HATE WILL FIND WAY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 626, 1 April 1929, Page 14

HATE WILL FIND WAY

ANGLO-AMERICAN AMITY

A PLEA FOR UNDERSTANDING

The discord between Great Britain

and America is, says the “Glasgow Herald,” like all discords, a matter not of the head but of the heart. And, although we may not he able to put our knowledge into words, we all understand it perfectly. The reason for Great Britain's dislike of America is the same throughout the country. From Sir Austen Chamberlain down to the office boy, we have a difficulty in feeling the charity, and therefore in exercising the tact we should toward America for one sole reason: because she is rich and powerful. It is true that since this reason clearly stated grates on our finer feelings -we cloak it from ourselves under various pseudonyms—which in themselves are true enough. We say that she is blatant, that she is vulgar, that she is superficial, that she is insufferably conceited; that her attitude toward Europe is that of a rich, smug, priggish and uneducated squire’s w-ife toward the village poor (and that this is the more intolerable since there is more culture in Europe’s little finger than in America’s whole body ); and finally that a “let us do good to our poorer sisters” attitude is difficult to tolerate politely from one whom circumstances have shielded from many trials and temptations, but who appears, judging by newspaper reports of doings in Chicago and other places, to fall as readily as the rest of us when temptation appears. Faults of Nations We say all this; and it is in large measure true. But all nations have faults and, in fact, although—as Mr. Chesterton has recently pointed out — to “think oneself God Almighty” is the most unforgivable of all faults, it is pretty certain that we should find in our hearts a certain tolerance even for this, which is after all the fault of youth and Ignorance if America had not committed the basic, the unpardonable sin of being rich 'and powerful. We hate them both because ive are jealous of them, and jealousy is the root of all hatred, and because our own love of money gives those who possess It a power over us which we perpetually resent, and which did we not love money they would not in fact possess.

We hate and resent America for precisely the same reason that Miss Wilkinson takes exception to millionaires. And sooner or later, if we go on hating America as we do to-day, w-e shall come to the point where in a sudden moment of inflamed passion we shall want to show her —and especially to show ourselves—that she, by virtue of her power and her money-, does not possess over us the power which we fear that she does.

The actual provocation which will cause the outburst is of little moment. If we continue to be filled with jealous hatred we shall find the occasion. It is not discussion of technicalities that is needed, though doubtless that would do little harm; it is a much bigger thing—it is a change of heart.