The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1943-11-18
Britdin Today
BY SPENCER MILLER, JR.

BY SPENCER MILLER, JR.
Editors No,e-Spencer Miller,
Jr. has just returned from a trip
to England at the imitation Of the
British Ministry Of Information,
endorsed by the United States Office
Of Var Information and carrying
credentials from Governor Charles
Edison Of NeiU Jersey. knO,uing that
labor in America ,v0Uid want his
first hand impression, he has
vritten the folIo,cing article eSpe-
ciolly for the iabOy press.
Britain is a greater place today than
ever before. The spirit of the people is
beyond praise They have passed
through four years of war and now
enter the fifth year with the long night
| ly blackouts They have tasted defeat
on many fronts. But now there is ii
self assurance and a self-respect among
| the NaZi terror alone and unafraid and
from having found new sources of in
nCr strength within their island for
tresS The overwhelming impression of
| Britain today is one of life lived nor
mally and hopefully in spite of the fact
chat a dangerous and reSourceful
enemy is on the other side of the
English Channel.
All the fit men of military age, be-
tween 1911 are at the front or in the
armed services. II is the women, the
old people and the young adoleScent
! boys and girls who are carrying on at
home. One is impressed by the manner
in which women have taken over 50
many of the public services ON the
buses, trucks, trans and in the fac
tories and hotels. To the women OF
Britain some fitting tribute will some
how be paid. They have kept the home
fires burning even as the NaZis tried
to burn and destroy and blast the
homes of Workingmen.
The war crisis has done two notable
things in Britain. First, it has given Il
new emphasis on the worth of the per
son. Life seems more precious even if
| it is being lost daily in battle. Secondly,
it has made men wonder why, if Bri-
tain can afford to spend S3O.OO0OOO a
day on war, it cannot find the money
to build a greater Britain.
In the midst of war. Britain has been
carrying out Il most notable educational
program among the armed forces, not
only to keep UP the morale here AT
i home but to aCQuaint them With the
issues Of the conflict Cromwell said.
Give me the ruSset-coated soldier who
knows what he is fighting for and
fights for what he knows" The plan
for the British army education grew
out of Il proposal prepared by the
Workers Educational Association of
Great Britain. providing for Regional
Committees which would secure no less
than 10000 lectures II month for the
troops. The British Way and Purpose,
and the Army Bureau of Current N-
fairs, are the two parallel programs
now going. which are doing a most
useful work In addition, the Univer-
stiles and Technical Colleges are pro
Viding technical studies for the troops.
The British people as they have eN-
pcriencpd together the agony of the
bombingS with all the widespread de
Struction of life and property, have
come to experience Il deeper sense OF
brotherhood and neighhorlinesS. over
1900 churches of all denominations
have been destroyed in three years.
one result has been Il sharing Of
LII, Il in.l inp
which has suggested that when faced
with Il supreme crisis, narrow denomi-
narionaIsm has little meaning. The
spiritual life of the people has been
deCpened and it too must be reckOned
in aDDraiSing the look ahead.
70 an American returning to liri-
tain in war time there is one dominant
impression which almost OVertopS all
others-the irrepreSSiblo desire on the
part of the people of Britain to know
and understand America today,
As ! stood before Lincoln's statue
opposite Westminster Abbey, ANA
found it cleared of SandbagS it seemed
to me II kind of symbol of the ultimate
triumph of freedom. Lincoln know
fourScore years ago that America could
not endure half slave and half free
We today have come to appreciate
similarly that the world cannot b."
divided between the master race and
the slave. Happily today the cause of
freedom has gathered its fighters, its
workers as we'll rs its martyrs from
all the people and all the corners of
the earth They have become a force
invincble against which the powers Of
darkness beat in vain. In the fulnesS
Of time freedom viii sing again
throughout the world.