There is very little sign in the statements on Palestine made by the American and Russian delegates at Lake Success during the past week of any will to face the realities of the...

The swing of municipal elections in Spain effected King Alfonso's downfall in 1931. The swing of municipal elections in France last month has elevated General de Gaulle to such...

T HE succession of reports by specialised committees on the nature and effects of the Marshall Plan is nearly ended, and the countries of Europe are already entering upon that...

The National Assistance Bill, published at the end of last week, clears up a confused situation. The Poor Law instituted in Tudor times made the local community responsible for...

The new Criminal Justice Bill largely reproduces the terms of the admirable measure introduced in the House of Commons by Lord Templewood, then Sir Samuel Hoare, in 1938 and...

In expelling Mr. Garry Allighan from membership of the House of Commons on October 3oth the House set something of a pre- cedent. Cases of expulsion have not been numerous ; the...

Though the military situation about Srinagar, thanks to the flow of airborne, reinforcements from Indian territory, is not desperate, the outlook in Kashmir permits of no...

T HIS week in Parliament started with the very welcome announce- ment by Mr. Mayhew that M. Mikolajczyk had arrived in this country, which was received with general...

This week The Spectator, in common with other weekly periodicals, suffers a cut of to per cent. in its paper ration ; the quantity allotted, instead of being 35 per cent. of the...

It was surprising that, within a few days of Sir Stafford Cripps's statement that the whole production plan was jeopardised by the fact that labour was not moving to key...

T HE text of the Bill to amend the Parliament Act of 1911 by reducing by a year the period by which the House of Lords can delay the passage into law of a Bill that the Commons...

194 Communists stood and 194 Communists were defeated—a fact which The Daily Worker finds it rather difficult to explain away. This is in line with the general ebb of the...

express surprise that there is no time-limit to the speeches, and they well may, considering the length of some of the utterances they have to listen to. But whenever the...

am told, -do fulfil expectations. Of the selection sent me I find the Little Oxford Dictionary (my Concise O.D. is silent on "allergic ") most to the point. Its entry is...

offer a curious contrast. Sir Holman Gregory, K.C., who was Recorder of London, left £8,000 odd ; Mr. Frank Hodges, who was at one time a miners' agent, then for a short time a...

T HE fact of Mr. Winant's death is almost as tragic as the manner of it. In many ways he was a unique figure—shy, awkward, almost uncouth, generally looking as though his...

States gold reserve at Fort Knox for the purpose of stabilising European currencies is interesting less because of Mr. Bevin's recent proposal, not well received across the...

By JEAN-PIERRE GIRAUDOUX N EXT to the formation of the Cominform, the results of the local-government elections have contributed most to the sim- plification of the French...

By MAJOR TUFTON BEAMISH, M.P. T HE fact of Russia's cynical disregard for international obligations is no longer news. Nor is Russia's highly efficient propaganda machine which...

By H. D. WALSTON P RESIDENT TRUMAN has decided to call a special session of Congress on November 17th in order to discuss ways of aiding Europe during the next nine months. This...

By RUSSELL GREENWOOD T HERE is little in the present behaviour of the average Japanese to remind one of the aggressive and brutal warfare that ended more than two years ago....

By VIRGINIA GRAHAM T 00 little attention has so far been paid to a singularly interesting and encouraging export-enterprise, designed to swell, if only on a relatively modest...

By B. IFOR EVANS I F we in Britain are thinking that the ordinary man in the United States is spending most of his time contemplating the possible collapse of European...

By THE BISHOP OF SHEFFIELD T HREE years have passed since the unexpected death of William Temple. Others have assumed his duties and are filling with distinction the offices...

By HAROLD NIGOLSON C OUNT SFORZA, Foreign Minister of the Italian Republic, left England on Saturday after what seems to have been a most successful visit. In the official...

THE THEATRE " Anna Lucasta." By Philip Yordan. (His Majesty's.) Q.20 is a serviceable though perhaps a slightly flashy designation for a secret agent. As a passport to the...

MESSRS. JOHN CitArroN and Lucien Freud are holding their first exhibition for some little time at the London Gallery. Perhaps the only similarity that links their work is an...

ON October 29th, Richard Strauss conducted the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra in his Till Eulenspiegel, and at the same concert Hoist's The Planets was played in tow. Twenty years...

" Vivere in Pace." (Curzon.)—" The Woman in the Hall." (Leicester Square). Vivere in Pace did not altogether come up to my expectations, but these perhaps were unwarrantably...

indeed, any other gardens any finer sight at any season than the winter aspect of the bayberries? If you have the deep purple of Pratii, the bright purple of Thunbergia, the...

bird have local prejudices and practices. For example: it is chiefly in the neighbourhood of Hertford that wood- peckers have adopted the habit of boring holes in the wood poles...

The selection of the turnstone for the Christmas card of the Norfolk Naturalists' Trust recalls to me the first time I saw this amusing bird at very close quarters. It was in...

Two Swedes have given the Research Institute workers at Oxford a comparative account of farming in Sweden which will interest all those who believe in yeoman service, that is in...

heaven as an alternative to the London plane has aroused some well-documented criticism. There was a glorious specimen in a private garden in Golders Green which became...

October 24th, made an accurate and judicious analysis of the work of the British Council and the disease from which it, in common with many other national institu- tions, is at...

ITALY AND SOMALIA Sm—Mr. Eric Dodson favours the reinstallation of Italian rule in Somalia; this would be a " gesture of encouragement " to her, and would suitably recognise...

Sm,—Listening to a radio programme entitled As Others See Us I heard quoted a passage from a letter written to your paper. I judge, therefore, that you do occasionally publish...

Sta,—Mr. Sydney Moder, up from the country to see a London matinee, finds the theatres and cinemas " packed with well-dressed men " and * promptly labels them spivs. Is it not...

Sra,—In his interesting article on the Royal statues of London Mr. Warren Postbridge refers to the somewhat obscure position occupied by the statue of Queen Elizabeth, which in...

charming statue of Queen Anne in Queen Anne's Gate, now divested of her war-time protective brickwork and greatly to be preferred to the clumsy effigy outside St. Paul's.—Yours...

Sut,—I wonder whether Mr. Zilliacus and his friends are aware of how much they add to the tedium of this most tedious of epochs. Of course, he and his friends have visited...

Sra,—In his powerful and courageous indictment of our excessive con- centration upon sport of every kind at this critical hour in our history, Mr. G. A. Riding asks whether we...

Sut,—I much enjoyed Sir Norman Birkett's delightful article Hymns and the People ; but am sure he did not mean to write: " Lo! He comes with clouds descending,' is inseparable...

Sns,—I was amused to read Janues note on " allergy" in your issue of October 31st. One point of interest he did not mention is its spelling. ∎ Its derivation is from the two...

as to whether the " raised headgear " of the Prince Consort in Holborn is an exception. Is not bare or hatted the rule ?—Yours truly,

Sns,—I fear that the tag I ventured to use in the letter which you publish this week has suffered a sea-change. In order to forestall any possible amused comment may I say that...

Sta,—The article on this subject by Mr. Evans is interesting but dis- quieting, and the figures of output which he gives require explanation. Why the tremendous fall from...

The Strange Alliance : The Story of American Efforts at Wartime Co-operation with Russia. By John R. Deane, Head of the U.S. Military Mission in Moscow, 1943-1945. (Murray....

Austria Before the Anschluss Austrian Requiem. By Kurt von Schuschnigg. (Gollancz. 7s. 6d.) THE appearance of an English version of Dr Kurt von Schusdmigg's book is very...

The Remarkable Expedition. By Olivia Manning. (Heinemann. 15s.) NONE of Stanley's extraordinary exploits, not even his " rescue " of the reluctant Livingstone, brought him more...

Tins well-produced book with its lovely clear colour plates and its learned but witty text comes like a ray of sunshine upon this austerity-laden season. But the admirers of...

not written yet, but it already appears improbable that the victorious Allies will succeed in the long run in imposing their collective will on Germany—mainly because they have...

As They Liked It By Alfred Harbage. (Macmillan. 14s.) Tim Government, notoriously niggardly in its supplies of paper for books and newspapers, may yet take a hint from Evelyn...

Mankind So Far. By William Howells. (Sigma Books. 16s.) PLATO defined man as " a two-legged animal without feathers," a description which seemed to satisfy the Academy until...

You Can't Go Home Again. By Thomas Wolfe. (Heinemann. 12s. 6d.) The Sound of Years. By Merriam Model. (Cassell. 9s. 6d.) Square Pegs. By Constance Butler. (Cape. 8s. 6d.)...

Looking at Pictures. - By Michael Rothenstein. (Routledge. 8s. 6d.) " CAN inexpert eyes ever be taught to look at difficult paintings intelligently and with genuine enjoyment ?...

IA 100 , v R IA,P11. E . u OM L 1113 Li !Ai vE 11 1 IMIE • 'ie4k, TI I V■E AA ra G S 'orm!N1 I IUIM IA LI t_ . ■ rvIE,D MT DA LS AA ' 1E iRig)ElAjnl - r1 - r:R • % 1 2, R. N D...

[A 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 November 18th....

By CUSTOS THE stock market barometer has always been sensitive to the veering of the political winds, and it has duly registered this week what the general body of investors...