Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-21
WAR BAN IS SEEN
IN FOREIGN TRADE
Sir ESme, at New York Din
ner, Says U. S. Friendship
With Britain Grows.
spscIal Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, February 21.--After a
vivid description Of the changes that
had come over Anglo American relations
in the last 35 years, Sir Esme Howard
retiring British Ambassador to the
United States, declared last night that
considerations of overseas trade were
the surest guarantee against war be-
tween the two countries. He spoke at a
farewell dinner given in his honor at
the Plaza by the Pilgrims Of the United
States.
war between any two countries, he
suggested, was fomented largely by the
secretaries of state and "a bakers
dozen of the most belligerent Journal
lists" on either side. The basis of his
belief that even closer friendship would
grow between the United States and
Great Britain lay in the abandonment
of the English attitude of indifference
toward and ignorance of the United
States. and in the fact that twisting
the lions tail was no longer a popular
pastime here, even during presidential
elections.
SCOTS idea Of War.
He secuted the idea that the two
nations would hnperil by war a foreign
trade amounting to nearly $50, 600, 00O,-
600 annually, and points out that the
disastrous economic results Of the loss
of that trade would far outmeasure any
possible economic or territorial gain.
Sir Esme said that when he first Wis
tied the United States 35 years ago, he
found hospitality and friendliness for
the individual Englishman but an open
and undisguised suspicion of England
and everything British. On the other
hand. to the ordinary British politician,
diplomat and journalist of that time the
United States vas as far of as Mars
and the general attitude toward the
United States was one of complete ig-
norance and incredible lack of interest 81
This attitude was well summed up
Sir ESme said, in a remark in a letter
from Sir Arthur Hardinge to Sir Cecil
Spring Rice, who had applied for an
exchange to Washington, that the Unit
ed States was so of the line"
That was distinctly dangerous sit
| uation," Sir Esme said, but it has ma
terially changed in the last Is years,
owing, think, largely to the great
war. That terrible earthquake shook
us up together as perhaps nothing else
could have done"
Then the settlement Of Ireland and
the funding of the British war debt
contributed not little to improve the
sentiments Of most Americans toward
my country" Sir Esme said. "I be-
came aware of this improvement when
first arrived here as Ambassador. 1t
was just one of those imponderable
elements of political life which one
breatheS with the air. remember
mentioning my belief IN the general
improvement in our relations to q most
distinguished American at the height of
the controversy over the Geneva naval
conference Of unhallowed memory and
saying that did not for that reason
regard the aftermath of that confer
writer's seemed to think. He smiled and
said, I believe you are right. I re-
member my old grandfather never had
a good word to say for the British"
After pointing out the direct de-
pendence OF the two countries on each
| others exports and imports, Sir ESme
went into the possible grounds of con-
fiict, declaring that industrial competi-
ton and the struggle for foreign mar
kets were simply fantastic" aS grounds
for war.
:, What other grounds for conflict ex-
| ist?" Sir ESme asked. Does any one
in this country believe that Great Brit
ain has any hankering for territories
OF this country? If he does, he is quail
flying for the nearest lunatic asylum. "
Doubts Sea Rights Are an Issue.
Sir Esme was not prepared to grant
that neutral rights at sea could be a
war issue, and insisted that "other
pressure would be suficient to make
belligerents desist from improper inter-
ference with American sea-borne trade. ~
Sir Esme commended his successor,
Sir Ronald Lindsay, to the good graces
of his audience, as once who also had
sat at the feet of ViScount Bryce.
Sir Esme and Lady Isabella Howard
sail for England Saturday morning on
the Majestic.