Evening star., 1898-02-22
"a Clue Suggested."
D the Editor Of The Evening Star:

To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
was sorry to see Mr. William Tindall' 5
otherwise sensible communication in your
Saturdays issue, under the above caption,
impaired by his misuse of the term anglo
Saxon" in speaking of the American people.
That compound noun is not now used de-
scriptively of any of the English-speaking
peoples by any one who makes pretense to
scientific clinical nomenclature. 1t has long
since been abandoned by scientists. and ii
is only retained by that class of vain-glori-
Gus writers and speakers, who repeat
phrases with no more correct knowledge of
their proper use and meaning than the par
rots and cockatoos who admiringly call
themselves pretty poll and therefore,
feel entitled to be fed on the best crackers.
1 beg to inform Mr.. Tyndan that there
never was any Anglo-Saxon "predominance
in the worlds affairs and never will be,
and that whatever racial Inheritance" we
may have-or which he thinks We ought TO
prove ourselves worthy Oft has not
come to the American people through
"Anglo-Saxon ancestry. We Americans
are very mixed people-those of us who
are of British derivation are scarcely less
conglomerate, but If any of US should de-
sire to prove himself worthy IF supposed
race inheritances, that may nave come 20
him through English 1rishScotch or Welsh
ancestry, let him claim his derivation from
the ancient Britons, whose descendants
have certainly proved their 'predominance
in the worlds affairs'--and especially those
of the northern half Of this continent
ever since the decline of Spanish power IN
Europe and America-instead of dttributing
British characteristics and progress TO any
such brummagem pinchback compound as
the so-called Anglo-SaXon race.
The old humbug entitled "Anglo-SaXon,
not unlike many other humbugs, dies hard.
The absurdity of the contention that the
people of this country are of Anglo-Saxon
origin has been demonstrated so often that
one would suppose that the proposition
would not be advanced at this late day by
any one who had any reputation to lose,
either as an historian, ethnologist or stat
istician.
OF course, Anglo-maniacs on this side of
the ocean, and some English publicists on
the other side, who care to stifle their anti
American sentiments long enough to enable
them to indulge in self-eulogistic flights
about 1.-The great Anglo-Saxon race stu
cherish. or pretend to cherish, the old hum
bug. Thus the Westminster Review, bit
terly anti-American magazine. in recent
issue. said that 1.-The American people are
of the Anglo-Saxon stock" and the New
York Sun thus riddles the statement:
Some of them are: perhaps nearly one-
quarter of them. The original settlers or
the Hudson valley were not OF that STOCK,
nor those of the Mississippi, nor those OF
the Pacific coast. Within the past half CEN
tury there have come to this country mil
lions of Scandinavians, Celts Germans,
Otner than AnSlO-odAOIs, lLdtiliS.
and peoples of many other races. Trey
have raised families here, and the children
or grandchildren of these families are OF
our native population. Besides. nearly one
eighth of the people of the United States
are of African and Indian races. Then we
have millions of French Canadians, and We
have yet other racial elements. good
many people of the so-called Anglo-Saxon
stock immigrated to New England and the
middle states in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, but the statisticians
estimate that not more than quarter OF
our total living population is of that stock:
Even the Sun is somewhat becloudcd in
regard to our racial elements when II
credits one-quarter of our living population
to the people of so-called Anglo-Saxon
stock" who "immigrated to New England
and the middle states in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries" This Is merely
n claim based on British immigration. end
II would be easy to prove-even accepting
as a definite idea that what is meant by
"Anglo-Saxon stock is an offshoot of
Iight-haired Germanic race-that at least
20 per cent of the early immigration was
composed of a dark-haired British people
of so-called Celtic race. Let me refer your
Anglo-maniac readers to Lord Coke, who
said of the Irish people of his day:
1T have been informed by many of them
that have had judicial places there. and
partly of mine owne knowledge. that there
is no nation In the Christian world that
are greater levers of Justice twhereof We
shall principally treaO than they are.
which vertue must Of necessity be accom-
panied with many others. and, besides.
they are descended Of the ancient Britons,