6 MAY 1938

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NEWS OF THE WEEK T HE dictators of Italy and Germany

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began their conversa- tions in Rerme on Wednesday, after Herr Hitler had been given the reception due to a Holy Roman Emperor. It is assumed that the talks concerned the problem...

China's Human Wall Japan's offensive in Shantung, undertaken with the

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object of reversing her defeat at Taierchwang and capturing the Lunghai railway, appears to have spent its strength and to have been held up. It is impossible to reconcile the...

France's Finances There is not much to be said in

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favour of M. Daladier's first instalment of financial decrees issued under the Special Powers Act ; but at least they put an end to the "supple- mentary budgets" which for years...

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A Plan for Abyssinia It may be too much to

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hope that Signor Mussolini will adopt the very interesting suggestion put forward in The Times by Lord Lugard, and supported by several writers of undisputed authority on...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia's great May-day demonstrations, staged by the Czechs and

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the Sudeten Germans, passed off without disturbance ; not only Herr Henlein, but Herr Jaksch, the German Social Democratic leader, addressed large meetings of their followers...

America's New Party It is difficult as yet to say

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what part will be played in American politics by the new National Progressive Party founded by the brothers La Follette at Madison, Wisconsin, last week ; President Roosevelt...

The Churches and Common Life The proposal promulgated this week

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by a group of Ministers and laymen of different Christian Churches in Great Britain, presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, for the establishment of what may (at the...

The King at Glasgow The King, in his speech at

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the opening of the Glasgow Exhibition on Tuesday, very rightly associated the great under- taking specifically with Scotland. It is, of course, an Empire Exhibition, in line...

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Tea is a subject which never fails to produce an

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animated discussion. On Tuesday evening Labour members were inclined to be resentful of the Chancellor's statement last week that the additional duty would be paid in the...

An uninstructed stranger, sitting in the gallery on Monday, could

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scarcely have realised the low estate to which the Liberal Party has fallen. As has happened more than once recently, the minor Opposition played a part in the debate out of all...

Children and the Cinema - Some interesting facts are disclosed

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in a Report on the recreational aspect of the cinema which was presented on Monday to the Advisory Committee of the League of Nations on Social Questions by Mr. S. W. Harris, of...

The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes : Seldom

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has the cleavage between the Government and the Opposition been so plainly revealed as in the debate on the Italian Agreement. The difference between parties nowadays lies...

Holidays with Pay That social progress should be achieved along

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voluntary rather than statutory lines—a basic principle of British social policy—is, in general, desirable both on economic and democratic grounds. But it is doubtful wisdom on...

A Century . of Manchester It is difficult to realise that

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the size, prosperity and influence to which the City of Manchester has attained today have been virtually built up in a single century. Yet this week Manchester has been...

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WAS THE PRIME MINISTER RIGHT?

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S EVEN days whose span includes the Anglo-French conversations in London, the approval by the House of Commons of the Anglo-Italian agreement, and the arrival of Herr Hitler in...

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FOOD AND WAR

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S IR JOHN SIMON'S announcement of the Govern- ment's secret purchases of food supplies, in preparation for an emergency, has given universal satisfaction. And the Government has...

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Sir William Llewellyn's announcement that the Royal Academy will devote

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its next Winter Exhibition to Scottish art arouses expectations which cannot very obviously be satisfied. Are Scottish paintings of the quality for a Winter Exhibition available...

I hope the paragraph regarding a fixed Easter in the

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report of Lord Atnulree's Committee on Holidays with Pay will get some of the attention it deserves. The faxed Easter question has been under discussion nationally and inter-...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

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T HE indignation of Mr. Herbert Morrison and Mr. Lloyd George at the Prime Minister's reference to President Roosevelt's comments on the Anglo-Italian agreement in the House of...

The British Road Federation argued strongly before the House of

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Lords Committee on Tuesday in favour of road improvement as a means of averting accidents, and in par- ticular for the segregation of traffic—footpaths for pedestrians,...

* * * *

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What the issues in the Mid-Bucks by-election may be remains to be disclosed, but so far as the personality of the candidates goes Sir Stanley Reed, who stands as a supporter of...

The Indomitable Optimist March. " Germany attack Czechoslovakia? Nevzr. Britain and

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France would fight." April. " Germany attack Czechoslovakia ? Never, France would fight." May. "Germany attack Czechoslovakia?. Never. The Czechs would fight." jANUS.

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EIRE'S FIRST PRESIDENT

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By W. M. CROOK D OUGLAS HYDE, who has been nominated as the first President of Eire under the new Constitution, and was declared elected on Wednesday in the absence of opposi-...

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GERMANY AND EUROPE: II. THE FOUR YEAR PLAN

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By H. POWYS GREENWOOD E VERY time I go back to Berlin it is a little more difficult to recognise, and incidentally a little more difficult to get about in. The other day a...

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MOMENTOUS HISTORY

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By J. A. SPENDER T HERE are many works which could only be adequately reviewed by their authors or editors, and among these I would place the great series of British Documents...

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DEATH FROM THE SKIES

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By HENRY BRINTON S ITTING in an English railway train passing through stereotyped English suburbia, I tried to make the article I was reading about Air Raid Precautions seem...

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THE WHITE BELLES OF SCOTLAND

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By MARGARET IRWIN B UCHAN'S first cold spell of the year falls in the middle of February. It was a foolish choice to go to Scotland for it, so my friends told me, who one and...

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Under Thirty Page

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CAN I BE A CHRISTIAN ?-VIII The writer, whose age is '28, is cz Cambridge graduate,- and a missionary of the Church of Scotland in India] I N the Christian view of the world I...

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Commonwealth and Foreign

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THE WEST INDIES AND THEIR PROBLEMS-I By SIR CHARLES HOBHOUSE T HE WEST INDIES (from which I have lately returned) is to most people a geographical expression for a group of...

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STAGE AND SCREEN

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THE THEATRE "Banana Ridge." By Ben Travers. At the Strand—" Three Blind Mice." By Stephen Powys, At the Duke of York's "WE have in this world," wrote George Meredith, "men...

THE CINEMA

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"North Sea," and Other G.P.O. Films A TRAWLER puts out to sea, her crew engaged in wotk as familiar to them as the 8.n5 to London Bridge and the "office, or the trudge to the...

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ART: A COMMONPLACE ACADEMY

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By ANTHONY BLUNT Tins year the exhibition of the Royal Academy has at any rate the merit of being consistent. Usually it is possible, by tipping oneself into the position of an...

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OPERA

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Art and Dexterity WITH Baedeker in hand and the wisdom of Berenson in mind I have been doing, as the term is, the Churches and Galleries of Florence. This personal statement is...

ENFANTS DU SIÈCLE

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[D'un correspondant parisien] Las Parisiens vierment d'etre convies a examiner les meilleurs dessins d'un concours pour enfants de moins de quinze ans. On leur avait donne pour...

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Pheasant or Grouse An introduction to Scotland which seems a

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superfluity, if no worse, is the pheasant. Large numbers are being reared this year and the population of this conventional fowl continues to increase greatly, not least in the...

In the Garden

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That great writer on gardens, Mr. Clutton Brock, used to say that no rock garden plant excelled lithospermum prostratum. He wrote, I think, of the dark blue variety (not of the...

The People of the North People in the less fortunate

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south of our island are apt to think of Scotland as chiefly distinguished by its moors and hills and so-called forests, all perhaps a little bleak when compared with the garden...

Common Rights

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On the subject of preservation, an official request reached me this week for information on the right of the Lord of the Manor or the local councils to make a road across a...

Scottish Preservers

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The C.P.R.E., which held its annual meeting this week, should take note that in England, though not in Scotland, the parish councils are beginning to take active steps to...

COUNTRY LIFE

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European Weather This little Northern Island of ours often enjoys—if that is the word—a sort of weather almost peculiar to itself. It is far warmer than its latitude and vastly...

Food and Song

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The weather brought less usual visitors to many bird-tables One very lively account has been given me of a robin that quite successfully imitated the tits in making a meal off a...

JAQUES' THRUSH Through sun and rain He sits and sings

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And I am fain To do as he, For sun and rain are pleasant things Also to me, So why should I with teasing thought Bring these sweet natural joys to nought ?

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DISCRIMINATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND

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- [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Sta,—The Bible is the foundation of Christian belief; where the denominations differ is in their interpretation of it. Now if the Northern...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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[Corresponcknts are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our "News of the Week" paragraPhs. Signed...

WEAR AND TEAR ALLOWANCES

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR) SIR,—In your leading article on the Budget in your issue of April 29th, you say that the Chancellor of the Exchequer "has given relief to...

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UNEQUAL SACRIFICE

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[To the Editor qf THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—It is surprising to read, in a responsible paper like The Spectator, the suggestion that the very rich are not to contribute a fair...

WAR OR GERMAN DOMINATION?

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—In his last article, Mr. Woodward says "of these evils," i.e., war or the domination of Europe by Germany, "most free men would choose...

CAN I BE A CHRISTIAN?

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Si,—The writer of "Can I be a Christian ?—VII," described a state of mind which is still immature, and rather uncomfort- able, but sincere,...

THOMAS ATKINS

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,— " No man ever spread his name so widely and yet remained himself so utterly obscure as did the original Thomas Atkins." So wrote Major...

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HOLIDAYS NEARER HOME

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Sin,—I take it that Seumas Grannd is trying to be facetious, but these little jokes are apt to be misleading. In my many Highland holidays I...

PLANTS TO KILL INSECTS

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Sta,—In his notes of April 15th, Sir W. Beach Thomas suggests that plants used for fish poisoning in the Amazon Valley might prove of...

EUROPE FROM PRAGUE

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—I am afraid both Professor Sir Alfred Zimmern and Professor Kasmer missed the point of my letter which you were good enough to publish on...

"THE PORTUGAL OF SALAZAR '

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[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] • am acquainted with all the important speeches made by Dr. Salazar during the past twelve years, and with most of the important interviews he...

AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO MURDER [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

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SIR,—As a regular—many years—taker of The Spectator, I beg to protest openly against -your admission of such an article as "-Death by Moonlight." -It is -an encouragement to...

"THE PRISONER SPEAKS"

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{To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] • SIR, — The review of my book contains a few misstatements which I am sure your readers would wish corrected. My appeal on grounds of fact was...

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BOOKS OF THE DAY

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PAGE Morals and Politics (The Very Rev. W. R. Inge, 8o9 The Lion and the Fox (Richard Freund) .. 8 to A Modern Stockmar (E. F. Benson) .. 8to The Martyrdom of Spain...

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A MODERN STOCKMAR

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AUTOBIOGRAPHIC.AL works, like this third volume of Lord Esher's Journals and Letters, make two primary appeals to our interest. We seek to know what manner of man the author...

THE LION AND THE FOX

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Goliath: The March of Fascism. By G. A. Borgese. (Gollancz. 16s.) Mn. MEGARO, an American-born Italian, must have spent years of patient and adventurous study in compiling...

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POSTMORTEM ON THE SPANISH REPUBLIC

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Inside Spain. By Geoffrey Brereton. (Quality Press. 3s. 6d.) IT has long been the opinion of most dispassionate foreigners who have observed the apparently inexplicable and...

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THE COMPLETE PACIFIST

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My Quest For Peace. By George Lansbury. (Michael Joseph. 8s. 63.) MR. LANSBURY is only months short of his eightieth birthday. A few years ago, a severe fall kept him for months...

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A VICTORIAN ESCAPIST

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Edward Lear. By Angus Davidson. (John Murray. ass.) IT may be from humility, it may be from a kind of arrogance, but, whatever the reason, it is notable that specialists tend...

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NATIONAL WEALTH

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The National Capital and Other Statistical Studies. By Sir Josiah Stamp. (P. S. King. los. 6d.) PLANNERS and anti-planners, nationalists and internationalists, economists of...

A TOUR TO THE HEBRIbES

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I Crossed the Minch. By Louis MacNeice. (Longmans.. los. 6d.) MR. MeicNocE's book is a successor to Letters from Iceland. It is a hotch-potch of poems and parodies, fantasy,...

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L'INGLESE ITALIANATO

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John Tiptoft an Ittlianate Englishman. 1427-1470. By R. J Mitchell. (Longmans. 16s.) This book is one of a type very much to be approved of. In it the author—or rather the...

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TO - SOUTHAMPTON—AND - BACK - The Sonnets of Shakespeare and Southampton. By Walter

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Thomson. (Basil Blackwell. 12s. 6d.) FOR the - very good reason that Southampton is now the King Charles's head of Shakespearean investigators and that Mr. Walter Thomson_ has...

DIREcr subscribers who are changing their addresses are asked to

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notify THE SPECTATOR office BEFORE MIDDAY on MONDAY OF EACH W. The previous address to which the paper has been sent and receipt reference number should be quoted.

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FICTION

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By KATE O'BRIEN Y of which demanded ''straight and unaffected narration through who chars for Petersen, and whose son Limey (bastard b Agnes's dead husband) is the village...

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- THE ISLE: OF ..FOULA

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By Ian B. Stoughton Holbourn The late Mr. Stoughton Holbourn was one of the few people who knew 211 about • Foula before Mr. Michael Powell made it famous through The Edge of...

THE HISTORY OF THE CLYDESDALE BANK,

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1838-1938 . _ By J. M. Reid Unlike some of the centenary records that have been somewhat numerous of late, Mr. Reid's history of the Clydesdale Bank (printed for the Bank by...

SCOTTISH HERITAGE By Rex Welldon Finn

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• In spite of its title and its twopence- coloured dust-jacket, this book (Heine- mann, 8s. 6d.) is in quite a different class from the usual scenery-cum-romance books about...

WILLIAM WALLACE By James Fergusson

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Every Scottish school child could tell you the story of Wallace, but most of it would be wrong. Blind Harry, in his Life and Acts of Sir William Wallace, supplied the Lowlander...

SCOTTISH BOOKS

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SCOTLAND 1938 . Edited by John R. Allan Nineteen thirty-eight will probably be a bumper - year for the Prinee-Charlie- and-Highland-cattle type of book, but the visitor to the...

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Scotland Today

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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EXHIBIT ION By Mrs. Walter Elliot . . INDUSTRY OR EMPTY GLENS ? By Sir Alexander MacEwen . . THE PROJECTION OF SCOTLAND: I. FILMS . . . By John...

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INDUSTRY OR EMPTY GLENS?

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By SIR ALEXANDER MACEWEN WHEN at the Cromarty Fir he remarked that as HEN Daniel Defoe in the course of his tour of Britain Firth there was very little shipping and little or...

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THE PROJECTION OF SCOTLAND : I. FILMS

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By JOHN GR IERS ON W HEN the Scottish Development Council, in consulta- tion with the Secretary of State, set up its Films of Scotland Committee three months ago, the news was...

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TIlE PROJECTION OF SCOTLAND: II. THEATRES

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By WILLIAM JEFFREY T O uninstructed observers beyond the Borders the Theatre in Scotland, in so far as it is a vehicle of indigenous drama, may appear non-existent, or at the...

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THE PROJECTION OF SCOTLAND: HI. BROADCASTING

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By GEORGE BLAKE - S COTLAND, like Wales, is one of the chronic problems of British broadcasting. The vast majority of its people are industrialised, and in their taste for...

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THE YOUTH HOSTELS OF SCOTLAND

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By B. H. HUMBLE a T O help all, but especially young people of limited means living and working in industrial and other areas, to know, use and appreciate the Scottish...

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A HUNDRED YEARS AGO

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"THE SPECTATOR" MAY 5:1"H, 1838 ScorLANn The agitation on the subject of Negro Apprenticeship is begun again in good earnest. The Glasgow petition on Wednesday evening last,...

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THE MAY MAGAZINES' -

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Loan PONSONBY is given first place in the Nineteenth Century for an article on "The Present Outlook," arguing that peace play be secured by negotiation and that "the piling up...

Photography

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AVOIDING MISTAKES 137 W. R. AVLING - IN my previous articles on photography, _I think I have shown that most mistakes made by the arnateur can be pre- vented by a little...

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MOTORING

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On Scottish Roads Motor touring in Scotland is unlike the same adventure anywhere else. Apart from the expected differences in roads, manners, customs and scenery you have two...

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FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

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HAVING taken the Budget hurdle so gracefully, markets are dow a little disappointing. It is as though investors were willing enough to demonstrate their fortitarlo, but equally...

TAX-FREE PREFERENCES

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In these indeterminate conditions I do not feel justified in showing the green light to investors. Those who want equities should confine themselves to modest purchases of...

SCOTTISH BANKING YIELDS

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Since this is a Scottish issue we may usefully take the opportunity to glance at certain investment possibilities north of the Tweed. To take the Scottish banks first, I suppose...

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COLVILLES GROUP PROGRESS

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It is just a year since I discussed the position of Colyilles, the dominant unit in the Scottish iron and steel trade. I suggested that earnings would expand but that dividend...

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COMPANY MEETING

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SCOTTISH UNION AND NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY TOTAL FUNDS REACH £17,000,000 RECORD NEW LIFE BUSINESS MR. H. G. YOUNGER'S RE VIEW MR. HARRY GEO. YOUNGER, Chairman, presided at...

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FINANCIAL NOTES TIN PROBLEMS.

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THE past week has been characterised by a stream of contra- dictory messages from Malaya concerning the policy of the Malayan Government towards the proposed Buffer Tin Stock- s...

Rio Timm IN SPAIN.

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. The report of Rio Tinto Company discussed here last week showed how the concern had suffered 'under the exchange control of General Franco's Government by being forced to take...

Venturers' Corner

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At the risk ( f wearying readers with the merits of Union- Castle Mail Steamship Li ordinaries as a lock-up speculation in the shipping market, I feel I must go over the...

AUSTRALIA'S £7,000,000 LOAN The honour of re-opening the market for

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new capital issues after an interval of over a month goes to the Commonwealth of Australia, who are borrowing this week L7, 000 , 000 . The issue takes the form of 3i per cent....

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COMPANY MEETINGS

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TIMOTHY WHITES AND TAYLORS EXPANSION IN PROFITS THE ninth ordinary general meeting of Timothy Whites and Taylors, Limited, was held on April 30th at the May Fair Hotel,...

BIKAM RUBBER ESTATE

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BEST DIVIDEND SINCE 1926 THE twenty-eighth. ordinary general meeting of The Bikam Rubber Estate, Limited, was held no May 4th at 19 Fenchurch Street, E.C. Mr. H. Eric Miller....

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LONDON ASIATIC RUBBER AND PRODUCE COMPANY

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IMPROVED YEAR'S RESULTS MR. H. J. WELCH'S REVIEW THE thirtieth ordinary general meeting of the London Asiatic Rubber and Produce Co., Ltd., was held on May 2nd at 19 Fenchurch...

CALCUTTA ELECTRIC SUPPLY PRESIDING at the annual meeting of the

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Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation Limited held in London on May 2nd, the Chairman, Lord Meston, in presenting the report and accounts for 1937, described them as indicating a...

COMPANY MEETINGS

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RIO TINTO DIFFICULT TRADING CONDITIONS THE sixty-fifth ordinary general meeting of the Rio Tinto Company, Limited, was held on April 29th in London. The Rt. Hon. Sir Auckland...

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PHILIP HILL AND PARTNERS Philip Hill and Partners, the issuing

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house, disclosed in their accounts that the market values of the investments of the company and its subsidiaries on March 31st showed a surplus of over £200,000 above the...

CALCUTTA ELECTRIC SUPPLY The results which Lord Meston, the chairman

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of the Cal- cutta Electric Supply Corporation, reviewed on Monday reflected chiefly the result of having given away to the con- sumers very substantial reductions in the...

RIKAM RUBBER ESTATE

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Mr. H. Eric Miller also takes a hopeful long-term view of the rubber outlook. He told the shareholders of Bikam Rubber Estate on Wednesday that by gradual means supply was being...

RUBBER CHAIRMAN'S OPTIMISM If the present condition of the rubber

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market, with rubber at about 52d. per lb. and the exportable quota at 6o per cent., does not seem encouraging, the cheerful review which Mr. H. J. Welch gave the shareholders of...

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COMPANY MEETING WORLD AUXILIARY INSURANCE DIVIDEND OF 7f PER CENT.

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THE nineteenth ordinary general meeting of the World Auxiliary Insurance Corporation, Ltd., was held on April 28th at Winchester House, London, E.C. Capt. the Rt. Hon. C. C....

WORLD AUXILIARY INSURANCE

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Several insurance chairmen have emphasised the fact that while the marine market has been improved as regards hull insurance, there is still a lack of cooperation on questions...

"THE SPECTATOR" CROSSWORD No. 293

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[A prize of a Book Token for one guinea will be given to the sender of the first tor, ra solutton. of this week's crossword puzzle to be opened.. Envelopes should be nzarkel "...

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD NO. 292 GIO MD

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TI0IMI El ETT11 FNIGI B HIA Arri311'n 1 .. 0 1 1..1E IIR JA IEITIXIIIN IS EI-L LI IUD SI OM DII I RI I NI I pip-rvioiTi an LI EID NIIS IIPISIRISIA IIDIBIL 6,1Q El I I RIEI...