The Indianapolis journal., 1896-01-20
WHYWEHATE BRITAIN
CONTINENTAL RACES HAVE MANY
REASONS FOR THEIR FEELING.
American Anfmosity. 1t Is Argued,
Has Less Substantial Basis - Are
We Jealous and Narrows
New York Evening Post.

new 1OIk Evening IoSt.
No one who took the trouble during the
late crisis to look into the jingo mind can
have failed to find, behind all irritation
about the Monroe doctrine or the Venezu-
elan boundary, a deep hatred OF England
and a strong desire to do her some kind
of harm. AS the same feeling is very rife
in other countries-France and Germany.
for instance-it is worth while to examine
its nature and causes.
1t is not difficult to account for 1t in
Europe. No nation there quite likes the
men of any other nation. international
hates or dislikes are the natural result OF
five hundred years of wars, carried on until
very recently with great atrocity, about
boundaries. about titles or for mere glory.
to preserve 1.-The balance of power"
Then differences of manners, and Of stand
ards of morality. and Of religion and trade
jealousies help to keep alive the old preJu-
dices arising out of these wars. 1t is only
ninety years since Nelson taught his mid
dies to fear God. honor the King and hate
Frenchmen' as the whole duty of young
Englishmen.
The great increase in intercourse between
England and the continent has done a good
deal to al.ay these antipathies, but it has
supplied other causes of English unpopu-
larity. notably more extensive contact
with English manners That these are good
even the warmest admirers of England will
not venture to assert. They have for a GEN.
tury played a leading part among the
sources Of anglophobia- The most provoca-
tive feature in them Is the English habit
OF ignoring strangers in places where peo-
PIE are brought into close contact, such as
cafes. restaurants. hotels and public con-
veyances. In all such places few foreigners
ever fail TO acknowledge the presence of
others, not as either gentle or simple, but
as human beings. The foreigner either
bows. or speaks, or indicates by tones or
looks or behavior of some sort that he is
conscious of the presence of fellow-men.
Englishmen are very apt, on the other
hand, to affect absolute ignorance that they
are not completely alone. BY keeping a
close watch on them they may often be
caught taking peep at you, by way of
curiosity, but they instantly avert their
gaze as If taken en- fragrant DELFT in a low
act, like reading private letters. All this
to Frenchman or Italian or South German
is very CALLING or irritating. 1t Is partly due
to shyness, but also party TO the English
fear of making undesirable acquaintances
or, TO put it differently, to an Englishmens 5
assumption of superiority to everybody
whom he does not know. To this must be
added an undeniable superiority to the mass
of cCntinentals in the matter of personal
cleanliness and comfort. OF this matter the
English have for a century madeea careful
study, and foreigners Of the upper class
widely initiate it, but 1t enrages a great
many of the other kind when forced by
English travellers on their notice.
The English differ, too, from the conti-
nenetals in this. that their code of manners
makes no provision at all for strangers.
That is, il does not run, as the convey
ancers say. with the individual himself. but
with his acquaintances. An Englishman
he knows who you are. He owes nothing
to himself in his way of treating you. To
continental, on the other hand, his man.
ners are part of his personal equipment,
like his gloves or his cane. An Austrian or
French gentleman is extremely polite TO
every one he meets, as something due to
himself He behaves this way because this
is the way gentlemen ought to behave. The
Englishman, on the other hand, only con-
siders what the stranger is entitled to III
he cannot tell till he finds out who he is.
and in the meantime he treats him with no
consideration at all.
OF OUR OWN RACE.
Most of these observations, however, will
hardly apply to the American dislike OF
England, for America has the same Ian
guage and, If not the same religion. the
same religious ideas. and, If not of wholly
the same race, thinks she Is. and has had
only one short war with England since the
beginning of the century. Wars. too. which
are carried on between peoples three thou
sand miles apart do not breed the intense
hates excited by an enemy on ones own
borders. Then Americans have but very
slight familiarity with English tr 'ers.
Comparatively very few visit this ry,
and they are apt to be a picked ella 10
come over to marry our rich girls ie,
too, our commerce with England is or
nous, we have little or no commercial rival
nv with her. because the protectionist policy
which has substantially withdrawn US from
the great foreign markets, or at all events,
has treated them as undesirable objects or
search.
quiry as to the cause OF his desire to fight
England is that she Is grabbing" and In
solent." There is certain truth In both
these charges. But her grabbing since
1915 has been. in general, of barbarous coun-
tries. in India or Egypt. or OF savage
countries, as in Africa. In all these cases II
has resulted In the covering with law and
justice and security Of vast populations who
have for ages known nothing or these bless
ings. What Is of more Importance for the
grabbed no territory TO the benefits OF which
she has not admitted all nations on an
equal footing. She has not in recent times
attempted to apply to any or her posses
sions the old theory that colonies exist for
the benefit of the mother country. Trade
and protection are offered to them all on
equal terms. to Americans as well as TO
American enjoys all the rights and privi-
leges which would be given him by Ameri-
can dominion. British conquest is sub
stantially an American conquest without
the expense and worry. Moreover, nothing
has been grabbed from America There
is, and has been, no boundary dispute which
has not been settled amicably. The British
in Canada have been Deaceable and unob-
jectionable neighbors. Any unpleasant
nesses that have occurred have been caused
by. tariffs. and have been easily adjusted
ly interchange incivilities, but they have al
ways been recognized as strictly Journals
tic and therefore, harmless. So that IL
is hardly possible TO find in the grabbing
charge real casus belli-that Is, one or the
motives which make men wish TO Kill their
their land with mourning.
SIMILAR AMBITIONS.
We think it likely that If the secrets OF
all hearts were known. the hostility to
England would be found in the sort of am
bition with which our immense material
development has filled so many people. and
which makes even writers like Captain Ma
han call for a Gibraltar or Malta of our
own, and for keys in all sorts OF out-of-
the-way places by sea and land. The reve-
lation which has come to us since the war
of the extent CT our resources has spread
the idea that to be great Nation, as Great
Britain is admitted to be, we must have a
large number of outlying dependencies and
a very big navy as she has. These things
seem to thousands, If not millions the
only visible signs OF national success, like
the rich mans furniture and costly man
sions' The jealousy of Great Britain ex-
presses itself, therefore. in the eager ex-