New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-10-14
N1TION1L APPRECIATION.

From Lowell to Mckinley IL not far In Tine
The two were indeed, in n measure contempt
rar,es When the one was at the summit of his
dietipouished career az statesman and man OF
,attors rho other was swiftly and surely rising
toward that cmInencc which he has now at
tanned One would say that between the Ma
tionol aspects presented to their respective
views there could be little difference. Yet so
mcrcurio is our temperament. or perhaps SO
swift orc thc processes Of national and interna-
tonal evolution. that in two OF the most note
worthy utterances Of these men there ma! pe
disccrned at once a subjective identity ana Ill
objective diversity wide as the poles Inc
vision is the same. The thing discerned ~
wholly changed.
In his urrivalled essay ION a Certain Condo
scension In Foreigners Lowell inveighed Win all
the yigor of his mordant satire and or MS manly
and robust Americanism against the patronzina
and beIjttling tone assumed toward this Nation
nv foreigners who. because either Of ignorance
or animoslty. failed TO appreciate 1t at Its true
worth At that time there was much ground
for the complaint which he made and for the re-
sentiment which he expressed We were re-
cordod with "a certain cOndescensiOn' by all or
nearly all foreign nations. We were looked
unon as a child in the family Of nations which
had grown somewhat too rapidly. and which
had therefore the physical bigness, together
with the Intrinsic weakness and the ignorance
and bumptiousness. commonly associated with
such prccocity And so far as we were treated
with courtesy it was on the ground OF tolerance.
not because we deserved 1t, but because we
might some day deserve IT, and because our
superiors could afford to be generous TO us
Naturally all that aroused a spirit OF resentment
and defiance here, and there was developed q
tendency to meet the under-appreciation OF
others with over-appreciation by self. We were
belittled by foreigners: we Overpraised our
selves.
In his eloquent and philosophical address mt
the Omaha Exhibition on Wednesday President
Mckinley referred briefly but most pontedly to
IN exactly opposite state Of affairs. Shall We,
he asked, deny to ourselves what the rest or
the world so freely and so justly accords to us|
The question is q pertinent one. The answer TO
II should he an instant and emphatic negative.
But the cold fact Is that an affirmative answer
is being given not. indeed, by the majority but
by a noisy and self-asscrtive minority which, by
dint OF sheer and shameless persistence, makes
itself heard and sometimes, to the discredit or
this country and the misleading OF the world,
succeeds in getting q serious hearing abroad as
all authoritative exponent Of American opinion.
1t is being given by all those who, for reasons
of personal spite partisan advantage are ar
cung against our assumption of the responsible
tiles and acknowledgements which come TO us az
legitimate results of the war. and who are still
carpng at our entry upon and our conduct OF
the war The testimony of other nations, even
Of those which az first took contrary view Is
that we were fully justified on both legal and
moral grounds in going TO war with Spain, That
we conducted the war throughout with dstin-
gushed ability and with hitherto unexampled
generosity and humanity that 1T is both our
privilege and our duty to gather the fruits OF
our triumph and that are fully competent
to do So to our own credit and to the profit of
the human race.
That is the foreign view. II Is reserved TO
domestic faction to "deny to ourselves what the
rest Of the world so freely and so Justly ac-
cords TO MS" Not foreign condescension but
domestic depreciation is the evil Of the day
Happily it is not widespread as to he domi-
nant The majority OF the American people
have. TO use another Of the Presidents terse and
convincing phras SEES. the courag Of their destiny.
After all, the situation is not SO much changed
from what IT was In Lowell's day. He. too was
moved to ask
Was the Mayfowcr launched by towards,
steered by men behind their time?
Point those steps toward past or future that
make Plymouth Rock sublime?
The answer to his question in the then pres
cnt crisis" was n thunderous and compelling
No. and the same answer we doubt not. will be
given TO the Presidents later but similar in.
curry This Nation is at last learning to know
itself its strength. its duty it's opportunity; and
upon that knowledge it will base its actions and
ire