REDUCE MEMBERS

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 4, 27 August 1931, Page 6

REDUCE MEMBERS

TEMPERAMENTAL DIFFEREN CES BUT MUCH IN COMMON. Mr Rudyard Xipling was entertained in Paris last week by the Association France-Grande Bretagne. In his speech he laid stress on the long and friendly relations between England and France, and told some delightful tales of his own experiences in Paris as a •small boy. ■ D ealing , with' the spirit o£, mutual respect which has affected both Eriglishmen and Frenchmen even when the two nations have been at war, he quqted the interesting ease of the desertion of Admiral Benbow hy four of his' captains In a sea-flght near Flayti, in the, eighteenth century. As a, result of this desertion Benbow's Jittle fleet was defeated, and in his beaten ship he took refuge in Jamaica. He ther.e received a sympathetic letter from Admiral Du Casse, the commander of the French squadron, saying that he had not expected victory, which was only due to the defection of tho "cowardly capiains." As the outcome of the same spirit we find that, though we were often at war with France in past centuries, whenever the war was suspended by a truce or temporapy peace, Englishmen and Frenchmen met together again at i.nce on friendly terms. Our old wars ; with France wers like honourable duels ! ra ;her than racial conflicts. Since Waterloo we have had no war. It is very satisfactory that such an association as the France-Grande Bretagne' should exist, and it is to be hoped that its activities will be increasingly extended. Tbere are many old links between England and France and, though there are certain temperarnental differences between tbe two peoples, they need not stand in the way of national friendsbip. The Worman Conquest, As an example of the old links between our two countries tbere wa's. at the end of last month, a very interesting gathering in Falaise, in Normandy, of the English and French descendants of the Nox'mans who conquered England in the eleventh century. Such a gathering shows how closely cofmected racially the English and French people still are. Our own English race is, of course, made up of many elements — "Saxon and Norman and Dane are we." For a long time Norman Sovereigns ruled over 'England, as well as over a large area of France. It is worth while for English visitors to France to pay a visit to the Abbey of Fontevrault on the Loire, whepe'they will see the tombs of four English kings, and queens. This historie link still affects the outloolc of many Frenchmen. I remember some years ago, in conversation with a Frenchman, using the word •'Latin" races as if they included the French. He strongly protested, and said that he was much nearer to the English in race than to the Latins. He was born in Normandy. It must be admitted, however, that the English outlook on the world differs appreciably from that of the French, Though England is an island and France is not, we may safely say that the French outlook is more insular than ours. The reason probably is that for many centuries past Englishmen have heen engaged in building up a world trade, and as a result have acquired what may fairly he described as a world spirit. We tend to look at problems sthat are presented to us from the point of view of the other country as well as of our own. It is only fair to the French to point out that England is, to a large extent, guarded against the risks of war hy the strip of sea which separates her from the Gontinent. As long as our politicians permit us to maintain a sufii'eient navy, that strip of sea will give us greater seeurity against invasion . than any qontinental country can command. Between Germany.and France there is onlv an artifieial land frontier, and, 'n view of the repeated wars carried on acrpss that frontier, it is intelligible lliat the French should still feel anxiety, in spite of all the conditions laid down in the Treaty of Versailles. In pddition, on her south-eastern frontier France has to take note of the fact that the Italian.s are deve-loping an increasingly militarist spirit. Therefore, we cannot expect the French to put on one side the risks of war to the same extent as we in England are in the liabit of doing.

Land Frontiers. I recall with interest the fact that many years ago I was travelling with a party, mostly composed of English M's.P., to investigate the Swiss system of military snrvice. One day I was walking heside the Rhine with a then very prominent Labour Af.P., and as he. looked across the rivor to German territovy he said to me: "If this were the only frontier between England and •Germany I should be in favour of compulsory military service." Such a rema"k helps Englishmen to understand the continuing anxiety of tbe French with regard to the risks of war. Whether it is nossihle by any form of international agreemfmt to remove Ihose risks is for the m'oment doubtful. One may safely say, however', Ihat no Frenchman, and no German either, is likcly to rule the possihility of war out of his mind until by some means Or another the League of Nations has created an army of its own, sufficiently powerftil to keep the different States of Europe in order. Without a big International police rorec we cannot be sure of world peace. Meanwhile much can he done hv cultivating a spirit of mutual confidence between nations, and England and France have so many points Of friendly co'ntact, and so many common traditions, that they could together 'eud the way.