El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-05-12
MAX NORDAU ON AMERICA.
Eventually Europe Will Have to Play
Second Fiddle

| Europe of the future, with her mys.
| ticiSm, quietism and millitariSm, Will
| be sorry place for our incOrri gi BILE
iconoclasts who will not be subject to
doemas of any kind.
Europe herself will in the end also
suffer under these conditions. She is
threatened by the danger of 'osiD Q
her prestige among the continents OF
the globe, and of being sidetracked in
the rapid progress of human develop
ment.
Asia was once the great seat of
civilization, and it was in Assyria and
Babylon that Accadian-Semiticc culture
spoke its last word. Then civilization
emf grated to Europe, and left its farm
err home waste and desolate.
1t does not require a very profound
prophet to see that culture is on the
eve of leaving Europe, Just as $500
years ago it left A STA.
Civilization is bound westward to
America.
On account of certain significant oc-
currences connected with it, the Cuban
insurrection is. from a historic and
philosophic standpoint, the most i'm
BEN given the opportunity to display
the power of that country, which
seemed to be buried in oblivion
Cuba cannot be checked. 1t will
either tear itself loose from Spain or
will liberate the island on it's terms.
You may look for such sequel to the
gallant struggle in the near future. For
Cuba is backed by the opinion and
good will of America, and Europe has
not the strength today to combat
them.
That the United States takes the
party of Cuba is not caused from SYM
patty with the rebels. The condition
of the latter is we'll known in the states
1t is well known that the great ma jOrity
are negroes and mulatOeS, and there
is not much enthusiasm for the colOred
people in America.
What is there, then, to create SYM
pathy for the Cubans?
Their purposes and ambitions? 1t is
true that on their banners are inscrib-
ed the fne-sounding words, Liberty
and independence, but theyare opposed
to labor and culture of any kind.
Their courage? Wherever it is pos
sible they avoid open encounters with
the Spaniards, and prefer to let the
mountains, forests and
swamps and ''Yellow Jack" fight for
them.
If Cuba succeeds in shaking off the
Spanish yoke the island will be''negro-
ized' within generation aud will |
sink to the level of Domingo and |
Hayti. This, surely, no one in North |
America can desire.
When, therefore, the people of North |
America support the Cuban rebels. it
is only done out of illwill toward Eu- |
rope. This ill-will is the impulse which |
has made the Cuban affair landmark |
on the highway of the worlds history. |
Americas unfriendly feeling towards |
Europe mny be explained from the |
psychology of its population. All |
Americans are immigrants or descen-
dants of immig rants who have turned |
their backs on the old continent. They |
did not get along well in Europe
otherwise they would have remained |
to earn a modest living. They were
possessed of intrepid natures, other
wise they would not have undertaken !
their sudden launch into the I'M
known.
Persons Of this character feel them
selves strong, and they never forgive
the old world the hard fate which
drove them from it. Ard when they
prosper in the new world their tempera-
ment is not softened in the least On
the contrary, their success becomes
reproach against the land of their
birth, which denied them this pros
perity.
Only few American still foster
certain respect for Europe These
come to the old world for an education
in art and science, while the cultured
seeks education on the Aero
polls or among the ruins OF the Coli