The morning news., 1899-04-28
Those Britishers!-Are They Our
Friends.


deal about the English I venture to say
something which may prove interesting to
| your readers-especally now. at a time
when various questions, of greater or less
| significance to this nation, touching on
matters of some importance TO the peo-
pie. as welk as the government. are crop
ping up.
The problem of the sometime proposed
Anglo-American alliance is one the ne
cessity of which is for the determination
Of the national administration. according
to the gravity Of circumstances attending
| certain causes, and viii now touch upon
few points which may lead TO a study of
| our situation as it is affected by our re-
| lations with the people of that little island.
| This, question of Anglo American inter
| nationality is broad one, and can be
| viewed from more bases than one, but
| will look at it from the most important
| standpout--that Of business first.
| Our records plainly show that of all the
| exports shipped from our ports, one-half
is carried away by British ships; in plain
words, this means that John Bull buys
| from us as much as all the rest of the
world put together He Is the buyer of
| most of the cotton crop of the South: he
| buys tobacco from The South, sugar mo-
| lasses, rosin turpentine, lumber, beef car
cases and canWd beef by the shipload
| corn and wheat in fleets of shiploads, and
| every agricultural product Of nearly 600,-
! 000,000 pounds of hog products. out of Fl
total production for export of 100000, 900
| pounds In tho United States; for all of
! which he pays us something like $500 900 900
| per year.
Now, sir, in solving the problem ''are
| they our friends?' the first question which
strikes me Is ''what would be the effect
upon us of alternating from US this tremen-
dous volume of export trader" How would
! Southern and Western farmers fare If this
! great market for our products were cut
| off?
The effect can be illustrated by drawing
comparison--iet us suppose that a big
| manufacturing plant In Savannah which
employed 10000 hands. distributing $400. 900
dollars per month in the city, shuts down.
The result is, that the 10000 hands, with
| families estimated. at 10000 are thrown
without a means of livelihood, and all
those second and third parties, storekeep-
ers, etc. who handle their money Ghe $780,
| 000) miss that money just as much as the
! hands who earn 1t, and in turn their busi-
! ness goes to the wall, and Savannah would
! then look like the deserted village-(and
! how about the shipping port and its contin-
! gencies, transportation, etcO In like man
| ner, the loss of 500, 900 900 per year, which
represents $40 per month for 100000 hands,
with estimated families of 100000, would
radiate amongst so much of our population
| as would bring about very very hard times
| and we should be brought TO know the
value of our export trade, and 70 rcaliz4
| that this is a producing, and therefore an
! export country--one great big store.
1t seems to me that just as any store
...t..
as his best friend any customer who spent
more money in his store than all the rest
| of his customers, the same doctrine of hu-
| man nature is precisely the one which 1t is
our policy, as a business people, to adopt
! in our contact with our friends, John Bull S
| people.
| l win here, with your kind Indulgence,
| proceed 20 recdfy a wrong impression
which exists among some of your readers,
! and which l have occasionally found in
many other parts of the United States
the belief that the English are bitter
| against this commonwealth on account Of
! the revolution.
Having, spent many years in an English
| school, l am in position to know, and
/ to say that such an impression is without
base. and l cannot understand why it
| exists so long, in the absence Of anything
| to indicate that any unfriendliness is fos-
tered, or ever existed in the English mind
| against the United States of America. l
! have seen several Instances of certain per-
| sons trying to propitiate and foment every
| thing which might tend to lead to or
| breed ill-feeling here against the mother
| country. However, English historians re-
cord the fact that at the time of the Amer
| lean revolution, Great Britain as a peo-
pie, was opposed to any organized war
against her colonists here; and If there
had been railroads, steamships and cleo
| trio telegraph then, as now the hostilities
would have ceased long before they did
Some little incidents, which occurred
! during the opening of the America Spanish
war just ended seem to me very sugges-
tive, while talking about national friend
| ship. / noticed that when danger threat
ened our consul general and conssls in
Cuba, and our ambassador and consuls in
| Spain, and they were menaced by ugly
| mobs, and various forms Of violent ex-
pectations, those gentlemen did not receive
| shelter at the French or German head
quarters OF legations, but with confidence
accepted the offer of the protection of the
Union Jack Of Old England" and those
Britons instinctvely risked their own safe
~ TO shield their protege's from treacher-
Gus mobs of Spaniards.
1t may not be necessary 10 form a gem
eral offensive and defensive alliance with
Great Britain, but do believe that in the
particular case OF China and the contin-
gent danger of Russia, Germany and
Co. making closed ports. Il Is expedent,
IN the interest Of business (our commerce
with china TO declare an open under
standing In conjunction with England,
with the determination OF maintaining
open ports and stopping our trade from
being shut OF by the interference OF those
powers, who, " Il were not for the attl-
tude of England, would probably have al
ready made closed ports-those powers
who, bat for the attitude OF England.
would have openly aided Spain against
tha United States. The government OF
China rs great big imbecic, recently
whipped BY little Japan. but the empire
D a rrlaI liz market ln Nhlnh a.. ara