The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-01-30

they had been at it ever since the days
| when Blaine was the idol of large part
| of the Republican party. They had APP
piled themselves to their work, not only
| without any attempt at concealment, but
with studied ostentation. Now and then
| they fired trial shot, as for instance in
| the CHILEAN incident, and then pretty EN-
| phatic protests came from some quarters.
Upon the whole, however, public opinion
| looked on all the while more than compla-
| Gently, probably considerably less so than
! the operators believed or pretended to be-
| lieve, for, to judge the history of this
whole movement correctly, the old truth
must never be lost sight of that one man
| who roars makes more noise than a thOus-
| and that keep silent. Still, the talk about
a vigorous foreign policy" in the news
papers would not have grown into clam
| or for an aggressive foreign policy" if
| the editors and correspondents had not
| been right in assuming that they were
pleasing the majority of their readers.
Mostly it consisted of rather inarticulate
effusions, but the very failure to state
with any defniteness and precision what
was meant by an aggressive foreign pol
icy" did the best to captivate the public
ear. The notion spread and took even
deeper root that the Nation owed it to
| itself to give the world some dazzling OBJ
| ject lessons of its greatness and power.
| 1t was forgotten that this greatness and
power had been achieved not only with
out taking part in international pyro-
technics, but exactly by the wise policy to
! abstain from INDUCING in this expensive
luxury.
The conception of true National great
ness was being dimmed by the craving to
make striking displays of might. A mil
dew began to creep over the bright petals
of the glorious tower-National pride.
Slowly but steadily an insidious sweet
the political thought, but also deeper
down into the political sentiment; the in
Stinctive tendencies were getting vitiated.
If this were not checked betimes it had
inevitably to lead to the worst-the con-
taminatiOn of the political conscience.
Nor could the dire effects of all this be
confined to international relations.
HATRED AND JEALOUSY OF ENG
| LAND.
In sense it was piece of great good
fortune that England offered tempting
opportunity to make her the target of the
aggressive policy, the people were said to
be so anxious to see inaugurated. Moth
ing else could have brought matters so
quickly to a head and revealed so dras-
tically the inclined plane on which we
were smoothly gliding down. Will any
body seriously contend that France would
have called forth an identical dispatch
from Mr.. Olney and an identical message
from the president if her attitude in her
boundary dispute with Brazil had been
| exactly the same as that of England in
her controversy with Venezuela, or that
the secretary of state and the president
would have met with the same response
from public opinion? England is DEEM
ed by the American people the only real
rival of the United States, their only
peer-of her they are jealous and against
her they bear the most and the deepest
grudge-other nations they like, dislike, or
are Indifferent to. England alone they
hate, because they can not help loving
| her, for the basic elements of the nation
al life are English-the thought of humii-
ating England exercises and irresistible
fascination upon them, because her alone
they respect as an equal.
| The magic phrase, Monroe doctrine"
would have kindled their enthusiasm un-
der any circumstances, but it was in
stantly at a white heat because the thun-
| derbolt was hurled against England. Vol
| umes could be filled with irrefutable
proofs for this assertion. The vehem-
| ence with which the food was made to
burst forth by the interfering of the pas
| sion against England, carrying everything
| down before it-iOgic, sense OF justice,
self-respect, respect for the very vital
principles of our national life--was APP
palling.
The communication from the public to
the papers teemed with impassioned re-
| minders of all the sins of England and
| especially of all the evil she had done
| to the United States-as if that was in
| contestable proof that she was wrong in
this case, that the claims set up by our
government were well founded, that its
| policy subserved our interests. Irish pa
| triots publicly announced their eXuta-
| ton over the prospect of getting chance
| to wreak their vengeance on England
| and ever so many papers printed the de-
| clarations as gladstone tokens of the right
| spirit without remembering that by his
| oath of allegiance to the United States
| the adopted citizen is enjoined from try
| ing to use the United States as a club to
settle the domestic accounts of II foreign
country. In the face of the presidents
official statement that he is without any
| conviction as to the final merits of the
| dispute" a historian of reputation (NIc-
| MASTERY wrote that great Britain is today
| attempting to take from Venezuela, not
10000 square miles, as is commonly
stated, but 100000 square miles, to
| which ''she has not just claim whatever"
and that even to aspire to it ''rightfully"
would bring her under the ban of the
| Monroe doctrine, and such enunciations
| were extolled by leading papers as the
classical exposition of this national shib-
| boleth. Tho those who dared to question
| its applicability to the case in hand there
was at first but one answer: anathema
| maranatha. The right to have an opin-
| ion of ones own was prescribed and the
| brand of reasonable" attached by
many a patriotic editor to the names Of
those who had the hardihood to exercise
it.
Even congress was denied the right to
pause, examine, deliberate, and there was
indeed not one man either in the house of
! representatives or in the senate to stand
up against the popular torrent and raise
| his voice above its roar to remind the peo-
PIE that discussion, the free exchange of
| opinions, is the very foundation of the re-
p6blic. When the country was startled
by the loss of untold millions in two days,