A CONTRAST IN "ORDERS"

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 108, 2 November 1940, Page 8

A CONTRAST IN "ORDERS"

Hitler's so-called "new order in Europe" has nothing really "new" about it; it is a very old order indeed, and a very bad one, long ago discarded by Western civilisation as inconsistent with its ideals of freedom and progress. For it is neither more nor less than the old type of despotic empire, in which one nation suppresses the liberties of others and brings them under its control. Just as Nazi Germany itself

from being a collection of more or less independent States has become a despotism under the rule of one man, so would be the fate of Europe if it came under the sway of Germany. Despite all the camouflage and trimmings, "fuhrer" is only another name for tyrant. In marked contrast, as well put by the Dominions Secretary, Lord Cranborne, in a speech this week, is the real new order of Empire, the British Commonwealth, an association of free nations, unique in history, founded on a solid base of good will. War is a great tester of institutions. While Hitler's "new order" rests insecurely on the shifting basis of sheer force, with citizens of countries under the Nazi yoke enrolling wherever they can on the side of Britain to fight for the common cause, the nations of the British Commonwealth and all the races that live in freedom under the Union Jack are contributing to the full their man-power and material wealth spontaneously for a united effort in the same struggle. And so Lord Cranborne could say truly and worthily:

In this storm which is shaking the very foundations of the world the British Empire stands like a great rock on which the winds and the waves break without weakening its essential strength. Other great nations have crumbled into ruins, but the British Commonwealth remains unshaken, undismayed and serene, guardian of civilisation, which without it would already be a thing of the past.