FRICTION DEPLORED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 13 February 1942, Page 2

FRICTION DEPLORED

MUST WORK IN HARMONY DUTCH NEWSPAPER’S COMMENT Batavia, Feb. 9. Inevitable undercurrents” of personal friction behind the facade of the Pacific Alliance were the subject of an outspoken article in the Batavia newspaper “Nieuwsblad” to-day. Co-oper-ation between Australia, Britain, the United States, and the Dutch East Indies has not yet been fully established and good relations must be firmly cemented at once, it says. The “Nieuwsblad” deplores constant rakings up of past history and admonishes critics of Britain and America by reminding them that Holland itself has been guilty of grave errors of judgment. “We arc all here together in Java, with our British, American and Australian Allies.” it adds. “This is no time for unpleasant words, which create only discord. Wc must settle down in harmony, and win the war together. “The English, admittedly, arc not generally popular, and their imperturbability sometimes grates on otherpeople. For instance, the sight of a British officer arriving from a worship with his golf clubs constituting the bulk of his baggage does not create enthusiasm in a country fighting for its existence. “Capacity to adapt themselves to (he outlook of other countries is not an outstanding English virtue. Nevertheless we all have national virtues and national vices. If we are going to emphasise these, co-operation will b»- destroyed. “Are we going to win the war in unity, or risk losing it in discord” ’