War comes again

On 20 May 1937 Alexander opened the Peace Committee session of London Yearly Meeting. He reminded his hearers of the Gospel story of Jesus and the rich young man who could not bring himself to give up his possessions and enter a life of voluntary poverty. He applied this to Britain's position as an imperial power, protecting itself by maintaining tariffs against competitors, and holding on to outposts like Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus and Hong Kong. Such clinging to possessions inevitably incited rival powers to make their own claims, and there was a need to break out of the whole predicament.

Alexander was speaking ten days after the coronation of George VI, an event marked by profuse affirmations of loyalty from all parts of the worldwide British Empire, and followed by a month-long Imperial Conference in which the beneficent role of the Empire was reviewed and illustrated. It may well be that Friends felt they had had a surfeit of patriotism, and found Alexander's audacity refreshing.