The sun., 1897-02-22
ME LONDON PHARISEES
,xK GOD THET ARE NOT LIKE
pryTo THESE NEW YORkERs.
Island a.-iauss.iy st.syins Our Ways
v.,,er--some Popular Misceucepttens
-. pr,t,.h Army IL Utterly Vnnt Tor
-, and the Country IL Alarmed About u.

,.,,.r--some Popular Miscencepttens
~. british Army IL Utterly Vnnt nsr
-, and the Country Is Alarmed About st-
os Feb l2.-when the London news
h,vs finished discussing " the pomps and
49,, n, New York society and moralizing
' the average English idea Of life In the
p..,c.n metropolis will be one OF the most
a.-.ou, conceptions which human imagina-
.vsr conjured up. The picture which tho
s,r.rv Landoner now has In bis mind y
s.I.,do.coptc mixture OF Russell sage, eo.iey
a-,.rs. Hetty Green, Bradley Martin oeiis' .
fn.sor.,nd starving women and children. and
Nr,iins OF Rockefellers. It seems most
.ordinary spectacle to the unsophisticated
o,'n noha.rver-e.traortinary simply because
e',,, ,.ell saccs the Seeley dinners. the Hetty
.. the Bradley Martin balls. tho starving
"' nd children and the Rockefellers OF
-, ,ope OF them ever come under his no
A. u,o or the columns OF his daily news
And OF course he assumes that things
rrn,, know about in his own town do not
exist. .,.,s,rx
y. ovsr the manners and customs OF New
Ss,s.rs. and presently they will raise Pharisai-
'sh.rd, and thank God that they are not as
~ men are. The explanation OF the whole
.,,o, lies solely in the fact that the privacy
.,..Aon life OF all classes is In sharp contrast
W. ~. ,ubli,ity OF New York life. London
s'..,. thai in no community on earth Ia life so
,nd Individual independence held 50 sacred
w. ,hi. III. worlds metropolis. II is true
so..,. IL Ss true even TO the extent
~, freedom is safegusrded to the point
:, tres license. Any Londoner Is at liberty
:. s,vs a seeey dinner six times week
gA. chooses. provided the party Is private one
,,d he DOES not disturb his neishbor. Any
rol,e,u,an in London who did what Capt Chap
nan did in New York. on no matter how positive
,.,o,nation. would speedily hnd himself without
.mnlovmenr and heavily mulcted in damages as
.,n Any pr. Rainstord who ventured TO con-
| ,srn in a London pulpit a London fancy dress
S.n .,v,r under private auspices would probably
a. b,m..u in serious difficulties before a
p-t,sh Jury Il Is in fact as great AN offence in
yn,I,,h eyes TO publicly exploit the private
sir. a, an individual as IL would be 10 pick his
| pocket
| It-isips incident will serve TO Illustrate the
.,,r,m.. 20 which English law and custom so
N maintaining the sanctity OF individual free
Srn within its private domicile. Three Ameri-
| ran l.dls- we're living last week In small Lon
| Aoo loIstns house. Tae !andlady got drunk,
| ,na became practically insane in her violence.
| See Possessed herself Ot a carving knife. and
threatened tO Kill everybody in the house. The
lo.tsvrs h1rricaded themselves in their rooms,
and when To.comGn passed the window they
bex1et hinl 10 enter and put the trenzied woman
rnler CONTROL lie expressed his sympathy for
The keleaSuered ladies, but explained TO them
tL..itHou!d BE- impossible for him TO interfere
in sny way until the offender had actually COM
| mitted a telonious assault upon one Of them
The ucman was in her own house, and could do
/. she pleased so far as the criminal law was
Soncernosl so long as she did not actually COM
nit teOly.
Nov there Is nothing tclonious about Seeley
tinEer. or Bradley Martin ball, and In Eng
l.rd. at all events. they are entitled to be let
scrc--lnd they are let alone BY police. clerSJ'
men, and newspapers. 1t IS pity that the two
.sln.,s are coupled in the English mind as they
| ave bcea durins the past month by reason
| .Iply o. coincidence IN the.r discussion by
-. ..ous New York correspondents o! the London
Gswspep pers. /: should be said. by the way. that
i is not with the work OF these correspondents
bat Americans need ind any fault. They
have not Irisrepressnted facts, nor have
their comments On the Shoie bcen unfair
q. rnkinG. IL Is the home commentators
The English editors. who know person
siiy nothing about American lite-who have
been stupid. silly absurd. amusing in
their attempts to seneral!ze upon the foibles OF
New lo-k soy!ety. | referred a week ago 10 the
srutesque deductions which even such usually
sensible men as Ar. Labouchere and Mr.. Jerome
| have drawn from the writings Of New York CORE
spontenis UPON social subjects. II is scarcely &c
lsieared that even the most ignorant London
feadGrs will get the impression that Seeley
t:nner Is iavorite form Of amusement in New
York high life. but there Is great danger that
hey Will TO believe, II they do not already
20 60. tha, social conditions as a whole are tal
worse ia New York than they are in London.
The mos, widely read newspaper in England
he Daily Nal. prints as its leader to-day an
article entitled An Omen for America" In
Which the Bradley Martin ball Il discussed.
! refer 10 il merely because IL emphasizes
ne two commonest fallacies now current 10
Ensland with regard 20 the United States
sArely: In the United States the rich ar,
Hsher and the ponr are poorer than anywhere
t.se. and The poor man believes that he hai
no fair chance o, becoming rich." II scemi
sarceiy worth while to refute either proposition
when the veriest tyro among Observers OF Iocia
Conditions Snows tina. the poor ~ any grea
toun'r- o' Europe are in far more destitutior
Anihe poor in America, and that the opportuni
lies for rising rapidly from poverty to wealth ar,
prorortioaatelg far more numerous in tn,
United states than in England or anywhere II
hsod World. And yet such slandcrous asser
IONS as have quoted arc soiemnly put forth IL
aafye setion Of the English press by men who
would themselves recognize the tnlsity OF them
'hey would but think moment. An after
n"'n IN Lambeth or Whtechapel. followed by
'ae On the east side OF New York. would efYectu
hJ fsillpsioniyc any dogmatic London cdito,
sno now writes nonsense about American socia
conditions
ihe most unpleasant revelation which hai
Ss'aro~i British equanimity in long time wa,
HNe In the House Of Commons this week dur
ING the discussion OF the army estimates. Il
"aVlrtua! confession that British hghtini
pO"erat sea il more than Offset by British i'm
I'snee on land II was, indeed. shameful anC
nAhealoIs array Of evidence which Sir Charles
pnke spread before his countrymen in a speeci
.Rcn may vel! carry CONSERVATION Throughout
VIC british empire. He showed, in a word. upoI
Nstlmony of the highest officials in tn,
"lIuAa war Office, that although the British
mI costs more than any other in the world /
'''ery unnt for war and II the Governmen
suddenly called upon to send troop
,so oa II could not by any possibility provid