CO-OPERATION WITH AMERICA

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21230, 28 September 1940, Page 8

CO-OPERATION WITH AMERICA

If Hitler had done anything good it was the awakening of the realisation between the two great democracies of the common aims, purposes and general philosophy of life so ably expressed by President Lincoln, said Sir Harry Batterbee at the inaugural dinner of the British-American Co-operative Movement at Wellington. Sir Harry emphasised a truth which will have great significance for the Englishspeaking peoples not only during the present conflict but also in the new world that follows. The English-speaking democracies can surely never again fail to co-operate in placing their combined strength across the path of the other half of the world which represents Hitlerism and evil.

The British-American Co-operative Movement is spreading throughout the British Empire and the United States and will attract the adherence of millions of people. Its aim is simple—to consolidate a friendship already existing and to rally people in both nations to a common ethical standard. There is nothing provocative and no ulterior motive behind it. It represents a realisation that in this war and afterwards a common front must be presented by those of a certain way of life against the aggression of an age-old evil which has sought to overthrow what the democracies believe to be the only safe and sane method of human progress. Britain and the United States are as one in the realisation of the danger, even if their methods of meeting it still differ slightly. Anything that can be done to consolidate and confirm the two peoples in the consciousness of their common destiny is something worthwhile achieved. Although she is not regarded as a belligerent, the United States is playing an important part in this war, and Britons are deeply sensible of the fact. The Prime Minister at the Wellington gathering said that in the Pacific “ certain negotiations were proceeding. These moves had been tempered with wisdom and understanding.” He went no farther into detail than that, but it is known that discussions have taken place at Washington which may have a profound effect upon the future of the Pacific countries, and particularly upon New Zealand and Australia. It is to be hoped that the co-operative movement will not die when the war has been won but that the spirit which it represents will be carried into the relationships that will condition the administration of the new world which will arise out of the present conflict between the powers of good and of evil.