TOPICS OF THE DAY A BYSSINIA : the Future of the It War . . 8 Abyssin i a: the Hal f- Ope n 80 — Fifteen Weeks of War .. 85 — Clouds over Europe ....244 — Civilisation Comes...

and Britain had agreed at an early stage to refrain from military sanctions, but it is grossly improper to inter- pret that, as has been done in some quarters in this coun- try,...

A S result of the debate in the French Chamber during last week-end relations between this country and France are more satisfactory than they have been for some time. M. Laval...

advancing southward on a narrow front, is increasingly being obliged to face westward to meet determined though sporadic attacks on a wide one. The principal Abyssinian thrusts,...

has included a brief time-table of the progress of National Socialism - 1933, the capture of intenial power ; 1934, its consolida- tion; 1935, achievement of external freedom...

Imperial Airways liner, 'City of Khartoum,' must remain a mystery for the moment, though the fact that the pilot happens to be the one survivor of the thirteen inmates of the...

Austria is a welcome sign that Prince Starhemberg's Government (for so, in effect, it is) is aware of the precariousness of its position and the necessity of coming to terms...

in twelve months, and the formation of the seventh, may seem strong evidence of the incapacity of the Spaniards to work a parliamentary system. But probably no Government could...

itself that Uruguay should have broken off diplomatic relations with the U.S.S.R. What gives the fact its interest is that it emphasises once more the ambiguity of the relations...

It is now certain that the Nanking Government has approached Japan with proposals for a permanent adjustment of Sino-Japanese relations. The proposals have been readily accepted...

Perhaps you had better switch me off" remarked Mr. Max Beerbohm last Sunday to his wireless listeners, at the beginning of an account of his thoughts and feelings on revisiting...

policy at the Post Office is put beyond doubt by the statistics just made available of the increase in public demands on the ser- vice. For the first time, the number of...

are gradually evolving a system of wireless communication which should considerably add to their capacity for the prevention and detection of crime. Experiments are being...

of different Christian Churches throughout Europe, notably in this country the Anglican and the Methodist, have addressed to their congregations as 1936 opens concentrate on the...

of the Budget year show an excess in the ordinary revenue of 122,611,755 over the total for the same period last year— a welcome result of more active trade and of increased...

E VER since peace was made in 1919 the year 1935 had been looked forward to as a year of crisis, and anticipation was in no way belied. Crisis arose as the moment for taking the...

111HE lamented . death of Lord Reading must have - set many thinking about the benefits which Great Britain has reaped from the policy of Jewish emancipation. It is not a very...

I T is satisfactory to know that the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's have decided already to repeat next year the attempt to introduce a religious element into the New Year's...

By SIR HERBERT SAMUEL Reading was versatile but never superficial. His results were won by unsparing labour. As a young man, at the bar and in the House of Commons, he would...

By PROFESSOR GUGLIELMO FERRERO W HAT arc the ultimate prospects of the two rival armies in the Italo-Ethiopian War ? Since Italy and Ethiopia fought each other forty years ago...

By KENNETH RICHMOND p ROFESSOR BROAD, in the article which introduced this series, has underlined the importance of a close and Scientific study of trance-communications,...

T HE difficulties of a correspondent in Japan are numerous. They are partly artificial, though not, perhaps, to the same extent as in Soviet Russia, Italy, or Germany. More...

By T. B. MARTIN T HE mineowners are to meet the representatives of the Mineworkers' Federation early next week to discuss proposals for district wage increases. So great is the...

By ANNE FREMANTLE T OME, papa, you really must pull yourself together, and make haste ; the enemy are expected any moment now—do you hear, any moment ? " Ciselle de...

By ROSE MACAULAY 1936 is opening, even more noticeably than most years, in an atmosphere of mutual inter- national distastes. One is not surprised to be told that this has been...

"The Guv'nor." At the New Gallery.—" Midshipman Easy." At the Rialto.—" Treasure Island." At the Royal Court. Mn. GEORGE Aimss, who has dressed up as Disraeli, Voltaire,...

DR. LAWRENCE already has laurels enough to -.wed no addition from me. In his latest book he has collected a variety of .short papers on the marginalia of theatrical customs and...

A New Picasso ANY one interested in contemporary painting should unques- tionably visit the Chrisim is exhibition—not that it has much more to do with Christmas than most of the...

[D'un correspondant parisien] LES LETritEs francaises sont en deuil. L'un des maitres les plus eminents de noire roman psychologique, Paul Bourget. vient de s'eteindre...

Skating In the flat meadows of a Midland valley, just before Christmas, with hoar like silver sugar on everything, skating seemed like the finest pastime in the world. When...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—There are a large number of questions raised in Mr. P. Asterley Jones' letter. I hope Mr. Coote will reply. I should like to say, however,...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [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"...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—May I be permitted to differ with your statement that the upward tendency of convictions for drunkenness is continued ? On the face of it...

[To the Editor of Tan SPECTATOR.] SIR,— " He ventured to say to the Leader of the Opposition that, when across the table he (Major Attlee) pointed to the Prime Minister and...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—There is a rumour that the criminal law in its relation to suspected persons is to be amended. One hopes this may be true. For the past...

[To the Editor of TnE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Surely the widely-canvassed idea that the alternative to Signor Mussolini's regime is Communist chaos is without foundation in fact. A...

[To the Editor of T.TIE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Mr. John Prioleau's statement that the 30-mile speed- limit is now widely disregarded will be considered by many to be an undeniable...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sia,—The Spectator has such a reputation for accuracy that I am sure you must regret, as much as I do, your statement that the annual cost to...

[To the Editor of TIIE SPECTATOR.] Sra,—I again beg the hospitality of your columns as my remarks are fair comment on matters of public interest. Visiting Justices do not get...

• - [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In "A Spectator's Notebook" you recently referred to "the very interesting fact" that Dr. Marshall Lang, Moderator of the Church of...

your issue of December 20th, Professor G. C. Allen will not, I hope, think me ungrateful if I take him to task for a curious error in his otherwise unexceptionable review of...

in Mental Hospitals. Since then, I under- stand that further reports have been issued by the Board of Control. It seems that at Wadsley there are 33 men and 125 women by day in...

Sta,—I am reluctant to enter the hectic atmosphere of Mr. Tom Penhaligon's public quarrels, but his letter in the last issue of The Spectator cannot be allowed to pass without...

Samuel Jones, is preserved by Stobaeus, and may be found on page 480 of the Loeb edition of Menander, or as No. 533 in Kock's collection of comic fragments. The lines run : •...

By E. L. WOODWARD Jr this be the past, that "all Our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death," then the career of Charles- Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord is a...

THE Memoirs of Caulaincourt were seen by Vandal for his great work on Napoleon and Alexander, but with that exception they were inaccessible until a few years ago. But they were...

An Examination of Examinations. By Sir Philip Hartog, K.B.E., C.I.E., and E. C. Rhodes, D.Sc. (Macmillan. Is.) Tins lucid and fascinating pamphlet is a summary of the results...

The Purpose of God. By W. R. Matt!iews, K.C.V.O., D.Lit., D.D. (Nisbet. 7s. 6d.) THE DEAN OF ST. Palm's in his Alexander Robertson lectures has chosen a subject not only...

very welcome book is by no means a rehash of already well-known facts, with the addition of a few not so well known, but a philosophically based interpretation of a man who was...

Rolland. Translated by K. S. Shelvankar. (Selwyn and Blount. 88. 6d.) M. HOLLAND has given the past twenty years to the passionate furthering of two causes—one, that of dragging...

to hear readers of Mr. Eliot's poetry complain that it appears to defy the principles stated in his criticism, and to suggest, too, that between his early poetry, and his later...

By C. E. Vulliamy. (Geoffrey lies. 10s. 6d.) Mrs. Delany Aspasia : The Life and Letters of Mrs. Delany (1700-1788)4 By C. E. Vulliamy. (Geoffrey lies. 10s. 6d.) MRS. DELANY'S...

Ma. C. F. AispnEws is a brave man. Whether one agrees or disagrees with him, one cannot help admiring the con- sistency with which he has maintained his principles. Wherever he...

Below the Surface You cannot get over thirty coloured reproductions for 23s. and expect them all to be as good as the prints of, say, the Piper Verlag at two or three guineas...

PLOMER Quagmire. By Henry K. Marks. (Peter Davies. 7s. 6d.) Something to his Advantage. By W. F. Morris. (Bles. 7s. 6d.) Summer Time Ends. By John Hargrave. (Constable. 10s.)...

is.), but in spite of its obvious faults it deserves to be read attentively by anyone who professes an interest in modern art. Dr. Klingender and Mr. Lloyd are apparently the...

The monuments of a culture can serve more than one use. They can provide a critical canon, an epitome of experiences different from our own, a summation of mature tribal wisdom....

Motoring THERE IS one particularly welcome feature in the letters I receive weekly from Spectator readers asking for advice on the choice of new cars, and that is that the...

Current Literature By Francis Stuart There are infrequent occasions when criticism is almost wholly unprofitable, and this is one of them. Mr. Stuart writes with such simple...

" THE SPECTATOR," JANUARY 2, 1836. A GENTLEMAN in Edinburgh; just returned from a commercial tour in the English manufacturing districts, mentions to us, that at no former...

Finance IN the last issue of The Spectator I summarised some of the chief developments in finance and industry during the past year and promised-to say something this week with...

END-OF-THE-YEAR OPTIMISM. IN accordance with usual custom, the Stock Exchange 'was closed on New Year's Day, and I am unable, therefore, ; to report on the condition of markets...

THREE articles on " Coal : the Immediate Future" in the Nineteenth Century are of great interest and value. Mr. Godfrey Nicholson, the ex-Conservative Member for Morpeth, has no...

BY ZE.NO [A prize of 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 "Crossword...

of Crossword No. 170 is Miss P. Sanders, 18 Warwick Road, Coulsdon, Surrey.