ENGLAND’S CHANGE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 11 December 1940, Page 5

ENGLAND’S CHANGE

BOTH IN FORM AND SPIRIT SIR HUGH WALPOLES IMPRESSION [British Official Wireless] (Received 11th December. 10.30 a.m.) RUGBY, 10th December. The novelist. Sir Hugh Walpole, in a broadcast talk said, “Within th* space of six short months I have seen England change completely, both in form and spirit. There are some people, I believe, in America who are saying that England is no longer a democracy. When fighting for one’s very life it is impossible, I suppose, to avoid certain rules and regulations, and it is her* that despotism has an advantage over democracy. But one curious thing has happened in England that Has not secured as yet the attention it deserves. “When everything was at its very worst in the early summer our Gov-! ernment passed a law decreeing that] the money, property and lives of every*

living soul in Great Britain belonged to the Government—the most defiant contradiction of our cherished Magna Carta that you could imagine. Everyone instantly agreed to this. Thera were no protests of any kind anywhere, and it is possible it was this submissive agreement that led certain people in America to state that we were no longer a democracy. But what happened afterwards? “We were oddly enough, more a democracy than ever. If there was any kind of an appeal for money ft was made on a voluntary basis. We had the astonishing sight of gentlemen writing from all over the country, saying that it was a crime that taxes were not higher than they were. The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a little while ago the enormous sum of voluntary gifts that have been sent to the Government during the last few months.”