LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
THE TWO WORCESTERS [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—" Peace on earth, good will to men " is to-day the in- sistent cry of humanity. Never before in the history of the world have so many millions so ardently desired peace between nations. But desire is one thing and performance another. You cannot get peace merely by preaching about it or by telling people about it. You must work as well as pray. But before working for peace you will have to look at things as they are, and you will then find that there are a great many lions in your path. You will, howeirer, also find that there are several practical means of bringing about " Peace on earth, good will to men " : and not the least of these, perhaps the chief of all; is the expedient_ of making people in different parts of the world better. acquainted with each other. - In Worcester County (Massachusetts) and in Worcestershire (England) such an attempt is being made. In the autumn of 1926 a series of Association football games between amateur teams of Worcester County and Worcestershire will be' played in Worcestershire. The following year the* WcircesterShire players are coming over to Worcester County to engage in a corresponding series of match games. • The challenge has
already been issued from Worcester County and accepted by the Lord Lieutenant_of Worcestershire and two former mayors of Worcester. • -
The Worcester County Sportsmanship Brotherhood issued the challenge last August. This organization is interested in the development of sport among the working men of Worcester County. The President is Mr. Daniel H. Reese, a retired manu- facturer, who lives in Uxbridge, Massachusetts ; the Vice-pre- sident is Mr. Henry Harmon Chamberlin ; the Secretary. is Mr. John W. Sheperdson, a prominent mechanical engineer ; and the Treasurer is Mr. Charles A. Barton, Vice-president of the Worcester Bank and Trust Compank.. With these gentle- men are associated a Board of Directors and a number of Wo-r- cester County residents who are interested in sport as a means of increasing health, happiness and a spirit of good will among all classes of men. - The Worcester County Sportsthanship Brotherhood stands on its own feet. It is not affiliated in any `way with any other' organization whatever. Our immediate aim is t6 send over to Worcestershire next autumn an amateur team of American citizens; and the following year to give a hearty welcome to a team of amateur players from Worcestershire. We will make it our business to see that' these matches are successful.
Association football has been played in Massachusetts for more than forty years, but is only now' taking firm root in Massachusetts. We have in the County three leagues : the Central Massachusetts, the Soccer Industrial, and the Northern Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In all, in Worcester County, there are eighteen teams composed of working men.
These men and many millions like them ultimately control by their votes the domestic and foreign policies of the United States. So far as they concern themselves with political ques- tions they are mainly interested in domestic problems. It -is safe to say that a vast majority of the American people .know little or nothing of the traditions and-aspirations of England, just as most freeborn Englishmen are utterly ignorant of what America stands for. For most American citizens- the main and absorbing interest lies in their homes and-in their. work is a means of-raising their families. This must be in the -nature of things, and it is right that it should be so ; but, there-is a danger in the possibility that these good and loyal citizens in concentrating- themselves on _their own affairs should fail to realize what other people think, should fail to appreciate the other man's point of view.
Moreover, the normal human mind revolts at generalities. People as a rule are not interested in sermons nor in reading newspaper and magazine articles on the true glory of nations. When a man is walking from his home to his factory he is not thinking out questions of foreign or domestic • welfare " or what the Swede intend or what the 'French." The thoughts running through his mind are rather of this nature : I wonder why I took two cups of coffee for breakfast when I know they disagree with me ? " " Where is the sample the wife gave me to match at the dry-goods store, and did she say five yards or five and a-half ? " "My word, that's the third pretty girl I've seen this morning—luck in odd numbers." " Why did I lend a fiver to Smith when I knew I'd never see it again ? " " If the Chippendale Harriers don't get a better goal-keeper than Blank, they'll lose the game next Saturday." Such thoughts as these are neither subtle nor profound, but they are very absorbing for most of us most of the 'time.
But they are absorbing in Worcester (England) as well as in Worcester (Massachusetts), in London as well as in Boston. They are the " touch of nature that makes the whole world kin." And when a man finds that the other fellow feels as he does, his knowledge is broadened and his sympathy strengthened. And when his acquaintanceship is made through the Medium of sport, which in itself has an appeal to the sense of fair play, the knowledge which he gains will be of double value to himself and to his neighbour.
In carryIng out the Worcester- plan the Worcester County 5portsmanship Brotherhood hardly expects to bring about the millennium. But we may reasonably hope; by establishing Personal contact between Worcestershire and Worcester County, to cement the friendship between the two Worcesters which was begun even before the Great War, and thus to do out bit in increasing the spirit of mutual confidence and
good will between England and America—the two great Anglo- Saxon nations.—I am Sir, &c., HENRY HARMON CHAMBERLIN.
Twenty-two May Street, Worcester, Massachusetts.
[We congratulate Mr. Chamberlin and Lord C3bham, and their collaborators, American and English, on their high- spirited and valuable scheme. We trust that it will be a 2-reat success and that it will be imitated by other counties and towns.—En. Spectator.]
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