Drink and the Nation r IIE case for some form of public control of the drink trade nceeds no arguing to-day. There is room for differcnce of opinion as to thc form and extent...

CAPTIVE BIRDS. A keeper and exhibitor of caged birds, if I rightly interpret his obscure style, asserts, according to the R.S.P.B., that long-tailed tits do not live more than...

CocoN-u-Ts- A pretty fashion has been growing of providing our garden tits with a coconut still clad in its husk, with the idea that the birds would be twice benefited: first...

MODEL CO-OPERATORS. Perhaps the best model of co-operative effort to be found in Britain is the association of Littleton and Badsey growers, in the Evesham neighbourhood. A...

GRASS-LOVING BiRDS. A quaint theory in natural history wNas propounded to me the other day by a sportsman of wide experience. His belief is that two types of partridge are...

NO MORE, NETTLES. Something was said last week of tar as a spray. Gardeners are profiting also by another slayer of enemies. A number of us have had proof that nettles, the...

-AND OTHER SITES. On this subject most gardeners would profit if they provided a much greater variety of nesting-places. We do not want to encourage only the birds that live in...

Country Life A. AN l-VHEAT CAMPI'CIN. From every direction critics of farming are uniting, though without conscious collusion, to destroy the philosophy of wheat as the...

A SEASIDE KINGFISHER. No migratory movements among birds are harder to anticipate than the kingfisher's, the " sea-blue bird of March "; and it is very curious that it...

A Port of London Dispute The three thoiusand stels hundred ligliterinen ill tile port of London striuck onl lMonday, contrary to the advice of their lea(lder, as a protest...

Wsages and Price-Levels The London U nderground( group, controlling t ul)es, omniibuses and sonile transwavs, has invited the trad( union-s to discuss a temporary redluction of...

France at the Academy Tlie French Art Exhibition at the Royal Academy should be even more popular tuans thle Flemish, Ditch, Italian and Persian exhibitions which preceded it....

" Brenting " Lord Baden-Powell has been urging Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, and the Camping Club of Great Britain to camp this year in one or other of these islands and not go...

The New Australian Cabinet %1r. Lyons, the new Australiaus Prime lMinister, having a sufflicient majority to enable himn to dispense with the stipport of the Country Party, has...

MEMORIES AND MONUMENTS IN THE STREETS OF THE CITY OF LONDON By Mr. A. K. Bruce The City with its two thousand years of life abounds in echoes of the past. A selection from...

THE LAIRDS OF DUN By Mrs. Jacob Mitnv have killed sea-trout and finnock below the Brig o' Dun on the tidal waters of the South Esk in Angus, but not so miany perhaps have...

AT G.H.Q. By Brigadier-General John Charteris Brigadier-General John Charteris went through the War from August 1914 to the autumn of 1918 with Sir Douglas (afterwards Lord)...

TALES TOLD IN TOGOLAND By Mr. A. W. Cardinall It is a pity that Mr. A. AV. Cardinall hag allowed himself to be so diffuse in Tales Told in Togoland (Oxford University Press,...

Current Literature THE ROMANCE OF BLANTYRE By Dr. Hetherwick DAVID LlsNnGSTOxEc-missionary, explorer and (we might nlnost say) commercial travellerw-vas born at Blantyre on...

TABOO, MAGIC, SPIRITS A study of primitive elements in Roman- religion, which is Professor Eli Edward Burriss' sub-title - to Taboo, Magic, Spirits (NIcmAillan, Ss.6d.), can...

THE B.B.C. AND NOVELS [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,--The B.B.C., virtually a State concern, can scarcely be expected to run counter to the law of the land w^ hich...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SiT,-In your issue of the 19th ult., you review a book isained The Fortune, in whicis Mr. Douglas Goldring defends the attitude of the...

THE BRY-NMAWVR EXPERIMENT [To t1e Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,-I write for the purpose of registering my olbjeetioa; to the unkind reference miade by your contributor, H11....

SILVER [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,- In your issue of December 2(ith Professor Gregory giv es an excellent statement of the present currency position, but " doubts...

TIlE PRICE OF BUTTER 'To the Editor of tIhe SPEcTrAoTR.] SiR,-If high food prices are the Free Trader's nightmare, what has he to say about the present price of butter? Danish...

SELF-SUPPORTING ALLOTMEN'TS [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SiR,-Thc Society of Friends are doing excellent work providing allotments for unemployed miners and others. They...

. POINTS FROM LETTERS TimE WHE.AT PunCuASING BOARD. The British taxpayer will await with interest the publication by the United States Government in a few weeks' time of the...

PUBLIC SCHOOL FEES [To thle Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,-Perhaps you will allow me to reply to Mr. Lionel James. In my letter I stated that all the casuistry in the world...

BRITISH HOTELS [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.1 SIR,-We considered that " Scadavay," in his article on English hotels, had very much hit the nail on the head and %ere afraid...

A Rogues Gallery A Century of Gunmen. By Frederick Watson. (IJor Nicholson and Watson. lOs. Gd.) Underworld. By Trevor Allen. (Grant Richards. 7s. Od.) Bully Hayes, South...

Fiction A Novel on a Grand Scale Magnolia Street. By Louis GIding. (Gollancz. 8s. 6d.) Morning and Cloud. By E. B. C. Jones. (Gollan-z. 7.. 6d. ) Eastward Drift. By Ed...

Portrait BUIT you are green and giving and like grass, Restful and taking rest, So soft you are that when you walk in trees You move among them only as a wind, A stream of...

Poetry The Storm THIE yellow sea is waving o'er the blue, And dark low clouds arc blackening the deep; The yellow floods are darkening to brown And bending to the shadow of...

The Theatre "The Knight of the Burning Pestle," by Beaumont and - Fletcher, at the Old Vic. ` PERHAPS it Will be thought of the race of Don Quixotc," Wrote Beaumont in 1613,...

A Hundred Years Ago THIE SPECTATOR," JAxUARY 7rTH, 1832. - HIDDEN TALENTs. A gentleman once introduced his son to Rowland Hill, by letter, as a youth of great promise, and as...

C. P. Scott: A Great Editor 1AY J. B. ATKINS. (-11ARLES PRESTWICHI SCOTT, +vhose memory is vJ honoured not only by every journalist but by eryolle concernledl for high...

A Policy for the Land II.-The Real Protection By F. N. BLUNDELL (Author of A Neuw Policy for Agriculture, and a recent member of Unionist Agricultural Committee in the House...

THE NAZIS AND THE JEWS [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] . SIR,-In your issue of December 12th, a German student, Herr Schucht, is trying to explain the meaning of the Nazi...

Letters to the Editor []1 view of the length of many of the letters which we receive, we would remind correspondents that we often cannot give space for long letters and that...

'T'HIE FOUNDLING SITE: A GENEROUS OFFER [To the Editor of the SPECTA.TO1.] Si1, -Tue Sp)ectator goes all over the country wthere the children have gardens and open spaces, and...

SHOULD A CHRISTIAN FIGHT FOR HIS COUNTRY? [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SiR,-Therc is no justification whatever for Mr. J. Frankland West's angry and contemptuous...

The Situation in India the (Irastic stepis taken by the (overunenit or Iia(lt to cislih the (projected ciil disol)c(bdience iiovecilclit before it could get under way have met,...

Manchuria: The Next Step *Japani is 110w ill octcipation1 of ('lillhliow, the hlast remaining stronligol(l of Ch(ia in South Maichhilri, the (Chintese having evtctiate(l it ill...

The Future of the Liquor Trade Thle report of the Licensing Commission appeals (ark' enoogli before the opening of Parliament. to give the (;overniieit little excuse for...

News of the Week HiplIE date of the Reparation Conference at Lausanie T is not A-et fixed. Nor is that of the projected interview between Mr. M1acDonald and Mt. Laval, which...

He Who Gets Slapped The Unseen Assassins. By Sir Norman Angell. (Hamish fitlniltola. 7s. 6de.) '1lo have a settled opinion disturbed," says Sir Norman ,Angell in his latest...

Aspects of Faith The Bow in the Clouds. By .. I. Watin. FSsax-& in Orler, No. 4. (Sheed and W.ard. 3s. 6d.) The 'Ground of Faith and the Chaos of Thought. By Oliver C:....

The Modern Home e I I'c shall bc pleased to rcplij to any enqu iries arising from the articles w'c publish on the Modern Iionoc page. Enquiries should /h(e addressed to the...

Travel [11'e publiSh 01n this pige articles and notes wchichi may help our readers in manking their plans for travel. They are written by correspondents who have visited the...

The Archbishop on Marriage There is an uncompromising note about the Archbishop of Canterbury's intimation that persons not prepared to accept the implications, indeed the...

Naval Reductions ? A report that Great Britain wvas to proposc thc re(luetion of the maximum size of a l)ital ships from :35,000 tons to 25,000 and of cruisers from 10,000 to...

Disarmament Preparations The approach of the Disarmament Conference is heralded wy various signs of activity on the part of Foreign Ollices and the fighting departments in...

A Great Editor C. P. Scott of the Manchester Guardian was the last but one of the long line of great editors whose nanies were household words in England. (Scotland has her...

The Heavens Declare . . . Someone has invented a device for writing on the night sky by means of searchlights. " This invention," according to The Times " would be very useful...

Prohibition Condemned M[eaisrldle, }inlanld's decision on prohibition syn. ehfroitises with some appositeness with the publication of the Aniulree Commission's report. The...

The Issue in India ?J7HE Indian National Congress has declared for the T renewal of civil disobedience, and the Government of India has declared the Congress Working Committee...

A Spectator's Notebook fR. LLOYD GEORGE is on his wav home from ML Ceylon. sufficiently recovered, I understand, to be able to take his seat in Parliament when it meets in...

INext week we hope that our City Editor, Mr. A. V. Kiddy, who has unavoidably been absent for six weeks under medical advice, will resume his weekly articles on this page.]...

THE CANADIAN OUTLOOK. Those who seek a frank and intimate summary of the position in Canada would do well to study the view-s of the President, Sir Charles Gordon, and joint...

Finance-Public & Private Sterling and Trade CONFIDENCE and hope onl the part of the general public arc cssential at critical times like the present, and for this reason the...

Goethe and Beethoven Goethe: Man and Poet. By H. W. Xevinson. (Nisbet. 1Os. 6d.) Goethe and Beethoven. By Romain Roland. Translated from the French by G. A. Pfister and E....

Scottish Gardens in Francs The Diary of a Scotch Gardener. B"y Thomas Blaikio. Edited by Francis Birrell. (Routledgo. 1P3. 6d.) Tno103.Ls BRAMSE, the author of this Diary,...

MIEDNER HILL FARM (By Basil Creighton: Seeker '7s. 6d.) is rather slow off tfie mark, as perhaps a country - tale should be; but the reader who perseveres will be rewarded....

UNCLE STEPHEN. Bv Forrest Reid. (Faber and Faber. 7s. 6d.)-A queer, difficult, beautiful story about a boy who visits his mysterious uncle, and finds himself the companion of...

The January Reviews TImE All Peoples Association (A.P.A.), in which the Spectator takes a lively paternal interest, is described and commended by Mr. F. B. Bourdillon in the...

New Novels JIOLICE AT THE FUNERAL. By Margery Allingliam. (Hleinemann. 7s. 6d.)-A really iirst-rate mystery story whose thrills depend on "atmosphere" even more than on...

The French Exhibition 1BY D)AVID l'INCIJAMI B X this ttinie there is really precions little (xciise for ally visitor to liurlinigtouA House wlho plkeads unfamiliarity ; Wit Ii...

Good Value for Money Lessons To Be Learned From The Brynmawr Experiment ET'S go in here a minutc," said my guide at Brvynmawr, the small South Wales toIl wlihich iS the scene...

A Cambridge Poet JI OD)ERN criticism has evolved the pllrase ; dated." -.V-I To be dated is to be damnlsled. It is not obvious whylv but so oiii critics havc decreed. The...

The Book of the Month The Brothers. By L. A. G. Strong. (C;allancz. 7s. 61.) TiiE Anglo-Irish school of writers excel in the rendering or a visual and emotional impression of...

A Firm Hand with P. Colchicits By MO'nr. I CONFESS that I had not expected that the outbreak I would comc this season. There have been rumours, of course. But those of us (and...

Mr. Blunden's Essays Votive Tablets: Studies Chiefly Appreciative of English Authors and Books. By Edmund Blunden. (Cobden. Sanderson. lOs. 6d.) g-ro this generously...

Back to Gladstone Gladstone as Financier and Economist. By Francis W. Hirst. With an Introduction by Henry N. Gladstone. (Ernest Benn. 15s.) IT is a pathetic coincidence that...

France and Disarmament BY PWIE-RE COT, DEPUTE. F.11. Cot is among the most p)rominncalt of the younger members of the Rodiml-Socialist Party in France. lie twas a member of...

Various Ships Sailing Barges. By Frank G. G. Carr. (Hodder and Stoughtonl. 18s.) Small Sailing Craft. By R. Thurst.on Hopkins. Illustrated byv Capt. I-vine Bately. (Philip...