Up to the present the white
powers have been oppressing the coloured races, and through exploitation of the
latter have enjoyed luxury and prosperity.” Ishihara considered that German-Japanese co-operation the only step to
save Germany from total collapse and an effective step for Japan to arrest the
advance of the United States, Britain, France and Italy into the Asiatic
continent.
Contemporary national
sentiments have a way of influencing the politics of a country. Gareth was well versed in the reasons for
American isolationism. The depression
of the early thirties caused great hardship with much unemployment and
financial loss in the country. The
Americans blamed this on the failure of the repayment of the war debts and war
reparations. They failed to understand
that insisting on the payments of war debts was causing them far greater loss
than the millions owed to them. It was
not understood that the method of repayment and tariff barriers prevented free
trade and was causing poverty in the countries that they felt owed them
money. When Gareth visited the
Philippines he was to see the problem of this isolationism and political
lobbying. Just prior to the 1932
election Gareth wrote in The Western Mail an article entitled: ‘How America sees the Debts Question’,
portraying her ignorance and mistrust of Europe. The previous year an American Congressman had even declared the
President of the United States was a ‘German Agent’, because he had declared
the Hoover Moratorium. Circumstances of
the financial crisis had forced President Hoover to pronounce this. Franklin Roosevelt bowed to the strong lobby
of farmers and America voted him into power as President of their country.
In the summer of 1934,
Gareth interviewed Randolph Hearst, the newspaper magnate at his home Wales, St
Donat’s Castle, initiating the conversation with the remark: “Was not the Americans’ contribution to the
War millions of dollars, whilst that of Britain and France millions of men?”
He replied that it: “was not their war, but the Allies”. Gareth went on to say that in Wales they
were amused by his remark ‘Welshing on a debt’. His response was that it would be more accurate and more
definitely descriptive to say: “that a
man who had repudiated on an obligation had ‘Englished’ on his debt. It was a phrase devised by Englishmen to
gratify the vanities and prejudices of Englishmen”.