Evening star., 1898-05-16
ATTITUDE OF FRANCE.
A Claim That 1t is Not Hostile to

Us.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
The most pessimistic view of our inter-
national relations which has as yet been
published appears in last Saturdays Star
by Mr.. Benjamin. BY some inconceivable
method of deduction he selects the French
as the next foe we shall be obliged to meet
in deadly conflict. He then proceeds with
a detailed list of the numerous unfriendly
acts the French have committed. Time
and tide do not effect his terrific cannonade
and these facts seem to afford him immense
delight He takes a mean advantage of
history in rehashing biunders such as
nation polite occasionally makes. Even
England. our present greatest friend and
promoter Of the Angio-Saxon alliance
scheme. has been at times our most un-
friendly cousin. Yet the writer passes over
the other European nations and proceeds to
stab Russia and especially France with
his pen.
We owe a great debt to the French ma
ton. Aside from the help rendered us dur
ing the revolution We have to thank her
for the great Louisiana purchase But Tor
her Willingness to sell we would have been
forced to conquer il by bloodshed. Again.
the work accomplished by Marquette. La
Sale, Joliet &c, can never be obliterated;
the traditional friendship of the two coun-
tries resulting in the presentation of the
beautiful Liberty EnIShtening the World
statue All these facts Mr.. Benjamin seems
Freach have always had a natural aver
sion to America and Americans. This may
be true. Indeed. all European countries re
Sard US in "A vague, tndistlnct manner, that
conveys no impression upon their intellect,
excepting q large tract of land with plenty
Of millionaires and frequent political cleo
tionS.
They are spelling for fight and doing
their best to find cause" the intrepid au-
thor shrieks. Yet in the same issue OF
The Star the liz is given to this assertion.
when it gives full particulars of the un-
needed protest by the Spanish to force the
Harvard out of the French possession of
Martinique. the fact of the Harvard being
allowed TO remain seven days at Martinique
despite Spains most urgent and peremptory
protest is proof positive that the French
are not anxious for pretext to become
embroiei with this country.
1t is quite natural. as the writer insinu-
ates, for the European nations to view
with disruSt our present humane war
cause. 1t now remains for us to demon
strate that our word is our bond and that
our intention concerning Cuba Is not the
acquisition Of the island. There has. how
ever been no promise made regarding other
Spanish possessions We may capture. ana,
although our foreign policy has been ad-
verse to the acquisition of territory. the
present should change this narrow and
unprogreSsive policy.
Unfriendly counter attacks upon the
French ard Germans (but. worse still. upon
Russia, Italy and other extremely neutrals).
who are not enthusiastic toward us, will
not help cur cause bit. Such attacks
greatly misconstrued in Europe. where in
dividual opinion is often mistaken for the
general sentiment of the country. Thus
our sensational press is endeavoring TO Gre
ate disccrd with every foreign country
that shows a tendency to favor our enemy.
Aside from the fact that such tactics great
ly embarras5 the administration, the agi-
tation is extremely unwise from national
standpoint. combatant nation requires
all the international friends it can muster
so as to give tone to its cause Surely by
ret Irning broadsides of SANDER and vitu-
peration this can never be accomplished
II requires only a small spark to ignite
powder. Exploding powder wrecks. Let US
be careful OF our fire. so as to not cause
the spark. Let us seek rather to fire the
admiration of the world by ambitious
courageous and glorious Victories! Let
give them ether limitations of Dewey!
Let us demonstrate that, Notwithstanding
our small navy we can nevertheless take
care of thousands of miles of sea coast
and conquer a nation besides
The plea for larger navy has been agi-
tated from time immemorial. Every politi-
cal party for the last two decades mas had
it Incorporated in Its platform. Yet strange
SIS it may seem, it has never been realized
Various reasons. mostly parsimony. have
combined to throttle 1t in its infancy, not
withStanding earnest appeals to common
sense. The time has now come however,
when the sO-called eKtravagant upholders
of a modern navy are amply vindicated.
and the rarrow-minded opponents put to
shame. The future Of the American navy
should be illustrious. A larger navy must
be secured. for. with the Philippines, Ha-
wall and POSSIBLY Porto Rico and our own
coast. we must needs have few more than
our present insignificant handful
Then, and with subsequent progress con-
tinued. will De Tocqueville's "a Freachman.
by the way.) prophecy long forgotten, be-
come reality. that ''the Americans were
GUS A. SCHULDT.
May Is. 1898.