NEWS OF THE WEEK Absenteeism ... ... 571, 599 Abyssinia, 2, 50, 78, 105, 134, 189, 298, 334, 361, 413, 490, 518, 54 2 Aeroplane output ... 334 African campaign, the ... 189,...

H ITLER has found himself confronted with a stiffer proposi- tion than he had probably anticipated in his dealings with the Vichy Government, now purged of the sinister...

The fact that the great German army is still unemployed on any major military activity is enough in itself to arouse specu- lation, especially as Germany's Italian ally is in...

The campaigns in Libya and in Albania are closely inter- connected. At the start our Egyptian offensive was delayed by the need of sending aid quickly to Greece ; but when the...

What is to be done about the historic, artistic or ecclesiasti- cal buildings which the London fires destroyed? Guildhall will, of course, be rebuilt ; so, probably, will the...

The great fires which the Germans caused in the City of London on the night of Sunday, December 29th, made White- hall abruptly aware of the gaps in our preparation against this...

Nobody can withhold sympathy from Lord Woolton. He administers well; he treats the public tactfully; and his main embarrassments result from causes (such as the sinking of...

One of the sides where Lord Woolton is hampered by errors not under his own control is food production. The " dig for victory " campaign was conducted last year in a very...

The necessary decision taken by the British last summer to withdraw from Somaliland was undoubtedly a discouragement to Abyssinians who hoped to profit by Italy's...

to a seat rests primarily and sometimes entirely on the distinction of their fathers; some of these seats are frankly hereditary. Retired men from the fighting, diplomatic and...

The report of an enquiry into the living conditions of working-class families in the Newcastle-on-Tyne area, if it points to no conclusions that were not familiar already, does,...

end in themselves. They are kept alive by revolts from within and attacks from without. In the formative periods they often come under the domination of a single man who...

things: the cost in money—and time—of getting elected, and secondly, the nature and methods of Parliamentary business. It is im- possible to defend the auctioning of seats,...

professional politician and would remove from Parliament the clash of " interests." I disagree. For the first time it would make politics a career open to talent. Previous...

im- perative that after the war, Parliament shall attract and discover new n-en and women. I doubt whether the present or any other party agencies will ever find them. And yet a...

Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes : —In your last issue Mr. L. B. Namier concluded an historical essay on Demo- cracy and Party with these words: " In the presence of...

War-time house-building goes forward on a considerable scale, chiefly for the accommodation of munition workers; and air-raid dangers, combined with shortages of timber and...

The Workers' Educational Association have just issued a very valuable manifesto entitled " Public Education and the War." In it they describe with moderation the way in which...

Y EARS ago, when the policy of appeasement was in the ascendant in this country, Mr. Churchill saw the reality of the danger that was approaching Great Britain. In like manner...

I T is a great pity that the idea should have gained currency in the United States that Lord Halifax has some affinity with what are called " the appeasers." There is not a...

If you send a clock to be mended, or a suit of clothes to be cleaned, or a wireless set or a motor-car to be repaired, and the article in question is destroyed, with the other...

to bring Indian workers to this country and billet them, after a preliminary training, in British workers' homes must inspire. If the experiment succeeds it will have achieved a...

it seems to me to call for special notice except Dr. Gilbert Murray's 0.M., to which I made oblique reference last week, and the two C.H.s awarded to Mr. J. L. Garvin and Mr....

of and no comment on, a rather remarkable message from the Board of Admiralty recently promulgated in Fleet Orders. In it the Board, " in the conviction that the present war is...

to say about Captain Margesson's appointment to the War Office. Being in that case myself, I said nothing. But I may at least quote an opinion expressed by a political opponent...

By STRATEGICUS I T is now obvious that Hitler has made the mistake against which so many eminent Germans warned him to their cost: he has plunged into a war of which he cannot...

C ANADA has now reached the point where peak effort in every phase of war activity is within sight. Maximum industrial output will be reached next mid-summer ; the Commonwealth...

By MARY RICHMOND T HE year 1841 would appear at first sight to be the very antithesis of 1941. The early years of the Victorian era have the reputation of being stormy at home...

By G. M. YOUNG W HENEVER I take up a book which purports to give " an account of our ideas and ideals " or to " make plain the spirit in which we stand," the question I always...

W HAT we all want," said a stevedore to me wistfully, as if he were asking for the moon, " is a little house and a bit of garden. We all hate these flats. It's difficult to get...

THE house is in disorder the chairs turned, the tables up • the wallpapers wet and soiled peeling in strips and hanging on the floor arc broken foods and the damp, dead,...

" Aladdin." At the Coliseum.- 4, Jack and the Beanstalk." At the Unity Theatre. No two pantomimes could differ more profoundly than these, and even a conservative critic would...

THE CINEMA A Date With Destiny." At the Plaza. PSYCHIATRISTS and psycho-analysts will hardly enjoy this film, which presents a villain whose talents in the realm of the psyche...

Sra,—Professor Field is right in saying that it is " an anachronism to speak of Germany at all as being this or that before the latter half of the nineteenth century." For...

SIR,— In your "News of the Week " in the December zoth issue of The Spectator reference is made to the Government scheme for com- pensation in respect of war injury. It will be...

[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...

sand was an idealist of sorts, but even he must have begun to think that it was time to take some precautions when the rain started pouring through his roof. So the fact that...

basis of the criticism of his paragraph on rural salvage. It was not that he set down certain facts, but that he used them to discourage effort. Nobody suggested that his own...

your issue of December loth, 5940, Major-General Sir F. Maurice states that I seem to have missed the point of your para- graph in your " Editorial Notes " of September 6th....

SIR,—Your study of Lord Lothian charms by its insight and sympathy, and if I venture to add one touch it is because some friendship with Philip Kerr was one of the many...

SIR,—May I reply to a number of criticisms of my book on Jules Verne by your reviewer, Mr. Geoffrey Grigson? The review was on the whole intended to be complimentary, but I am...

" Country Life" in the issue of December 27th does a grave injustice to the common sense, skill and patriotism of the farming community. Writing of the food pro- duction...

As if to supplement my remarks of last week, a magnificent flight of six swans has passed over while these notes were being written. One thing about them (apart from the fact,...

The real purpose of the pamphlet is, however, to decide whether or not the starling is an agricultural pest. Here, again, conclusive results can only be obtained by exhaustive...

Six,—Letters gratefully received from some of your readers, as well as Mr. Page's disclosure of his beneficent intention, shows that this exquisite little fungus, though shy and...

It is a very deplorable thing to read that huge quantities of surplus green vegetables are being taken back from Covent Garden to the farms, and there fed to cattle: yet here,...

Starlings : Increase or Decrease ? My recent remarks on the possible decrease in the population of starlings has brought me an extremely interesting pamphlet reprinted by Miss...

Mr. George Peel . certainly clarifies the issue by explaining that when he quoted figures showing a decline in our exports and referred to the policy of Protection he did not...

Social Aspects of Crime in England Between the Wars. By Dr Hermann Mannheim. (Allen and Unwin. as.) DR. HERmeusust MANNHEIM is a distinguished German crimino- logist who has...

Heroism and Credulity I Saw It Happen In Norway is a rather misleading title for this interesting and important narrative, since the Speaker of the Norwegian Parliament was,...

America Our Ally. By H. N. Brailsford. (Gollancz. 2s. 6d. Tins number eleven of the " Victory Books " is timely and moving. Mr. Brailsford is a veteran of the cause of...

Lady Bessborough and Her Family Circle. Edited by The Earl of Bessborough. (Murray. 15s.) " MME. DE MERt'OIS came to fetch me," wrote the eleven-year- old Henrietta Spencer,...

English Saga, 1840-1940. By Arthur Bryant. (Collins, with Eyre and Spottiswoode. ms. 6d.) VicrogIAN England and its quel is a theme of inexhaustible interest. Mr. Bryant follows...

Diaghilev. By Serge Lifar. (Putnam. ns.) The Diaghilev Ballet in London. By Cyril W. Beaumont. (Putnam. los. 6d.) THERE is no denying the importance of Serge Diaghilev. For...

I Heard a Voice. By F. R. Barry. (Christophers. THE Christian Church, to any sympathetic observer, is a heart- breaking institution. Christians themselves are more aware of...

Years of Content, 1858-1886. By Sir George Leveson Gower' K.B.E. (Murray. I2S. 6d.) IN a winter of universal discontent it is refreshing to be trans- ported into an atmosphere...

Drama. By Desmond MacCarthy. (Putnam. 9s. 6d.) A COLLECTION of Mr. MacCarthy's essays would be welcome at any time : his Drama—dramatic criticisms—could not come at a better...

Darkness at Noon. By Arthur Koestler. (Cape. 8s.) Laura Sarelle. By Joseph Shearing. (Hutchinson. 8s. 6d.) Darkness at Noon is a grimly fascinating book, giving us as it does a...

Ritzkrelg. By Michael Barsley. Illustrated by the author. (The Pilot Press. 35. 6d.) Behind the Lines. By A. A. Milne. (Methuen. 5s.) ONE of the funniest things about the...

The Road to Bordeaux. By C. Denis Freeman and Douglas Cooper (Cresset Press. 8s. 6d.) MR. FREEMAN and Mr. Cooper enlisted as ambulance drivers with the French Army just after...

" WITH Dr. Benes's consent," writes the author of this eulogistic biography a little oddly (for Dr. Benes does not rule the waves), " I crossed the Atlantic in December of 1939,...

WRITING biographies of the Prime Minister is a popular diversion in these days, and if anyone is making a collection of these publications there is no reason why Sir George...

(Oxford University Press. 7s. 6d.) MRS. HUGHES' family chronicle ambles agreeably on. A widow with two sons, she settles in "a semi-detached " at Cuffley, and is a little coy...

6d. THIS book was evidently prepared for the Press before Eric Gill's death. It will not alter his reputation. " I do not wish to discuss here the art of drawing in its...

6s.) The Shelter Book. An Entertainment devised by Clemente Dane (Longman's. 6s.) THIS is an anthology of stories, poems, quotations, games, all mixed up with pieces of advice...

by Clare Leighton. (Macmillan. 14. 6d.) THE stiff stoney style of Thomas Hardy, with his characters like country tombstones, is here matched with Miss Clare Leighton's woodcuts....

By CUSTOS BErrER than expected will be the verdict of most investors on the performance of the stock markets in 1940. In the equity groups there have been some casualties, but...

ordering " The Spectator " regularly, since newsagents can no longer be supplied on sale-or-return terms.

The winner of Crossword No. 93 is Mrs. Domvile, Palm Court Hotel, Sea Front, Torquay.

[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 with...