DANGEROUS DEAN SLATED BY SIR ALFRED MOND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18014, 26 November 1926, Page 6

DANGEROUS DEAN SLATED BY SIR ALFRED MOND.

DR INGE’S U.S. SPEECHES DID BRITAIN HARM, (Special to the “Star.”) LONDON, October 13. Sir Alfred Mortd, who arrived at Southampton this afternoon by the Aquitania, after a business tour of Canada and the United States, spoke very warmly in de nunciation of the' methods adopted by some publicists who have lately occupied attention in the States. “ The extraordinary foolish pronouncements o f Dean Inge are one of the most harmful things to have appeared in America for a long time,” he told me. “ The whole American Press was free with pictures and headlines. but very little text, all aiming at showing that the Empire was doomed, and that Great Britain would disappear. “ llow that sort of thing can be expected to help the British business man in the very difficult negotiations with big American corporations I do not know, for this defeatist atmosphere !is created before his negotiations begin. "It is almost intolerable that men ! who are experienced neither in finance nor commerce and who never have to deal in a practical way with those ! matters of vital importance, should be allowed to do this sort of thing, which hinders the efforts we are making to keep our end up. “ Fortunately, with many of the bet- | ter-instructed men in New York who are in close touch with the European 1 situation, the effect is to some extent discounted, but when you think that the whole atmosphere of America today exudes the decadence of Europeand their own overwhelming superiority in finance and industry, it is almost criminal for Englishmen to assist sti 1 further in creating such an atmosphere." Sir Allred added that several of the leading financiers had spoken to him of the folly of some British publicist, who were whining about the American debt repayment. “ They assured me it was the very last way in the world to obtain anything from America," said Sir Alfred. “ besides which it was destroying the great impression we created, which has been of inestimable value to British credit, by the unflinching manner in which wc took on the burden of the debt. “ This kind of thing is seriously en dangering Anglo-American relations.’' Sir Alfred concluded that America was still on a wave of unbelievable prosperity.