London, Dec. 31.
"1 am paving hell with vigour," says, Mr. Rochester to. Jane Eyre when she offers him a penny for his thoughts. So, no doubt many of us are doing tonight, One of last Sunday's papers, among good resolutions {or the Now Year offered its readers, puts rst "I will not indulge in de-{eatist talk" Is this really necessary?
personally meet a good many people different classes every week. and have heard no word of defeatism. Even in the past two days since Hitler's deliberate attempt to repeat the Great Fire of 1665 one has heard much indignation, many demands for retaliation" in kind as the only argument likely to appeal to the Huns, but no defeatism.
And surely as one looks back on the past year there Is no ground for it but much the reverse, The marvellous rescue of our army from Dunkirk, the RAF.s great victory over the Luftwaffe in September, the smashing by Greece of the Italian invasion. our own great victory in Western Egypt, these triumph-surely have brought "us out of the valley the shadow of death, so that we can hold up our heads and face the future boldly os indeed we do. which a year ago cost 6s. 11d now costs 12s. Id; and that humble but necessary article the dishcloth costs 1s. Gd. for the same quality as what sold at 95. a dozen before the war. No one believes for a moment that all the country's stocks of paper and Jdishclouts in existence before the war are exhausted. But the war occasions. though it does not cover a multitude of sins.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.