The evening times., 1898-06-02
AMERIcAN sUPERI0RlTY.
Reasons WY we Are Able I.
Thrash spain.

We are able to thrash Spain not only
because We ere stronger nation. but
because we area better people. The aver
age American citizen Is more intelligent
than the ayefage Spanish citizen. The,
American Soldier is a-better fighter than
the Spanish soldier. The American sailor
is more plucky. more nervy and has great
er powers OF spduranos than the Span
lard.
Three of Philadeiphia's most distin-
guished ethnologists, men who are de-
voting their lives to science. and more
particularly 6oYfRe study of the human
race. have each rendered an opinion ON
the question Of r0Wparatiye physlognomy
between the American and the Spaniard.
Here is what they have to say on the
subject: -
DR.. Samuel g. Rixon. president Of the
Academy Of Nat&rai Sciences expressed
the following views:
The difference between the Spaniard
and the American is the difference be-
tween the Latin, and the Anglo-Saxon
races, and Is chiefly one Of Temperament.
The average Spaniard is far below the
average AmeficHh In point of education,
nor does he. possess the Judgment and
reasoning po1ess OF the American. He Is
Of more poetic and vivid turn Of mind.
but while these aualities generally stand
for the highest type Of development in
man. it cannot be said of the Spaniard
that his poetic temperament. unapplied
as 1t necessarily Is. in the masses, to any
definite object. stands for moral enlight-
eminent.
In adaptability to different vocations
the Spanish are greatly inferior to the
Americana. who are looked upon as the
most successfully versatile people on the
face of the earth. The Spaniard Is more
passionate and impulsive than the Amer
ican. and Is more liable to act from emo
tional causes rather than from logic.
These characteristics combined make of
him creature Of violent instinct, where
he Is Immediately outclassed by the cool,
determined courage of the American In
matters requiring dispassionate considera-
ton.
1T Is mistake. however to imagine
that conditions Of total Ignorance prevail
throughout Spain. The Spanish as ma
tion show many examples Of brilliant in
tellect. but the masses through lack of
liberal education and climatic conditions.
are not as Intelligent nor energetic as the
races of more temperate zones.
Then. again. the Spanish soldier does
not possess the incentive to fight that is
offered to the American soldier. He 10
half-starved and insufiiclentIy paid. At
the outstart he Is possessed of sufficient
reasoning power to argue against the
chances of his own victory. Once de-
prived of the momentary passionate i'm
pulse that urges him on to some sudden
act of valor. the Spaniard is a sp.ritless
fighter
Prof. Milton Greenman. of wistar In
stitute, University of Pennsylvania, says
of the Spanish physiognomy:
THE Spanish features are typical In a
strong degree OF sensual instincts. and as
itrh ara rtt In,
lence that makes men of steady courage
and good fighting qualities. The Spanish
face lacks keenness. due perhaps to too
easy climate and indolent habits
Among other traits that the Spanish face
denotes Is lack of power of endurance
and notable deficiency in the lines of
determination. By his face the Spaniard
is hot tempered and quick to anger. but
his passion is short-lived and without de-
finite results. According to his physiog-
| Homy the Spaniard is brave only by i'm
pulse. and is not naturally possessed of
the courage to face an enemy on equal
terms or at close fighting quarters"
Dr. William E. Hughes. president of the
Pathological Society. expresses the fol-
| lowing views on the Spanish physiogno-
| my:
Il should say that the difference be-
tween the Spaniard and the American
was one of blood. Climate has made the
Spaniard less energetic member of the
human family than his more northern
orothers.. The. Spanish. +physiognomy is
Indicative OF an impulsive and passionate
character In actual warfare the Span
lard is not. in my opinion a coward or a
/ poor fighter. but 1t requires strong slim
uius OF passiop 10, urge him on. His pow
ers or endurance are also inferior to the
! Americans As Soldier the Spanis ri
makes poor fighter because he lacks
| the ability ta actTin disciplined concert
with his fellow soldiers. In this respect
the Spaniard very closely resembles ,he
French The German soldier who is
merely fighting machine. represents the
other extreme in the display of stoIi1
courage and personal endurance. but the
Germans have skilled officers TO make nm
the deficiency caused by lack Of esprit
ae corps. whefeas the Spaniards, possess
ing a certain amount Of personal bravery
in the shape Of passion. are rendered less
eincient fighters because of a lack of mill
tary discipline and good leaders.
Inc best fighters in the world are the
British and the Americans. It is racial
peculiarity of the Angio-Saxons that they
nave won their battles through personal
valor and intelligence coupled with /,
strict observance of discipline"
History has helped to propagate soma
huge errors with regard to Spanish yaIor
and Spanish chivalry.
III the Moor had not been an inferior
and more voluptuous race than the
Spaniards between the years of 1881 and
1892. Ferdinand would never have plant
ed the standard of Spain on the walls of
Granada. If the inca and the Aztec had
not been weak and defenseless race of
aborigines. Pizarro and Cortez would
never have extended the Spanish domain
as far as the borders Of the Pacific. II
was the identical impotent passion that
now causes the Spaniard to characterize
the Americans as those Yankee pigs"
that brought about the misrule of Spain
over her colonies. Spain has triumphed
over the warm-blooded Moor, over the
naked Indian. over the starving Cuban
There is now an opportunity for the men
who starve their fellow-beings and who
torture cattle and helpless beasts to trv
their hand at the American fighting face.
1t is to be fight between the hero of the
bull ring and the hero of the frontier; be-
tween the lowest. meanest, most brutal
form of unequal combat, between a man
and bull and such types of manhood as
fought with Custer on the, plains. When
IT comes to the real fighting, man against
man. there can be little doubt as to the
results. The Mexican war proved con-
clusively the inferiority of Spanish blood
when compared with the valor of the
Americans.
In the Mexican war there were fire.
Quent instances showing the inability of
the Mexican troops to stand up against
their more sturdy adversaries at close
quarters, thus proving that the man of
Southern climes lacks the moral courag
to fight at short range, steel against steel.
A historian, in speaking of the battle of
Palo Alto, says: The gallant charge of