Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-12
Mr.. Macdonald's Stirring Plea.

II the English language-even with
a Scottish accent-still has the power
to charm and compel, Mr.. Macdonald's
speech before the Foreign Policy Asso-
citation in New York last night Is en-
titled to imperishable distinction in the
annals of oratory in our common
tongue.
Radio is made for just such epochal
occasions. 1t would have been a thou
sand pities If the prime minister's bril-
liant. earnest and persuasive plea for
world peace had been listened to by
only the narrow audience which saw
him make it. Millions of Americans
must have been his invisible auditors,
and If Britons interest in their pre-
mier's mission to 1.-The States" induced
Of 2 o'clock this morning, British time,
innumerable Of his own people were
edited by as scholarly and statesman
like an address as has fallen upon
English-hearing ears in long time.
1t was when Mr. Macdonald argued,
almost vehemently, against the theory
that he and President Hoover had
sealed an Anglo-American alliance that
the Labor statesman was at his best.
1t is mot to enthrone peace on the
Atlantic" purely between themselves,
that Britain and America have come
together this month, but to enthrone
peace throughout the world" the pre-
mier affirmed. His thrust was directed.
he fiatly explained. at all and sundry
everywhere who "have no conception
Of the new spirit that is making I'D its
mind to rule the world" That spirit,
Mr.. Macdonald told his cheering Amer
lean audience on Manhattan Island.
is the spirit Of determination to bring
about moral disarmament" as the
precursor Of physical disarmament"
and Of the abolition Of war among men.
The British prime minister, in his
hnal public utterance in the United
States, has wholesome word Of fare.
well to US, as well as a message for his
own people. Rome was not built in a
day, he reminds us. The tree of under
standing which Mr.. Hoover and he have
planted must have time to take root, to
grow, to branch out. In Britain,s case.
Mr.. Macdonald reminds us, "the British
Navy Is Great Britain ITSELF" Her peo.
pie. reared since immemorial times with
the tang Of the sea In their nostrils, are
not easily to be weaned from their be-
lief that without powerful feet there
can be no Britannia.
The British government now proposes
to cut down that sure shield" Mr..
Macdonald related last night how even
British dockyard workmen, confronted
with inevitable loss of livelihood, are
bravely holding up his hands In the eff
fort to effect world naval limitation as
the curtain raiser to world peace. The
prime minister's plea for patience on
the part of his own people while ire
furnishing the national mind" on the
subject Of rlavies as bulwarks Of ma
tional security has its message for u.s.
too.
The American Navy is no less vital to
the safety and tranquility Of the
United States than Britains armada is
to the tight little islands in the North
Sea. Parity with the British feet is
held by the Government and people Of
this country to be a sine qua non t.
that safety and tranquility. Parity is
on the way. There should be sedulous
and concerted effort to see that nothing
impedes its progress.