The record-union., 1898-05-15

| ana dlScomfortS and crueltieS has lin
gered on till the close, OF our century !?
Had these Germans any idea of art they
would love Spain for her picturesque
ness, too, but it is enough that she is
also medieval in the bad sense FOR
them to feel a glow Of fellowship.
In consideration of Germany it is
inevitable that Americans ask first of
all what the Emperor thinks And in
many ways the opinion Of the Emperor
is extremely important: though it. is
hard for foreigners to understand just
how important and under what limita-
tions. Well, the Emperor is good deal
of a politician, and gives comparative
ly little weight to the claims of Spain
on his sympathies merely because there
is a Spanish throne and republics are
not particularly in his line AS politi-
clan, he believes it better for the inter
ests of Germany to keep Well with the
United States than with Spain In this,
as in a hundred other matters, he shows
himself more astute than the majority
of German public men. AS against the
British, also, he would be apt to side
with the United States if we had a
controversy with our insular cousins.
The difference between the Emperor
and many of his prominent subjects is
this: While he, like them, foresees the
likelihood of a more or less open al
lance of the English-speaking peoples,
he does not allow this prophetic fore
east to affect his temper and cause him
to assail Americans. On the contrary,
he is keen enough to see that another
Venezuela affair may some day turn
up opportunely and estrange us from
cur British relatives, when it might be
very useful to Germany to have every
thing smooth between US and her. In
other words, while the momentary con-
dition of things has brought the United
States and Great Britain together in a
tacit, but perhaps for that reason all
the more efficacious, sympathy, tie
Emperor wishes to be ready for any re-
Taxing of these bonds to aid at the given
moment in widening the breach. Thus
far, then and for such reasons, we may
consider that Wilhelm is our friend to-
day.
| In corroboration OF this view, one
has only to recall, on the part of the
| Emperor, the recent occasions when he
has gone out Of his way to make pleas
ant remarks about American, and, on
the part of Germans generally, the
demnation of our attitude toward
Spain. They cannot defend Spain's
misgovernment of Cuba, and take little
pains to conceal their contempt for her
military and naval deeds; but they are
very indignant at the impertinence of
Americans who dare to tell a European
nation that the bloodshed of anarchy in
Cuba must stop. They exaggerate the
amount of support the insurgents have
received from the United States, and
underrate the service of American po-
lice and seamen in preventing the de-
parture of expeditions. Apparently
there is little credit given for the feed
ing of the starving Cubans; that zap
pears to be set down to the hypocrisy
and calculation which are attributed
| to us in quantity almost equal to that
accorded the British. They are firmly
4 persuaded, as indeed are the Spaniards,
too, that in everything that makes men
| worth while we are distinctly an in
| feror race however We may have got
| to ourselves wealth in rude scramble
| for the almighty dollar. From this
point they proceed to argue that being
inferior, we could not surpass them in
| generosity to the afflicted What would
we do in such q case? they ask them
selves Give the Spaniards a drubbing
i and annex Cuba. Nor can they be
made to believe that we really intend
to allow the Cubans to manage their
own affairs, once the Spanish have been
driven out
This cynicism, this distrust of the real
purpose Of the United States, are phe-
nomena not confined to the papers Of
Germany alone, but to the German pa
pers published here. They reflect, per-
haps. uneonsciously, the irritated, CEN
| serious, ungenerous tone of the press
of the mother country. whether from
conviction or from mere imitation, it
would be hard to say. Reading them,
one often asks himself why those writ
| ers remain in country 50 repulsive to
them in 50 many different ways. Doubt
less they are adopted citizens and
probably good citizens. But the phe-
nomenon is, to say the least. peculiar
Probably it is based on the impossi-
bility of change on the part of a
German who has passed certain age
before he comes to America He has
given UP his old home for excellent rea-
| sons, but the conditions Of his new
country are so different from the home
ideals that he is forever contrasting
! what is here with what ought to be in
/ the Fatherland.
The uncomfortable position Of the
German-American is one, and a very
important cause of the dislike that
home Germans have for Americans
Their knowledge Of Americans in
actual personal contact is largely, if not
exclusively, gained from returning emf
| grants, in the first place because they
are to be found in great numbers in all
large cities, and in the second because
| ignorance of the German tongue keeps
the native American when in Germany
| away from Germans. Now, the Ger
man American, having passed his life
| in America pooh pooling things Amer
lean and saying to himself how much
| better everything is done In the old
country, returns one fine day, and, to
his vast astonishment, finds the old
home of his memories and the actual
/ Germany of to-day as far apart as
| heaven is from earth. If he had lived
| in the Western States he cannot
breathe in Germany. The constant SUI
pervision, the rough tone of officials,
the swagger of the military. the wor-
ship of titles and the slavish manners
of the common folk toward the rich
and great appall and disgust him. His
own ways are criticised and merciless-
ly abused; his adopted country is
sneered at: his presence is not wanted.
In nine cases out of ten he meets sneer
with sneer and abuse with abuse. He
is considered a type OF Americans, and
that type remains with the home Ger
mans as the one by which to judge the
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