HOME GROWN FOOD: SOME ESTIMATES By S. L. BENSUSAN WHEN we listened to the Prime Minister's recent 'W broadcast, there was something akin to a thrill for those of us who look...

-scoTtWJH PROVID)ENT. At the ninety-seventh annual meeting held last Tuesday of the Scottish Provident Institution, the chairman, Mr. J. MNAxtone Grahai,.A.,was's able to...

MeUXS -BREWERY. Nearlv a month ago the Directors of Meux's Brewery annotmel(ed a final dividend of 7-& per cent., making 11 per cent. for 1934, as compared with only 9 per...

The debate on unemployment last Monday was the most futile that this Parliamiient has yet produced. It began badly with a speech from the Labour Front Bench bv -Mr. Lawson,...

Juvenile Instruction Delays It is extremely disappointing to find that attendances at juvenile instruction centres have been fewer than was anticipated by the Ministry of...

The India Bill pursues its passage through Committee with painful slowness. We are now well behind the time-table, but it would be unfair to say there has been any obstruction....

Australia as Customer M1r. S. M. Bruce, the High Commissioner for Australia speaking at a dinner at Newcastle-on-Tvne last Friday, showed how the slump in the price of primary...

The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes: The news that Sir John Sinon's visit to Berlin had been postponed was a bombshell to the House of Common- s. It...

Paying Patients in Hospitals The Voluntary Hospitals Bill which was introduced ill the House of Lords last week is intended to make general provision for paying patients in...

Financial Notes RISE r\- GOLD SHARES. I>- consequence of the sensational rise in the price of gold, to which reference is inade elsewhere, the outstanding feature of the Stock...

NATIONAL PROVIDENT INSTITUTION. . The excellent bonus announced for the previous triennial period has doubtless helped to stimulate new business for the N itional Provident...

ABBEY ROAD PIRIOIRSS. The diamond jubilee of the Abbey Road Building Society is being accompanied by the publication of an excellent sixtieth annual report. The Directors state...

Fiction By V. S. PRITCHETT Landtakers. Bv Brian Penton. (Cassell. S.- 6d.) - - . . The Shipbuilders. By Geoige Blake. (Faber and Faber. Ss. 6d.) The AnDle of Gont.rd. Bv...

A TRUST FOR YOUTH THlE Prince of Wales's scheme for a National Thankoffering on the occasion of the Jubilee has been accepted, in effect, by acclamation. XWell conceived, well...

A Prologue Tnis curve of ploughland. one clean stroke Defining earth's nature constant to four seasons, Fixes too for ever her simple relationship With the sky and all systems...

Communication A Letter from Oxford [To the Editor of TIlE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-When the social historian of 1980 looks back upon the changes in Oxford since 1918, he will probably...

THE PRESS AND THE BEREAVED [To the Editor of TInE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-Miss Rose Macaulay condemns the Press (and the coroner !) for not respecting the privacy of the bereaved in...

PEPYS' JOURNALS [To the Editor of TimE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-AS any statement made in your pages by so distinguished a scholar as Mr. John Hayward is likely to be accepted, I hope...

THE OXFORD GROUPS IN NORWAY [To lthe Editor of TiE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-I have not seen your article on the " Oxford Groups in Nonvay," only the letter from a Bergen Correspondent...

[To the Editor of TllE SPECTATOR.] Sin,-The letter of Miss Cicely Hamilton in your issue of last week advocating the legalization of abortion and the fact that you published it...

THE FUNCTIONS OF THE BANKS [To the Editor of TIE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-It is important to realize that the banking system performs three functions. It is the nation's chief...

A DEFINITION DESIRED [To the Editor of TiHE SPECTATOR.] SiR,-In your review, headed "Two Bishops," Air. E. E. Kellett employs a term which requires definition. It is that of...

THE PROSECUTION OF MOTOR DRIVERS [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-Would you allow me to call attention through your columns to a practice which is of considerable moment...

THE LOPE DE VEGA TERCENTENARY [To the Editor of Tinm SPECTATOR.] Sm,-On August 27th next falls the Tereentenary of the death of Lope de Vega. perhaps the greatest of ail...

THE "PARAPHRASES" OF ERASMUS [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-AS is .ell known a copy of the Paraphrases of Erasmus was ordered to be placed in every parish church in...

SIR AMBROSE FLEMING AND DARWINISM [To the Editor of TImE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-I am astonished at your paper s attack on Sir Ambrose Fleming's position. It is that of most...

PHYSICIAN OR PRIEST? [ [To the Editor of TIlE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-All responsible thinkers will agree with the general import of Mr. Godwin's article about the alleged miracles of...

SUPERANNUATION [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SiR,-Your contributor, Mr. F. M. Toovey, who writes on the subject of Superannuation, has surely allowed his enthusiasm for the...

WARDE FOWLER [To the Editor of TIiE SPECTATOR.] SiR,-A few years ago I heard an anecdote of Warde Fowler that shows not only how constantly his mind was occupied with thoughts...

Leipziger Allerlei [Von einem Deutschen Korrespondenten] LEIPZIGER Allerlei ist jenes weltberuhmte Gemiise, welchele aus Erbsen, Karotten, Spargel und allerlei anderen...

Music A Matter of Taste ENGLAND, once das Land ohne Musik, has become, we are told, the most musical country in the world. Nowhere else can one hear so much music, old and...

MARGINAL COMMENTS By ROSE MACAULAY A STRANGE, even a startling. remark was made tte A other day in the House of Coinnions. ." Would it not be desirable," a member asked, " to...

Finance The Fall in Sterling and the Rise in Gold ACCORDING to one of the daily newspapers, a mani from the Provinces one dav during the past week brouglht' in an accumulation...

Periodicals Tlhe JR(od Table for the March quarter, in a first article entitled The tC)olmlonflealth and :the World," attributes consi(leral)le importance to the forthcoming...

The Railway Situation CIIAIRAI lY\S SPEECHES. DURING the l)ast ten davs we have had two interesting and instructive speeches from leaders in the railwav w-orld. At the annual...

Sussex Warblers; Parts of the south of England have been compared with the Riviera and it seems that the claim has been actually accepted by some of the small birds. There is...

Cows and Plaster . A workman (in Herefordshire) was engaged in pulling down a very old lath and plaster building. In spite of its antiquity, which was not less than 400 years,...

English Garden Farms Now some two years ago I went to Jarrow, where unemployment is singularly condensed, and talked with many of the people. They cannot move because they are...

Oxford Redpolls The redpoll, a bird that is perhaps less rare than observers commonly think, is to be found today on the edge of Oxford. Redpolls have a preference for...

COUNTRY LIFE A Swedish Example One must not compare rural Sweden with industrial England, but a new experience in Swedish towns may be worth the notice of our social...

More Gardens An idea somewhat similar to the Swedish has inspired Mr. Harrison, who is chairman of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Horticultural Society, to a little book...

A Natural Sanctuary Is any county better adapted for the encouragement of birds, and, indeed, insects? In spite of the rapid spread of building and road-making, in spite of the...

NEWS OF THE WEEK MR. MACDONALD'S White Paper has linked inM . separably the questions of the Service Estimates, this country's relations with Germany and, more immediately and...

The Rising Estimates The Service Estimates provoke sufficient reflection in themselves, without any White Paper to give them emphasis. The Army is to cost roughly £4,000,000...

The Greek Insurrection The insurrection in Greece has brought to a head the long-standing feud between the Republicans, with M. Venizelos as their political head, and the...

MNr. Pepys being just now in the fashion I have been spending a few profitable hours with him again, and among much that is apposite note particularly this: " The whole charge...

Peace hathli her victories-but apparently they deserve no medal. At any rate the British detachment of the Saar International Force is not to get one. I am not, on the whole,...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK THE initials J. It. Mr. at the foot of the White Paper on T National I)efecne, c ou)led with the references to the National Government " in the bode of...

C~yelists are in an aggressively defensive temper these days, and any mention of them in any paper invariably produces a rejoinder from one of their organizations. But even...

Sir John Sinion's decision to deliver his Paris lecture on the British Constitution in French is just the kind of thing to plcase a Paris audience, and I have no doubt lhe...

The worst of being Sir James Barrie must be the con- sciousness that you can never make a public speech except in the now traditional Barrie argot. I know, of course, that...

THE GOVERNMENT AND GERMANY T HE issue of the " Statement Relating to Defence," T a White Paper presented by the Prime Minister to Parliamnent in anticipation of next Monday's...

Marxian Plays Six Soviet Plays. Edit:ed by Eugene Lyolls. (Gollanez. 7s. 6d.) IT does not matter that there is nothing especially original about the form of these plays, that...

" We Needs Must Love the Highest . . ." The Romance of Mountaineering. By R. L. G. Irviig. (Dent. 18s.) THiiE climber is among the most modest of sportsmen. Although he will...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suita5le length is that of one oj our " News of the Week...

INDIAN STATES AND FEDERATION [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-The attitude of the Princes of India towards Federation looms large just now, and much will be heard on...

THE LAW ON ABORTION [To the Editor of Tim SPECTATOR.] SIR,-Miss Cicelv Hamilton's letter is well timed and should command general assent. The decision in a recent will-case by...

A Christian Gnostic Freedom and the Spirit. By Nicolas Berdvaev. (lBles. 12.s. 6dl.) TIIE theology of Nicolas Berd\yaev has not onl!- aroused lilltci interest onl the...

Persons under 25 Growing Opinions. By Various Authors. Edited by Alan (Campbell Johnsol. (Mlethuen. 6s.) 'Ti'is book consists of sixteen essays by persons under the age of...

STAGE AND SCREEN The Theatre "MIrs. Nobby Clark." By Murray Macdonald and Gilbert Lennox. At the Comedy Theatre Tim examination into the social habits and practices of the...

The Cinema "Abdul the Damned." At the Regal HERR FRITZ KORTNER, the German actor who has appeared recently in several British films, gives a remarkable performance as Abdul...

THE SPIRIT OF LONDON By Paul Cohen-Portheim The Spirit of London (Batsford, 7s. 6d.) is a book admirable both in conception and in execution. Factual guide-books about London...

BROADCASTING IN MY TIME By Sydney Moseley It is probably true to say that Mr. Sydney Moseley nas listened-in for a greater number of hours than anyone else in the country. This...

Current Literature THE GREAT TUDORS Edited by Katherine Garvin The value of a compilation such as this (Nicholson and Watson, lOs. 6d.). is open to doubt. Here are forty men...

LITERARY CRAFTSMANSHIP AND APPRECIATION By Ronald Fuller "Quotation," writes Mr. Fuller, " is not really a virtue: it is a disease-though sometimes it is possible to make a...

Was Birkenhead a Great Man? By J. L. HAMMOND THE second volume of Lord Birkenhead's biography of his father opens and closes with tributes from two of the most eminent of the...

The King's Messengers The History of the King's Messengers. By V. Wheeler- Holohan. (Grayson and Grayson. 21Is.) 'Tir. imagination of novelist and film-wvriter has invested...

The Royal Volliptuary George, Prince and Regent. By PIhili1, W. Sergeant. (H tltelinls'O:. I Si.s- ''TmIi:Ii is a type of' b)ok. by no means rare toda,. 'which has to b)e...

The Village Minstrel The Poems of John Clare. Edited by J. W. Tibble. Two Volumes. (Dent. 25s.) TImE work of reviving Clare's name, begun by Mr. Blunden and furthered by Mr....

THE KING AND HIS REIGN: III. IRELAND By E. F. BENSON JIUST before the fall of his Government in 1868, Disraeli had used his utmost blandishments with Queen Victoria on the...

The Abyssinian Truce The relaxation of the tension between Italy and Abyssinia continues, though the fact that agreement has been reached on the delimitation of the neutral...

The New Beef Policy The Government has now foreshadowed (in a White Paper published on Thursday) its long-term beef policy and chosen, on the whole, the most objectionable...

Mr. Lloyd George and the Premier It w-as obviously important that the Governmnent should examine with the utmost care Mr. Lloyd George's detailed plans for national...

The Demurring Princes The situation regarding the Indian Princes and federation is gradually clearing up, the debate in the House of Commons on Tuesday having ministered...

Socialist Taxation in London The expectation that with the Socialists in command of the London Counltv Council rates would go up has been promptly realized. The new Budget...

UPSIDE-DOWN REFLECTI ONS By JAN STRUTHER O"VING to a number of circumstances over most of 0 lwhich I have had eoiil)lete control, I have managed to pass thirty-three years in...

The Land and the Unemployed Self-Subsistence for the Unemployed: Studies in a New Technique. By J. 1T. Scott. (Faber and Faber. 6s.) LAND settlement in some form or other...

The Church and War Is War Obsolete ? Bv C. 1'. Raven. (Allen and UnGwill. 4s. 6d.) IT is iilpossil)le not to sympathize with the embarrassments of the clergy \-when...

The Gemini Press Epithalamion: A Poem by Ida Graves with Associate Wood- engravings by Blair Hughes Stanton. (The Gemini Press. 303-) JTitis is the first book produced by...

The End of the Night Time to Spare: An Anthology of Broadcast Talks. By Unemployed Men and Women. (Allen and Unwin. as.) Caliban Shrieks. By Jack Hilton. (Cobden...

THE REAL REVOLUTIONARIES By the REV. ROGER B. LLOYD " ELIEVE me," said Dean Inge to a congregation "B of Cambridgre undergraduates, "the only promise for a better future for...

NOVELISTS SEE TOO MUCH By SEAN OTAOLAIN R EC(ENTLY a woman novelist of reptute. who works in the naturalistic tradition of Bennett and Galsworthy, saild to me " You people who...