WAKE UP ENGLAND.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 5, 7 January 1908, Page 6

WAKE UP ENGLAND.

A NEW ZEALAND CRITIC OP BRITAIN AND THE BRITISH.

Biu-ns longed for the power ttf see ourselves as others see us, but perhaps a most fascinating thing would be to see ourselves as our children see us; and this we Englishmen can do (says the London Daily Express) in a delightfully candid book, "Wake up, England!" written by Mr P. A. Vaifo, a New Zealand barrister, who is already known here as an authority on tennis. As befits a citizen of the youngest «mong the nation, Mr Vaile is splendidly egotistic and cocksure. He lovea England, but he sees her faults .] exceedingly clearly:— One of the things that struck me most forcibly soon after my arrival in England was the absence of national spirit. In its truest and best sense, patriotism is almost unknown m England, If we were to judge by the Japanese standard, I should perhaps be well within the truth if I said it as non-existent. „-_... | It is otherwise m the Colonies. The fact is that in the Colonies generally there is as much true national spirit to the square yard as there is to the mile in England. The reason, too, is plain. The Colonial looks on England always as "Home. His father and mother came from there. He is going there—at least for a trip—as soon as he can. The glamour of the unseen and the ancient is on England. He has read of her great deeds, and been told ot her beauties. I It is his parents' and his own natiou. His desire is always for her; his eyes always upon her, and he follows her fortunes through political or other strife with greater keenness than many of her own sons, for the Colonial takes a keen and intelligent interest in politics, feeling, as he very frequently does, that probably later on he will be taking a hand in the moulding of his country's destiny. INSULAR IGNORANCE. How can they love England who only England know? I have no hesitation in repeating that the average Englishman doesrn t know how to love his own country; he doesn't know anything of her leauty, her grandeur, her strength, her history, and, worst of all, he knows nothing- and will believe nothing—of her weakness. Mr Vaile travels about the country, finding much to lament. He goes to Oxford to watch the New Zealanders thrash the university at football, and he is not surprised. After the Oxford match was over I stood, and saw the crowd file by. I had seen the thousands of pink and white faced boys with their blue eyes and grey caps and overcoats, each trying his level best to be as like the other as he could, and succeeding so well." I saw them go by me with their soft skins, their pretty mouths, and their round chins. I ran my eye over them, and I knew that man for man the Colonial youth is their master — and the knowledge gave me no pleasure. SNOBS AND HYPOCRITES. We are snobs and hypocrites. Our theatres are bad; our sport is decadent; our aristocracy useless. There i$ much plain talking about prominent men, and praise only for Mr Charab.erlain. Mr Haidane, and. be it added proudly, the press, the London press is indeed "one of the greatest of earth's many marvels." Mr Vaile has, among many other things, a capital plan for making the Old Country a nation of marksmen:— My idea is to offer annually—or, if found convenient, quarterly—a cer-1 tain number of rifle scholarships. These could be of the value, of, say £25 each, and would be tenable for a year, and, in special cases, perhaps, for two or three years. There might also be one special scholarship of ! greater value, say, from £100 to £2^o, to be competed for by all winners of the ordinary scholarships during the year. The winner of this would release his minor scholarship. These scholarships would be made available for- technical or other instruction, and .under, special circumstances the money itself might, be paid monthly to .xhe winner. This is a very brief and general outline of my proposal. Mr R. B. Haidane, the Secretary of State for War, suggested to me that I should offer a scholarship, or scholarships, for each of the districts under his decentralisation scheme, and this, no doubt, will be done, for I.consider it an excellent idea. I- must confess that 1 was much amused by my conversation with the Secretary of State for War.. He told me that my scheme was, in his opinion, all that was required to make his decentralisation scheme popular with the nation. I thought this seemed encouraging, but I was not there for fun; so I said: "I take it that you absolutely mean what you say, Mr Haidane" (he had my scheme laid, before him in writing),, "and that you didn't send for me merely to bandy compliments. Directly I am ready to proceed will you state this in writing, and give it to the Press of England?" And he promised to do so. Mr Vaile, by the way, considers that the range difficulty can'be overcome by the extensive use of the subtarget. '.■■■■-.. KINDLY OPTIMISM. On the whole, Mr Vaile is optimistic about us if we only wake up. In the first place we must give up being maudlin cosmopolitan sentimentalists who have always higher consideration for a foreigner than for our own people. We must cease posing as the beautiful, free England, where every one, including the Anarchist, the gipsy, the filthy scum of Europe, and the general criminal refuse of the world may come, without let or hindrance, and squeeze the sons of the soil out,of their own country. .......

. We must put in power keen men of business, men who have been able to successfully manage their own business, and not titled muddlers who regard the House as a playground or an advertising medium, and almost above everything we must so regulate our education as to draw out and cultivate in our children that which is mos£ worthy of cultivation so that in the end we shall be found rearing reasoning beings and not automata. A vigorous book, with many exaggerations, but full of patriotism and common sense.