While locat members of the Royal Society St. George were celebrating the day of England's patron Saint lovers of Shakespeare remembered that it was also the anniversary of the death, in 1616, of the famous poet and playwright. Much more is known of him than of the Cappadocian who lived so many centuries before, and probably few men have left so strong an influence on a people as the Bard has on the English, by reason of his effect upon their leiiers. And though so much more is known, there is stil in the minds of many that lurking) doubt whether it wag he who wrote the plays which have given so much pleasure during these last three centuries. Tu some that doubt amounts toa conviction that Wi Shakespeare did nothing, of the sort, but that all the plays and poems ascribed to' him were from the hand of Lord Bacon. Some find it impossible to believe that, with the very elementary education Shakespeare Feeeived at the church school at Stratford-on-'Avon, it was possible for him to have done +0, but {0 hold too strongly to that belief means to) disregard the fact that many men of poor educa~ tion have eventually reached great heights. It really does not matter who wrote what has been attributed to Shakespeare, for whatever the name, it is the man whose brain was responsible for those remarkable creations who. is so] Yea! honoured throughout. the world today. St. George's Day has not the same appeal to people England as it has to those of her sons settled in other Parts of the world. On Friday 500 guests, including the American Ambassador the Court of St. James were present at a ceremony on the site of the proposed Shake-Speare Memorial National Theatre at South Kensington, when the deeds for the land were formally handed over to Mr. George Bernard Shaw, chairman of the National Theatre Committee. The presence of the American Ambassador at so important a function was particularly pleasing, for American interest {in the Shakespearean tradition is best evidenced by the poem by the American poet, John Whittier in which he wrote:—
Englishmen!—in tongue and creed {In blood and tongue our brothers We too are heirs of Runnymede, And Shakespeare's fame and Cromwell's deed Are not slone our mother's, Far Eastern Tension (Continued from page 134) this, the Japanese government has some 600,000 men in China, There are said to be 350,000 picked troops ready to meet any menace in north Manchoukuo, obviously not sufficient to be sure of being able to deal with the Russian forees which in Siberia are' said to total 40 divisions or about 880,000 men, With an unknown naval strength at Vladivostok consisting mainly of submarines, and a substantial air-force within. striking distance of the heart of Japan in addition to the military strength given above as immediately available for the Manchoukuo border, it clear that Soviet Russia presents Japan with a dificult nut ta crack, and provided peace were maintained in Europe it is more than likely that, should Japan embark upon any such adventure as her press adumbrates might be possible, Japan would have her fingers seriously burned. On the other hand the situation from a Russian point of view is not too bright.
The recent army purge may have removed many of the principle foch of dis content, but it docs not necessarily mean that the Army would remain as docile as it is at the moment in the event of its being called upon to play that role in the defence of the country for which it exists. The danger of Stalin's control passing into the hands of the High Command upon the outbreak of war is tone which should not be lightly discounted. Any such event might mean the destruction of the present Bolshevik Government and the substitution therefor of a military dictator~ ship, perhaps as near Fascism or Nazism the present Russian system is away from it. As has already been remarked, there has been 'a plethora of incidents any' one of which might have served as a spark to sot off the explosion, but up to the present they have been allowed to pass, because neither nation at present wishes to embark upon a course of faction the result of which ig by no means certain. But there is no guarantee that the rising ide of discontent and alarm, which travellers from Japan report may not force the pace, for quern Jupiter yuit perdere, prius dementat, and there is no reason to believe that the maddening effect of conditions upon the people may lead their rulers to. the desperate expedient of more war abroad to Secure more peace at home. There can be little doubt about it; if Japan allows herself to become embroiled in a double war the [chances of her eventual success will be very thin, and if she attains that desirable end the price she will have had to pay will be out of all proportion to the profits she may gain.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.