"HEART AND SOUL WITH BRITAIN'

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2709, 2 March 1916, Page 3

"HEART AND SOUL WITH BRITAIN'

AMERICANS AND THE WAR

BUSINESS MAN'S STRIKING TESTIMONY Mr. David A. Craig, New Zealand manager for Clarton, Hodgson and Co., Ltd., who has been in America since \ July last, has returned to Wellington, \ and' tells a striking story of- the sym- •; . pathetic attitude of America as a whole to Britain and her Allies in tho present ■ ■ Titanic struggle.' Mr. Craig went first \ to Canada, and relates the. fact that V*' the majority of troops that have gone to England's assistance are from Western Canada, so much so, indeed, that they are usually referred to as the Western Canadian troops. The response in Eastern Canada was good, but\ did not compare with the overwhelming response from the Western plains and , cities. Tho French-Canadians in the Quebpc province had practically sent no troops, contrary altogether to what one would expect. The German resident" in ■ , Eastern Canada was regarded as a loyal citizen, and little had been done to interfere with him. The authorities were ; so sure of the German's attitude that thoy regarded him with perfect toleration, and had declined to change the name of the Canadian town . Berlin — quite a large manufacturing place. Jn Canada, Mr. Craig met Sir George Foster, the Minister of Trade and Commerce, and a big man in the Borden i Government, ana also the late Mr. Geo. Grigg, Commissioner for Trade (formerly British Trade Commissioner in that Dominion), who died a few days after Mr. Craig left, the country, to the'regret of all. . Canada's Trade. . .' Referring to trade relations between Canada and Australasia,'Mr Craig said that, he found the attitude of manufacturers indifferent. They were so rushed with orders from Britain and her . Allies that they were displaying an entire lack of interest in the developmentof overseas trado elsewhere. This attitude Mr. Craig _ considered 1 deplorable, and that opinion was sliared by the late Mr. Grigg, who had gone to the length of establishing an association for the development 'of trade throughout the world. America Alert. . "On the other hand," said Mr. Craig, "America is on the alert to establish trado wherever they think that'trade is likely 'to he permanent, and their point of view is as stimulating to a live man as Canada's is disappointing. One of the contributing results of Canada's attitude is the commercial aggression of Japan, who, with her cheap labour, is destined to be America's great'rival. Give the Japanese a sample of whatever you want —good, bad, or and they will produce it. What that is going to mean to British' trade, I don't like to say. But America is alive. In Washington has been established a Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, with branches in San Francisco,: Chicago, and New York, and there one can ascertain the names of the manufacturers. of every description of goods; they placo men at yourdisi posal to tako you round to the places 1 ' you wish to see, ana arrange meetings ; for you with manufacturers. The BuTeau issues a daily bulletin to every manufacturer and merchant in the country, bv which they can keep in .intimate touch With all that is happening .■ in every city and country, in the world. Every essential detail of tho New Zea-land-'war loan was published in tho bulletin when I was there.. Tlie American manufacturer was building for tho future, nvidently profoundly impressed by the big opportunities the war had opened out." War Factories lii" Amcrica. f'A gre-it many. of the big manufacturing premises had been given over to munition-iaaking, but still there were hundred and thousands of others looking for business. The Steel j Corporation was filled up with contract orders, for two years to come, but still there were other steel companies outside the .corporation to talk business to. Entirely new 'companies had. sprung up all over; the country. For example, at Brook- . ]yn the Bush Terminal Company had erected vast factory buildings, which they were prepared to rent and supply power'to) just, as we let offices in. a city building in Wellington. One of the new companies in- the Bush block was employing e OOO men in shell-case making, and after they were made, sent them on to a factory where no fewer than 16,000 hands were 'employed • in filling and packing- them—working tho whole twenty-four hours of the day in ihree shifts. These factories were watched by armed guards, and no one could enter without a permit. , There

were British Government experts to examine the shells and supervise tho filling of them. One of those exports told mo that- tlie employees included overy nationality under the sun—Germans, Swedes, Russians, Austrian®, Italians, and Americans. Some of tho big motor-car people were also employed in war. works. The' Packard Company, for instance, has big contracts lor the supply of motor trucks for the Allies, and were sacrificing much of their home trade to execute them. Another big concern engaged on'war work was the General Electric Company. Such companies , were mailing good money, but there was something more than money ill it." "As to the sympathies of the Americans," said Mr. (Jraig, "there was no argument at all—thoy were heart and soul with England and her Allies. I was four months in New York, and came in touch with many classes oi people, ' and with the exception of the extreme German-born Germans, and the people their gold touched, the public are with lis. Even the second generation of Germans are not so pro-German as we believed them to be out here. The leading articles in such papers as tho 'World,' 'Sun,' 'Times,' and 'Herald' were far more scathing in their articles against the Germans than the New Zealand papers are, and the sentiments of America's leading business men, as shown at the conference of tho National Manufacturers and Exporters' Association, which I attended in New York, were uncompromisingly pro-Allies. As a matter of fact,' tlie attitude of the American can best be expressed by the hatred of tlie Gwmans for America, holding, as they do, 'that America is wholly responsible for the lengthening of the war and the prevention of a German victory. Seeing what I have seen, I honestly believe that America's assistance has prevented the defeat of England and her Allies. Did not Germany 'almost succeed in embroiling Japan with China W(ien_ Russia was desperately short of munitions? And it was German 2°ld 'that was responsible for the shooting r-f Americans in Mexico, an attempt to embroil America in order to stop the flow of munitions to England and. the Allies. Honouring Nurse Cavell, "Such was the sympathy of America over tlie shooting of Nurse Cavell that the. 'Herald,' in a blazing article, called' for subscriptions for a memorial to the English nurse. So 'great was the response, that in the next day's paper they had to ask that no further mc-ney be forwarded. As a counterblast the German paper in New York called for subscriptions to honour tho memory of German nurses who had been murdered by the English, caused by the stoppage of the importation of rubber gloves (into Germany), with which to handle,-:the gangrene cases. This was the laugh of the citv, and the appeal wa-s heavily turned down. Such is the feeling of German emissaries that in Chicago, during a shortage of coal supplies, it was given out that America had a secret alliance with Great Britain, and the shortage of coal throughout the middle West was due to the railways giving preference to the carriage of munitions over co.il for local consumption. . "When one knew the enormous amount of munitions that America was supplying, ono realised what a help America has been, and is, to the Allies. A't Wilmington, on tlie Delaware River, a big : steamer left everv three days for England or France full of munitions, and was escorted across the Atlantic by. British cruisers, and .that is' only one of many towns which are turning out war material. American feeling is with lis. find President Wilson's policy all through has been the greatest help .England and her Allies have had from outside."