CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 236, 5 October 1945, Page 4

CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS

U.S. ATTITUDE TO BRITAIN

To The Editor

May I be permitted to express my bewilderment at the aggressive attitude of the United States towards the British Empire? One is aware, of course, of the truth of the saying that those who are under an obligation often hate and resent the person or persons to whom they are indebted, but surely America—for whom the British held the fort all through a dark and lonely 1940—is too generous and enlightened a country to harbour any feelings of malice towards us on that account? Yet malice there certainly appears to be. Two items from to-day's news seem a pretty fair example: In New York, a meeting sponsored by the Zionist Council has serit a resolution to the British Ambassador asserting that the Jews will not continue to suffer British injustice in silence. They also add, in a sweeping way, 'that Britain bears a great share of responsibility for the Jewish tragedy in Europe. A trifle ungrateful, surely, in view of the fact that Britain and the Empire, although beset with grievous problems of their own, have given sanctuary to thousands of Jewish refugees. In reference to lend-lease and its abrupt ending, no one can really blame the American people for wanting to look after themselves first. Charity begins at home, as all will agree. And such being the case, why don't we take a leaf out of America's book, and put our own Empire's welfare before everything? Since it is obviously necessary to conserve our dollar funds, why don't we launch an allout campaign to do so? JOAN HEWETT.