MR. MATHESON'S EVASION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 179, 18 April 1918, Page 6

MR. MATHESON'S EVASION

Sir,—l expected to find in Mr.. Mntheson's reply to my letter some attonipt to justify the extraordinary statement he made in your columns— ivithout giving any proof—and which I challenged, that unless Germany is allowed to return to the Pacific "the nations of the world would justly feel that the British Empire had gone hack on its word." Mr. Matheson not only makes uo attempt to show that any such promiso was oyer made, hut he makes a barefaced attempt to evade the point at issue by the following misstatement: — Mr. T. A. H. Field attacks me vigorously for the position I have taken up favouring the restoration of Samoa to Germany unless some other nation is appointed to control it, by an award based oh international law as laid down by the growing League of Nations. What I attacked was Mr. Mathesoti'a assertion: — Germany's return to the Pacific would be an ugly fact for us to face when fighting stops, but not so uglv as for the nations of tho world to justly feel that the British Empire had gone bgck on its word. This assertion Mr. Matheson makes no attempt to defend, but tries to evade. when it is challenged. It would aupear from Mr. Matheson's significant silence and his still more significant attempt at evasion that the promise to return Samoa to Germany, which he is so anxious the British Empire should not break, exists only in his own imagination.—l am. etc., T. A. 11. FIELD.