Empire Solidarity Essential Factor In World Peace

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 381, 12 March 1937, Page 3

Empire Solidarity Essential Factor In World Peace

Appeal By Lord Bledisloe

An appeal for solidarity between all the. countries of the British Commoifwealth of -Nations and the United States of America as the surest way to world i>eace and world prosperity was. one of the leading points in a speech made by Viscount Bledisloe, former Governor-General of New Zealand, w'ho was the guest of honour at a meeting of the University Club in Cape Town recently. '“There -is in the oninds of all a great anxiety regarding the year through which we are about to pass, hot only in reupect of industrial prosperity, but regarding the peace of the world,” Viscount Bledisloe said. “Might I, apart altogether from any suggestion of a League of Nations (possibly in amended form), suggest that a meaas of maintaining the world’s peace is the solidarity of . the Empire and co-op:ration with the United States of America. If these people of the British Commonwealth and of the United States of America make up their minds that there shall be no <v?ar there will be no war. (Applause). ' “Mutual knowledge, based on mutual trust, should be the Am of ail of us. Tfcie people of New Zealand, which Dominion I know best, do not know enough about Great Britain and Great Britain does not know enough about the requirements, aims, and ideals and outlook of that Dominion. If we have mutual know l ledge and trust and a determination that whatever happens in the world, our own interests are guaranteed to .stand for world peT>e, we need never fear for the future of the British Empire.” (Applause). Viscount Bledisloe referred to the fact that he had presided over the New Zealand committee for the selection of Rhodes Scholars and said that he had been instrumental in altering

to s.ome extent the qualifications for those scholarships. “I utterly decline to adnfit,” he said, -“that examination results as appended to applications for scholarships v.’ere sufficiently convincing evidence for selecting particular candidates. We went out of our way to look for originality of mind, creative and, above all, a ■ sense of leadership. Farmer Chosen. “Until three years ago no agriculturist had been selected in New Zealand for a Phodes Scholarship. It struck me that agriculture 'being a primary industry, it was high time that someone who regarded the cultivation of the land as a means of livelihood should be selected for such a -scholarship. The first agricultural Rhodes scholar went from New Zealand t'Vo years ago and he has proved a great success, not only in the field of scholarship but also in the field of athletics. (Applause).

“As an old Oxford man, T can say that Oxford has done much to mould Rhodes scholars, but I can also say that Rhodes scholars have done much to expand the outlook of Oxford and help it to face problems in the somewhat revolutionary (or -should one say, the somewhat revortiTTonist) world in which w’e are living. “There are iproblems to-day which must be faced With the help of men who have had the privilege of university education if we are to ensure that our young people shall enjoy the heritage of the Empire. It is above all for leadership, not only ifi the political world, but in the worlds of industry, finance, and commerce and in social activities, that we look to university men.

“I mention ths matter of social activities because at the request of the late King, I acted as chairman of the National Services Institution and I came into touch with young men in some of those areas in Britain where industry has almost eeased to exist. It seems to me- that young men lack resourcefulness 1 , self-reliance, and ►adaptability such as is needed to.

build up an Empire and are simply ogs in a manufacturing wheel, unable to turn their hands to any other work. “If we are going to. solve the very difficult problems which face us, we must make those young people more resourceful and imbue them more with the pioneer spirit. If we do not,, hov are we to people, the lands of the Commonwealth which is their heritage? How, otherwise, are we to save chose lands from which are crying out for places in the sun and which are saying that the British Empire is largely occupied and dominated by ‘dogs in the manger?' Our task is to render these young men fit for the task of taking up flieir heritage. Some of the defeatists.' in Great Britain suggest that Britain is unable to supply sons to carry on overseas.

“I decline to be a defeatist on the ground that the birth-rate ie falling. It it is true, and scientists tell us that it is true and the population of Great Britain yJill be' materially less in 30 years’ time, then I think we are justified in learning a lesson from our competitors—l will not say our enemies.

“If dictators, of whom we see a growing crop—if Hitler and Mussolini cap put hi premium on a larger number of sound human beings in order to populate countries which do not yet belong to them,, In order to satisfy their ambitions, surely it is up to us' to put a premium on the multiplication of men of the right type to occupy our Empire countries. “When I was in Nev. l Zealand I was struck by the lack of sense of nationhood. They still looked to Great Britain for leadership. I (Tied to preach that gospel of cohet ion There because I think it is essential fo cooperation. "I am first a farmer, and I think that unless you have a nation rooted in mother earth you cannot achieve that stability which a nation should possess. Remember the old saying. ‘The best thing to do on earth is to cultivate it,’ and that cultivation should not be confined to the land itself but also to human befogs who live on it. What the Empire needs is a good relationship between all. without regard to class, race, or .colour.’’