"DAVID THE GIANT KIDDER”

Evening Star, Issue 18532, 15 January 1924, Page 6

"DAVID THE GIANT KIDDER”

PRESS VIEWS ON LLOYD GEORGE’S AMERICAN TOUR.

“ David the giant kidder came to America, and he saw,” observed Earl Hamilton Smith rather playfully in the conservative New York 1 Commercial,’ “ but it can not be said that he conquered,” Moreover (says the ‘Literary Digest ’), many editors throughout the country admit that they are more or loss in the dark as to the exact purpose of Great Britain’s former Prime Minister in coming to the United States and making some seventy speeches here and in Canada. “ Why did he come to America at all, and what does he carry back to Europe?” is a typical question. “What are the net results of his visit?” is another_ “ When Lloyd George came over we didn’t know exactly what ho had come for,” says the New York ‘ Daily News,’ but we know now He has persuaded Americans that when Great Britain and Germany go to war with France, America should aligns itself with Great Britain.” And while it can not be said that this opinion is generally held, the Butte ‘ Bulletin ’ nevertheless warns us that “ whenever a British statesman visits this country it is well for the people to bo on the alert. As Balfour led the American people into the war by laying wreaths of flowers on the tombs of men Great Britain wanted to execute 145 years ago, and the use of flowery wards, so_ Lloyd George would like to lead America into an alliance with British Imperialism.” “ Lloyd George has said his say in America and has gone,” remarks the St. Louis ‘ Post-Dispatch.’ “It now remains for America to appraise the effect left upon America by his tour.” “ Whatever Ins original purpose and

idea might have been, he has been in fact a missionary preaching the doctrine of goodwill.” believes the New Haven ‘Journal-Courier.’ Mr Smith, ton the other hand, compares in the ‘ Commercial ’ article his visit to a tour of “ peaceful penetration.” We read on: “ By this time it must be plain to all but dwellers in aircastles that Lloyd George’s visit here is part of another concerted drive by the internationalists to get this country into the European muddle. He has said frankly that the world situation is up to us, and his campaign has been the most audacious ever attempted by our foreign friends since the launching of the debt-cancellation propaganda three years ago. “ The sequence of events shows plainly that the former Prime Minister is merely the mouthpiece of hidden forces that have not given up their yearning for our boundless resources ”

The real message of Lloyd George to the American people, thinks the Oshkosh ‘Northwestern, ‘‘is that the old policy of force must be abandoned if the world is to escape the greatest calamity in history—a calamity that will destroy the very foundations of civilisation.” “ And it is entirely true,” agrees the New York ‘Tribune,’ “that the future civilisation depends upon the two great Englishspeaking Commonwealths. But this country has not thought of alliance with any nation.” “ That Europe must learn to help itself, before it can reasonably appeal to other nations, is a thought that apparently has not entered Lloyd George’s mind,” remarks the Albany ‘Journal.’ The St. Paul ‘ Dispatch ’ frankly does not see whpt America can accomplish in Europe at this lime, and the El Paso ‘ Times ’ and several other papers say. “many of us who believe that, since the military crisis has been passed, the best way to help Europe is to demand that she help herself.” In summing up the results of the Lloyd George tour, the Manchester ‘ Union ’ maintains that:

“After all, it has been a pretty thin not© that he has sounded. The appeal for help for Europe in general is no longer convincing. All too well is it known that this means one thing to a Britisher, another thing to a Frenchman, and as many others as there are national pleaders. Altogether they cry ‘ Come over and help us,’ but always they mean ‘ Come and help me.’ ”

There is an imposing array of newspapers, on thg other hand, which believe that the former Prime Minister has rendered a great service to Europe by coming to the United States “ and talking frankly with the people,” as the Houston ‘Post’ puts it. “Lloyd George did a public service by severely rebuking the spirit of hatred and vengeance that found expression during the war in the Hymn of Hate,” believe* the Columbus (Ohio) ‘State Journal,’ while the Utica ‘Press’ declares that “ his visit was a great success, whether his message is accepted or not. The little Welshman, thinks the Cleveland , ‘ Plain Dealer,’ “ has done much in the course of his trip to promote the better understanding which he believes essential to enduring peace.” “To say that ho was trying to recover prestige,” says the New York ‘ Times,’ “ is to do him an injustice,” while the Wichita ‘ Eagle is sure that:

“ The visit of David Lloyd George to the United States was a master stroke of diplomacy. It was timely, effective, and carried out in good taste. “ Lloyd George came to America as the unofficial ambassador of a nation which desires American support. He played his part honorably and with credit to himself, and the good people he represents. He talked freely of hands across the sea, of Anglo-American solidarity, and of the League of Nations, being careful at all times to avoid entering into American party politics. . . • “ British propaganda is the most persistent and the most effective of all foreign propaganda that is done in the United States. It never sleeps.” In the opinion of the St. Louis ‘PostDispatch ’: “The effect of the Lloyd George appeal can not be definitely estimated. America is still mentally dazed by European politics. It knows that there was a bloody emergency to be met in that quarter a few years ago; it knows with what fervor, effort, and sacrifice the situation was met; it is disappointed with the results; its normal judgment has been infected by domestic partisan politics; and it is left in a state of confusion, which its own prosperity has done much to crowd into oblivion. “If any reaction has taken place in American* feeling on the subject of our diplomatic rout from Europe, that reaction unquestionably has been hastened and strengthened by Lloyd George’s oratorical appeals.”