"BRITAIN OR ENGLAND?"

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 28 May 1917, Page 3

"BRITAIN OR ENGLAND?"

CALEDONIAN SOCIETY'S PROTEST

> Some days ago it was stafted that the Canterbury Caledonian Society had protested- to the Acting-Prime Minister, Sir James Allen, regarding the incorrect use of the word "England" in the cable message sent by Sir James ion An_ zac Day, to the troops at the front. The complete correspondence on the subject is now available, and the following precis is published by the Press: On April 26th Mr W. Geo. Brass, secretary of the Society, conveyed the following resolution to the Acting-Prime Minister: "That this meeting of the directors of the Canterbury Caledonian Society records a strong and emphatic protest against the misuse of the word 'England' in the cablegram sent by Sir James Allen to the High Commissioner in London, for transmission to the trooas on Anzac Day; which misuse is a national, insult to the gallant Scottish, 'Irish, and Welsh troops, ever fighting in the forefront of the British Army."' On May Ist, Sir James Allen replied expressing deep regret that "any word used by m e should have been interpreted by the Canterbury Caledonian Society as a national insult to the gallant' Scottish, Irish, and Welsh troops fighting at the front." Sir James asked what word the Society would suggest instead'of the word "England," and added that he had used the word ' "England" with every good intention, I and certainly not with the desire to cast any reflection upon the Scottish, Irish, and Welsh. In a lengthy letter, dated May 11th, ; Mr Chas. S. Thomas, the president of the Society, replied to Sir James, and remarked that "the Society is indeed disappointed at the sarcastic strain of '■ your reply, and it is quite obvious (that you do'not grasp the spirit of intensenational pride which is inborn in every Scot." As to Sir James's question, he wrote: —"There is neither rhyme nor reason why 'Britain' should not h« ; used," and cited Herodotus, who, in 'the fifth century 8.C., spoke of "BriJ, tain" ; and also referred to the fact that- writers even;; prior to Caesar used

xue *erm > "Britannicae Insulae," for the Bntish Isles, which included Albion (England and Scotland), and Hibernia or lern c (Ireland). It was from the Gorman ■tribes—the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes—that the word "England* sprang, and the writer was sur w that fc-ir James wsraldfeigree that the position of the British Empire to-day was not clue to its dash of German blood! Referring to the Treaty of Union of 1707 Mr lhomas pointed out that it declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were to be united in one kingdom by the name of Great Britain, and he contended that by ignoring this -pro. vision, and by referring to "Britain" as England and to the "British" as "English,' those who did so w;ere as pertidicns ns Germany in referring to.her treaty with Belgium as a "scrap of paper." He also quoted the late W T Stead, who said that Britain was "a Scotch-governed nation/ and added that some future encyclopedia r-icht contain the information: "England' a populous, wealthy, and fertile land governed by a handful of Scots and Welsh." Mr Thomas added:—"Germany realised this, and for close on a century has toed to stifle the term 'British,' and foster the term 'English/ Germany knows that once the national pride of Scotland, nnH -*he<- sisvj- Celtic races, disappears, Great Britain would be nearer dismemberment than at any time during her histtory."' Replying on May 16th, Sir .lames AL len wrote: —"I can only express my very sincere regret that you should still have any feeling about* my socalled misuse of the word 'England.' "