A LINK WITH AMERICA

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 84, 3 January 1941, Page 6

A LINK WITH AMERICA

The arrival of the new Consul, Mr. Robert English, to represent United States interests in the Dominion, is of particular importance at the present time. In the grim struggle for freedom the Mother Country, and the units of the Empire, have need of good friends, and nowhere have the policy, and the immediate aims, of the British people been so well understood, and so widely endorsed, as m the United States. The speech which President Roosevelt recently delivered showed a thorough grasp of the issues involved, and his condemnation of the attempt to impose a rule of force on the world expressed the views of all lovers of liberty. Mr. English, who will watch the interests of his Government and people in this part of the world, will find himself among friends. The trend of events of recent years has brought the Englishspeaking peoples much closer together. The fact that three of the self-governing British dominions have seen fit to appoint representatives to Washington is convincing evidence of the need felt for intimate relations and a full understanding. In New Zealand we recognize in the United States the leading Pacific Power, and see in the parallel courses followed by British and American statesmen with respect to the Far East a spirit of co-operation that is most reassuring. The American policy of the “good neighbour” makes a very strong appeal to British people, and they point to the long undefended frontier between the United States and Canada as an illustration of what is possible when peoples are determined to live in harmonious relations with each other. . . As the storms of war grow heavier, the friendship of the United States will become of ever-increasing importance, and if it is_ among the- duties of the Consul to interpret the spirit and the policies of the New Zealand people and Government to the authorities at Washington, then he will be able to report a strong feeling of friendship indeed, of kinship, with the American people. The English-speaking nations have a similarity of view on many matters, stand for the i ule of law in international affairs, refuse to recognize officially territorial changes made by force, and follow the same ideals. It is,, therefore, not surprising that today they have much the same outlook. For these, among many reasons, the arrival of the United States Consul is 'welcome, and the hope will be general that his term of office here may be pleasurable and profitable.