BRITAIN AND GERMANY

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 288, 25 February 1928, Page 9

BRITAIN AND GERMANY

CLEMENCEAU’S BLUNT COMMENT LONDON, Thursday. “If the relations between Britain and Germany are so sjeiioate that a film based on the reality of facts can strain them, they are not based on sincerity.” 'J'HIS is the comment of M. Clemenceau, who was Premier of France during the last months of the war, on the action of the British Board of Censors in banning the Cavell film, '‘Dawn/’ which has been responsible for a fierce controversy. A notable contributor is Professor J. H. Morgan. In a letter to the “Evening Standard,’ he says: “The tone of Sir Austen Chamberlain’s letter to the producer of the film, Mr. Wilcox, declining to witness a screening, leaves the chilling impression that he regards Nurse Edith Cavell’s execution as a kind of unfortunate accident, no blame being attachable to anybody. I suggest to Sir Austen that a little gesture on the other side would do more to improve the relations between Britain and Germany than all his lullabies —namely, to secure a public admission from the German Government that it regrets its predecessor’s treatment of Miss Cavell.” M. Clemenceau has sent a message to the “Standard,” saying: “I cannot see why this or any other film dealing with the actual facts of the war should be banned.” The whole question of film censorship is expected to be raised in the House of Commons.—A. and N.Z.