“UPHILL”

Southland Times, Issue 22293, 7 April 1934, Page 11

“UPHILL”

SIR EVELYN WRENCH’S LIFE Sequel To Wireless Talk. Sir Evelyn Wrench has written the first volume of his life. It is published by Messrs Ivor Nicholson and Watson, under the title “Uphill.” In an interview, Sir Evelyn explained how the volume came to be written. “I don’t know,” he said, “whether many people start off to write one kind of book and end by writing another kind. But that is what happened to me. “Fourteen months ago I gave a talk on the wireless on the World and Ourselves, and I asked my listeners to let me have a postcard if they agreed with my views. “Three days later, when I returned to my office, I found 7761 letters and postcards from listeners saying they did agree with me that it is possible to be a good patriot and a good internationalist. Only 154 dissented. “When I was recovering from influenza I looked through these letters, and it seemed to me that there was a very genuine interest in the loyalties.of the ordinary citizen. I meant to write a book on ‘Why I am a Citizen of the World.’ I wrote it last year, but was not satisfied with the result; my canvas was too large. I have, therefore, divided my life into halves. “In ‘Uphill’ I have tried to tell the story of my life in a human way up to 1914, when I returned from my 64,000 mile trip round the Empire, during which I addressed 250 public meetings, which resulted in the founding of the Overseas League. If the public response warrants, in the next volume I shall tell the story of the founding of the English Speaking Union and the All People’s Association. “In the present volume I thought it would be of interest if one could take the life of a very patriotic boy brought up in the tradition of Cecil Rhodes, and trace his mental evolution step by step, and this I have tried to do. “I start with my early life in Ireland, my years at Eton in the closing part of the nineteenth century, my attempt to make a fortune at the age of seventeen, when I started a large business in picture postcards, the success I achieved, and then the mortifying but very salutary failure. Then the story goes on to ten very hectic years with the late Lord Northcliffe, and I have tried to give a pen picture of the Napoleon of the Press.

“The last part of my book describes the reasons which prompted me to give up my business career and devote myself to the cause of Empire unity, and I take my readers with me to Canada, New Zealand, the South Sea Islands, Australia, and South Africa. “In an age when there is a swing of the pendulum towards excessive nationalism, and when the doctrine of ourselves alone is preached, it seems to me that the need for the British Commonwealth as a great stabilizing force in civilization was never greater. In other words, it stands for integration as opposed to disintegration. If it can survive, as I believe it will, it is the best argument for an ultimate federation of mankind.

“I returned from my Empire crusade in 1913 with an entirely new conception of what a wonderful thing. the British Commonwealth was. I mixed with French Canadians, Dutch South Africans, and people of every creed, colour, and class, all acknowledging a common Sovereign, all citizens of a world State co-operating for the common good and standing for the highest concepts of conduct.”