German Foreign Office and Baron von Neurath's " promotion " to nominal leadership of the Inner Cabinet are in the general line of Herr Hitler's solution of the problem with...

to leave no doubt of the severe reverse suffered by the Government ; a message from Bilbao states that, at the end of the three days' heavy fighting which began with the renewed...

so-called piracy in the Mediterranean has been greeted with rather surprising acrimony in Germany and rather surprising acquiescence in Italy. Signor Mussolini has indeed fallen...

of thought on foreign policy in the United States, and little sign that either school is making headway at the other's expense. The initiative is with the President, whose Naval...

more than usual interest, as an indication whether the business recession of the last few months may have been merely superficial. At 1,827,607 the figures of unem- ployment...

the Manchester Library Committee to close down two libraries in that city. One at least of them appears to be redundant and is both the most expensive and least used in...

this week entered a new phase of activity after a long halt, dictated presumably by the necessity of making a general review in Tokyo of military and economic policies. There is...

this country in the last week is marked. Of that fact there can be no question ; regarding the reason there is more room for speculation. The Italian Press is rigorously...

after more than seven months' imprisonment, shows German justice at its worst. The trial is being conducted by the Special Court which was created to deal particularly with...

M.P. for Romford, called attention to the necessity for adequate storage of food in time of war. His choice of a subject is interesting. A year or two ago the Labour Party were...

Clarry's proposal to provide safeguards for the coal consumer against exploitation. The users have been com- plaining not only of increased charges but also in many cases of the...

huge advertisements in the daily Press proclaiming their grievances against the Coal Bill. Those outbursts read too much like an attempt to browbeat the House of Commons....

Bill, which was issued last Thursday, should prove an effective incentive to large-scale slum clearance and reduction of overcrowding. As regards the housing subsidies, which...

Committee, published on Tuesday, bases its recommendations on the fact that for some years past the poultry industry, the annual produce of which is valued at some £30 million,...

have competed this week for the attention of Parliament. Until recently General Franco had a good many sympathisers in the House of Commons. But, like the Nazi Government in...

T HE results of the political crisis in Germany are as significant as its occasion, the misalliance of Field Marshal von Blomberg, was trifling ; it is as difficult to...

T HE question of what is rather vaguely termed British publicity abroad has been discussed more than once recently in these columns, but no apology is needed for recurring to...

Economic History at Cambridge (in succession to Professor J. H. Clapham) means that there will be a husband and wife each holding a chair in the same subject at different...

of Wellington—was, in the opinion of his pupils at any rate, a great headmaster ; and who are better judges in such a case ? He was no innovator ; he once said that he did not...

daily papers can hardly avoid the impression that they are. But then I think he has always had that impression, as much when the figures failed to warrant it as when they did ;...

to take half an hour of the House of Commons' time to give three reading§ to the most necessary little Bill, which Sir Arthur Gridley has drafted and members of all parties have...

T HE liberty of the subject is in a poor way if a man carrying a coat on his arm on his way to his tailor's or presser's is liable to be stopped in the street by...

I am going to found as soon as I can spare the time, might very well begin by considering the case of " escalation," which the author of the last week's Note to Japan on naval...

1917, he was con- victed for uttering forged orders. In January, 1929, he was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for obtaining goods by false pretences, and in March, 193o, to...

By W. V. EMANUEL [The Singapore Naval Base is to be officially opened by the Governor of the Straits Settlements next Mo•zday] W HEN Sir Stamford Raffles took possession of...

By EDWARD LLOYD T HE interest aroused by discussions of the Primate's Recall is extending beyond the ranks of orthodoxy. Is a revival of religion likely to occur and, if so,...

By GUENTHER STEIN TAPAN'S national pre-occupation with the big war against LP China certainly serves to suppress domestic opposition and to drive it underground. For the iron...

By DR. TERRY THOMAS W E often hear the phrase " School is a preparation for life." Yet an examination of the curriculum would show that the traditional subjects absorb most of...

By CLIFFORD TOLCHARD W HEN she came home in the evening Norah would say : " Well, how have you got on today, Ducks— done much writing ? ". Taking off her hat and hanging it...

people, and they looked after me and fed me well for t7s.,,which was all I was able to give them ; 175. is all you get on the dole. I could feel them wanting me to get a job ;...

Fickly the sunset glimmered through the rain, Gilded the gravestones—faded out again ; A storm-cock shrilled its aeon-old refrain, Lambs bleated from their fold.

THEY stood—rain pelting at window ; shrouded sea — Tenderly hand in hand; too happy to talk ; And there—its amorous eye intent on me— Plautus impennis, the extinct Great Auk....

place to myself : I could write, or read as long as I wished. Often if the writing was going well I would not trouble about luncheon, but went on writing until Norah returned in...

THAT shining moon—watched by that one faint star : Sure now am I, beyond the fear of change, The lovely in life is the familiar, And only the lovelier for continuing strange.

the streets and perhaps into the forest beyond the suburb. I walked all over the forest ; enjoying the quiet, and the sound of birds, the feel of soft grass under my feet. Miles...

PARCHED, panting, he awoke—phantasmal light Haunting the hollows of his fevered eyes— And muttered of his journeyings in the night, Striving in words the vision to devise :— An...

SAFETY FIRST ?-11 [The writer is a practising barrister, aged 291 1. T HE chance of physical adventure," wrote the Editor in his article introducing the " Under Thirty Page," "...

ITALIAN IMPRESSIONS [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—May I be allowed to give, as a true and old friend of Italy for a round thirty years, my impressions of Fascism...

ALFRED HITCHCOCK has one special quality which puts him ahead of all his British colleagues and most of his American rivals. His films are visually exciting from beginning to...

THE THEATRE "Othello." By William Shakespeare. At the Old Vic `. THE beauties of this play," wrote Doctor Johnson, " impress themselves so strongly upon the attention of the...

Vaughan Williams and Mahler LAST week-end there was a sort of festival, casual and for- tuitous perhaps, of music by Dr. Vaughan Williams. The Bach Choir san g " A Sea...

[D'un correspondant parisien] DE nos jours ce n'est q ue par les details que les peuples different. Parfois pourtant un detail suffit pour evoquer route tine race. Ainsi les...

grey squirrel reaches me indirectly from the United States. The animals are, of course, great favourites in the American Parks (and incidentally in the butchers' shops). They...

to a census of starling roosts I recorded the other day that the birds proved to be many fewer than the observer had expected on a first impression. There were, for example, so...

Some very contradictory verdicts have been pronounced by learned people as to the question of the supply of farm labourers. The facts, so far as my direct experience goes, are...

; and the great decrease in duck, of most sorts, is attributed in no small measure to the great efficiency of the duck decoys abroad, especially in Holland. At one time the...

The Armistice When the open season comes to an end on February rst (a day later than was intended in the Act) many people, including many sportsmen, regret that the armistice...

A scholar (though he is no naturalist) writes to me to make his contribution to the discussion prevailing on the subject whether birds, especially thrushes, sing during a storm...

against blue and great tits has at last been triumphantly won without bloodshed and amid general rejoicings. Every year, beginning in January, the tits devoured wholesale the...

[Correspondents 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...

SIR,—Before protesting against Mr. Brogan's article on " The American Film " I awaited Mr. Dalrymple's article on " The British Film." Mr. Dalrymple has now exposed, directly or...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—When I read Miss Lindt's article I was thinking of writing to The Spectator, stating the case from the point of view of a British...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR, —It is grievous to think that at this time of day there is anyone 1:ft to speak disparagingly of the intellectual honesty and Christian...

agreement with the observations made and expressed by Miss Eva Lindt. The nature of my work brings me in contact daily with quite a number of " aliens " and I find that after...

Miss Lindt and Mr. Huizinga to tell me the country where the English receive better treatment than foreigners do in England. Do they know a country where an Englishman could...

Sm,—Mr. Bolus quotes Dr. Jowett as saying of Jesus : " It is quite a different question whether we shall imitate Him in His life," and replies : " But how begin to imitate Jesus...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I have been very interested and often not a little amused by the various articles and letters recently published from under thirty, over...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—A popular paper today states that, in answer to a question in the House yesterday, Mr. Eden confessed that he had asked the French...

Sut,—In reply to the protest of W. M. Tweedie, my omission of the Maritime Provinces from the article " What Canada Thinks of Britain " was owing to no disrespect for their...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sia,—Janus drew attention in your last issue to the fuss the British Press made over the expected birth of a child to Princess Juliana. I do...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sta,—Whatever one's views may be on the question of making Palestine a Crown Colony, as urged in your columns by Miss E. M. E. Blyth, it is...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sat,—In your journal dated December 31st there , appeared an article entitled " What Canada Thinks of Britain." The writer states that in the...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—With the exception of land used in production of food- stuffs, all occupied land situated in this country is assessed for rates and taxes...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] read, with great interest and sympathy, your correspon- dent's letter about performing animals. I also had heard, on the Wireless, of the...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Snt,—I was delighted to read your remarks as to the attendance of M.P.'s at the sittings of Parliament. When they were unpaid it was not easy...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sta,—I entirely agree with Miss Gillbanks. Who can afford 45s. per week for a " chartered help " (dreadful term !) and what help, " chartered...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Many of your readers must want, as I do, sun and warmth in January and February, and might like to know of this place. I arrived here on...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Last week we in Barcelona read with the keenest interest your leading article stating that there was, or could be, effective protection...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sta,—As an interested reader of your paper under the above heading in your issue of February 4th reference is made to the Government's...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—It was quite comic to see, just under the splendid article by Miss Lindt in last week's Spectator, that you yourself had so little...

Sia,—In my review of Dr. Clapham's book in your last number there appears a most unfortunate misprint. I am made to refer to the safety-valve of- popular law-breaking. What I...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] ' Stit,—Will your reviewer, E. R. Hodsoll, kindly explain his statement that " by 1832 Mr. Creevey 4 actually reconciling himself to a letter "...

Baudelaire as Art-critic (Anthony Blunt) The Tree of Gernika (John Marks) . Lament for Econoniics (Honor Croome) Church and Community (Canon F. R. Barry) . . Re-assessments of...

SINCE a little under a year ago, when this book by the author of Caisar in Abyssinia was first announced for publication, one had looked forward eagerly to its appearance....

Lament for Economics. By Barbara Wootton. (Allen and Unwin. 6s.) Mts. WoorroN is at all times a stimulating and entertaining writer ; on the warpath she is a delight, and her...

The Churches Survey Their Task. By J. H. Oldham and Others. (Allen and Unwin. is.) Christian Faith and the Common Life. By William Temple and Others. (Allen and Unwin. 7s. 6d.)...

English Political Thought, 1603 to 1660 Vol. I. 1693 to 1644. By J. W. Allen. (Methuen. 2 PROFESSOR EN is following up his History of Political Thought in the Sixteenth Century...

Christopher Marlowe. By John Bakeless. (Cape. sos. 6d.) WHEN Marlowe was stabbed to the brain at the age of twenty- nine, he left behind him a reputation for blasphemy, an un-...

The Lady of the White "Houhe. An Autobiography by Eleanor Roosevelt. (Hutchinson. 155.) POLITICAL scandal plays a greater part in American than it does in British life and the...

Astrophel : or the Life and Death of the Renowned Sir Philip Sidney. By Alfred H. Bill. (Cassell, iss.) Tins is that Sidney who as Providence seems to have sent him into the...

The Healing Knife. By George Sava. (Faber and Faber. Ss. 6d.) LET it be said at once that the word adventurers is here used in its old, straightforward, Marryat, Ballantyne,...

Summer Moonshine. By P. G. Wodehouse. (Jenkins. 7s. 6d.) THERE is, I think, a more than technical significance in the fact that this is the first English edition of Mr. P. G....

This is, I believe, Mr. Beaumont's fiftieth book on ballet. He is, for the most part, a monument of accuracy and of painstaking research, while the ease and stilted fluency of...

By KATE O'BRIEN " I'm all for freedom and scope, and let the bystanders stand back and make no remarks." So am I, in a way—though I think the first part of the quoted sentence...

A. D. Armstrong Major Armstrong's book (John Long, 18s.) deserves a better title than he has given it. It is not, as one might imagine, just another dreary record of bags, but...

This small book (Country Life, 7s. 6c r) is calculated to instruct the greenhorn of the hunting-field. It accepts all the taboos with _absolute simpliciti,' sacrifices a couple...

This book (Lawrence and Wishart, 6s.) is a collection of the best speeches de- livered at the recent Second Congress of American Writers, and the theme run- ning through them...

Mr. Palmer's book (Heinemann, 7s. 6d.) has the virtue of a threatening pessimism. Writing is one of those more erratic professions which conceal a mass of poverty behind a few...

THEIR -.. TRE ASURES.... - • By H. Munro Cautley "Suffolk, as a former centre of the wool trade is extremely _rich mediaeval chtircles, _The late Dr. Montague James's :notes...

It is stated in the preface to this book (Putnam, r5s.) that it is not a " life." It would be unfair to describe it as a tragedy ; but it is certainly a failure. Miss Blauvelt's...

If you are a circus fan it will only be necessary to say that the author of On the Road With Bertram Mills (Chatto and Windus, rzs. 6d.) has been for five years " Big Top "...

The latest Vauxhall is one of the most interesting attempts to provide the poor man with the sort of car that goes as fast as that of his richer neighbour's, at proportionate...

can only go back the same way. That way is a rather steep -hill, winding up through a crack in the eternal downs, from Uffington, in the - Vale of the White Horse; about fiVe...

Iii "addition to all this it has a special design, a body-cum- chassis lay-out of the kind only one or two other makers have attempted to put into production on a big scale. •...

Better BociyWoric in 1938 Several of the trials I have lately made of the . newest cars have emphasised, to me, the advances that have been made in coachwork in the last two or...

The most welcome development -is the return to favour of the open car. Not, of course, the old - familiar tourer with the swaying, leaking, draughty hood, but the type known...

Overlooking the Vale .of. the,White Horse, a mile or- two from Uffington on_ northTwest and a few more from Wantage on the north-east,. is White Horse Hill—one of the best...

so Oddly called visibility (odd, Unless it is visibility of the road ahead that is meant) is still often poor, sidepillars cutting tiff essential - sections of the highWay at...

and I found it decidedly successful both as improving the general riding of the car and correcting sway. The three-speed gear-box, geared pleasantly high, gives all the...

SPRING TOURS AND CRUISE! , LMOsr of the leading shipping companies are making very tempting suggestions this year in the matter of cruising holidays, and anyone who cannot find...

In brighter markets there would surely have been a better response to the excellent results of Thomas Tilling, the road transport combine. This progressive undertaking has not...

WHEN news of a Hitler coup is followed by depressing un- employment figures who can wonder that markets are limping rather painfully ? The City is reserving its judgement on the...

I must give full marks to the Southern Railway dividend, but what is the truth about the company's gross receipts ? Whereas the published traffics pointed to a rise of £731,000...

At last, it seems, Buenos Aires is to have its passenger transport board, on the latest London model. Committees have been working out the details for about a year and the terms...

The first results of the big department stores, most of which close their financial years on January 31st, are quite satisfactory though not necessarily. typical. Dickins and...

It was suggested here last week that the accounts of the Gas Light and Coke Company were quite reassuring in spite of the fact that over £100,000 of the undivided profit had...

The full accounts of the Imperial Tobacco Company (of Great Britain and Ireland) confirm the estimate based on the preliminary figures that the net profit for the year ending...

Aristoc, Limited, the makers of silk stockings, are among the very large number of industrial companies which continue to announce rising profits and dividends, any doubts about...

Having discussed the prospects of Perak River Hydro- Electric Power in relation to expanding tin-output a year ago, I feel constrained to reconsider the position now that tin...

THE corollary of the present market tendency to widen the gap between the yield on industrial ordinary shares and on the best type of fixed interest security is that Corporation...

[A prize of a Book Token for one guinea will be given to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword puzzle to be opened. Envelopes should be marked "...

The winner of Crossword No. 28o is Sir Montagu Pollock, Headington Hill, Oxford.