The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-01-07


guriennes.
One Of the loudest complaints Of NJ. de Moli-
mari is against the advertisone Mt mania. From
the moment he left New York, "Sozodonr
and "GargllnR OIL" pursued him like night
mares. Wherever ho went, he could not look
at a tree, fence, rock, or anything else with
out these two enemies appearinf before him.
Aside from this. however. his excursions to the
mines OF New Jersey, to DIltimore and Washing
ton give him an opportunity to make some very
complimentary remarks. lie admlres our rail-
roads, hut aflirms that their speed Is far below
that OF European roads. lie acknowledges that
our engineers are the most ingenious In the
world but he believes that we are Indifferent
chemists. He Is delighted with the courtesy he
met wherever he went. and Is loud In pr ises Of
the officials OF Washington. who. he asserts,
have nothing OF tho naughty and disgusting ar
rogance Of French officials. West Point has
quite enchanted him, aud leads him to a lengthy
discussion concerning Irritation 10 general and
the respective modes in which young men and
girls are brought up In the Old ana In the New
World. Being essentially a free trader, and an
advocate of the system of tItsscs Jdtre, he would
have been YER, Illogical had ne not approved the
freedom enjoyed by young people In this coun-
try.
the Falls OF Niagara, Montreal, Quebec, and
even spent Sunday ln a small Canadian vlll,se.
with Niagara he Is delighted but be objects to
the annoying charges made on every bridge you
have to pass, at every SPOT where you wish to
stay. Cinadi fares rather badly 10 his hands.
lie Is pleased with the country and Its people
hut he is In despair the bad French spoken by
the French population, and laments over tn
excessive Influence Of the priesthood. 1t Is evil
dent that NJ. de Moinarl ia not much of a de-
scriptve writer, aud 1t is but Just to say that he
never attempts to describe either scenery or
people. lie saw great deal In the short time
he spent In this country, but he ovods making
literary capital out of what he has seen. The
popular English novelist, william Black, who
visited US lately aud spent less time here than
VI. dc Molinar did, Is said to have collected ma
terials for several novels. Bat the Belgian
economist has no such aspiratil ms. He Is n
matter of. fact man, and WRITES In the stylo nat
ural to sucn men. Everything that Is OF CON-
mon utility interests him; all the rest he passes
by. He dismisses the beauties Of Niagara In
one sentence; but he will give two or three
pages Of description to the Grand Union Hotel
at Saratoga. IL would seem that upon the
whole he IL satisfied with the American plan Of
hotel keeping.
After two DAYS residence ask one OF the four
boOkkeepers at the Grand Union for my bil..
get Of with ten-doll.r tin. and that Is re lily
rttnark ,bly cheap. | had two mics OF bail
rooms, ten acres Of carpet, four ecv itors. three
meals "A day with eighty nve dishes IN each. a
concert IN tue afternoon. AID a ball IN The even
ing All that for five doll "a a ~, Il true
mat my vi ties were not ch ingeJ at dinner that
my napkin -sembiei a iudkefchief. that my
room was never made, and my boots never Dol
l-heo But all these IRE details. and the Grant
Union must he, notwithstanding that. declared
a col0ssi' mandatory OF comfort. aud Que OF
the most 'haracl eristic crea ions VI the Amer
can genus.
OF American politics the author speaks but
very little. He merely reprints tho two plat
forms for the odihcation OF the re ,ders OF the
Journal des Dtbdp, and adds that, notwithstand-
lug all the talk about reform, he Is afraid neither
Hayes nor ridden Will be able TO improve the
state OF AFFAIR.", the OF the evil lies In the
defects and wees OF American Institutions. 1t
aust not be supposed, however, that N. de Mol
mari Ia supporter of the monarchic Il principle.
His sympathies are with republican government
and democracy, but he seems 10 believe that
both OF them have been ruined In this country.
The American people have certainly uncom-
mon intellectual and moral qualities. They are
enterprising active, ingenious, full OF sound
practical sense. and much more strong-minded
~ the lnanako ment Of their commercial and pr-
Nate anurs than Is generally supposed in Europe.
Their engineers, their merchants. their manu-
iacturers, and agrculturists would have been
srasps things intuitively and quickly with bis
American eye lie embraces cooly the diff
culiies OF "a situation. and finds almost nvaria-
bly the best way To solve the problem. But the
superiority which he eyinces In the manage
ment OF his business and his private affairs he
LOSES IN public matters. Instead of improving
ITSELF, the Government Of the great republic Is,
WITHIN the last thirty years, steadily rat
INC and eorrupting itself Since the civil war
there mas not been question. political. eco
n"mical. dministratiye. or financial. which the
Americans have not given the most absurd So
tuition. What Is the reason of III To my mind
II Is the total absence of high intellectual Gull
ture, and the miNtugc of prejudice and ronceit
r ~n,u n peen1nts tne from p4EnanIing poiit
cians. they have even political economists; but
they DO not seem 10 DE aware thar both politics
aud political economy are sciences, which. like
mechanics, have. first. principles. invariable and
undltOrdble, and from which nations oan no
more depart In America than in Europe If Won
speak 10 them OF these principles they will not
listen 10 you. for they have inlbihed with their
mother milk the idea that they the great o
est nation IN the world, and that American
institutions are the last words of human wis
dom.
great merit OF NJ de Mollnari IL that he il
little inclined to generalize. Passages like the
foregoing are not numerous in his book and
were mostly written either on board the City Of
Atlanta on his way to Charleston or on board
the Labrador on his way home. He INDUCED in
them evidently because he had nothing else 10
do. whenever he WAS on terra arma he pat his
speculations aside, and tried to See the most he
could. He travelled more In three months
throughout this country than many an American
would in his whole life. Savannah. Charleston.
Atlanta, Mobile, New Orleans. the Mississippi
river, ST. Louis. Chicago, Boston, were all visited
for a day or two. That a dying Journey Of thi,
description should have resulted in but bird -
eye view book l. quite natural and A. long AS the
book is fair and sympathetic in It's appropriations
We have no fault To find with thu auth.rs- Ia