T In au s Main is today as effective France as the autocratic fiat of Herr Hitler in Germany —though whether the real author of decisions is the aged soldier or the astute...

The secret of President Roosevelt's decision as to running for a third term is now locked in two breasts, his own and that of Mr. James A. Farley, Chairman of the Democratic...

After the action taken at Oran the British Navy has lost no tine in taking steps to ensure that the remaining capital ships the French Navy should not fall into German hands....

the policy which it seeks to promote being congenial to the military extremists. The latter are willing enough to believe that the European War presents a rare opportunity which...

guarantee and the creation of a Cabinet avowedly pro-Axis and totalitarian in policy may have come too late to win German favour. In this respect the invasion of Rumania may...

a dignified and con- vincing reply to those members of the Norwegian Storting who, acting under pressure from Germany, have appealed to him to " renounce his constitutional...

as so many situations in Eire are. Unfortunately it is as dangerous, for Eire's neighbours as well as herself, as it is unreal. Mr. de Valera resolutely refuses to see anything...

evacuation of British children to the United States and Canada may have to be seriously limited, or even suspended altogether, is disturbing. There are arguments for and against...

candour prevented further bitterness in the debate. He promised a careful review of doubtful cases consistent with national security, and he announced that Mr. Bevin was...

small bills and was about to go home, when suddenly on the adjournment a breeze blew up on the refugee question and the condition of internment camps. Until last May, when the...

this is undoubtedly due to the presence of a leader in its midst. But criticism, informed, acute and constructive, is much needed. Two days out of three we have had Secret...

In view of what has happened in Norway, Holland, Belgium and France the Home Secretary had no choice but to tighten up the restrictions on enemy aliens and indeed on all aliens...

How do we stand in regard to equipment? Lord Beaver- brook made a very reassuring statement last Sunday on the ubject of aircraft production. Of course, he was unable to give...

hig h must accompany it depend (a) on trained fighting men, d (2) on equipment. In view of the possibility of mass track on the country at any time the public is anxious to ow...

one who heard his speech will ever forget it. The tears that reluctantly rolled down his cheeks, as he sat down and everyone else stood up to cheer, were a measure of the deep...

T HE speed with which what we must still call France is unwriting all that is greatest and most glorious in French history is shattering. On June 14th Paris was still in French...

it were, for the ideal commentator on current events, and some of its experiments have been calamitous. But in Mr. J. B. Priestley, who was not so obscure that he need have been...

HE most remarkable feature of the situation in France is the total absence of any reliable information about what is appening there. Between this country and that, separated s...

well-known journalists, including Madame Tabouis, M. Andre Geraud (Pertinax) and M. Henri de Kerillis. All of them, fortunately, are outside the French Government's...

United States, described as a Picture Post Special, which has jut appeared. It evokes nothing but admiration ; but what interests me particularly is not its quality but its...

Columnists, or if you will Quislings, or if you will traitors. It is a subject that is very far from being exhausted, and to any- one disposed to pursue it further I commend...

brought the results of his study to the smoking- room. " Bad news," he said. " The British fleet has been sighted off Beachy Head with the Italian fleet in hot pursuit," which,...

the ' Richelieu ' in. Not quite everybody, indeed, could say on the spur of the moment where Dakar is. It is actually the chief port of French West Africa, lying at the very...

By STRATEGICUS T HE greatest danger at the moment is that we may regard the situation too confidently. The brisk successful skir- mish in the Mediterranean may loom too large...

By CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS N OTHING is more sadly evident in these days than the insufficiency of nationalism. The world needs desper- ately an international authority and finds...

By ELIE J. BOIS [Monsieur Bois was for 25 years Editor of "Le Petit Parisien." After the outbreak of war, he started in his paper a cam- paign for an Anglo-French pledge...

By JOHN HAYWARD I F the knocking in question is heard after nightfall in an isolated house and is accompanied by such singular mani- festations as vegetable growth sprouting...

must notify The Spectator office before midday on Monday in each week, otherwise the change will not take effect until the week following. This is necessary to meet the Post...

THE ENDURING ITALY By CHARLES MORGAN E VERYONE, I suppose, has a few books that he reads and dips into continually and has come to think of as parts of his personal life. Other...

Pictures of the War WAR slowly undermines art, and the war artist is in a dilemma. If he lets himself be affected too deeply by the war he is very likely to want to fight in it...

BALLET The Pictorial Ballet NARRATIVE or story-telling has always played an important—some critics think it a disproportionate—part in English painting. So it is not...

Convoy." At the New Gallery. IN making a feature film about warships in action the producers are invariably faced with certain problems of technique—chiefly as regards the...

Sns,—I am concerned With the lack of knowledge displayed by many of the critics of aliens who are resident in this country. There would appear to be no distinction made...

week's issue of The Spectator. On every side one hears of families being separated through the recent internment orders affecting all categories of enemy aliens ; these orders...

[In view of the paper shortage it is essential that letters on these pages should be brief. We are anxious not to reduce the number of letters, but unless they are shorter they...

columns that there is a case for the internment of enemy aliens. It is undeniable that there are enemy agents in this country, and one of the easiest disguises for a spy to...

Sim,—In your comments on the week's news you say that the strength of the present Government lies in the fact that. it genuinely repre- sents all parties, " and proceed to...

Sm,—" Of all the wonders that I yet have heard it seems to me most strange" that The Spectator should deem it possible for the North and South of Ireland to co-operate for...

SIR, —May I join issue with Mr. Scott-James's most cogent article in your issue of June 22nd? I. Planning, i.e., the rationalisation of life in society, involves the reference...

under penalty of the concentration camp, these exiles were received in this country as the representatives of the true German culture. Many of them have been here since 1933....

SIR,—The clergy, I understand, are to be allowed to give " help and encouragement " in an unarmed capacity to the local defence forces and, no doubt, this help will be...

Sta,—Mr. E. M. Forster's letter. asking for " a close time for snarling at absent intellectuals " demands an answer from. someone better acquainted than I am with these...

" hi your last issue, the attention of your readers should be drawn to the grave fact that all-Ireland unity means all-Ireland neutrality. This in turn means the withdrawal of...

Sni,—Vice is but a morbid excess of some appetite or habit that in controlled moderation constitutes virtue. The radio habit has in many cases developed into a vice. The "...

SIR,—May I reply to the letter signed " A. R. Caton " in your last week's issue? I never imagined that comment on the Petains and Lavals could be read as a " gibe " at the...

Citizens and Soldiers Correspondents who have written both to me personally and to The Spectator will be interested to know, perhaps, that the facts in the case of the...

their requirements for extra labour that has, apparently, confused both the Ministry of Agriculture and the Women's Land Army. An official appeal for another 5,000 women land...

SIR,—Questions are being asked by many people as to which Govern- ment Department is making itself responsible for the erection of posts and other barriers on open spaces....

After the high colour of May-time the woods take on a dark uniformity of green that remains unbroken until the early days of July. In hot summers the blossoming of the Spanish...

Sro, — The morale of the Allies has been lowered by an exaggerated respect for the recent triumphs of German arms. An admitted element in these triumphs is the fanatical...

SIR,—John Buchan (Lord Tweedsmuir) wrote a history of the last war, the volumes coming out every quarter or so as the war went on. la describing a very gallant charge of the...

SIR,—Webster's Dictionary defines a siege as the sitting down of an army around or before a fortified place for the purpose of compelling its surrender or of reducing it by...

StR,—I have been reading Mr Robert Powell's article " If Hitler Came to Britain " in your last issue. There could not be a better com- pendium of the consequences which would...

ago for this column, brought some interesting information, together with a large slice of mellow Leicester, which, unfortunately, arrived when I was 3,000 miles away. Since that...

America on the Move MR. WAITHMAN'S book is the fruit of some years' residence and observation, and Mr. Waithman has chosen to observe the right things, not the freaks, not the...

Italian Nationalism and English Letters. By H. W. Rudman. (Allen and Unwin. t8s.) IF I thought my words had power " to pinion the Atlantic," I should say to the American...

Civilization and Liberty. By Ramsay Muir. (Cape. 23. 6d.) PROFESSOR Must justly deserves congratulations on such a book, of so fine a sweep, published at such a time. The...

THESE Tributes to the memory of W. B. Yeats are essays by eight writers who knew him well. There is a preface by Stepher Gwynn, which we could have wished much longer, and in...

Suez and Panama. By Andre Siegfried. (Cape. los. 6d.) To say that M. Siegfried is fortunate in the moment of publics. tion of this absorbing volume would be to ascribe to him...

"There are a good many reasons for paying tribute to British pluck and calm these days. They do not all come over the cable or the radio. One of the better ways to taste British...

IN this gaily malicious and wisely charming book one of the most famous of contemporary Frenchmen writes of the art which, for the moment, but for the moment only, his great...

So Perish the Roses. By Neil Bell. (Collins. 9s. 6d.) Doctor Addams. By Irving Fineman. (Cresset Press. 8s. 6d.) Miss GWEN BRISTOW has written a fresh, solid and extremely...

" CATO'S " indictment of the politicians, especially Mr. Chamber- lain and Lord Baldwin, whom he would hold responsible for our slowness to rearm on a scale sufficient for the...

" SHELL " TRANSPORT AND TRADING WARTIME PRECAUTIONS THE annual general meeting of the " Shell " Transport and Trading Co., Ltd., was held on July 8th in London. Sir Robert...

By CUSTOS MARKETS are still on the mend and their progress has been thoroughly satisfactory. Everybody realises that the convalescent is not robust, and that such a happy...

[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 "...

T I ED L!E!A's SOLUTION NEXT WEEK The winner of Crossword No. 7o is Mr. Eric Parker, Feather- cumbe, Hambledon, Surrey.