Government would have done well to produce their new

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Man-Power measures while the country is in such a mood as these voluntary acts signify. No doubt the iron will still be hoir when they strike, but they may not catch it at its...

We are glad to learn from the Times of Wednesday

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that the Government will pay particular attention in the immediate future to the National Shipyard at Chepstow. As we have often explained, this yard, after being taken over...

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We record with much pleasure the fact that the War

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Office have decided not to disband Section D Volunteers for the present. As our readers know, we thought that the War Office had acted without due consideration. Apparently the...

Rumour says that the military age will be raised to

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forty-eight or fifty, and possibly even to fifty-five. Men who have hitherto regarded themselves as of over military age must make up their minds that for the rest of the war...

Count Czernin, the Austrian Foreign Minister, speaking in Vienna on

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Tuesday, said that President Wilson must know the impossibility of making a separate peace with Austria. Before the German offensive began, M. Clemenceau had inquired whether...

Dr. Mahlon's memorandum of conversations with Dr. Helfferich and Herr

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Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach in mid-July, 1914, confirms the Lichnowsky memorandum, and clinches the proof of the Kaiser's guilt as war-maker. Dr. Mahlon was in July, 1914, a...

General Smuts, speaking in London on Wednesday, said that recent

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events had cleared the air. Prince Licluiowsky's memoirs, combined with Dr. Mahlon's story and Herr von Jagow's admissions, had proved beyond all doubt that Germany deliberately...

It is suggested—without warrant, we believe—that the Military Tribunals may

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be dispensed with, and that some new machinery will be created for considering exemptions. Much fault could be found with the Tribunals at the beginning of their career, but we...

Herr von Jagow, who was German Foreign Secretary from 1913

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to 1916, has confirmed the main thesis of Prince Lichnowsky's memoirs, up, - ,n which we comment elsewhere. "We found the English Government ready to meet us," he says in regard...

Section D of the Volunteers contains thousands of men who

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have made themselves efficient, have passed through their musketry classes, done their bayonet exercises, and received the badge of efficiency issued by the Central Association...

Bank rate, 5 per cent., changed from 51 per cent.

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April 5,1917.

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TOPICS OF THE DAY • THE GOVERNMENT, IRELAND, AN]) MAN-POWER.

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T HE Government will be judged by the proposals which they will make for supplying fresh troops for the Army in the field. Upon the necessity for a bold and prompt handling of...

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THE MILITARY SITUATION.

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r HE great anxiety caused by the first German onrush in Jl. the present battle has been sensibly relaxed, during the past few days. The Germans are busily engaged in bringing up...

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A GERMAN AMBASSADOR'S CONFESSIONS.

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P RINCE LICHNOWSKY'S memoirs of his London Embassy in the two critical years before the war, which have appeared piecemeal in the Stockholm Socialist journal Politiken, and have...

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THE COMING BUDGET.

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I N the course of next week Mr. Boner Law, according to present expectations, will produce his second Budget, and already that section of the Press which objects to imposing...

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A WARNING. A ntR the recent debates in Parliament about the

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relations of the Government and the Press, Parliament believed, and the nation hoped, that there would be an end to the series of coincidences. Every one knows what those...

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OUR COMPULSORY FAST.

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" ripHE constantly stuffed body seeth not . secret things." In a 1. learned treatise upon abstinence down which the present writer was running his eye the other day, these words...

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 fill treble the space.] EASTER IN OCCUPIED BELGIUM....

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SINN FEIN IN AUSTRALIA.

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(To THE Herron or enz " &cornea.") Snt,—You printed, March 23rd, a letter with this heading from Dr. Leeper, the distinguished Warden of Trinity College, Mel- bourne. Only a...

PROTESTANT ASCENDANCY.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sra,—Some one once said that "there are no facts in Ireland," and the paradox is so far subjectively true that many notions widely prevalent...

THE LOYALTY OF ULSTER. (To THE EDITOR or THE "

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SPECTATOR.") Sut,—In these critical days it is surely important to know where are to be found loyal men who can be depended on. When that wonderful organizing genius of the...

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THE IRISH JUDICIARY.

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[To TM EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—A few weeks ago you published some letters on this subject which showed that the writers olearly understood the wasteful extravagance of...

SUPPLEMENTARY RATIONS.

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(To TM EDITOR or TM " SPECTATOR.") Sia„—The writer who signs himself "Mental Balance" in your issue of the 30th ult, has voiced, I believe, a widespread feeling that the...

ARCHBISHOP MANNIX AND THE COERCION OF HERETICS.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sra,—In the Spectator of March 23rd Dr. Leeper, of Melbourne University, expresses surprise at Archbishop Mannix, the acknow- ledged leader...

THE DEEDS OF THE MERCHANT NAVY. [To THE EDITOR OF

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THE "SPECTATOR.") Snt,-1 hope that the fine tribute which you pay to the heroic deeds of our merchant seamen will cause many to become members of the Merchant Seamen's League,...

THE INDIAN MERCHANT SEAMAN.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] S13,—All readers of the Spectator have, I am sure, been moved to a new and more grateful admiration of the devotion and gallantry of our...

AN AIRMAN POET.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."3 Sin,—Elsewhere in these columns, as you tell me, you print a poem signed Jeff Day, and some may remember another poem, called "An Airman's...

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FARM TENANCIES.

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[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] Snt,--The tenants of the great majority of houses in the kingdom are protected by emergency legislation against .having their tenancies put...

THE APOSTLES' CREED.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."1 Sin,—One word in reply to "L. C. F. C.," who says the question is whether the ministers of the Church are to bold themselves free to say "...

ANGARY.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTAT011."] Sig, —Your correspondent " Student " has given an interesting. account of le droit d'angarie—the right claimed by belligerents to impress...

THE PRESERVATION OF EGGS.

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[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") Sie,--May I ask for your solution of what appears to me a house- holder's problem ? We read and receive, really such diverse opinions and...

THE CUCKOO.

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[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] "seeing is believing," I would like to corroborate what your correspondent says about the cuckoo in your issue of March 23rd. I may say I am...

THE DANGER OF UNCONTROLLED ZIONISM. [To erre EDITOR OF THE

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"SPECTATOR."] Sre,—In your issue of March 30th Mr. Arthur D. Lewis denies that Zionism "is merely Pan-Germanism under a subtle disguise." I recently was in many of the Jewish...

FOOD FOR PIGS.

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[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.".] SIR,—Although one of the has-beens, having had nearly sixty years' experience in the breeding of pure-teed stock, winning some two thousand...

TRANSLATION "BOWLERS." .

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- [To rat Emma or THE " Srzereroa."3 Sut,—I send three "translation howlers" which I think may be of interest. A schoolboy once translated "Caesar captivos sub, corona vendidit...

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BOOKS.

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SWINBURNE'S LETTERS TO ROSSETTI AND WATTS-DUNTON.$ Tnts volume forms a valuable supplement and corrective to Mr. Cosse's Life of Swinburne. In its essentials the estimate of...

POETRY.

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TO MY BROTHER. Tins will I do when we have peace again, Peace and return, to ease my heart of pain. Crouched in the brittle reed-beds, wrapt in grey, I'll watch the dawning of...

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

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or initials, or with a pseudonym, or are marked "Communicated," the Editor must not necessarily be held to be in agree- ment with the views therein expressed or with the ,node...

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CAMBRIDGE PAPERS.* BY the year 1133 the Universities of Orford

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and Cambridge were so firmly established "that they agreed not to recognize any other • Cambridge Papers. By W. W. Row* Ball, Fe/low of Trinity Collcge,eambridge London ;...

THE FREE PRESS.* EVERY one with a sense of humour

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sympathizes with Don Quixote in his delusions because, though mistaken, he was transparently sincere. We have much the same feeling in regard to Mr. Belloo's clever and spirited...

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THE REVENUES OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.* Tars is a

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little book which merits the serious attention of all Church laymen, for it is an attempt, the first we have seen, to show how the revenues of the Church of England might be set...

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READABLE NOVELS.—W here England Sets her Feet. By Bernard Capes.

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(W. Collins, Sons, and Co. 6s.)—A story of the days of • Anne's House of Dreams. By L. M. Montgomery. London : Constable and Co. 158. net.1 Elizabeth. Though the scene is...

FICTION.

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ANNE'S HOUSE OF DREAMS.* THERE are few themes more difficult to handle than the first years of married life, and the difficulty is certainly not lessened when the recital is in...

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

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[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent review.] New Orientation of History," discussing the history of the German colonies and the possibilities of...

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The Awakening of India. By De Witt Mackenzie. (Hodder and

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Stoughton. 2s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Mackenzie, an American journalist, made a tour of inquiry in India in 1916-17, and records in this very readable little book the highly favourable...

Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, a leading minister of Brooklyn, has

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contributed to the London Quarterly Review for April a noteworthy article on "The United States and the War." "That the nation is aroused," he says, "is obvious ; what is not so...

Under the title of Hipling's Message (W. H. Smith and

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Son, ld.), Mr. Kipling's spirited speech on the war, delivered at Folkestone on February 15th last, has been reprinted. It should be read with attention.

The Ministry of National Service has issued a provisional Directory

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of Government Departments and National Organisations requiring Voluntary Workers. This pamphlet gives full particulars of the work that needs doing, and those who have any...

The Oxford Stamp, and other Essays. By Frank Aydelotte. (Oxford

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University Press. 6s. net.)—Profeesor Aydelotte, who held a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford some years ago, and has since taught in American Universities, repays his debt to Oxford...

The new quarterly part of The New English Dictionary (Clarendon

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Press, 5s. net) is a section of Vol. IX., "Supple—Sweep," edited by Mr. C. T. Onions. It records 2,073 words, nearly ten times as many as that gallant pioneer, Dr. Johnson, gave...

An attractive batch of cheap reprints just issued by Messrs.

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Nelson includes Romance, by Mr. Conrad and Mr. Hueffer ; The White Company, by Sir A. Conan Doyle ; Red Pottage, by Miss Mary Cholmondeley (1s. 6d. net each) ; Rupert of Hentzau...

WORKS OF REFERENCE. — Doti's Parliamentary Companion for 1918 (Sir Isaac Pitman

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and Sons, 6s. net) is unusually welcome this year, for it contains a full and revised list of Ministers, ninety-four in all, and details of the Munitions Council, Air Council,...