Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1898-08-10
BEW ARE OF ALLIANCE
THE UNITED STATES AND THE CON-
CERT OF EUROPE.

THE UNITED STATES AND THE CON-.
CERT OF EUROPE. -
Tho Sentiment Of Fraternalism Famed by
the PoApnous Breath Of Commercialism.
No Greater Question Has Arisen In Mod
ern History.
The leading article in The Arena for
August is from the pen of the editor in
chief, John Clark Ridpath, on the sub
ject of all alliance or union between
Great Britain and the United States. In
his accustomed powerful style DR.. Rid
path shows why such alliance must not
and cannot be made. The following
short extract will indicate to the reader
the tenor of The Arena article:
The journalism which prevails, out
Of which public information is drawn
within the circle of each metropolis, is
totally ignorant Of conditions prevalent
west of the Allegheny mountains. To
this journalism the valley of the Mis-
sissippi is no more than the valley Of
the Kongo. The metropolitan press is
not infected N::..h even the outlines Of
information relative to the progress Of
affairs in the great states of the Amer
lean union. 1t is almost wholly con-
cerned with foreign affairs and interna-
tional contingencies The mass of the
municipal populations read nothing but
their newspapers; they know nothing
else, and the consequence is that the
United States, the people Of the United
States, the institutions of the United
States, the hopes and purposes of the
people Of the United States, are forgot
ten and cast away by the municipal
powers. Commercialism, having no coun-
try of its own, purposely permits and en-
courages this baleful ignorance, and the
result has been that as soon as the re-
cent overture from Great Britain was
made known q universal clamor arose
for the acceptance of the delusive prof.
fer. The American newspapers immedi-
ately broke out in chorus of jubilation
at the prospect Of an international en-
brace, in the warmth of which COM
mercialism might get an added coil and
the financial despotism Of the world be
strengthened and confirmed. It is not a
pleasing task in the midst of all this
fraternalism, Of all this "English
speaking race" business, of this outburst
and proclamation of an Anglo American
union for the civilization and rectifica-
ton of the world on moral principles,
to utter a note Of warning against it or
to contend with the rushing winds
which have filled all the house where
we are sitting. Nevertheless we shall
do our duty in this great matter. It is
Of the utmost importance that we should.
There has not been such a historical
crisis in our country since the outbreak
Of our civil war. Perhaps there has not
been such a crisis in any nation since
the battle of Waterloo. The question is
simply this, Whether the nationality Of
the United States, as that nationality
has been defined by our Declaration Of
Independence, by our constitution, by
the teachings Of the fathers and by all
our national history during the first
three-quarters of the present century
shall survive and be perpetuated and
defended, or whether all this shall be
surrendered in whole or in part by the
entrance of the United States into an
Anglo-American alliance first and the
concert of Europe afterward. It is, as
we said in oar article many months
ago. simply a question whether our
country is to be and to remain Ameri-
whether we are to abandon our history,
lose our characteristics and become Eu-
ropeanized.
Than this no greater question has
arisen in modern history. The solution
Of it the one way or the other will per-
haps determine the course Of civilization
for centuries to come. If the United
States Of America shall continue in the
course prescribed by the fathers of the
republic and happily pursued into the
present day, this nation must in the
nature of the case be and become the
conspicuous and singular example of
political liberty and progress to all the
other nations of the world. But if, on
the other hand, the United States shall
be wrested from the moorings and be
carried over and reincorporated as a
part and parcel of Europe then this ma
ton might as we'll have never been.
The distinctive principles and tenden-
cies for which the American republic
has stood and which it has SO favora-
bly, exemplified for a century and q
quarter might as we'll have never been
known. For why should the human race
be Knocked and tantalized for 1875 years
with the appearance and prospect of
emancipation emily to be robbed of ita
hopes and sent back into that very past
from which we escaped with so much
hardship and expenditure of blood and
treasure in the eighteenth century?
TeleErsphs and Telephones In Japan.
The telegraph system Of Japan, which
is controlled by the government, COM
prises ~, 900 miles Of land lines and 38a
of submarine cables, besides the cable to
Formosa, which is 800 miles in length.