The Government in Greece having taken another turn, the Populists are in sole control of the administration. The Liberal and Central party representatives, M. Papandreou and M....

11 1 HE Conference of Foreign Ministers that is opening in Paris this week marks the definite transition from the epoch of the Big hree to that of the Big Four. France is...

Faced with the maximum of difficulty over the Russo-Persian affair, the Security Council of U.N.O. was in no position to achieve any outstanding success, but it has firmly...

The series of conferences between Commonwealth Prime Ministers which opened this week in London take on an added importance coming as they have immediately before the Council of...

There is one bright spot in the economic picture of Britain, and that is exports. They have been going up continuously since Novem- ber, 1945, when they stood at £30,000,000....

Parliament, reassembling on Tuesday after its short recess, will devote itself forthwith, for three days, to the second reading of the National Health Service Bill. • The fate...

A situation in which the arrangements for allocating the world's food supplies became a positive impediment to the process of bringing succour to the starving would be quite...

In his important article on another page on the Italian Treaty Mr. Anthony Nutting puts the case for the retention of the Southern Tyrol by Italy. Such a case can be made ;...

W ITH his unerring flair for the penetrating phrase Mr. Churchill asked of the Government's statement on the future of the iron and steel industry whether it was business or...

The Timis from Mr. Grant Richards, who protests against the ostentatious luxury of the Golden Arrow train, and in particular against the provision of a cocktail-bar as an...

▪ FIRST met Maynard Keynes when we were freshmen at Cam- ▪ bridge bridge together, and—to leap the span of the intervening years— it was a deep disappointment that...

then Secre- tary for India, whether there was any outstanding Indian capable of leading his country in its march towards independence. " Yes," he said at once, " Srinivasa...

Common Wealth and join Labour the House of Commons loses one of its fourteen parties and Common Wealth loses its only member of that House. The number fourteen, which I take...

Government's otherwise inexplicable action in committing itself to obviously unconsidered and undecided, and still more obviously disastrous, proposals for the partial—no one,...

something almost of a family circle atmosphere at the Foreign Secretary's farewell dinner to the American Ambassador on Tues- day. That was due mainly to Mr. Bevin himself, who,...

By ANTHONY NUTTING, M.P. T HIS week the Foreign Ministers of Great Britain, the U.S.A., the U.S.S.R. and France are meeting to try to agree, on the . drafts of the Peace...

By H. G. DANIELS N O one who has followed the activities of the League of Nations at close quarters over a number of years could watch its passing without a certain emotion. All...

By MRS. WALTER ELLIOT y WENT almost straight to the West. I landed in Halifax, spent I a week on the way in Ottawa and Toronto, and then moved on to Winnipeg—the gateway to...

By GRAHAM WATSON B OOKSHOPS thronged with buyers have now become a common sight. The demand for books has never been so great. Has the war been responsible for the creation of...

thin Bible paper and weighing under one ounce, can now be sent by air mail to civilians any- where in Europe (except Germany) for £2 75. 6d. per annum, or Li 3s. 9d. for six...

By HAROLD NICOLSON RECEIVED today a letter from a young German friend of I mine from whom I had not heard for several years. I first met him in 1938 when he was a Rhodes...

OUTSTANDING among recent orchestral recordings is that of Richard Strauss's symphonic poem Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge...

Say what you will, reason, lament, despair, Waste—if you must—your breath In argument with death ; Then rest, heart on life's heart, silent, aware : Listening to the clear...

•• Gilda." At the New Gallery and the Tivoli.--" The Ziegfeld Follies." At the Empire.—" Land of Promise." At the Academy. SOMETIMES it seems as if a considerable part of...

Sweden are anxious to know more about what is happening in world affairs, and particularly the British view on the subject. Unfortunately, the blocking of currency in most of...

SIR, —The hope expressed by " Janus " that "Parliament will be both incisive and constructive in criticism" since the Government has declined to appoint a Committee to...

" LIBERALS UNDAUNTED " Sm,—Lt.-Col. Byers, in his article "Liberals Undaunted " m your April 5th issue, expressed welcome optimism regarding prospects of a Liberal revival....

SIR,—In his article " Conservatism's Task " Viscount Hinchingbrooke states in effect that for the past fifteen years the country has been led by the wrong party ; that from...

SIR,—Will you allow me, without entering into the merits or demerits of the closed shop, to comment on two matters in Mr. W. J. Brown's recent article under the above heading?...

SIR,—It is proverbially true that onlookers see most of the game. So far, I have seen very few comments in our own Press on the new and more steeply graded estate duties, but...

Sta,—In your otherwise admirable review of the Budget you omitted one matter which has caused—and must continue to cause—grievous losses on the entire shopkeeping...

SIR,—From my own experience, I do not think there has been any abnormal suppression of letters on the two recent proposals for a National Health Service. I certainly got...

Sut,—During the war years many thousands of British people serving in all branches of the Services have visited India and the Far East. They trained in India, fought in the...

against the "younger school of critics" in his letter on Alfred Stevens. Recognition of virtue is not the prerogative of an old generation. For us, we may be an impatient...

TtiE superiority of the hill over the valley for the growing of fruit is often demonstrated in May ; less often, as today, in March and April. In one dry valley, susceptible...

art critic recognises humility as a virtue. For Mr. Ayrton, commenting in your issue of April 19th on the reopening of the Tate Gallery, deplores that many of, these works by...

now READY. One shilling and sixpence should be enclosed with instructions and addressed to INDEX DEPT., " The Spectator," Ltd., 99 Gower Street, W.C. r, England.

Sta,—" Janus " is apparently satisfied that, notwithstanding the inevitable damage to amenities, the fact that there are a million tons of good coal under Wentworth Woodhouse...

I expressed a liking for Cotoneaster Simonsii) has brought a number of suggestions. The one that may perhaps be new to a good many comes from a Shropshire country house familiar...

London Gardens Society to extend its activities, which are already wide and various. The aims are to make a permanent contribution to the beautification of London by the grow-...

and water, and therefore very popular with birds (and unfortunately with grey squirrels), there broke out one evening a tumult of harsh sounds. . The voices were the voices of...

Sr t,—At the risk of being called unchristian or inhumane, I feel bound to offer the following comments on the letters you have published on the subject of " Hunger in...

SIR,—It is always dangerous for critics to use words which have not a precise meaning unless they trouble to make absolutely clear to the reader the sense in which they are...

Arbuthnot Lane. His Life and Work. By W. E. Tanner, M.S., F.R.C.S. (Bailliere, Tindall and Cox. 15s.) IT was in 1888 that Arbuthnot Lane was appointed to the permanent staff of...

Arabs at the Crossroads Syria and Lebanon. By A. H. Hourani. (Oxford University Press. 18s.) PERHAPS no Arab questtn with the exception of that of Palestine has aroused so...

The Problem of Italy : An Economic Survey. By Ivor Thomas, M.P. (Routledge. 5s.) THIS book is delightfully written, and it is full of very important facts very lucidly stated....

Madame de Sevigne. Her Letters and Her World. By Arthur Stanley. (Eyre and Spottiswoode. 15s.) I AM afraid this will not do. It is a bold man who sets out to translate a...

City Development : Studies in Disintegration and Renewal. By Lewis Mumford. (Seeker and Warburg. 8s. 6d.) IN these six essays Mr. Mumford states more simply and directly :han...

A Woman of the Pharisees. By Francois Maunac. Translated by Gerard Hopkins. (Eyre & Spottiswoode : 9s.) The Gipsy's Baby and Other Stories. By Rosamund Lehmann. (Collins. 7s....

Hayek. (Blackwell. 2s. 6d.) PROFESSOR HAYEK insists on his thesis that we face a choice between responsible liberty and regimented slavery with the per suasiveness of conviction...

_ Il i 'C -. A'Ri j p . ,,E; I TEIA , /,'01E , R EllEE I M A 0 !_I / NIAIN T'E 'f2 1 COV;E IR I TN IF _ 'Zfit.ii - 1'T'Y '4 IL D E 'B.A! f , 2 A 0 i 5 A 'S m A 'i , H:E R 1...

one guinea will be awarded to the sender of the first correct tolution of this week's crossword to be opened after noon on Tuesday week, MaY 7th. Envelopes must be received not...

SINCE most of us feel some kind of nostalgia for the past, real or imagined, Miss Derrick's book on ancient country crafts should please many readers. She provides chapters on...

By CUSTOS As every experienced observer of the stock markets knows, the time for caution is when the sky is at its bluest. Too many hostages have been given to fortune,...

describes as " beginning an autobiography." It relates his life from childhood (he was born in 1908) until, at the age of twenty, he got a job as double bass player in a dance...