The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-12-11

ernment and ruling classes given 70
the slaveholdinR South. Never was there
a more painful surprise. England went
far enough in adverse action to NIL the
North with bitterness. yet not far enough to
leave the South with anything but a sense OF
betrayal and the anger OF the vanduished
against a false friend. At last the Union
emerged triumphant from It's desperate strug-
Rlo for existence. Our author well says that.
insthose four dark years. tho nation emerged
from youth into manhood; we came out not
only with n conviction OF our strength,
but with an utter indifference to foreign opin-
ion. which was rs right and wholesome as our
former sensltiveness had been morbid and un-
wise. None the less. the memories Of Eng
lands conduct In our hour OF need ranked
deeply. and we regarded Mr.. Gladstone's ju-
dlcious recurrence to arbitration In the Ala
bama affair as merely extorted by the respect
which military pow and success always evoke.
Again years went by. and the old nnimosi-
ties had begun to- quiet down when the seal
controversy arose. and America found herself
unable TO understand why England should
insist upon q course which has resulted. and
could only result. In the destruction Of the
valuable seal, herds. II looked as II the action
OF Great Britain throughout that dispute had
been dictated by mere malice. Then came
the Venezuela controversy. and a few plain.
sharp words from Mr.. Cleveland brought
a lust settlement OF the question mo-
mehtous In it's meanings to the United
States. a settlement which twenty years Of
courteous remonstrance and argument q
failed to obtain. England. oblivious OF the past,
wondered at the sudden burst OF hostility In
the United States; Americans. on their side,
felt constrained to believe that we could get
neither justice nor civilitv from England except
by harsh words and by going to the verge OF
war. Senator Lodge suggests that IL was by no
means an encouraging sight. the spectacle at
that time presented by the two great English
speaking nations.
Our author adds that, less than a year ago. he
should have stopped at this point with words OF
regret that the lesson Of our war for inde-
pendence. so far as the United States were con-
cerned. had not yet been mastered by Great
Britain. The events Of the last nine months.
however. have shown that the lesson Of the
Revolution has at last been learned. and that
all that has been said DIS to the ease with which
the friendship OF the United States could be OBJ
tanned by England Is more than justified. It
could not we'll be otherwise when right methods
were pursued. for friendship between the two
nations 10 natural. owing not only to our
common speech. hopes. beliefs and ideas.
but to the much stronger ties OF real
~ 10 u 40 pOHutOl AOuko ou-
serves. that. once engaged in war with
Spain. the United States neither needed
nor desired aid from any one. provided. of
course. that their opponents should remain IN
assisted. Nations. however. as we'll as men.
like sympathy. From the people OF continental
Europe we met with neutrality. but also with
criticism. depreciation and every manifestation
of dislike in greater or less degree. and. from
Germany. q thinly yelled. mousing hostility.
which did not become overt simply because the
Berlin Government let ~ dare not wait upon
L would" From the English-speaking peo-
pie. on the other hand. came a spontane-
Gus outpour of sympathy. and England's
Government showed that the feeling OF
the people was represented In their rulers.
That was all that ever-had been needed. The
lesson Of the American Revolution had been
absorbed at last; the attitude and the policy
which would have averted that uprising were,
at last, definitely assumed toward the great ma
ton that has sprung from the colonies which
Washington led to Independence. The artifl-
cial barriers are down, and all riRht-thinking
men on both sides OF the Atlantic must earnest
ly strive to prove that 1t is no facile optimism
which now believes that the friendship. so long
postponed and so full of promise for humanity
and civilization. must long endure.
We should note here that Senator Lodge
had he deemed It 'expedient to do 90. might
have pointed out that, nine months ago.
we we're indebted to the British Government
for something more substantial than sympathy.
The British Foreign Office abandoned the posi-
ton which. in conjunction with the French
Foreign ONCE. 1t had persistently maintained
for three-quarters Of a century. the position.
namely. that we could not be permitted to treat
the Cuban question as exclusively American,
nor even as a question which concerned the
United States and Spain alone. 1t was the
maintenance Of that position in 1876 which
prevented us from interfering in Cuba after
the Virginius affair. It was England's deter
mination to renounce the hands-off policy. al
though France was eager to continue It. which,
rendered It possible for us to do In 1898 what.
twenty-three years before. we were virtually
prohibited from doing. NJ. ". H.