“AN UGLY THING ”

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3719, 16 November 1926, Page 7

“AN UGLY THING ”

; FRANCE'S MOB PSYCHOLOGY | HATRED OF ENGLISH PEOPLE i Xenophobia is a rather ugly, strange word which stands for a rather ugly, strange thing (writes, from Paris to the Sydney ‘Sun,’ Mr Sisley Huddleston). It means hatred of the foreigner. The stranger within our gates should, we declare, if we have the sentiment of xenophobia, be thrust out. We are all afflicted with xenophobia in some degree or other. Sometimes, of course, we have good reasons for disliking the intruder. Sometimes wo have not. \V e are merely indulging in manifestations of a primitive tribal instinct. We arc unconsciously recalling those ancestral days when it was necessary to bo suspicious of the man who did not belong to the community. Our lives depended on our vigilance, Tbo family, the clan, the nation grew up; . and to-day we try to practise internationalism and to pretend that nobody is our enemy—that all peoples are friends. I «iin ufruid tluit p<iciiisin ? however strenuously one preaches it, is not yet a doctrine universally accepted, and now and again, when things go ■ wrong, wo look for a culprit and find 1 a scapegoat in the foreigner. It is very regrettable, but it is part of what we call “human nature.” These reflections, whose application | to many problems, including Australian problems, will bo readily enough seen, are induced by recent experiences in 1 France. France has certainly shown ! herself inclined to forgive and forget the war. and to forward a policy of good-will towards men. She has taken a foremost place in the peace movements of recent years, and with Germany is unquestionably reconciled, i ho return of M. Poincare to power could not change the general attitude of I France towards her great neighbor. ' But even this France, friendly in her • intentions, became angry, and displayed her anger in unpleasant ways, when she became really conscious of her financial difficulties and their consequences, i Did she blame her own Ministers, her own incompetent Parliament? Yes. to some extent; but she chiefly blamed the foreigner. M. Herript, M. Paxnleve, M. Briand might bo responsible in a small measure, but they could walk about without fear of molestation. But Mr Tom Rogers, the small farmer from Texas, or Mr Harry Jenkins, from Hounsditch (London), and Mr Paul Perkins, the Sydney shopkeeper, who happened to he taking holiday m Europe and was looking round Paris, were certainly the true scoundrels whoso devilish financial manoeuvres since the war had brought about a crisis! They were to be roundly and soundly booed. They were to -be menaced by indignant crowds, I hoy were even on a few occasions to be assaulted. - r r Nor were Mrs Rogers and Mrs Jenkins and Mrs Perkins held guiltless. They came in for their share of abuse. They were jeered at, and pointed at, and the big sightseeing motor car in which thev were seated was surrounded in a threatening manner. Hid not every Frenchman know that Mrs Perkins's secret influence had been used against the poor franc? GERMANS, RUSSIANS, AND TURKS POPULAR. When one considers the matter seriously, is not the tendency of peoples to blame others for their misfortunes the most pitiful thing imaginable? Jt seems almost incredible that sensible folk like the French could be so foolish. To me it was painful to witness this outbreak of wrath. It was so misdirected, so meaningless, so stupid, and so likely to produce the opposite results of those desired. And yet is not an ill-will between peoples equally absurd? Perhaps one cannot go as lar as that; but we will all agree in our sober moments that very little good_ is accomplished by mere national passion. 1 do not wish to magnify these antiAmerican and anti-British outbreaks in France. The incidents were in themselves trivial enough, and no physical harm, or none to speak of, was done. Yet the spirit which they revealed is deplorable, and if there had not been a rapid improvement in the financial situation nobody can tell the lengths to which the mob might have gone. Not long ago the French regarded the Germans as utterly beyond the pule. Now, as a friend remarked to mo the other day, if one wishes to bo perfectly safe from insult in Paris it is advisable to speak German in a loud voice. Then it was the turn of Russians to he detested, Now Russians, whether Grand Dukes or Bolshevik Ambassadors, are considered to be the brightest ments of French society. The Turks are described to-day, in spite of the war, as the “ gentlemen of the Near East,” and there is < much talk of France’s traditional friendship with Turkey. Hungary was being denounced a month or two ago, but is now restored to the good graces of France. Spain was abused, until Spain became France’s ally in the Moroccan hostilities. Quite how Italy stands in French eyes it is hard to say, I should not be surprised at affirmations of eternal amity, and I. should not be surprised at violent vituperations. So one could continue, but the immediate point is that both America and England, to whom France should owe everlasting gratitude, have in their turn aroused French animosity. It may . well be that before I can transmit this ’ article, before it is printed, the wheel , will have come full circle again, and America and England be restored to a ’ high place in French esteem. I hope so, but the moral will remain. I Let us, however, beware of falling into the error that it is the debts ’ policy, British or American, which has . placed Franco in difficulties. Whether the debt had been cancelled or not, [ whether it had been reduced to insigni- . ilcant proportions, Franco would have been neither poorer nor richer at this ; ■ moment. It is not the amount she has paid that has made the slightest differ--1 ence to the franc. 1 1 But those Frenchmen who had an ai- ' tack of xenophobia also urged that Eng- ! land and America had deliberately spo--1 culated on the fall of the franc, and ■ had helped to bring it down because it 1 suited their interests. j HATS OFF TO M. POINCARE, i The best reply to this ridiculous alle- ; gation is to quote the words of the - Secretary of the British Chamber of i Commerce in Paris—the largest chami bor of its kind in the world. We were I placed next to each other at dinner at - the British Embassy. He was bcwail- - ing the fact that British houses csiah- ; lished in France were being forced ■ out «f business because, expressed in. pounds, British merchandise was lar

too expensive to bo bought by tbo I French. Ho added: “On the other hand, owing to the depreciation of tbo franc, the French can manufacture cheaply, and, incredible as it may sound, they are actually exporting bicycles to Coventry, steel goods to Sheffield, woollens to Bradford, cottons to Manchester, and—with the British coal strike continuing—coals to Newcastle!”

Could anything, therefore, bo more imbecile than to suppose that England in some way profits by tho shrinking franc? The contrary is the case —England loses immensely. As lor America, it is difficult to see what interest she can have. Moreover. American visitors come in swarms, and spend in France an average of a thousand dollars a head. Is tin's to be despised? It is a remarkable windfall which keeps in employment innumerable French lubricants and tradesmen. The truth of the matter is simple enough. Tbo French themselves, distrusting every Government which succeeded a discredited Government, sold their francs in a panic at any price, preferring foreign money. Where it would have ended is easy to conceive bad not a man of authority, of will-power, of great national prestige, of absolute integrity. of intellectual pre-eminence, stepped into office and instantly restored confidence. That man was M. Poincare, who bus been more abused than any other French statesman, but who is nevertheless far and away the most eminent French statesman. One may have disliked bis Ruhr policy, but he believed it to be the national policy, and he carried it out unswervingly. He has never played the cheap political game of personal intrigue and party advantage. So I cry most sincerely, parodying a famous phrase: Hats off to M. Poincare!

Let us trust that French finances will now right themselves, and that xenophobia will subside. Germany went through the sumo period of xenophobia. Poland and Austria and other European countries put the blame on the foreigner. Xenophobia, in whatever form it reveals itself, whatever may be tbo cause, is a disease from which nations occasionally suffer, and it should be radically extirpated.