Evening Star Newspaper, October 18, 1931, Page 87

THEE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINC “Yorktown Can Never Happen Again!” ~VISCOUNT CECIL of Ghelwood W e Have Buried the Hatchet and For- gotten to Mark the Spot, ’Says English Statesman, as the {United States Cele= brates Sesquicenten- nial of Cornzvallis’ Surrender to George Washington. NGLO-AMERICAN relations are so good and the friendship be- tween the United States and Great Britain so firmly cement- ed, in the estimation of Vis- count Cecil of Chelwood, Eng- Tish statesman and international peace proponent, that war between them as a Juture possibility is not to be consid- ered. One hundred and fifty years ago this week occurred the Battle of Yorktown, when Lord Cornwallis British Army zielded to the jorces of Gen. George Washington, ending the War of the ‘American Revolution. Memories of that struggle for American independence can- 7ot possibly affect “the strong affinity between England and America today,” says Viscount Cecil, in the following mes- sage appropriate io the ceremonials at Yorktown this week, where the American Nation joins with the State of Virginia in celebrating the sesquicentenntial of Xorktown’s decisive world battle. - 48 TOLD TO D. MEURIG EV ANS. LONDON. ANGWAY, the last visitor steps ashore, whistles blow, hawsers splash into the Yvater. The great black bulk of the liner backs Warily into midstream and, as the monster Hifts its voice, claiming all sound for its own in & mournful pean of parting, the little tug- boats scurry hastily back to shore like a covey of frightened chickens. Hands and handker- chiefs wave. A roar of cheering drowns the himper of the ship's band. . Gradually the shoreline recedes. Flags leap Put in a fresh westerly breeze and another boatload of Americans is off to England. About half a million visitors from the United States invade England every Summer. & 1s an annual institution as popular, as Widely shared and as characteristic of the times as was thc excursion to Niagara Falls $hree decades ago. ¢ Yet only 150 years ago a British Army sur- fendered to the virile fighting men of the American Colonies; 120 years ago British and #American troops again met on the field of battle, and 80 years ago, at the time of the American Civil War, a further conflict was pnly just avoided. . ‘ Bo do the passing years bring understanding. fhe growth of tourist traffic, intervisiting, fadio, the exXchange of teachers between English and American colleges and schools, talkiles, all have contributed to the strong friendship which now exists between the two great English-speaking nations. 11N England today we take for granted the fact of Anglo-American friend- ship. Nothing is further from our thoughts than the idea that there may arise an occasion when the fine relations between ourselves and the peoples of the United States would be severed,” said that great English statesman, Lord Cecil of Chelwood, as we sat at ease in his library. I had called to discuss present-day Anglo-American relations in reference to the Yorktown celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the siege of the town by George Washington and his army. Of all great living Englishmen, he is émi- nently qualified to speak on this sube ject. Lord of the Privy Seal in 1923- 24, minister of blockade for two years during the World War, sometime assist- ant secretary of state for foreign affairs, his name is celebrated throughout the civilized world. Since 1918 his whole time and energy have been devoted to repairing the ravages of war, both in his own country and on the Con- tinent, and in laying the foundation of a fu- ture that shall be free from a repetition of & World War. With this subject he has done more than any other living statesman toward promoting universal peace, based on a great commonwealth of the nations of the world. No powdered flunkeys ushered me into his presence. His lordship lives simply and with- out ostentation at his town house in South Eaton Place near Chelsea. Most cordial and charming of hosts, he has the knack of putting visitors immediately at their ease. No sooner had I broached the topic than he plunged at once into animated discussion, his keen face alight with interest as he enumerated his ~views. “It is difficult now even to vizualize the time when discord existed between England and America,” he said. “For a long time we have shaken our heads, more in sorrow than in anger, over those shortsighted men who in a moment of folly thought fit to use the argu- ments of viol®nce against the cousins of the West. . “At various times in her history Great Brit- ain has fought many nations, has achieved victories and suffered defeat, but neither the consciousness of triumph nor the humiliation of defeat has endured. Nor could it. We fought the French for a hundred years in the Middle Ages and again, more fiercely than ever, in the Napoleonic Wars. Yet a few »TON, D, C, OCTOBER 18 1931. years ago we placed the whole of our armies in France and the future security of our country in the power of a French generalis- simo. To imagine that we still nourish feelings of revenge against the Dutch nation because in the seventeenth century she defeated Brit- ain in a naval action or that the French are merely biding their time to wipe out in blood the memory of Waterloo would be as foolish as to think that the memory of Yorktown can influence in the slightest degree the strong affinity between England and erica today. “One thing may be said about the English- speaking races,” he proceeded, “and that is they do not live in the past. They live in the present and in the future. They consider what they are doing, and what they may do far more than what they have done. They realize the need for adaptability in these changing days and adjust themselves accord- ingly and they realize the folly of clinging to outworn obsolete shibboleths and creeds. “That is one reason why the friendship be- tween America and England has developed in such a remarkable degree in recent years. We have buried the hatchet and forgotten to mark the spot. Our differences have disap- peared. We English like you Americans. We are glad to welcome you to our green and pleasant land. It is just like having a relation we have heard of but never seen come to spend a holiday under our rooftree, and we enjoy your company as much as we hope y2u Lord Cecil of Chelwood, noted English statesman, says there is no concep- tion of a break in the fine relations between Eng- land and the United States. like ours. We have an ancestry and a great tradition in com- mon. Our future should be one of close co-operation, unmarred by the meaner conflicts of po- litical variance. Surely we have grown out of the habit of childish squabbling. Rgothers, meeting in afteryears, often laugh over the quarrels and fights they had as boys. With the years they have learned a philosophy of life and gained a saving sense of humor, so that the memory of past tiffs brings a jest to the lips and a twinkle to the eye. This is how I like to think of Uncle Sam and John Bull—some time comrades-in-arms, and now, let us hope, comrades-in-peace for all time, “When I was one of the rep- resentatives to the League of Nations at Geneva, I went on behalf of South Africa, a col- ony which a few years before had been at war with the par- ent government, and the min- isters who employed me in that capacity were the very same men who led the rebel troops. “That, T think, is typical of the way in which our Anglo- Saxon civilization faces the changing conditions of the world and adapts itself even within a generation to a new outlook and a new era. “I like to think that tha American and English enthu- siasm for peace does not de- pend solely or even mainly on a calculation of what is the best for our respective coune tries. “We work for peace because we are confident it is essential to the future of civilization as we know it today, and that another and far more terrible and catastrophic war than the last must be made impossible. War is waste—waste of life, of money, of time, of everything we value most dear. We should be prepared to make whatever sacrifices that may be necessary to hold to our ideal. - “I cannot express too strongly the apprecia< tion which the English-speaking peoples feel for the efforts which the United States has made in the cause of universal peace. In Feb- ruary of next year a meeting will be held aé Geneva which will assuredly be a turning point in the history of the world. This meeting is the World Disarmament Conference and its aim is to insure progressive and universal re- duction in national armaments; should it fail in its purpose, those who labor for the maine tenance of peace will have to begin all over again under conditions far less favorable thaa those which now exist. In such circumstances disarmament may prove impracticable. What then? 1Is it credible that without disarmament peace can be maintained? He would be a bold man who confidently answered ‘yes.’ I "1|F THERE is another war can civilization survive? I doubt it. It would be the end—nothing but sheer world suicide. “But if we can really lay the foundation of progessive disarmament and a new international life founded on friendship rather than on fear, on justice instead of violence, then, indeed, there will be fresh hope fo! humanity.” =