AMERICA AND BRITAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 February 1922, Page 8

AMERICA AND BRITAIN.

TIES STRONGER THAN EVER. PRINI.iax.ES OF DEMOCRACY. “Great Britain would have won the war without the help of the American armies if our country had continued to furnish munitions and money. It is a matter of deep regret to a vast number of American people that we were not with the Allies right from the start, for the valor of the British soldiers and the conduct of the British people during the war won our highest admiration.” These sentiments were expressed by Bishop C. E. Locke, head of the American Methodist Episcopal Church in the Philippines, who is in Auckland, and who will convey to New Zealand Methodists at the forthcoming centenafy conference the greetings of the American Methodist Church. Delegate of the Board o-f Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Bishop Locke brings with him the good wishes of the whole of Methodism on the American Continent, and as the first Methodist Bishop who has visited New Zealand, will be assurea of a very cordial welcome from Methodists of the Dominion. “I hope that ray visit may do something toward establishing the ship of Methodism in New Zealand more intimately with that of America/’ continued the bishop, “and I wish also to assure all British people in this country that the rank and file of the American people are heart and soul with British ideals and with the great progress that has been made by British people in the principles of democracy.” Reverting to the topic of the war, Bishop Locke averred that the American Republican party en masse was in favor of the United States entering the war long before declaration o-f war was made. "In California, which is overwhelmingly Republican, there was a strong feeling that the declaration should have been made two years earlier. and that American soldiers should have been fighting in France side by side with the Allies,” he said. “When war was finally declared, there was ; great enthusiasm, and a feeling of satis- ! faction that America had at last dohe the right thing. But for the pacificist and pro-German element, which was greater than is generally realised, we should have been in with you long before, although I firmly believe that the Allies would have won through without our help, had we continued to supply ! money and munitions.” «

The bonds between America and Great Britain were now stronger than ever, continued the bishop. There were still a few jingoistic spirits in both countries who were trying to stir up trouble, cynics and fault-finders who seemed influenced by some psychic condition of antagonism and unrest, probably an aftermath of war. A certain section of the Press, on the lookout for anything sensational, was only too willing to give prominence to the utterances of such people, while a certain {indefinable antipathy, based upon misunderstanding and mistrust, helped the unworthy antagonism along. It therefore devolved upon those who stood for peace and progress to do all in their power to cement the present bonds of good feeling between the two countries, and to grasp every opportunity of clearing away misunderstandings and friction.