THE LETTERS OF AN ENGLISHMAN.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 185, 23 June 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE LETTERS OF AN ENGLISHMAN.

A DOG EIGHT."

(London "Daily Mail.")

Whenever England lias been at war she has been harried by enemies of her own kith and kin. Napoleon was not the only foe who confronted Pttt. That statesman, aa though the defence of England were not enough for his courage, was confronted by a rabble of •'intellectuals," who thought the moment opportune to press frivolous demands and to advertise their own dim, paltry sou.fi. And to-day the "intellectuals" are ae voluble and as mischievous as ever, and if less is heard of them than heretofore, it is because not even Hyde Park, the chosen home of fanatics, will give them a platform. However, we must judge them not. by the effect they produce, but by the intentions which they cherish. We shall settle with them, 1 hope, after the war. Meanwhile they must not be permitted wholly to escape notice or to believe that ever again t\ ill they be received into the society of patriotic Englishmen. They work by stealth, and are compelled to distil their poison chiefly in the United States, where, in truth, they trade willingly upon a reputation gained in other spheres and do their best to misrepresent, for the benefit of neutrals, the deeds and thoughts of their countrymen. We have long Iwen accustomed to the antics of Mr Lowes Dickinson, an assiduous pro-German who hopes at the settlement to give our enemies a liberal share of Asiatic Turkey and to neutralise for their pleasure the Straits of Gibraltar. But even his enormity pales to nothingness when it is compared with the rampant priggishness of the Hon. Bertrand Russell., Mr Russell has written a book to which he has given the wholly irrelevant title of "Justice in War-time." To whom he intends to do justice he does not tell us. Assured'y not to England. He writes no word that is not an insult to us and to our Allies. He gives such an account of the beginning of the conflict as proves him to harbour none but ungenerous thoughts of the country which gave him birth. He sees no- difference between England and Germany. He assures the "intellectuals" of' Chicago, whom he iinds it most convenient to address, that the war ie not being fought for any rational end.

UNHEROIC PHILOSOPHY. Englishmen, Frenchmen, and Russians, says this impertinent cynic, arc spilling their blood not in self-defence, not for the sake of a last'ng peace and a clean life, but in a struggle which is no better than a dog fight. ''When two dogs fight in the street,'' says tins urbane philosopher "no one supposes that anything but instinct prompts them or that they are inspired by high and noble ends. . . They fight really because something angers them in each other's smell. . . And what is true of dogs in the street, is equally true of nations in the present war." Wo can only hope that even the hyphenated citizens of Chicago, who alone give him a publi? hearing, will hoot at his blasphemous folly. Mr Russell is a philosopher, and nis philosophy has taught him nothing bet. ter than this anti-heroism. He might be Voltaire sneering at La Pucelle. He crawls upon the virtues of patriotism, courage and sacrifice like a slug upon a fair leaf, and leaves a slimy trail behind him. In vain has he studied the past or looked at the piesent. The lessons of history are as to him. The atrocities which the Germans have committed in Belgium and France cannot pierce the triple brass of his cynicism." He brushes aside with a gesture of impatient superiority all the evidence which trained observers have col'ected and examined. He writes as one to whom pity is unknown and who is by temper incapable of moral indignation. "No doubt atrocities have occurred on both sides," says he. with a fishlike complacency. And again, "Some of the cases mentioned in the Bryce report are admitted based upon such evidence as would not be accepted in a crimnal prosecution.'' Even if this statement were true, how does he get rid of the other evidence? Does ee charge Lord Bryce's committee with the forgery of letters and orders? If ho does not. he convicts himself of a pitiful trifling with clear and acknowledged facts. His method of controversy is typical of his kind and class. And it is not an amiable kind. Mr Russell has been nurtured and educated in England. To England he owes whatever he is and lias. He has profited by her endowments. He has learned what les-ons a great university was able to teach him. And not a spark of gratitude or loyalty illumines his soft I. England- liU own country whether he likes it or not, is defending herself against a ruthless and implacable foe, and so far is he from helping her that he repays the debt of nurture by belittling her sacrifice and by telling her that she is engaged in a dog fight! Even if she be invaded and her fair fields devastated, he cares not a jot: she has but. to disarm and pay a tribute, and all will be well. BORED BY WOES OF OTHERS. "Everything in England that is not positively harmful will Ik; i ntouched." Does he really put faith in this foolish fable? Or is he indifferent to the atrocities which every man of sense knows the Germans would commit at once if they set foot upon English soil? Would he see with equanin it.v outraged women, and "bare, ruined quires"? Have Louvain and Termonde taught him nothing—or does lie carry increduity to so high a pitch as to believe that they still stand populous and unharmed? Such men as Mr Ru-sell grow only upon English soil. In all humility we acknowledge our monopoly. To explain them is easy enough, ami nor flattering to our English pride. They are the victims of a vanity so fierce that, they have become don* and blind to the truth. They would at all costs separate themselves from their fellows. They wish to strip tliom-olvi s of fatherl-md and faith, .and as the -anic time are hind enough to profit bv the safety which the British fleet affords them. They are irritated, w<- are told by l'rofcsor .Murray, their apologist, because "So-and-so is nver-prai-od: for Heaven'? sake let us bring him down a pes:." Tiny are bored by the woes of others. "Every fool I meet."' they are represented as saying bv I'rofesM.r Murray, "is emotionalised about the German treatment of Belgium; cannot we show somehow that no harm was done, or that Belgium deserved t, or thai it was all dee to the Hu»--inns'. " And they do their he t to show it. wilh so little regard for anytliHii! save their own \..n ly nnd s< n-c of " ii rit.i----1 ion," tunf ii" v !bins it a d<-e,l uorth d.iiii" to de'.i -e their <o;;:t:\ Li r.in' the Gei man- of Ohie.vjn. "Intoll. duals" IhoieJl tl.ev im>, thee are pit fi.'lv lacl ing in intelligence. Philosophfl ■ tl.ey mav !-'. bu! 1 hey are moii'drou-h bad cil /.. ;:-. They are n v< r t ii ed el hi i;;;;!ng < oniTort. to Ibe enemies o.i England. Thai thev should work in eolb iu - and use

their positions to their country's un, doing, is nothing less than a disgrace. We must bear with them during the war as well as we can. But if justice in peace-time is to be anything better than a sham, they should presently be disfranchised one and all. They have shown themselves in a crisis incapable of patriotism. They should never again be permitted to meddle with the government of England. ~.„ AN ENGLISHMAN.