"Uncle Sam" Speak Out.

Professor Blakeslee had occasion to visit New Zealand for a short period this year as the official representative of the Carnegie endowment for international peace and understanding. This endowment endeavours to arrange for the tour of some authority who can interpret one nation to another, and in this way aims at promoting international understanding and peace. Professor Blakeslee is a man particularly qualified for this mission of interpreting America and her attitude to New Zealand and to other nations outside her borders. He has studied at Harvard, Leipzig, Berlin and Oxford Universities, and has been for some time in Japan, China, South America, Russia and other European countries. He was also technical adviser to the United States Government at the Washington Conference and has held several important advisory positions. It was exceedingly fortunate that a man of this calibre should have been secured by the Carnegie Endowment and should have visited New Zealand. It is to be regretted that so few students at V.U.C. were able to hear him, and through him to understand more adequately the American attitude on many questions.

On Thursday, August 18th, he addressed a poorly attended public meeting in the Masonic Hall on "America in International Relations." He is a most stimulating speaker, who is able to paint in a short time a vivid and unmistakable picture of the problems he is dealing with, and on which he can speak with authority and assurance. In beginning his lecture he pointed out that on many questions it could not be said that there was any "American attitude." Different classes of the community viewed the same questions from different standpoints and as would be expected held different opinions on the points at issue. In addition to these class differences there were three main geographical divisions of the country which gave rise to differing types of opinion on national and international questions. There was the Western division of the country which bordered on the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific nations and their relations assumed an important place in the thought of this section of the nation as would naturally be expected. It was in this part of the country that the problem of the Asiatics was acute. It was here that most of the Orientals in the country had settled and it was here that the danger of any disturbance in the Pacific would be felt. Naturally the Pacific was more the concern of page 34 the people of the West and more constantly in their view than in the East. On the East Coast, the Atlantic separated the country from Europe and the "Old World." Further, the large majority of the people in the East were immigrants from Europe and were more interested and concerned in the affairs of Europe than those in the West. In between these two parts of the country was the central section—a farming community. This community had little or no conception of world affairs at all, and were not worried by affairs in the Pacific nor yet by European politics. They were even largely indifferent to the national affairs of their own country. Perhaps the farming community all over the world is not so different in this respect. Perhaps, too, farmers are not the only people who take no interest in affairs outside their own small world. In spite of these differences, however, it was possible on many questions to find a general American opinion.

One of the interesting attitudes which Professor Blakeslee attempted to interpret was the American attitude to the war and the League of Nations. He explained that their attitude in these matters was based on a strong desire they had to keep out of European politics. There was a very strong feeling in America that they were a separate continent and had much to lose by entering into European politics. The lecturer pointed out that this was not a wholly unreasonable attitude, and in fact was shared by some of the Dominions, e.g., Canada, South Africa, and Australia, and even Ireland, who to a greater or less extent were endeavouring to withdraw from Britain in entangling themselves in European politics. It was for this reason that America withheld from the Great War at first. She did not want to interfere in what seemed to her to be purely a European quarrel. Later in the war, however, it came to be realised in America that certain democratic principles for which she stood were involved in the struggle. Further, she found that the belligerent nations were beginning to attack her merchant ships, and her duty was to retaliate. These sentiments gradually spread over the States until the general opinion was that they should take part in the struggle, and America entered the war.

The explanation of America's attitude to the League of Nations, in spite of the fact that the idea came from U.S.A., is also to be found in the desire of America to keep out of European politics. It seems to her that the League is in effect only a European body at present, and she is unwilling to involve herself in the tangle of European politics from which she can gain nothing. In spite of this she co-operates in the League's work, and there is a large number of Americans on the permanent staff of the League. This may be interpreted to mean that as individuals many people are favourable to the League, but the country as a whole is not in favour of joining it at the present juncture. The country as a whole is more willing to involve itself in the Pacific than in European affairs, with the former of which it seems to have more concern and in whose welfare it appears to have a larger and more serious interest. At the same time America is interested in the financial and economic aspects of the League's work, although the political aspects page 35 are not of interest to her. The lecturer suggested that one way in which America might be brought into the League was by a re-organisation of the League in which the European part alone would settle purely European problems. Under these circumstances, America would probably be enthusiastic in taking a part in the activities and work of the League. What seemed to him more likely, however, was that America would co-operate more and more as she is doing with the League, until finally she was almost part of the League and would probably be prepared to enter it. The Professor placed great reliance on the prospect of friendship between English speaking peoples at this stage of development in international relations. He referred to such a possible union as a "Union of Sympathetic Understanding," which, even at the present time, would be sufficient to accomplish great things in the sphere of international relations, where, among other peoples with less in common, the prospects of international understanding and goodwill were even less hopeful.

The members of the Christian Union were very fortunate in being able to arrange for a small group of students to meet Professor Blakeslee at afternoon tea on Friday, August 19th, before he left for the South. At this tea the students present received an insight into some of the problems of the Pacific from one who has had first hand experience and is perhaps better qualified to judge than anyone else they have had the opportunity of meeting. The Professor first gave a most interesting picture of the Honolulu Conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations from which he had just come. He then, in a vivid and characteristic way, outlined the problems of China, Manchuria, and Japan. It is interesting to appreciate fully how all the chief Powers are willing to make concessions to China and scrap the present treaties which are universally seen to be hopelessly out of date, inadequate and one-sided, and yet are powerless to do so at present. The population problem of Japan is serious, and can never be solved by the often advocated method of emigration. Indeed this has never been seriously considered either by the Japanese or by others who have any idea of the real problem. Manchuria again presents a problem quite different from that of either China or Japan.

In response to a request from the students who had the privilege of meeting with Prof. Blakeslee, he has agreed to convey to his students at Clark University the desire of some of the students of V.U.C. to correspond with them discussing matters of mutual and international interest, and interpreting America and New Zealand to each other. If any other students who were not present at the afternoon tea with Professor Blakeslee would like to start such a correspondence, the President of the Christian Union will be pleased to arrange the same through the courtesy of Professor Blakeslee.

—I.W.F.