"NEW NATIONS."

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18894, 8 January 1927, Page 7

"NEW NATIONS."

AMERICA AND BRITISH EMPIRE. ENVOYS PROPOSED. i.FKOVI OIT- O'.O" COMEiPeNTEHT.) SAX FRAXCISCO, December 13. Urging that Congress at the present scs.: - .-,:i authorise the appointment of i envoys, to Canada, Ireland, and Aus--1 traha. George Harvey, former United ■States Ambassador to Great Britain, 1 told a gathering of Scotsmen in New \ork that "America's first gratifying duty is to grasp the hand of these new nations." The revolution of the American colonic; saved Great Britain, 51r Harvey 5 said. "The successful revolt of the colonies proved conclusively that wher- ' <Jver on earth they might exist-. EngI iishmen, Scotsmen, Irishmen, and "Welshmen must be free," he said, I ''and fieo to manage their own aitairs, I free to shape their own course and to Sr.d their own destiny at home ajid •libroad in their own way. The easy conquests of leiSS' virile peoples on other continents, the weakness of sparsely populated dependencies on this hemisphere and in the Pacific had long blinds-:! the eyes of the ruling classes of domineering England," he asserted. The war had, he said, driven home the lesson initiated by America, certified by Ireland, and already learned in substance by the sympathetic and lar-seeing Scotsmen, uhc now hold the power of guidance formerly wielded Irom the seat--; of the mighty Tories. This far-seeing policy, he said, resulted in the granting of full autonomy to the Dominions of the British Empire who, he pointed out, have gained their full enfranchisement without firing a gun. "Although," he added, "we neither recognise nor rejoice in any discomfiture of Britain, our first gratifying duty is to grasp the hands of these new nations." The United States and the British Dominions are inseparably linked, he said '""We are the world's greatest producer and they are the biggest purchasers. "We have become the greatest cieditor and they are the most solvent of debtors. A breakdown of British guidance and control would spell calamity to the United States." Sir Hugh Deuison. Differences in National ideals of the various English-speaking nations and the hope of harmonising them for the betterment of international relations was the subject of an address by Sir Hugh Denison, recently appointed commissioner for Australia in the United States, at a luncheon given in his honour in New York at the British Luncheon Club. Representatives of British and Canadian patriotic societies as well as British-American business and financial houses were present to welcome the commissioner, who succeeds Sir James Elder. "There is a good deal of nonsense spoken by visitors who come here and tell you that the ideals of Great Britain, the United States, Australia, and Canada are essentially the same," said Sir Hugh. "Tliit is not so. Whenever British people leave the Old Country and settle in different parts of the world they at once begin to acquire no* only a new accent, but a new vision and a new angle on their attitude toward life.

"Americans, however, much as they may ha'vo derived from the same stock havo many vital differences of this kind. Wo must recognise these differences and make an effort to harmonise them, to bring about more complete co-operation and understanding among the English-speaking peoples." Another address of Sir Hugh Denison was delivered before the members of the New York Chamber of Commerce on the occasion of an enthusiastic welcome to Australia's new commissioner. Sir Hugh said it appeared to him that many of the problems facing New York also faced Australian cities. Eeferring to what he had been told about New Yorkers being only centred in their own affairs he said he believed that all Americans would bo compelled to take an active interest in the affairs of all parts of the country and of the world also. Americans could not afford to remain entirely self-centred, he said, as to what happened elsewhere, more or less, directly or indirectly, affecting the United States. Trade with Antipodes, Following the worthy example of Premier Coates of New Zealand, when that Primt Minister was on his way through the United States to the Imperial Conference in London, Sir Hugh urged a greater trade volume on the part of the United States with countries in the Southern Pacific Ocean. At present, he said, Australia bought about 150 million dollars' worth of goods from The United States, while the latter brought only about 45 milI lions' worth of goods from Australia. This was too one-sided, he remarked, and he urged a larger equalisation of trade between the two countries. "We are going to follow your bad or good example," Sir Hugh said. He indicated by this that Australia would raise a high tariff wall, but he hoped that the United States would come "behind the fence" instead of having to get over the wall. He suggested that there should be greater tariff reciprocity, inasmuch as the standard of living was as high in Australia as in the United States and the per capita of wialth higher in Australia. "Trade cannot be all one-sided," he pleaded. "It cannot flow all one way. We have got in Australia the potential United States of America."

Alluding to the recent transition in the relations between Great Britain and the other members of the British Empire, the speaker said that Australia was now on the same level, and had the same rights and privileges as others in the Empire, and soon would be sending an envoy to the United States.