The Dominion. SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1933. ANGLO-AMERICAN RELATIONSHIPS

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 182, 29 April 1933, Page 10

The Dominion. SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1933. ANGLO-AMERICAN RELATIONSHIPS

Mr. Ramsav MacDonald’s visit to President R . oos^ cl '4r£? riie week has drawn attention to the question of Anglo-American relationships Upon the state of these will no doubt depend m -oin measure the'extend to which the President may venture with safety "e6^(tlm'points raised by the British Prime Minister durmg the conversations at Washington. roi-it-i. .nshius There have been times in recent years when these relat u . 1 • have been somewhat strained. American sentiment to Europe in te aid to disarmament and the War debts lias been distinctly host k. I n trn connection Great Britain has suffered from its proximity to Europe, -md the leading part played by her at Geneva, and Lausanne.. Hence to a large part of American public opinion, especially of the Sinclair Lewis “Main Street” type, Britain and Europe are synonymous terms. That section believes that Europe has no business to ask for relief from War debts and at the same time spend huge sums in building warships, aeroplanes, and on standing armies. British policy in these matters has been in the opposite direction, but that has never been properly understood by a large section of the Americans. Our relationships with the United States therefoie have been somewhat prejudiced by the opinion entertained there tha. we have been keeping bad company in Europe. It has been pointed out that the feeling between Britain and America over the War debts would not have developed had it not been for irresponsible statements published in the American popular Press, and the tendency of self-seeking politicians to play up to them lhe American public,” writes Mr. Herbert Agar in the Nineteenth Century, “when it is not misinformed, is generous to the point of sentimentality. Politicians, partly through ignorance, but chiefly through a lifelong habit of telling people what they wish, to hear, have convinced the’Americans, says Mr. Agar, of two things: first, that the piesent debt settlements show such amazing generosity on the part of the United States that no one but a professional beggar could hope for anything more beautiful; and, secondly, that the chief debtor nations (England and France) could easily pay America if they chose to do so, and this in spite of the American tariff. In the same way misunderstandings have been created on both sß *es of the Atlantic by big-navy protagonists in one country representing that the other country was trying to out-bui.ld it. Butish suscept, bilities again, have been irritated by the prominence given in America to the Gandhi side of the Indian problem and the meagre notice given to the British side. f After discussing what he regards as ‘ the only seiious mallei oi policy in regard to which England and America are historically opposed”—the freedom of the seas—the writer above-quoted calls attention to our supposed attitude of superiority toward the American language. That, he declares, is something that must be combated. “It is no exaggeration to say,” he declares, “that sooner or later rhe English will have to choose between the friendship ot America, and whatever pleasure it is (presumably mild), which they gain irom treating the American language as an unsuccessful attempt to speak the English of a 8.8. C. announcer.” That seems rather a strong statement. Mr. Agar, however, is manifestly convinced of the reality of the feeling engendered by it. These various causes of misunderstanding trifling enough m some respects —are capable of treatment if on both sides theie is a real sentiment for friendlier relations. Adversity, they say, makes strange bedfellows. The present crisis has brought the chief citizens of both nations,into close personal contact. It will be all to the general good if from these meetings there should be laid the foundations of a more sympathetic understanding between the British and American peoples. , . It has been said that these two great Anglo-Saxon nations have it within their power to control and direct the future destiny ot civilisation. There is therefore a responsibility laid upon the leaders of public opinion on both sides to do all that is possible to promote the friendliest relations between them.