Evening star., 1895-04-30
country toward the rest of the world. It

country toward the rest of the world. 1t
is not reasonable thing for me to suppose
that after nearly century and quarter
of acquaintance with British methods and
British aims. inhabitants of this country
have not come to a realizing sense of the
way In which England looks upon all ter
ritory that is not yet under her dominion.
John Bull is the same today, in 1885, as he
was in 1775. Nothing in the meanwhile has
occurred to change the character of his
disposition. He Is the same grasping,
greedy, clever fellow-always ready to
enlarge his territories and his power. He
looks upon America with the same eyes
today that he did when we were a band
of colonies, Independent in every particular
except in fact, and though he is little
more cautious in his aggressions in Mic
aragua he is playing the same game that
he was then. Has the loss of the American
colonies altered him in the least in his
attitude toward them? Not at all. He has
come on steadily, enlarging his posts, until
he has nearly surrounded the United States
with chain Of British colonies and pos
sessions. He has continent, Australia
larger in territory than the United States.
He has taken Cyprus, Egypt, countless
islands.
He has squeezed us out of territory on
our western coast, giving him a free sea-
beard on the western edge Of this con-
tiEent. He has bulldozed us out of the
value of our seal fisheries in Alaska. He
would have taken Samoa if it had not been
necessary to fight Germany in order to ac-
complish this. He Is even now trying to
increase his dominion over a large part of
Venezuela. The President of the United
States tried to give him Hawaii, for to es-
tablish the British supremacy over one
island in that group, as was proposed by
the cable concession, would have surely
been to give Great Britain absolute con-
troll of the entire country.
And here, in Nicaragua, and in this
day of enlightenment, we see this same
ration, with its record of centuries.
record of aggression, despotic squeezing of
weak nations, bul1doZing, braggadocia, at
tempting to obtain a foothold in a land
where the interests of the United States
are paramount To let Great Britain Sc
cure this privilege now would be to give
her control of American commerce and to
jeopardize almost every American interest.
1 do not believe that the American people
are ninnies. and cannot see these things as
they really are. l do not think that they
have become arrapt asses and are pur-
blind to the-commonest principles of pro-
lection and precaution.
The Flinsy Pretext.
Nor do think there is a man living in
this country today who can read who does
not laugh to scorn the pretext that Great
Britain is making today that she has any
thing like case against Nicaragua. The
cause of the present controversy is shall
low. flimsy and nonsensical. 1t is SO pal
pably q case where a great, big. strong fell
low has deliberately put a chip on his
broad shoulder, and, when the little fellow
has not knocked it of has shaken it off
himself in order to pick quarrel The
Nicaraguan government found this man
Hatch fomenting strife among the Indians
and negroes on the Mosquito coast He
was a plain, ordinary citizen. probably an
adventurer. To be sure, he might have
teen British consul, il Great Britain had
appointed him such, which she had not
done, and he might have been recognized
those
If Nicaragua had issued to him an eXequa-
tur, which she had not OF course there
was within him the possibility of being OF
great Importance, which, unfortunately for
the position today, he was not He was
taken away from the territory where he
was causing trouble. just as this govern
ment would take him away from region
where he was fomenting sedition, and sent
out of the territory. He was not punished,
he was not hanged, nor was he treated
with any great indignity. His case pre-
sents none of the elements of severity
shown in the case Of Mr.. Waller, who has
been sentenced to twenty years of impris-
onment by French court-martial.
The British Pride Sadly Hurt.
"Yet this simple act Of precaution by this
weak, defenseless nation has so wounded
the British pride has so harmed the pres
tige of the great English nation, and has
so besmirched and bedraggled the dignity
Of the empire, as to have inflicted damages
On Great Britain amounting exactly to s15,-
COO. Now, this sum Is merely the amount of
the pecuniary value Of the injury done to
the sensitive British feelings. Great Bri-
tain distinctly says that she will put aside
for the present, to be adjudicated later, the
consideration of the damages inflicted on
Mr.. Hatch and his property. That, you will
mind, is side issue, an unimportant, in
significant question. But the nation, how
ever has been wounded. in pride and spirit
$4,000 worth. and England says to Mic
aragua: If you don't pay I'll take posses
sion of you. If you don't satisfy this claim
for an insult under which the entire British
nation is bursting with anger. we'n seize
your coasts, destroy your commerce, pill
lage your towns. perhaps Well kill few
thousand Of your people incidentally while
We are doing this. but at any rate, we'll
have satisfaction for this horrible affront
you have given U.S.
"Why, do you know. II any American cit
izen were to set up such plea as that in
any court of the land he would be laughed
at by judges and by jury, and would be
driven from the court house with his cause
ground to powder. If the President of the
United States in his private capacity should
thus automatically set up such a plea for
damages to his personal character and dig
nifty he would be sneered at from one end
of the land to the other, just as I know
the American people are today sneering
at Great Britain for its childish, puerile,
weak excuse for q belligerent attitude to-
ward this defensefess country.
Enough Spirit in AIAerica to Protest
~ think there is enough American spirit
in the American people to put a stop to
this proceeding. G>eat Britain is not going
to stop it of her own volition. Somebody
has got to step in and be disagreeable, and
this seems to be a very good opportunity
for the United States to assume that role
I think there is a spirit abroad in the land
that would insure ready response to any
call that might be made for aid in sustain
ing such an attitude by Congress as I have
in mind. OF course, war with Great Britain
is possibility. has always been possi-
bility since 1916, and is today not SO remote
a possibility as many may think. I do rot
know absolutely what Congress will do, but
if it should turn out that this administra-
tion has acquiesced in the British position
1 am afraid something very decisive will
be done.
'I fear that something quite unpleasant
may transpire, something that might dis
turb the pleasant surroundings Of Mr.. Bay
ard in London, to interfere maybe with the
pleasant social relations Of our minister
there with his royal friends. I trust it will
not be necessary, to do this, but there is
little known today to warrant the belief
that something may not have to be done
to disarrange the very comfortable sur
roundings of the American ambassador at