The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1937. BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 192, 11 May 1937, Page 8

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1937. BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES

There have been several reports recently, most of them mote. or less circumstantial, indicating the possibility of closer relationships between Britain and the United States. The latest, based on three meetings last week between the United States ‘'Ambassador-at-Laige (Mr. Norman Davis) and the British Foreign Secretary, suggests that a trade agreement between the two countries is under discussion, and that responsible opinion is strengthening toward ’ a far-reaching Anglo-American understanding, political as well as economic. Such a consummation is in every way desirable. It has often been asserted, and no one has seriously disputed it, that an AngloAmerican alliance would be the strongest guarantee of peace it would be possible to obtain. Every writer of standing who has discussed the question of improved relationships between the two countries has stressed the value of such an alliance, but they have also been acutely conscious of the difficulties in finding a basis upon which such an understanding could be founded. All agree that the basis must be a practical one; that although Anglo-Saxon sentiment is a very fine thing, and well worth cultivating, the peculiar problems of each nation influence the mentality of each when international questions are discussed.

In his recently-published book, The Faith of an Englishman, Sir Edward Grigg deciares that in'any approach to the question of AngloAmerican relationships, the first step is for all sections of British opinion to realise that ‘‘neither our diplomacy nor our Press nor anything else which is ours exercises the slightest influence upon the main stream of American opinion. Whatever we say or do,” he says, “the great American democracy will continue to deal with its problems by its own lights and to pursue its own immediate objectives.” The American people as a whole are strongly wedded to the idea of world peace for the practical reason that disturbed conditions are bad for trade. In this view they are at one with British opinion. Both countries, deeply rooted in the traditions of freedom and democratic institutions, are moving in the same direction, and toward the same ideals. This community of interest is even more strongly marked in studying the mentality of the peoples of the British overseas Dominions and those of the United States toward European entanglements. The inclination in either case is to steer clear of them. -

It seems evident that the best basis for an Anglo-American understanding is that which will promote a community of interest in trade and commence rather than as a combination for offence and defence. It would be quite time enough for the two countries to think about the latter if their intercourse in trade were threatened with unwarrantable interference or interruption. Such a contingency, as is possible in the Pacific and Far Eastern area, would serve to emphasise their community of interest. In Europe it might be a different matter, because American sentiment, strongly averse to European entanglements, would insist on reservations protecting her neutrality. From this point of view it is highly probable that any question of an AngloAmerican alliance would be subject to the condition that Britain’s 'European commitments must be drastically curtailed. Support for this would undoubtedly be found among the overseas Dominions. The prevalence of the reports referred to above adds to the interest in the questions of British foreign policy about to be discussed at the Imperial Conference. It may be taken for granted that Britain’s European commitments will be closely examined by the overseas delegates, and almost as certain that the discussions will embrace the possibility of a re-orientation of British policy in the direction of closer Anglo-American relationships.