Nation Bigger Than Sect,
Mr. Lloyd George, who was received with enthusiasm, opened with a few humorous words in Welsh, and proceeded:—There are two occasions in tho his. Tory of Wales, two festivals where wo set aside all controversy—sectarian, political, theological—and remember simply that we have got a common country, and that there are interests which are beyond and above all others. One is the national Eisteddfod, and the other is St. David's. Day. I always regard it as one of the greatest feurvices which the Eisteddfod renders to Wales that we, just once a year, pull ourselves out of the rut ■of controversy, take ourselves away from sectional strife—just one day wjien the nation is bigger than any sect, is greater than any faction, its intoresta are far and above any particular party, and I remember occasions when controversy was indeed raging like a tempest, when men who had been warring against each other the previous weok, wero able to come on a platform. Wo have passed through a period when the wholo nation has learned and practised that lesson, and it is a fact that we have been so able to subordinate sectional quarrels in the common interests of the whole country that we have been enabled to emerge so triumphantly from the most trying period that has ever been set this or nny other nation. (Cheers.) The danger is not past. There aro enemies without whom wo have overthrown; there are dangers within with which we have to deal, and I wish it had been possiblo to keep and prescrvo I the national unity at any rate until wo had ovorcomo the worst, and most perilous of those dangers. There was a very famous predecessor of the Lord Chancellor—Lord Elgin. He tells a story of Dr. Johnson. It was at one. of the Inn gard, ons. Ho saw Dr. Johnson there, and they saw Sir Richard Chambers picking up 6nails in tho garden and throwing them into his neighbour's garden.' Dr. Johnson said to Mm, "Here, Chambers, this is a very unkind and very unneighbourly thing for you to do." '"Ah, nh," said Chambers, "ho is a Dissenter." ■(Laughter.) "Oh, Chambers" said Dr. Johnson, "then toss 'away as hard as vou can." (Loud laughter.) Well, Ido not fiav that Sir Richard ought to have beenniß n Dissenter, and I do not say that hi? neighbour ought to become a Tory High Churchman. Ido not say that those divisions should cease. All I say is that until tho danger is past let us stop tossing snails into each other's gar-
Resurrection of Little Nations. Reference has foeen made to the great Peace Conference. It is a very remarkable Congress. It is a great sight. It is one of tho most wonderful sights on earth. I hope within the next 48 hours to be there again, and to do my best to bring it to a speedy close, because wq aro all anxious for peace—the world i» thirsting for it—but I say to ytfu, the most remarkable spectacle, and certainly tho most thrilling spectacle to a Welshman, is the sight of little nations that have been buried for centuries, that have been hidden under tho debris of tyranny, out of sight, and everybody thought .they had been done for ever. But there has been a resurrection, One after the other appeared before the judgment seat of the nations, to give an account, of the wrongs from'which they have suffered in the past, to' ask for redress. It is a wonderful sight, and some of tho stories remind me of nothing so much hs what happened even in our little Wales. There is one very remarkable little nationthe nation that lives in Bohemia—and as I. heard Dr. Benes, one of tho Czechoslovaks, telling the story of Bohemiß, I really thought I was back in Wales with tho Rev. Elvet Lewis giving an account of what had happened in our little country. It is a nation which had been oppressed in the past, a nation, the power in whose country had passed away into the hands of the Germans—all the big positions in the country wefe in German hands, the professions were German, the magistrates were German, the capitalists were German, and the managers were German.
The Czecho-Siovak in his own land was nothing but a hewer of coal and a hewer of peat. The first thing they determined to do was to educate. They set up a system of national education, w.hich lifted up the nation to a position where it could claim equality. They did not claim equality until they were equal to the Germans. That was a generation ago. Now it is one of tho best educated nations in Europe. The professions aro filled by men of their own race. They are able to compote with the highly educated German, and .now on top of that comes the demand for political emancipation. When I consider this, I cannot bin feel how much i good we owe to the wise leaders of our own race, who realise that ; ;he first step towards nationality in our own country was to give a perfect system of education.
1 do not know whether this is an occasion on which to utter a word of caution to tho little nations. Idoso ns a genuine friend to them. Now that they have achieved success, great success, dazzling success, almost blinding success, there is a real danger of their emulating tho faults of great countries. There is a tendency to expand beyond the limits of their race, to annex territories not their own; to find out that their country would be so much the better and so much the greater if they had a desirablo bit of ground across the wa3% occupied by people of a. different race, sometimes a different religion, a different language, and different traditions. The spirit of expansion is beginning to possess them. It is the most fatal error that any people, great or small, can possibly make. Their strength to-day and their strength for nil time is in securing the liberty of their own raco. After all, the influence of race on the world in the pust, as history shows, has never depended on its numbers or the size of its countries. The races that have made the deepost mark on the history of the world have been the small, and if fins little nations of Europo imagine that they are going to strengthen their power and influence by simplv iucrpasi»;r their territory, they will "commit the very error which the great empires made when they thought they cOuW crush nationality itself, which is the immortal element iu the spirit of man.
The Spirit of Nationality. When 1 go back lo Paris .1 have no doubt that the various Commission's that have been sitting on this boundary, question will have reported, but J am imt going to express nny opinion at all on anything which may happen in my absence. The little nations have a righ't to bo proud of the share they have taken in .this struggle. The defeat of tiio Central Powers has been in itself an indication of the spirit of nationality. Look at Austria. Just four or live years ago Austria was an empire of over hi millions. She had armies that numbered millions. She over-ran portions of Russia, she burst through Hits Alps and trampled down the armie3 of Italy. There was one nationality the existence of which bhe recognised within her dominions, namely the Magyar. Tho language of the Magyar was respected. Full autonomy was given to him in his own land. There was no attempt to crush out the spirit of the Magyar, and tho Magyar stood by Austria from beginning to end. But other nationalities, (he Hulheniaiis, the Rumanians, and tho C/.echn-Slovaks, were, trampled down. The whole power of Austria went to crush the aspirations of the little nations within its borders. What happened? For three venrs Austria was able to hold her own", but ultimately tho revolt of those liltlo nations brought her down. The Austrian Fleet was handed over to the Aillies bv Hip ■Rigo-Slavs. The Czecho-Slovaks ' held Kussia against the armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary. It has beeii Nemesis which has fallen upon tho attempt to stamp out the lifo of tho littlo nations in Austria-Hungary.
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 183, 29 April 1919, Page 5
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1,397Nation Bigger Than Sect, Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 183, 29 April 1919, Page 5
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