HOME TRUTHS FROM AMERICA
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—The article entitled "Home Truths from America" in The Spectator of January 27th presents an aspect of Anglo- American relations which certainly needs to be presented. But there is another aspect, as I am quite sure a large section of the best American opinion would admit. To indicate what I have in mind perhaps I may quote some passages from a letter I have just received from an Englishman at present in America.
"If Mr. Chamberlain wants to bring any recalcitrant fol- lowers back to the true fold, he need only send them out here. The endless undigested, uninformed criticisms and cheap jibes
of God's own people would soon drive them back. The sneers and jeers are continuous. The simple Americans see the problem as a great big bully getting his own way, when they would have liked to have had the self-righteous emotional satis- faction of seeing a bully downed with all the courage of a spectator who knows his own skin at any rate is safe. As for Mr. Eden's visit, the Americans wanted two things. First they wanted to prove that it was an official visit into which they could read something sinister. Secondly, they wanted Eden to start a dog-fight with Chamberlain, which Eden was wise enough not to do. The speech he made at the Council of Foreign Relations, which was the freest and best he made, was quite over the audience's heads. He said simply that England and France were faced with the very difficult problem of dealing with men who could mobilise all their national resources. We had to do that, and at the same time not destroy those very liberties we would be defending_ He admitted he did not see much hope of peace while the present regimes lasted in Germany and Italy, but the problem of dealing with them was immensely complicated by the fact that, though Hitler and Mussolini might not represent the true feelings of their peoples, they were quite easily able to put their systems on a war basis. We had always to take care not to destroy the liberties we were defending. Finally, he ended by saying that England was not yet the decadent country so many people in the U.S. appeared to think.
"The point of the speech was largely lost as people here have only since the Lima Conference begun to realise that in dealing with German and Italian competition, the usual methods of business are quite useless. The signs of Fascist activity at Lima caused quite a stir in rousing people to the danger of Fascism, just as the Jewish pogrom roused their moral indignation. But this rousing has a long way to go before action can be contemplated. In a sense Eden's speeches and visit were a failure in that he failed to fulfil popular hopes of an outspoken attack on Chamberlain. This was attributed to his political astuteness, and his eye being on the main chance, not to the possibility that a gentleman does not do such things."
I am not at liberty to give the name of the writer, as I have only just received his letter, and there is no time to obtain his permission. My own name being known to you and immaterial to other people, it will be sufficient if I sign
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