RELATIONS WITH AMERICA.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 188, 11 August 1925, Page 12

RELATIONS WITH AMERICA.

THE COMING OF THE FLEET. PROBLEMS TO MUTUALLY SOLVE. (By REV. JAMES MILNE. M.A.) Some seventeen years have passed, it seems too. long a time ago, since an American Fleet visited our shores. Many changes have qVQlycd s.ince then. Wireless lms been greatly developed, and aerial navigation lias beedme an accomplished fact. Through the former, America • .has become as a next-door neighbour to New Zealand, and through the latter, tliis relationship will in time be. emphasised. Since a fleet from the great republic of the 'West cam,e,to the Dominion, a. world-devastating war has befallen, in which .men from America and New Zealand fought shoulder to shoulder for a common end. We like to think that these men .in the ardour of youth ga,ve themselves to battle and fell nobly therein,. to,.,j>ut an end to war. toi exe'roise it.from the tribulation of humanity, and. to prepare the. way of lasting peace. Doubtless,. ..to a large extent they have accomplished this. In a world of imperfections, lofty ideals are not so much directly realised, as rather* they 'are accomplished through, mivny , aspirations working concomitantly, unto the production, of an •'atmosphere which in itself compels their fulfilment. . '.Btation Near to- Nation. ,War. has- ever its r&ots in our poor, broken human hatYire', and" universally ■Iβ admiUed that itfe genesis is found niostly lii fear. 'Bring two nations near to .each. Qtlio,r, .'chow them' 'how much they have' in common, and they will not readily fight the one with the other. Cast cAit the possibility of distrust and hate by exhibiting confidence and kindliness., and you do much to insure permanent peace. , 'This'is why we should welcome the Fleet 'to , our shores. In America and Britain, we have two ! natrons, speaking the same tongue. A common is a 'powerful promoter of unity, just as -the' curse of Babel has proved a fertile source of disunion ■ among nations. But in the two more immediately under, review, in America and Britain we have not only •two natious. with one language, but With ideals concerning peace and progress very similar. ■ Both are - great lovers of liberty, and have their institutions strongly based upon the people's will. Both axe ethically progressive, striving ever' after such civil development, as makes' for a higher and better form' of civilization for the race. Further, they are both manufacturing ■ and trading" nations.' Both take a benevolent interest in the development 'and enlightenment of uncivilized lands. They race each Other closely in foreign missionary enterprise and zeal. All this should bind, the two nations together Tin living unity, making them one in spirit. Blooil Is thicker than water. It should never be 'forgotten that the first" Americans, the men and women born of the Pilgrim Fathers, who landed in the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock were of English stock. They were of that Anglo-Saxon. race which slowly, silently yet surely absorbs all it meets of other lineage. America of

to-day with its one hundred and twenty millions of inhabitants is largely cosmopolitan. Thousands of French, • iennans, Poles, Russians and of other nationalities besides British, ill the course of generations have flowed into it, enriching its communal, as they were swallowed ii|J" ill its national life. That this vast, western commonwealth is large cosmopolitan is not without signlicance, in view of one of the great problems awaiting solution at the hands of civilization to-day, and more especially interesting to New Zealamlera as that problem is related to (peace in the Pacific, viz., the colour question. For this, Amerjca and Britain seem destined to join hand in hand. The former has the question within her own borders, in the large negro population there which ever claims fuller recognition. So also has Britain in intense degree in India, and in about equal degree as America in such countries as Fiji or Katal, where Indians as British citizens have made their homes. Common Sense and Charity. The vexing colour question will be solved partly by education and commonsense, and very largely through the application to every condition arising, of that culture which is common to the varying forms of our Christian faith. While America and Great Britain, through-. affinity, experience and adaptability seem ripe for union in this great cause, yet to ensure peace and permanent success in its development, it is obviously of the utmost importance that the other nations interested, both white and coloured, should be brought into any such pact.

Today, in America and within our own shores, we have men of colour from China. India and Japan. They are comparatively f<. , w in number, and their presence is not unduly resented. As white populations prow and their territories are developed, so it may be expected that the number of coloured people will increase within them. To-day, America and Britain send many missionaries and traders to China. India and Japan. In proportion to the teeming population of these coloured countries, the number of these white pioneers of civilisation is very few, and might with advantage be largely increased as eastern prejudices are broken down. Of course, such a policy of peaceful penetration must not be unduly forced; but conducted with discretion, with full recognition of the national rights of the coloured people among whom they may dwell and move, these pioneers of our white civilisation —especially if they aro men of sense and sympathy —under such a pacific policy cannot fail to accomplish much unto the ultimate and peaceable solution of a difiicult problem. In the League of Nations and its world court of arbitration, there is, happily, the means ready of access for giving confidence for all experiments in solving the colour question. The Disarmament Conference, held recently in Washington, is an earnest proof of America's desire for international peace, as was also the visit of her fleet to our shores in 190 S. As then, so now, .again we welcome the fleet, as representative of national yet brotherly ideals common to nations which are out for the advance of civilisation, and the brotherhood of man.

{%■ WELCOME TO THE .FLEET. *| Men of the North, within whose veins there runs J: 15 J ■ That kindred blood which makes our peoples free, -ft«jr 4-ti- - We welcome thee with cheers and crash of guns ■£"& As brother rulers o'er the realm of sea. "£% ska- ■ <<■» J4 , •. Here where the arc of far-flung Empire ends && %£ These South Pacific isles—"The Long White Cloud," ££ Ej-ij. We greet thee—seamen, allies, neighbours, friends— •£«£ j^ s -}" As envoys of whose prowess we are proud. jl"^ £<-xi- •&■& tf-jj- Thy grim grey ships which now our harbours ride, o •£•& The whirring scouts which high exulting soar, %& Sj.£i- Are embassies which stir our naval pride, -t^S *fiC As guards of Peace and arbiters of War. ?r frit *"? This young Dominion thy great State salutes; ■£•& Islands ',to continent are closer swung, *H? S- And freeborn sentiment strikes deeper roots, X.; 5 By friendship's greetings in our mother tongue. ■^A-i &'-|' - "Old Glory" now with spangled wealth unfurled . -js^t Flies closely twining with the Union Jack;' A symbol of goodwill throughout the world «£•& >X:- To cheer mankind along the forward track. <?-Cs >:-• 4- * * -ft iv rL These flags -were woven by that mighty Fate .^-^t Ej-tf- Which guides the Life and Love of Viking stock, -yi-fr jpX Which links up London and the Golden Gate, %$. rj-zj- And binds New Zealand fast to Plymouth Rock. J5.J5 So heart meets heart, for Destiny has planned Kj-sj- That onwrard years this friendship should increase, <s-S And thy Republic and our Empire stand, "?# SX As Watchmen at the gates of War and Peace. 'j',^ §;g — EKNEST ALDKIDGE. ji^ i>l). Stanley Point, Deronport. • -r<{ 3* *"