A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
MR. DUFF COOPER naturally wants men for the army, and no one expects him to agree with Bishops who preach pacifism. But some respect is due to prelates by virtue of their office even in these democratic days, and it is not particularly edifying to find a Secretary of State attributing to the Bishop of Birmingham "views that would have disgraced a street-corner orator." As to the Bishop's suggestion that the Crown Colonies should be handed over to the League of Nations, Mr. Duff Cooper considers it "remarkable that such a distinguished clergyman should make such a ludicrous suggestion in a pulpit to an educated audience, who must have been laughing at him while he was preaching." It all depends on what Dr. Barnes meant by "under the League of Nations." If, as is natural to assume, he meant "under League of Nations mandate," Mr. Duff Cooper must surely know that numbers of responsible people have long urged that in all seriousness. The congregation in the University Church at Oxford on Sunday may not have approved the suggestion, but I should be surprised to learn that any of them found it ludicrous. Mr. Duff Cooper, who needs all the support he can get, is much too prone to alienate that large section of the population who will support his recruiting efforts if they are assured that British forces will never be used except in accordance with the principles of the League Covenant.
The Oxford University contest (for the seat in Parlia- ment vacated by Lord Hugh Cecil) is warming up, and the usual shower of fly-sheets is beginning to darken the air. The unofficial Conservative, Professor Linde- mann, will no doubt derive moral comfort from the support of the undergraduates' Conservative Association, but unfortunately undergraduates, while they. have many virtues, have no votes. Sir Arthur Salter's chances will be considerably improved if the official Conservative caucus decides to run a candidate. That is still undetermined, but the name of Dr. G. R. Y. Radcliffe, the Bursar of New College, and a high authority on tithes, is a good deal mentioned in that connexion. Sir Arthur, who is standing as an 'independent, can in any case count on the support of some prominent Conservatives, who look on him as the least of the evils with which they are, or may be, faced.
Lord Elibank, who recently caused considerable annoyance in Canada by telling Canada its business, and has more recently still been causing similar annoyance in New Zealand by telling New Zealand its business, is so far a great Imperial figure as tenure of the Adminis- tratorship of St. Lucia and the Acting Governorship of the Windward Islands justifies that title. But the average Englishman, and even the average Scotsman, would have to turn (as I did) to the nearest work of reference to acquire even that amount of knowledge of Lord Elibank. He has obviously made himself better known in Canada and New Zealand than he is here, Chairman of the Federa- tion of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire though he be. The good relations of this country with the self- governing Dominions are built largely on the sound principle of sparing the Dominions unsought advice about their own affairs, or even their duty to the Empire. No one ought ever to forget that. * * There is a strange reversal of roles in the correspon- dence going on in the Daily Telegraph about the Old Vic's production of The Country 1172:fe. Whenever any question of stage morality is being debated, it is usual to see the theatrical managers and their attendant satellites leap to arms in the name of Freedom. But here it is a theatrical manager, Mr. Sydney Carroll, who has initiated the attack and Lord Lytton, who has not precisely the reputation of a libertine, who is pleading for a tolerant view. Mr. Carroll holds that the Old Vic, being exempt from entertainment-tax as an institution of unique cultural and educational value, should not have produced so improper a play. Lord Lytton counters by suggesting that the dramatic value of the play, and the discreet nature of its production, more than atoned for the admitted impropriety of its plot and dialogue, only to be told that for Mr. Carroll the production served not to modify but to aggravate the play's indelicacy. Lord Lytton, in the last letter published to date, has in effect left it to play- goers to see the play and bring in their own verdict. They will miss a great deal if they ignore that advice.
I hope the Government is not developing the habit of sitting on the reports of Royal Commissions. It did, it will be remembered, in the case of the Tithe CoM- mission, and a good deal of adverse comment was caused. Now there is the Report of the Royal Commission on Arms Manufacture. It was stated in the Press some ten days ago that the report of the Commission was then in the hands of the Government. Actually it had, I believe, already been in their hands some time. The question is one in which the public takes a keen interest, particu- larly in view of the steps towards nationalisation already taken in France, and it is not surprising that questions about the date of publication of the report are being asked rather insistently. There is no necessity for the Government to formulate a complete policy regarding the Commission's recommendations before they are given to the public. , * * * * The Great West Road is apparently to be extended and developed till it goes nearly to Reading. I suggest that in future motorists, instead of being fined or im- prisoned for road offences, should be compelled to drive up and down that devastating thoroughfare (at 20 miles an hour) for five or six hours. They would never come before the Courts again. JANUS.
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