The present disputes between the railwaymen's unions and the Railway Executive have worked up to such an ugly state of affairs that comment itself is inhibited. It might make...

I F it is true, as The Times suggests, that after seven days' discussions at Paris, ending in deadlock, " the real conference has yet to begin," the problem of lodging away from...

The basis for a new trade agreement with Argentina has now been reached, although the drafting of the final text has still to be completed. It is possible that even at this...

The Lord Chancellor's assurance that the British Government still favoured the establishment of an international regime for Jerusalem will, it is hoped, be noted by the...

The Czech Communists have had more • than a year In which to consolidate their political victory, and though, as long as Russian armies remain within call, there may be no...

Reassuring official statements are apt to carry even less weight • in the East than they do in the West, but the mere fact that the Chinese Communists have at so early a stage...

W HEN the Superannuation Bill began its parliamentary course it did not seem as if this useful little measure to amend certain details of the system of Civil Service Pensions...

It would be a profound mistake to underrate the strength of the feeling aroused in Western Germany, particularly in the British zone, by the decision to destroy some of the most...

Articles from a special correspondent on the East African ground- nuts scheme, which appeared in the Spectator in February and May of this year, have pointed out that, despite...

A YEAR ago, at Scarborough, the Labour Party's annual conference faced a dangerous future, and failed to see it. The decision between a further extension of State control over...

L L things considered, the Eisler case has ended satisfactorily. At all events, as the Home Secretary was able to show clearly in the House of Commons, the normal legal pro-...

pro- vision of automatic stamp-selling machines as rapidly as possible. As a result of the saving in manpower thus secured it is hoped— at any rate I hope—that it may be...

I always thought The Dark Invader as good of its kind as any book that came out of the First World War, or for that matter out of the second. The story of von Rintelen's...

And most people, myself included, profoundly wish there wasn't. What possessed whom in British Railways to imagine that the travelling public want a buffet- car to look like an...

an exercise in Dorset. They were quartered, under arrangements made by the local military authorities, in a Bournemouth hotel, most of them sleeping two or three in a room. They...

"From the pulpit of St. Paul's yesterday Canon John Collins told a congregation of about zoo. . . ." Daily Herald, May 3oth. "Seldom can St. Paul's Cathedral have had so large...

The increase in basic rentals—an impost which no one could escape— is abandoned for the present, which pretty certainly means altogether. But the surcharge for every individual...

By J. F. LIPSCOMB [The Minister of Food is leaving for a visit to Kongwa next week] R ECENTLY the Overseas Food Corporation invited the Board of Agriculture of Kenya to send...

By Viscount H1NCHINGBROOKE, M.P. A LTHOUGH ten days in Greece is too short a time to acquire a detailed knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the Greek position, it...

By DAVID THOMSON* E VERY schoolboy who is going to a university is confronted— unless he is medically unfit for service—with a conflict of advice and inclinations as to whether...

THE House went into Committee of Supply on the Civil Contingencies ; and Mr. Osborne called attention to some extraordinary items. There was a vote of £40 Kir the President of...

By ROBERT WAITHMAN T HE evening came, not long ago, when President Truman, most of his Cabinet and a representative assortment of the High Brass of Washington assumed white...

By CANON E. C. RATCLIFF* UNE 9th, 1549, is not likely to be a significant date for more than a few. Yet it is indisputably entitled to be ranked as one of the more important...

BRITAIN AND MALAYA T HE vital factor in Malaya's struggle against Communism is morale. Since 1939 her people have endured much. They saw the almost incredible defeat of Allied...

' THE ILLITERATE By T. J. MASHITER (Emmanuel College, Cambridge) M ANY found their war-time experiences interesting and enjoyable. I was no exception ; but it was perhaps...

By HAROLD NICOLSON T HE other day I was invited to attend the reading competition which is held annually by the National Library for the Blind. The final adjudications and...

THE THEATRE Two Dozen Red Roses. By Aldo de Benedetti. Adapted by Kenneth Horne. (Lyric.) I AM afraid this is a bad play. The roses, accompanied by anonymous love-letters, are...

"Contact Man." (Plaza.)—" Adam and Evelyne." (Leicester Square.)—" Bride of Vengeance." (Carlton.)—" Maytime in Mayfair." (Empire.) Contact Man is in the nature of a mediaeval...

WITH The Ring, Tristan, Beethoven's Mass in D and Schubert's great C major symphony the last fortnight has been something like a festival of nineteenth-century German music, The...

Parades across the lawn, The thrushes sing into the night, And warblers hail the dawn ; The doves glide down at break of day To watch the thirsty wagtails play. Yes, yes, a...

to co- operate with great efficiency over the study as well as the preservation of birds. A striking example is the formation of the British Branch of the Wildfowl Research...

green and roses, Shall we not climb the headlands of the bay Once more ? Have we not watched there yesterday Those whom forever now the earth encloses ? Phdodemus. I LONG for...

SUBSCRIPTION RATES Ordinary edition to any address in the World. 52 weeks £1 10s. Od. 26 weeks 153. Od. Air Mail to any Country in Europe. 52 weeks £2 7s. 6d. 26 weeks Ll 31....

humble gardeners despair, so resplendent are some of the novelties ; but, after all, species are often better than hybrids—as in tulips and blue poppies or even irises—and new...

MAY stole a good many things from June. There were bowls of many sorts of roses in the house on May 20th in the Midlands and doubtless much earlier in the South. In the same...

It is pointed out by the most energetic of all branches of the C.P.R.E., the Sheffield and Peak District Branch, that at the date of the passing of the National Parks Bill—a...

THE LAND AND LABOUR S1R,—While I agree with Mr. Walston that seasonal labour is unsatis- factory, that most farms might profitably use an extra man throughout the year in...

Sta,—Like your correspondent, "Accountant," I received my quarterly electricity account, and from it, as from his, the meter-reading dates were omitted. I wrote to the manager...

defends academic freedom, but he appears to be ignorant of some of the facts relating to the University of Washington incident where three (not six) members of the faculty were...

SIR,—It was unfortunate that Mr. Alan Thompson's article on The New Inquisitors should appear in the same issue as Dr. A. Olderts article, Behind the Iron Curtain, for it seemed...

SIR,—Does Mr. Harold Nicolson know that the "puppet Chris.antos " to whom he refers with some contempt in his Marginal Ccernrizent of May 27th is the " splendid " priest whom he...

Sta,—I have been commissioned by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland to write a history of the Rotary Club movement in this country. I am receiving every possible...

SIR, —It was obvious to anyone in contact with troops during the war that a novel accurately reporting their conversation would be impossible, unless it were unprintably...

Sul,—Janus's remarks on the advantages of a fixed Easter in your issue of April 22nd are altogether deplorable from a churchman's point of view. Easter is fixed by the Paschal...

Sta,—In the Spectator of May 27th Mr. H. Martyn Sanders writes as follows: "The Apostle to the Gentiles held the ancient Jewish view of the female sex as the inferiors and...

Sm,—In her most interesting article, Guadeloupe, in the Spectator of May 27th, Miss Freya Stark gives the date of the battle' of The Saints as April 11th, 1792. Should it nor be...

staffs is irrespective of sexual differences, much more should the Christian Church seek to transcend the question of sex in its appointments to its ministry. Not to do so is to...

Sta,—Though all brickwork cannot be laid at the same rate, it is surely possible to classify most work into a few categories, for which fates could be fixed. The fixing of...

Sig,—There is much criticism of the Post Office over the proposed increase in telephone rentals. In this village we complain because we have no post office at all. This is due...

Human Nature in Society Authority and the Individual. By Bertrand Russell The First Reith Lectures. (Allen and Unwin. 6s.) IT can never again be said that what is excellent as...

The Conservative Party. By Nigel Birch. The Liberal Party. By R. J. Cruikshank. — The Labour Party. By William Glenvil Hall. (Collins. 5s. each.) " PARTY organisation," said...

The Holy Bible. Translated by Ronald A. Knox. I. Genesis - Esther. (Burns Oates. 21s.) BrEux translation is in the air. The demand for a new English version springs from two...

A Norfolk Diary. Passages from the Diary of the Rev. Benjamin J. Armstrong. Edited by Herbert B. J. Armstrong. (Harrap. 12s. 6d.) BENJAMIN ARMSTRONG was Vicar of East Dereham...

The Adventure of Publishing. By Michael Joseph. (Wingate. 8s. 6d.) . "Mumby III" is not so fundamentally different from its pre- decessor as was "Mumby II " ; but it covers a...

IF it is not impossible. to write a good regimental history, it is certainly very difficult. For the object of such a history is to praise obscure men and to make a coherent...

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IA Book Token for one guinea will be awarded to the sender of the first correct solution of this week's crossword to be opened after noon on Tuesday week, lune 14th. Envelopes...

Robert Bruce Lockhart. With Wood Engravings by J. Gaastra. (Dropmore Press. Limited Edition. £5 5s. Od. and £2 2s. Od.) SIR ROBERT BRUCE LOCKHART has had an advantage over some...

WHAT assumptions does the novelist demand. of his readers ? How far must we go to meet him? These questions, always to some degree implicit in the relationship between reader...

T. B. Strong. By Harold Anson. (S.P.C.K. 8s. 6d.) Mawr OF RIPON though Dr. Strong was for five years and Bishop of Oxford for twelve, it is as Tommy Strong of the House that...

(Macdonald and Evans. 8s. 6d.) MR. MORTLOCK is master of that despised and difficult art, the writing of short essays. Why the essay is out of favour, unless it is because few...

6d.) FROM a Britain of 500,000 years ago to a Britain of 2000 A.D., Mrs. Allen follows the development of the home—the home of all classes, peasants as well as lords. She...

By CUSTOS THE dismal course of stock markets this week has vindicated only too soon and too drastically the note of caution sounded here about industrial Ordinary shares. It...

since pre-war days, it is still necessary to place • firm order with a bookstall manager or newsagent to ensure regular weekly delivery of the SPECTATOR. Newsagents cannot...