BRITAIN AND U.S.A.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 233, 3 October 1933, Page 3

BRITAIN AND U.S.A.

MUST WORK TOGETHER

NEW ZEALANDER'S MISSION

MR. MILNER WELCOMED HOME

The public interest that has been aioused by Mr. Frank Milner's campaign in America on behalf of Anglo-American lelations following his participation in the Rotary Convention at Boston, where "-m S g cner ally agreed that he made one ot■the outstanding contributions, was e\ ldenced by the large audience which greeted him at the Town Hall last even- ,.^ r - is rector of the Waitakl Boys; High School, and among those Mho participated in the welcome home last evening under the auspices of the Hotary Club were old pupils of the school, and representatives of the stall's and pupils of other secondary schools. the Mayor, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, presided and anions; those "dn the platform were Mr. T. C. List, district governor of Rotary for New Zealand, James Parr and Archbishop Averill. The Mayor, In extending a welcome, mentioned a tribute which had been paid to Mr. Milner in America by the international president of Rotary. The latter had said that no man at the convention had made a greater contribution to international understanding than Mr. Milner. . James Parr expressed his pleasure in participating in the welcome to one of the Dominion's most distinguished sons. He recalled that when Minister of Education he had offered Mr. Milner the position of director of education, but he had preferred to continue his work among the boys of his school. Sir James stressed the fact that Mr. Milner was a strong, sane imperialist. If his tour throughout the United States had aroused its people to realise that it was an idle policy to stand aloof from world affairs then it was well worth while. Pacts and Conferences. Archbishop Averill extended a welcome to Mr. List and Mr. Milner. Great things had been expected of the latter, but he had exceeded all expectations. "Many of Us are beginning to lose confidence in pacts and conferences," he said. "Science has made nations close neighbours, but the nations have not yet learned to live as neighbours." Too much, he added, was made to depend on the word and too little on the spirit. One of the noblest aspects of Rotary was that it stood for a true national spirit. Mr. Milner had done noble work and it would be a splendid thing if he were spared for a world mission on behalf of better international understanding. Mr. T. C. List testified to the wonderful reception which Mr. Milner had been accorded in America and mentioned that he had refused three handsome offers to remain there.

"So much lias been made of my little preliminary effort at Boston, and it was s<o magnified and idealised, that I felt that I had become a peripatetic myth, a perambulating legend," said Mr. Milner, who deprecated the lavish compliments that had been paid him. Many people had formed impressions of America as a land of bootleggers and racketeering, others as a land isolated in excelsis in intense nationalism, but he hoped to show that there was another side. Viscount Bryce had said that nobody could live long among the Americans without realising the underlying stratum of idealism in their personality. It was to that idealism that he had made his appeal, and the responsewas both electric and. lasting. liis experience in America showed that it was possible to speak to its people about things diametrically opposed to their present principles and policy, and yet evoke a response that was undoubtedly sinccre and enthusiastic. Prestige of Roosevelt. Referring to the prestige of President Roosevelt, Mr. Milner said that the old spirit of 1 rugged individualism had given way to collcctivist direction by_ the President. Americans had subjected themselves to it with a belief in their future and in tho invincible optimism that they would emerge from the crisis. "Wherever you go you find the same enthusiasm, the same unanimity in endorsing the N.R.A. scheme," he said. Roosevelt had decided that what his people wanted most was confidence in themselves, and he had set out to give it to them. To-day throughout the nation there was a confidence that was not there last June. The origin was the President, who, unlike his predecessors, had his finger on tho national pulse. # j If the National Recovery Act did not j win,through —and nobody could tell at this juncture —there was such abundant confidence in America, such inventiveness and resource, such abandonment of old tradition and ability to scrap fossilised ideas, such marvellous industrial organisation and material endowment, that the people would win through and set a tonie example to the world. Two Stable Nations. In a mental survey of world affairs, said. "Mr. Milner, he could not see where any stability was to be found except in the British Empire and the great Republic of the United States. It was said that democracy had failed, but America was showing that, with lull, constitutional safeguards,_ it liad fpund a way of direct and positive action J»s message was that these two branches of English-speaking people must function together. He was convinced that a lar-e section in America wanted closer co-operation with other had endeavoured to impress h's Amcrican audiences with tho truth that Britain and the United States together held the world in their hands, and that America's discredited isolation policy had been honoured as much in the breach las in the observance, from revolutionary days until the present.