The San Francisco call., 1898-05-15
THE LIVING AND THE DYING NATIONS.
Q DEPRESSING his constituents at Birmingham

| / \ on Friday evening the Honorable Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colo nies, began by saying that he intended to make a plain statement of facts concerning international affairs and the policy of Great Britain and that with out revealing secret negotiations he would speak
 unfettered by the mysteries and reticences o dip lomacy. to be clearly understood by the people
 With this prelude he declared the policy ot the Sal isbury Ministry is to preserve for Great Britain an isolation from European alliances and to seek tor such strength might be needed in addition to her own, to withstand the Continental combinations against her, by drawing all parts of the empire into close unity and maintaining the bonds of permanent trend- ship with the United States With burst ot lm- passioned eoquence he added:
 Across the Atlantic Is powerful and generous nation using our language bred of race and hav- ing interests identical with ours. l would go so far to say that, terrible war may be, even war it. self would be cheapy purchased if in great and noble the and stripes and the union jack should together Anglo-Saxon alliance.
 This frank statement of the policy which Great Britain intends to pursue will recall attention to the declaration of Lord Salisbury before the Prim- rose League in speech which almost as frank as that of Chamberlain Salisbury attributed the present crisis in international affairs to change that IS now going in the conditions of the nations, The weak
 
 ones growing stronger SO that, to his epigram- matic phrase, he nations of the earth be divided into two classes-the living and the dying
 The seeds of conflict, he declared, are 1nseparable from dying nation Strife cannot be avoided in com
 unities where both the Government and the manhood of the are decaying Nor strong races stand aoof from these conflicts when the strife approaches the border of the land occupied by the strong As the decay goes on and the civil disturbances among the dying nations increase, the living, growing powers necessarily larger responsibility in the government of the world.
 Had Salisbury spoken merely philosophical student of politics he would in all probability have named the living nations and the dying ones, but as he is Prime Minister of Great Britain and has upon him the responsibilities of office he did not venture so far To the intelligent observer of the worlds affairs however it will be easy supply the names We know that China, Turkey and Spain are decad- ent nations We know that Great Britain, Russia Germany and above all the United States, are living and growing nations. The seeds of conflict insepar- able from the dying conflicts among the strong Which of the living nations is it that to have forced upon the largest share of responsibility for the government of the world?
 Our own experience affords an illustration of the truth of Salisbury's words The decadence of Spain by producing conflict in Cuba has forced upon us war which vii; leave on our hands large possessions and consequent responsibility for their government Under such circumstances will be compelled to give more than passing consideration to the British offer of lasting friendship and possible alliance We cannot stand aloof from the dying nations. We must face the inevitable crisis brought about by their decay. The responsibility is already upon us and when the time comes for to determine what shall be done with the Philippines shall have to decide the question of what part to take in the larger politics of the world