December 28, 1935

THE TABLET N. W e ek ly N e w s p a p e r a n d R e v i e w

DUM YOBIS GRATULAMUR ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS YESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS

From the Brief of His Holiness Pius IX to The Tablet, June 4,1870.

V o l . 166. No. 4990. L o n d o n , D e c e m b e r 28, 1935.

S i x p e n c e .

R eg is tered a t the General P o st Off ic e as a New s p a p e r .

Page

New s and Notes ...................8 37 A New One or Another

O n e ? ....................................... 841 Second Thoughts on “ Back to the Land ”

841

From The Tablet of Long

A g o ....................................... 842 T e r t e x ....................................... 843 Obitu ary ............................... 846 Beethoven as Organist . . . 847 Outstanding Novels— LXY 848

CONTENTS

Our Goodly Heritage Page . . . 849 New Books and Music . . . 850 Books Received . . . 850 “ The Grail’ s Help for

Distressed Areas ... . . . 851

Correspondence :

Rome (Our Own Corre­

spondent’s Weekly Letter from) ......................... 853

A dvent P astorals : Page

Liverpool .............. . . . 855 Clifton .............. . . . 855 Salford .............. . . . 856 Notitngham.............. . . . 856 Northampton . . . 857 Coming E vents . . . 858 W i l l ......................... . . . 858 Ch e s s ............................ . . . 858 Et C.e t e r a ............... . . . 860 Canterbury Cathedral. “ The

Martyrdom”

. . . 861

Or b i s Terrarum :

Page

England ............................ 862 Czechoslovakia ................. 862 Dominica ............................ 862 France ............................ 862 Greece . . . . . . . . . 863 Hungary ............................ 864 Italy 864 Peru 864 Poland ............................ 864 U.S.A.......................................864 V e n e z u e la ............................ 864 Yugoslavia ............................ 864

NOTANDA The Sovereign Pontiff’ s address at the Secret Consistory. An English translation from The Tablet’s Rome Correspondent (p. 853).

In an issue dated the Feast o f the H o ly Innocents, but printed on Christmas Eve, The Tablet offers much holiday reading. A spiritualized Detective Story (p. 843).

Some further extracts from the Bishops’ pastorals. Spiritual counsel, and notes in retrospect (pp. 855-8).

The Member fo r the Komintern at Westminster, Britain’s only Communist M .P ., complains to The Tablet, and is answered (p. 838).

T o -m orrow ’ s Feast o f St. Thomas o f Canterbury. A timely drawing o f the place o f martyrdom (p. 861).

Settlement on the Land as a large-scale remedy fo r Unemployment. Some disappointing facts and arguments (p. 841).

NEWS AND NOTES

A HAPPY New Year in which the happiness will be true and long-lasting is the heartfelt wish o f The Tablet’s whole staff towards each and all o f its readers.

Now that the dust beaten up b y the deplorable Laval-Hoare peace-proposals has settled down, we may make an instructive retrospect. While the dust was flying it was acrid in the mouth and stinging t o the eyes ; but the spirit o f Christmas is potent still in this normally Christian land and the blunder which robbed the Foreign Secretary o f his portfolio is not now spoken of with bitterness.

Perhaps the best o f several good points in the aftermath of Sir Samuel Hoare’s resignation is the

N ew Series. Voi. CXXXIV. No. 4389.

almost world-wide recognition, o f Great Britain’s heart-soundness. After the General Election, several Tablet Notes rejoiced over the outspoken admiration o f many other peoples for the stability of our representative and truly democratic institutions in an era o f dictatorships. During ten wretched days, mankind’s confidence in us faltered ; but it has been restored. Indeed, we are probably not too optimistic when we opine that our nation’s prestige is by way of rising higher than before. It has been shown that Parliament is more representative than the Government, and that the moral soundness o f the people is more powerful still. A lucky though low-minded country might have a splendid Government consisting o f a few exceptionally brilliant and honourable statesmen ; but in Great Britain during this month o f December we have presented to the world the very different picture o f a nation which corrects and rebukes its governors when they fall below the people’s own standard of political honour. In the Dictator countries the national mind and conscience must perforce conform with the Dictator’s totalitarian policy and proceedings ; and this is one o f the ugliest menaces with which Fascist and Nazi regimes threaten mankind. I f Mr. Baldwin, Duce-like and Fiihrer-like, had blared it forth that the LavalHoare proposal was his “ unalterable will,” he would have been toppled from power and office within twenty-four hours.

Another good result o f the recent crisis is that the League will have to extract from the fifty “ Sanction-States,” as they are called, fifty unequivocal declarations concerning the parts they are respectively preparing to play in cementing Collective Security. Although the very word “ Collective ” is an adjective of multitude, most of the League’s member-States seem to have put a private interpretation upon it. Their idea o f Collective Security appeared to be that it was an admirable formula to be acclaimed by everybody amidst the luxuries o f Geneva but to be put into effect, so far