Road and Rail Charges S;R,-I am very glad to deal with the points of detail which Mr. J. E. Allen has raised and which I omitted from my letter in an attempt to keep it short....

The Duke of Windsor's Memoirs SIR,-In your issue of June 2nd, Janus comments adversely on the publication of the Duke of Windsor's memoirs. I have not seen them, but the...

In the Donbas SIR,-Mr. William Pearson, in his letter in the Spectator of May 12th, states that he did not meet slaves in the Donbas; but he surely met workers who cannot...

Examination Age Limits SIR.-Into the intentions of the Minister of Education it were perhaps as well not to enquire too curiously; but to fix the same age limit for all alike...

SIR,-Without wishing to intrude in any way in the discussions on trans- port in recent issues of the Spectator, I should like to correct one or two mis-statements of fact in...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Travel in France SIR.-Mr. Renfield is right: your statements and those of Mr. Rees are indeed incorrect and misleading. It is easily possible to manage...

The Value of Philosophy SIR,-We are living in times when confusion in the realm of thought, and inhumanity in the sphere of practice, reach to the roots of our intellectual and...

SIR.-If Mr. Renfield considers that my article says that £50 will barely do for a fortnight's holiday, he has either misread or- misinterpreted me. I was at some pains to make...

Indus Prehistory SIR,-Sir John Marshall in his article on Indian prehistory in your issue of June 2nd, makes two statements that call for comment. With regard to the Harappa...

Realities in Burma SIR,-Your distinguished contributor, Sir Percival Griffiths, shows in his article an admirable grasp of detail and a profound understanding of human problems...

The Poetry of the Mountains Postscript to Adventure. By Lord Schuster. (Lyre and Spottiswoode. New Alpine Library. I Ss.) DURING one of my first seasons in the Alps, while I...

Reviews of the Week Cricket ad lib. The History of Cricket. By Eric Parker. Lonsdale Library. (Seelcy Service. 30S.) THIS is a positively awe-inspiring volume Mr. Eric...

Hotels in Scotland SIR,-May I write to state how cordially I endorse J. P. McHutchison's defence of Scottish hotels. Like him, I have travelled up the west coast to Cape Wrath,...

Book Wanted SIR,-I have tried everywhere (second-hand book-shops, trade journals, etc.) to get hold of a copy of Rider Haggard's Pearl Maiden, for which 1 have had a request...

Why Croquet? SIR,-The oblique reference to croquet by Janus in your issue of May 26th must have puzzled many of your readers. Must a statement in Who's Who, that a person finds...

Bishop Henson's Autobiography SIR-I much regret that owing to a slip of the pen I wrote Retractiones in my earlier letter. Bishop Henson wrote Rctractationes, which, as your...

Lemon Lore SIR,-The freedom with which the phrase, "The answer is a lemon," is used today is proof that there are few who know its origin. It was explained to me by a friend in...

Durham University SIR,-Mr. Harold Nicolson is not quite accurate in suggesting that Durham had no collegiate centre of its own from the suppression of Durham College in 1544...

* p A A But there is one sermon preached in a cathedral which I do remember. I have mentioned it before in this column, but so long ago that I am quite certain no one will...

A review in the Spectator last week quoted a story about Addison's 1 daughter having died before puberty in a lunatic asylum. Some doubt is thrown on it by the fact that in the...

It is very unfortunate that Pakistan should feel herself aggrieved at not being admitted a member of the Imperial Cricket Conference. There is every reason why she should be a...

It is no doubt no more than a coincidence that the papers should have announced on two consecutive days this week that the number of Roman Catholics in England and Wales has...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK M R. ATTLEE has let it be known that he means Mr. Bevin to continue at the Foreign Office. That I decision is not incapable of defence. If the Foreign -...

FIRE RAZING ATTEMPT ALL CIVILIANS BEING CHECKED -Evening News A cnh- eiitnr amone them ? A sub-editor among them ' JANUS.

The Friend of Shelley Trelawvny. By R. Glynn Grylls. (Constable. 2 IS.) TRELAWNY'S life ought to be made into a film; I don't think it has been done, and I commend the idea...

Science and Religion JIs God Evident? An Essay Towards a Natural Theology. By Gerald Heard. (Faber. 12s. 6d.) THE background of this book is the belief of the writer that...

CONTEMPORARY ARTS CINEMA " Odette." (Plaza.)-" So Long at the Fair." (Leicester Square.) -"' Too Dangerous to Love." (Carlton.) IT grieves me to say that Odelte, the record...

MUSIC KousSEVITZKY conducted his first concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Albert Hall on June 1st and raised at once the problems of interpretation which, it...

Freshmen v. Veterans Late Last Night. By James Reach. (Heinemann. 8,. 6d.) Death among Friends. sBy Lange Lew'is. (Bodley Head. 8s. 6d.) 1t .. . . . I , . I Cat and Mouse....

What Liberals Are For Lord Samuel's Liberties of the Subject Bill, the text of which is nowe available, ought to be a profoundly shocking document. Yet how many British...

A Menace from Morecambe Mr. W. Coldrick, M.P., chairman of the Co-operative Party, is a disappointed man. He tried to get the Co-operative Congress, at its meeting at Morecambe...

Straws in the Builders' Hair One thing which the recent collection of reports on the building industry made perfectly clear was that the contribution of the building workers to...

The Belgian Impasse It is not quite true to say that after last Sunday's general election, which left Belgium still split in two on the question of the King's return. the total...

A Statement on Religion The statement on the religious situation issued by the Religious Bodies Consultative Committee inspires respect rather than admiration. The declaration...

Malaya's Need The visit of Mr. Griffiths and Mr. Shinwell to Malaya has done good. It has given the two members of the Cabinet most responSible for Malaya a sight of the...

Electioneering in Japan *The final results in the Japanese General Election show that the Government will not, after all, command the two-thirds majority in a joint session of...

NEWS OF THE WEEK B EHIND the expert evidence now being presented to committees of the United States Congress on the Military Aid Bill lie the signs of a fundamental change in...

A Use for May In all parts of England have been heard ecstatic comments on the glory of the may-blossom, which this vear ieally did belong to May. It is, of course, the master...

Maternity o take my little hostages That spoil my tender vines! o draw me from the pit wherein I went and cast my lines! To fish responsibility I baited youth and beauty; Gave...

COUNTRY LIFE THE nightingales, which owing to the eccentricities of May weather huse proved unusually intermittent in song, will soon cease altogether it relapse to gruff...

A Rabbit Pitch Beatrix Potter would have been delighted with a little picture presented to us one morning in the garden. Overnight I had removed a cloche from a special plant...

In the Garden Talking of Peter Rabbit, a garden presided over by Mr. MacGregor was allotted a silver medal at Chelsea for penstemons-red penstemons and blue penstemons and...

Tips or Groves ? Among a host of beneficent activities, the Council for the Preservation of Rural England has been concerning itself with the control of tipping -it has nothing...

Today and Long Ago Haply I May) Remember. By Cynthia Asquith. (Barrie. is.) So compressed and urgent is our sense of historical action in these lamentable days that even the...

A History of Prehistory A Hundred Years of Archaeology. By Glyn E. Daniel. (Duckworth. 2 1S.) THIS is a book with interesting contents, reasonable treatment and timely...

BRITAIN AND SCHUMAN N OW that Britain and France have reached deadlock over the Schuman Plan negotiations it is necessary to decide just where we are, how we got there and by...

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT By CUSTOS ARE we in a bull market for equities ? The immediate answer is provided by the market itself. During the Stock Exchange account * hich ended...

Kenya-A Rejoinder By M. F. HILL Nakuru, June 3rd IT is inevitable that those who have lived in Kenya for many years should see things rather differently from those who visit...

Nationalisation II: Coal By OSCAR R. HOBSON IN my article of last week I suggested that the two main defects from which experience has shown the nationalised industries to be...

UNDERGRADUATE PAGE Going Down By J. STUART MACLURE (Christ's College, Cambridge) THE LUnixersitv Man settled himself in his chair. and a glassy stare came into his eyes. A...

Stowe Palace PATHS are grass-grown: the bridge palladian Spans but the reeds of a silted drain. Venus's temple a schoolboys' stadium, Counterfeit ruins in truth attain Grey...

The Youth Service Eighty Thousand Adolescents: A Study of Young People in Birmingham. By \N'esthill Trainin, College, Un(ler thie direction ot Brvan Rced. (Allen and UInvin....

New Novels The Show Must Go On. By Elmer Rice. (Gollancz. I 2s. 6d.) The Jungle of Your Heart. By Franik Tilsley. (E)yre and Spottis- Adoode. i os. 6d.) The Astrologer. By...

Home Rule for Scotland? By JAMES BRIDME T X HIS is to be a piece of random gossip about Scottish Home Rule. Plenty of facts and arguments are available, but few of us, on...

Whiteman By CYNTHIA DE GREY W HITEMAN was slow and quiet and very black. He was the smallest of all the native boys in that South African country hotel,,and no one had ever...

BOOKS AND WRITERS T 'HERE is no Russian writer, not even Pushkin, whose letters breathe a more intimate charm than Chekhov's. N1ore intimate and yet more reticent also. For...

The Helicopter Age BY PETER KING LAST week the helicopter began a service which may be said to have added respectability to its other virtues. In the past its main...

MARGINAL COMMENT By HAROLD NICOLSON I HAVE frequently argued with foreigners about our national arrogance. I have sought to convince my Friench friends that what they denounce...