THE UNITED STATES AND THE ALLIES

New Zealand Tablet, 28 October 1915, Page 36

THE UNITED STATES AND THE ALLIES

ARCHBISHOP O'SHEA'S IMPRESSIONS. • His Grace Archbishop O'Shea returned to Wellington last week after a holiday trip to the United States. When seen by a Nt w Zealand Times reporter his Grace said that he had enjoyed his trip exceedingly, and had brought back many pleasant impressions regarding the magnificent scenery of America and the delightful hospitality of the American people. He had covered a great deal of ground, and had seen many interesting people and places. The kindness and hospitality that he had received wherever he weut really were remarkable. The American people did not spare any effort to make happy and comtortable the stranger within their gates. Referring to matters connected with the war, Archbishop O'Shea said that he had encountered a .strong pro-German sentiment in California. People who could speak with full knowledge of the facts had assured him that the tendency to sympathise with Germany was a product of Japanese feeling, and not a symptom of any real hostility to Britain or her Allies in Europe. The Californians had a great dislike for the Japanese and a great fear of them, and since Japan was Britain's Ally they tended to become pro-German. He had found pro-German feeling in the mid-west, at Chicago, for instance, where many of the people had German blood in their veins, and where trade had been affected adversely by the British blockade of the German coasts.

The position was different in Eastern America, where the influential men and big newspapers, almost without exception, were supporters of the cause of the Allies. But the mass of the people throughout the whole of the United States seemed really to be indifferent about the war. It did not touch them intimately, and they did not know very much about the facts underlying it, although their newspapers published a great deal of war news. The newspapers of .the Eastern cities gave both sides of the case very fully. They published German war news beside the messages from Britain, and left their readers to reconcile conflicting statements. But their sympathies undoubtedly were with the Allies. The Archbishop was in Washington when the German-A quarrel regarding the sinking of the Lusitania and the other incidents of the submarine blockade was at its height. He found the Americans deeply moved by the outrages, and he was told that if the German Government did not give satisfaction the United States Ambassador would be withdrawn from Berlin and the German Ambassador invited to leave Washington. But the protest would not have been carried beyond the formal severing of diplomatic relations. The Americans did not like war, and they were not ready for it. They had no army in the European sense. Some of the leading men of the Republic were trying now to arouse the nation to a sense of its responsibilities and were urging that no great Power could regard itself as secure from war in an age when the interests of nations were intertwined inextricably. But in the meantime the Americans could not fight. The situation had been saved as far as they were concerned by the concessions of the German Government.

His Grace mentioned that he had visited many fin© churches and educational institutions in the United States. The Catholic University at Washington was a remarkable institution, with splendid buildings, equipment, and staff. Its buildings seemed almost as numerous and extensive as those of a small town, and the university was doing a great work. ‘ Our Church is making very great progress in America, in every way,’ he added. ‘lt has a very large number of adherents. Numerically it is the strongest of the denominations, the next being either the Methodist or the Baptist.’ r , On his way to, join the mail steamer at Vancouver Archbishop O’Shea passed through Western Canada by rail, and enjoved the wonderful scenery of the Rocky Mountains. He found Vancouver to be suffering from

the effects of the war and the collapse of a land boom, but there was 110 doubt about the general prosperity of the western provinces of Canada.