Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (June 30, 1901)
PQ5ED FOR THE. ' &E.E. BY BOSTWlCK.jJ Wave of Adulation for America Has Engulfed England 10ND0N, Juno 13. (Special Corre spondence of Tlio Hot-.) With tho Fourth of July ho near one can think of no subject moro fascinat ing than the changed sentiments to ward America and her peuplu of those from whom, at tho Hword's point, the colonics won their Independence. And this is for tunate, because Just at the time this letter is written there lias been such n succession of rcmnrkablo occurrences, beginning with tlio Investment by Andrew Carnegie of $10, 1)00,000 of American money In Scottish edu cation and ending in the double triumph of our countrymen at Epsom Downs, with tho receptions given to representatives of tlio Now York Chamber of Commerce coming In hotwecn, that It would bo difficult for an American visitor to London to Ignore this subject. Heally there lias been in theso weeks a new apotheosis in England, and tho gods beforo whom tho English people are bowing down, who are they, do you think but our own modest selves? If hcro after American visitors do the least thing to merit tho thread-worn English fling at Yankeo loudness nud boastfulness, who will bo to blamo? To stand so much adulation ono must bo more than human. My own humility never had such a shook. To crown their other tributes and favors the pcoplo of this realm ought now, In final proof of their regard, to put a new petition in their prayer book, asking that wo who are hero... and arc compelled to sco ourselves from tho English viewpoint, may not be unduly puffed up. Olil 1'liriiNc, ,i-tv Mi'iinliiK. "Tho American Danger," a phraso with which tho papers over hero have made us very familiar, has now an altered signifi cance for some of us. Originally It meant tho peril to which English trade la exposed by American competition, nnd tills "Ameri can Peril," wp have b"en repeatedly assured, is moro to bo dreaded than "tho Yellow Danger from the East ' Does this mean, 1 wonder, that wo are worse than tho plague, or docs it merely mean that wo nro harder to control than tho plague? Not that it matters in tho least, for to Americans win aro In England Just now to see for them selves what Is going on, "Tho American Danger" means nothing moro nor less than tho danger to which Americans aro exposed, owing to the recent "Hop" In their favor of England and all things English, of thinking altogether too much of themselves. Even tho weather seems to havo come our way. It Is typically American, and oven moro so, as mo might expect, for whatever Is an Imitation Is sure to bo somewhat exagger ated. Anil, would you believe it, thero have been nothing but bright skies nnd genial warmth In London since that gift by which three wccKh ago Andrew Carneglo no com pletely "Americanized" the Scotch universi ties. KiiKllNltnion mill IIiiIiIIh. Thus nt lasl Is thero a chance for the average Englishman to emancipate himself from ono of tho things which must surely have been a serious handicap In tho race for tho world's markets, I refer primarily to his umbrella, but Incidentally, also, to that alternative fad of his, tho walking stick. Tho proverbial English dictum on this subject, based on the emotional ten dencies of tho English barometer, has si ways been, "Ho sure to take an umbrella when It doesn't rain please yourself when it does." Hence tho Englishman and his umbrella, or tho alternative to it, have be come Inseparable companions, with tho re sult, of course, that he has been to that extent weighted In his struggle for com mercial supremacy. In other words habit has forced him n very trlval habit I grant to think so much of himself and his be longings that ho has not been nblo to think so much ns his rivals havo of what ho must do next, In a business way, If ho would keep up with tho procession. A trivial mat ter to mention that I've admitted yet oven so light n thing as a feather may show which way the wind Is blowing, and no lees docs this ono little tendency lot us Into tho secret of England's relative backward ness at this time In realms of enterprise which formerly wero all her own. It Is nil tho result of habit. She Is too set in her ways, too much attached to old customs, too considerate of forms, too careful of her dignity, too afraid of getting a little wet, too determined to carry on business In Just tho way In which she has always done It In other words, too much attached to her umbrella and walking stick. Swret Soiikn of l'ralac. To tbla charge tho English people them selves are pleading guilty, and no American pon could ever set forth moro strongly than thoy tho Inferiority of their own methods to ours or tho urgent need there Is for the old mother to wake up and at the opening of the now century take a leaf out of the wonderful book opened !n tho laBt century by her onterprislng daughter. It used to bo that if tho American people wanted any thing very good said of them over horc, they had to say It thomselvcs, and every body knows that to tho emergency thus created by an unapprcclatlvo British public, American visitors, as a rule, wero more than equal, nut what a chango! Now all ono has to do Is to Just sit still, keep ciio's mouth shut and listen to nothing but the big brass band of British adulation from rosy morn till dewy eve. From tho president of the Hoard of Trade speaking beforo Parliament and Justifying tho gov ernment In buying American locomotives on tho ground that they are better nnd cheaper than those mado In England, nil tho way down to thoso nowspaper writers who, npropos of America's double triumph at Epsom, aro asking "Is England going to tho dogs?" thero is only ono tuno kept up. Thero are, however, two strains In this tune, and I am wicked enough to con fess that my chief amusement for some tlmo has Veen an effort to determine which strain Is produced with tho greater fre quency, tbat In which the pcoplo simply bemoan thrlr own former stupidity, or t.iat which so heartily Insists that hcrcaftci nothing mi'Pt Biifllco but tho adoption as quickly ns possible of thoso trndo ideals which havo et long dominated In tho United StntcB. Why The) Submit. Tho moro circumstance that recently tho Massachusetts Institute- of Technology hold in Iondon nn entrance examination would of itself bo scarcely worth noting. What gavo significance to It was tho significant commont It solicited from tho London press. In nil branches of technical training tho English, upon their own repeated confes sions, aro so far bohlid us as to bo posi tively ashamed of themselves. To show, too, how deep Is their present feeling of humiliation and how sincere they are In wanting to learn from us how to do things, some of the papers Indulged comments like this. "Perhaps," they said, "this tempting of English pupils to American schools Is a good thing for us. Wo must not forgot that Germany got Its lessons In commercial en terprise by sending young men to bo trained In tho business offices of London, and possi bly wo could not In turn moro surely pro vldo for our own commercial future than by encouraging tho youth of England to go for a few years of training to the United States." ICIiiK Win KtllHod. This reminds mo of the reception London has Just given to tho representatives of tho Now York Chamber of Commerce. It will bo a back- number by tho tlmo this is read nnd only for my conceit pardonable to un Amorlcan sojourning Just now In England In thinking I have something new to say about It, I should not dare even an allusion to such ancient history. Dut you perhaps heard that while these men wero bore they wero "patronized" In various ways by tho royal family, the lord mayor and others. That, I am sure, Is tho expression that would bo used If the news was sont In tho stereotyped English form. But don't be lieve such nonsonse all tho "patronage" was the other way about. Not tho slightest disrespect la Intended to tho genial king or tho lovely queen, for both of whom I havo a regard which Is up to the full limit of what any citizen of a republic ought to feel for crownod heads. All the same, though, It Is my persuasion that Edward and Alexandra wero Just as glad to see theso leaders of American flnanco ns the men were to see and talk with them, and I cannot doubt that when tho king looked at them, as samples of tho kind of men that had pushed American trade so far ahead of England's, ho felt as little llko condemning them ns Lincoln felt like condemning Ornnt upon tho complaint that ho drank n great deal of whisky, but was rather Inclined, like Lincoln, to ask them what brand of brains and enterprise they employed, so that Inter on ho might give a pointer or two on how to do things to thoso heads of British trade which aro now so painfully realizing for tho first tlmo their Ignornuco and tnclllclency. ('mine fur 4iiMiil-iiliii-il Comment. All this Is In perfect good nattiro on my part, but really the chango of sentiment toward America and her pcoplo has been bo great In this country In recent months, and was ho strikingly emphasized by the visit of those Now York magnates, that one can scarcely descrlbo It without seeming to chuckle over It. One writes, too, with tho four that because he cannot help being n little playful on such a subject, ho may bo suspected of exaggerating and may not be taken seriously. Hut It is a fact that, far from tho New York visitors receiving "patronage," they throw this nrtl clo about In great big, sugar-cooteil chunks wherever they wont. And this was Just tho thing to do. It was what the situation called for, and the fact that these shrewd business men so quickly sighted the mark and then bo efficaciously hit It, wns onother Instanco of Amerlcnn versa tility. It showed, too, In what great kind liness wo enn act toward pcnnln after wo've licked them. Altogether It was very umusliig, and yet It had its impressive feature, nnd did not In the least tend, 1 can assure you, to lesson one's estimate of what It means In these days to have the Stars and Stripes for one's Hag. What theso visiting millionaires found was that John Bull was on l lie steel of repentance bemuse he has learned so poorly the latest devices In making biiKimss go. It was evident In every paper they read and in ovory conversation they held that this hitherto self-atislled and rather conceited old gentlemnn was quite out of the notion of himself nnd was having a lit of tho blues. Ho was taking on quite seriously because ho didn't know any moro and hadn't done any better, and was wondering, iib many a man does when pride or self-will gets n sudden shock, what would become of him In the future. In saying thai this was what thcBo men found when they reached England, ono docs not exaggerate in the leant, and in proof of this one might put In tho witness stand, not only these men them selves, but every slnglo London editor and almost every mnn who about that tlmo was discussing current business conditions from English platforms. Nnturnlly, therefore, the ono call upon these Influential New Yorkers was for word of friendly rcas suranco, and with tho true American genius for doing tho right thing in the right way, thoso wero tho sort of words they began at onco to utter: Knuluiiil'n Nun Not HrttiiiK. "Don't bo so frightened," I hoy mild. "After all this Is n great country. Don't bo down-hearted, old man. Don't think thai tho star of England Is going to set. Wo'vu beaten you In some things that's truo, but that's only a rcnBon why you should pull yourself together and go Into tho bnttlo with moro vim. Ix)ok at u," thoy said; "aren't wo of tho same blood with your selves?" So did they express themselves in substance, and then their pointed query was. "If this spirit of triumphant enter prise is In tho blood of tho duughtcr, why Isn't It also In tho blood of the mother?" And this last remark seemed to suit tho patient better than anything, If ono may Judge from the editorial comments upon it. "Yes, Indeed," replied thctm good-natured knights of the English quill, "that's Just the point to tie to. It Is tho onergy and adaptability of the Anglo-Saxon that havo done these great things for Amorlca; now let us bo encouraged by this to mako an other supremo elfort ourselves, for aren't wo also of this great raco?" And so, since then, John Bull has been feeling better, lie is more hopeful, dear old man, and I'm glad of It, for I never saw him so really down In the mouth beforo. But one re flects again, what n chango! For It Isn't so very long since this "snmo blood nnd same raco" argument wiib brought Into frequent service by tho leaders of pub'l thought in England In qulto u dlffeiont way 'I'll Mr I'l-nm Inn-iillyi'il. They used to wonder whal would become of us. Tho experiment of iL iimciaey. how would It turn out? Badly, they feared, badly. Yot, wo were Anglo-Saxons and we ought to know how to me freedom, whether wo did or not. Tho civil wnr and Its great Issues nspoclally Its IsRiirs of bitterness how eould theso ever adjust themselves to a common ling? Thlr would surely take general Ions, if not ages. Yet, uftor all, was thero not Homo hopo, for Isn't It ono of tho trails of tho Anglo-Saxon to mako tho best of defeat, and Isn't ho nlBo In vlclory u generous foo? Our working class population with tho ballot In Its hands in a country which was not so law-abiding as It should be, how win that ominous peril to lie avoided? Pioliably It wouldn't bo; probably thero would be a lovolutlon nnd all sorts of bad things. Yet wo might be saved, oven though It wero by tho Bkln of our teeth. And, of course, If wo were tho saving salt In our national makeup would be that wo belonged to tho same raco with tho law-abiding people of Orcat Brltnln nnd Irelnnil. So this "snmo raco samo blood" nrgument used to serve tho turn of theso English editors In tho yenrB gone, nnd perhaps, ndmlnlstered nnd brought to hear by them ns It wiib bo un remittingly In every tlmo of real or Imagi nary need pcrhnps under tholr wlso and beneficent publication It did n good turn now nnd then. But, O, tho whirligig of tlmo, what changes It brings, for behold now theso snmo editors bolstering up tholr own hopes by tho Identical nrgument which In years gone they ho mngnanlmmnly throw nut for our salvation! Then, Amerlcn's chnnco was In tho fact that In descent sho was English. Now England's chance Is In tho fact that, If sho only knew It, nho In In spirit nnd capability American! So thoy nro tnlklng and writing over hero nt tho present tlmo nnd ovnryono will nd mlt. that this altered condition of things, whllo It certnlnly ought not to awaken In Amerlrnns any feeling that Is not generous, Is still not n matter for any apologies on our pnrt either on thn glorious Fourth or nny other day. W'lii-n Joli ii Hull UiiIm-iiiIn. nut, ns I Bald nt tho beginning, It Is bo dallghtfu lo bo hero nnd nbsnrvo all these things for one's self. John Hull Is very plensant when ho unbends n llttlo, nnd that ho has been doing Intely more than a llttlo. Ills sentiments toward America and the Americans are the quintessence of nmln blllty. If our government wants to strlko him for anything big now Is tho tlmo to do It. pass tho collection box whllo the feeling Is high. From thin tlmo on Eng lish nobles will bo more than ever In love wiib Amerlcnn dollnrs so look mil, girls' One reason why tho English llko us better than they did Is that they are coming Into closer conlnct with us In international politics. Another Is that we Hhowed them ft few years ngo thnt we knew how lo light Thoy like lighters, although It doesn't np pear Just now that they nro much of n success In thai lino themselves. But they'll round up the line nil right, never fear, If you only give them time enough. Isn't that a snre jirophery? This reminds me thnt John Hull's presont amiability may bo duo In boiiio measuro to his humiliation nt not being nblo to van quish In shorter time an enemy which In numbers Ih ho Inferior to himself. Only that tho Boith came so near beating him In battlo who knows that this proud pcrsnn ng) would have acknowledged ao graciously that America has beaten him In tho nronn of commerce. But ns It Ih, thn situation Ih simply delightful, for theso English nro bo very generous and noblo when they onco get ntarted that way. HENRY TUCKLEY.