TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Southland Times, Issue 18831, 26 May 1920, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE TIMES

It is probable that the British Embassy in Washington will take as little notice of any resolution the United Stales Senate passed, with the permission of the new Secretary of State, Mr Colby, as it did of the demonstrations that were made outside of the Embassy gates a few months ago by a detachment of pro-Irish women from New York. The cable messages at the time referred to the descent of the pickets upon the official British home in Washington, but did not give any details of their reception. The noble band, which disclaimed connection with any organisation, bore pasteboard placards bearing various provoking devices, amongst which were:— England! American women condemn your reign of terror in the Irish Republic. England! Hands off the women of the Irish Republic. Ireland’s best and bravest are rotting in English jails. England has perpetrated eighty military murders in Ireland,

Exactly what the pickets expected to happen is not known, but judging from the reports in the New York papers the arrival of these posters affected no one but the Washington police, who communicated with the Embassy and asked the staff if there wore any complaints. But the staff had none. Then one heroine decided to visit vdl the diplomatic residences and leave Irish literature with them. She entered the British Embassy and later admitted that she was “courteously treated and her literature received with thanks.’’ The climax seems to have come in the afternoon, however, when the Embassy staff—the story is told by a Boston actress who was one of the pickets—sent out and asked the ladies if they would object to having tea served to them. “One of the aiges asked us,” said this picket, “if we would have'a dish of tea,” but I told him that it was too hot and that I would prefer something cooler. Wc did not go inside.” She did not say whether or not they had something “cooler.” Altogether the demonstration seems to have fallen a bit flat.

In the course of an article in the Dominion, the Rev. Dr Gibb speaks with some warmth on the relationship between Britain and America. He is writing of his experiences in Virginia and turning to this important topic he says;—“ Every lover of mankind is profoundly interested in the tightening of the bonds of friendship between America and Britain. The unity of these two is an indispensable condition of the peace of the world. Conflict between them, before the great war, would have been fratricidal; now it would be the delirium of madness and of hell. And everyone who has a particle of wisdom and the right spirit will do his utmost, however narrow his sphere and limited his opportunity, to promote kindly feelings between the two. This is not always done. Very often it is not done at all. I have listened to a good deal of talk recently about the Americans which, were I a citizen of the great Republic, would have made my blood boil. Why will so many Englishmen and women —I mean English, not colonials, not even Scots —pose as so snperior_ to all the rest of the world? I cannot, indeed, conceive of an Englishman with the Puritan strain in the blood behaving himself in the fashion that used to make the very name of Englishmen rankle in the minds not only of Americans, but also of the peoples of" Europe, of our present Allies the French, as well as others. But there arc too many who still retain the pose. This is not a small matter: it is in reality a matter of tremendous moment to the world’s peace. Not the most bellicose of rulers, or tortuous of diplomats will induce the peoples of the earth to fight, if they care for and respect one another. But if they condemn and despise one another—there’s the matrix of war, the emotions upon which the war lords in every country can play. Surely it. is the imperative duty of each and all of us as we have opportunity to conciliate and make friends of the people of the great Western land. Steady co-oper-ation and mutual respect between us and them are the primary requisites of the peace of the world, and the establishment of the kingdom of God among men.”

The worthy doctor is free to condemn the Englishman, but in doing so he will find I ’inf he is doing nothing more than most Englishmen can do as a matter of course. The trouble is, hov.e\er, that he, like many others, overlooks tire behaviour of the American. If the world's verdict were taken at the present moment between the two. the American would undoubtedly run second, in spite of the incl that he would probably have the majority of the votes cast in England. It is the fault of the citizen of the British Empire to condemn the Old Land and to laud the outsider, but any unbiassed reader of the history of the last few years will find it difficult to scan Ur Gibb’s remarks quoted above without having his blood made to boil. The two nations should live in harmony, in mutual respect and understanding;' but the fact that they do not is not entirely the fault of the Englishmen as Dr Gibb suggests.