The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-11

With the cable between London anu
New York, and with a knowledge Of
the language of the nation at the Lon
don end of 1t. 1t is only natural that
British news should be the most con-
spicuous Of all that the cable transmits
| to America. Still, in America, and es-
pecially at Washington, it is we'll to re-
member occasionally that the state
ments by American ministers abroad
and foreign ministers at Washington
are quite as important as the twaddle
of the London press, written expressly
to accomplish a British purpose, or
| even any cable news dispatch founded
upon prevailing sentiment here.
HAVE ENGLAND TO THANK.
If I could be permitted to make any
adverse comment upon the handling Of
the news by American papers during
our recent war with Spain, 1 should
suggest that undue Importance has
been given to British opinion, and not
enough attention has been given to the
statements of the representatives Of
other governments at Washington, and
also of the letters and statements made
by American official representatives
New York has carried over everything
British very fully and abbreviated evil
dences of good feeling manifested to-
ward us by other powers. If England
overstepped the bounds of strict neu-
trality she did it with an evident ul
terror motive, and with the apparent
result Of placing America in somewhat
Of an embarrassing position toward the
other powers. Strict neutrality is all
America asked of any power, and we
have England to thank for whatever
explanations we may require form
others. English demonstrations in our
favor would naturally turn France,
Russia and Germany against us, espe-
cially If they thought Washington
courted England's advances. If Eng
land has been made to understand that
her strict neutrality was preferable to
her expressive demonstrations Of
friendship America would stand better
today 1t is only the splendid treat
ment of her Spanish prisoners Of war
that has won America such genuine
praise by the peoples of Europe. The
accuracy of the American fire has not
caused nearly the favorable comment
in continental countries that our hu-
manity has inspired. And, singularly
enough, England's praise has been far
more for our craftsmanship than our
humanity. The talk in England today
is not how to care for prisoners, but
how to shoot. Still, the British version
of this is that the other question needs
no discussion by the Englishman.
II fhrONph the war every nOSSible
effort was made here to prejudice
Amqrica against Germany. The most
trivial incident was unduly emphasized,
and, if the reports could be believed,
Germany was a constant source Of
annoyance In such a quantity Of mat
ter printed about this phase Of the
war the repeated assurances Of Ger
many herself and the emphatic state
ments of the American ambassador
at Berlin were hardly noticed outside
of diplomatic circles in Washington.
GERMAN NEUTRALITY.
It will possibly be remembered how
evidently pleased Ambassador White
was to take advantage Of the oppor-
tunity afforded him at the Fourth Of
July banquet Of the American society
in Berlin to declare positively that
the German government showed every
desire to maintain it's neutrality.
Moreover, our ambassador denied all
rumors of strained relations between
the German and American govern
ments. Surely, If we cannot believe
our own official representatives, who
are advised Of all the details Of for
eign diplomacy affecting US, in mat
ters Of fact, we are in a bad state, in
deed. In matters Of opinion or in Sc
cret policies Of the continental powers
possibly We are not to be blamed for
being skeptical, but in our relations
with Germany we can surely accept
the assurances Of our ambassador that
the German government at home in
Berlin cannot be understood to be an
tagonistic to the government at Wash
ington. From the very nature of the
situation at Manila, 1t was as difficult
for Germany to direct every movement
Of her men in that distant port as 1t
was for Washington. We all smile at
how Admiral Dewey cut the cable and
with what alacrity he picked it up
again when he had no further need Of
sma eling things. However, that was
our little show, and there was probably
a great moral principal involved At
least it worked, and nobody will blame
the German emperor If he gets his slice
of any pie that may be carved UP in
the vicinity Of China. 1t has been ev-
erybody's game out there for a long
time.
In my last letter I endeavored to
point out how far ahead Of the news
papers the foreign office really was
at the time Of my writing. 1 referred
to the cable dispatches predicting i'm
mediate war between England and
Russia that were sent over to America
from London, and expressed the con-
viction, based upon a knowledge Of
some things really transpiring, that
this war scare would go rainbow chas-
ing like the rest that have represented
England putting her foot down."
Verify, it has even so come to pass
already. Of course, the thing in order
now is to cable over that there has
been a sudden change all round, and
'unlookedfor events" will play the
usual part in the farce of all news
based upon the London papers
One has to look much deeper than the
British press to learn and understand
what is actually going on and what
will really happen. Just as it takes
Englishmen from ten to twenty years
to adopt new ideas that bring quick
profits to Germany and America, so it
takes the English editor until every