The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 1928. A GREAT RECOVERY.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 June 1928, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 1928. A GREAT RECOVERY.

| It was mentioned in the cable news last ! week that, speaking at Minneapolis, | Sir Donald Maclean, a. former Liberal ' "Whip in tho House of Commons, said j that England has not only maintained j her prestige among the nations, but ; will yet become mightier. He stated j that England, in conjunction with the i United States and Canada, could make j the future of the world one worthy of I Christian, civilisation. He maintain- ! ed that England had mado a remarkj able recovery from her ills, and dc- ! fended the dole. He said her people I were “virile, confident, and efficient.’’ i As confirmation of the optimistic note struck in the foregoing, Sir Janies Gunson, ex-Mayor of Auckland, who lias recently returned from the Home- | land, also had a liberal measure of l praise for the recovery Great Britain j is making. According to an interview ! published in the north, Sir James, who I lias paid a long visit to Britain and has j seen the Continent as well, looking at ! politics and economics with the eve of | an experienced business men and man j of affairs, conies to the conclusion that I the Motherland is greater to-day in | every respect than at any previous time ! in her history. Ho considers that in j finance, commerce, and politics, Bri- | tain lias tho best men; he is impressed I by the standing of her language and | currency in Europe; and lie finds in | Britain herself, not only a, revival in j trade, but impressive proofs of regard | for industrial efficiency. In Sir James’ [ opinion also the condemnation of the “dole” is not justified. Sir James Gunson, of course, is not alone among colonials in these opinions. The other day an observer of a different type, Dr James Hight, a- specialist in history and economics, returned to New Zealand after a visit to Britain impressed with he vigour of English life and the freshness of its ideas. On the other hand, several travellers, have come back full of woe. They have been depressed by the amount of unemployment in Britain and the gravity of political and economic problems, including tlic formidableness of foreign competition. So many depressing items get into English nows purveyed in the Dominions that there is a- danger of the colonial thinking that the Motherland is well-night in a desperate state and that the Englishman is not the man he was. For this, of course, the Englishman is largely to blame. "He is an incorrigible grumbler and a perverse window-dresser. He persists in advertising his ailments. We had a striking example of this lately, when, after all the talk of Americn prosperity, it camo out there were millions of unemployed in the United States. In writing, in this strain it is not meant, says an Auckland paper, to suggest that Britain is not faced by grave problems. The purpose is to draw attention to a striking impression of the essential soundness of the country that is this Dominion’s political and spiritual home and the pillar of the Imperial house. All through Britain’s history there have been prophecies, at home and abroad, of swift decay. Men like Sir James Gunson, however, can find support among foreigners as well ns Englishmen. The “Times” recently published an eloquent tribute to England from a French professor. He referred especially to her services in the cause of peace during the last hundred years. He would welcome, he said, the foundation of a prize to be awarded the nation “that since the beginning of the nineteenth century stands as an example to the world by her moral qualities, generosity, practical initiative, and devotion to the interests of mankind.” Although he was a patriotic Frenchman, he sincerely thought that such a prize should be bestowed on Eng- • land. Here is another comforting thought for moments of depression. There is, too, the last Budget of Mr

Churchill, which despite the jugglery with many millions, has been received so well, indicating something more than getting round tho corner, but actually in the straight, going well, with a well measured stride. So great an achievement is an abiding pride and pleasure to all in terns fed in the greatness of our Empire, for the welfare of Groat Britain is tho main spring of the whole Empire, and has a relation also to the general prosperity of the world at large.