Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-26
WHERE OUR SYMPA THY SHOULD 90.

FREMONT, Neb., Nov. 25-To the Editor
OF The Bee: l have been for years a
staunch admirer of The Bee and l am sorry
to find 1t necessary to expostulate with you
| in your position on the present war in South
Africa. do not believe your position Of
friendliness for the Dutch and against the
English commends itself to the majority of
your readers. Americans are under many
obligations to the English, not only during
the late war with Spain, but for years pre-
ceding. There are only two flags under
which law-abiding man knows of no law
and under which all Observation-Disclosures
social or scientifc-are equal. Those two
flags are the stars and stripes and the Eng
lish Jack. The writer spent some weeks in
South Africa as long ago as 1886, and it was
apparent to him that his English tongue was
handicap in all relations with the Dutch
have been some twelve years in England
and her colonies, dating from 1888. When
first sailed from San Francisco 1t was with
all an Americans belief in the injustice done
| us as colonials in 1776 and preceding years.
l was prepared to make our forefathers'
cause almost a personal one in the numer-
GUS discussions that spring up In the smok-
Ing room on long voyages. found it i'm
possible to mention George III without being
Immediately informed that he was a "bloom-
ing idiot" of German birth and had not q
drop of English blood in his veins. The
former fact I, Of course, knew, but I was
not prepared to have the English anticipate
my thoughts. The latter fact our school
histories of twenty years ago carefully re-
| Trained from mentioning. In the spring of
1884 one of the princes Of the English royal
house died and because of that the celebra-
ton of the queens birthday was postponed.
was in Sydney, N. S. W.. at the time and
| the Australians arranged for the celebration
on the 4th Of July that they might join the
Americans. / am one of the charter members
OF the American society In London and, long
before hostilities were thought of between
our country and Spain, the British govern
| ment would send an official representative
| to that society's Fourth of July dinner and it
was also attended by all grades of the no.
| bility, by leaders in literature, the sciences
arts, commerce, finance and both branches of
the military. l was in London when Dewey s
| magnificent victory was won and 1t was
! matter of much pride to me to see the people
cheering around the bulletin boards and say
| ing to each other. with an emphatic slap on
| the shoulder: They are our people. That's
the way Nelson did," etc.
| For all these things we should be CRATE
! full. The Alabama matter was purely local,
caused by cotton famine in Lancashire.
| Even had 1t been general 1t was a question
of opinion by an elder brother as to the
! relative merits of cause about which two
| younger brothers were quarreling. The
| Dutch have tried to maintain an impossible
condition in South Africa. Granted that they
are husbandry-loving people and have
made many sacrifices to retain isolation and
country in which they can pursue game
at will. it must be conceded that the on
| ward march of civilization makes such con-
ditions impossible, just as 1t has done in our
| own country. 1t has been contended In some
| quarters that the subject of dispute be-
| tween the belligerents was a proper one for
arbitration. Well, sir as understand it. the
Beers imposed humiliating conditions of
trade and of residence on those residents Of
the Transvaal who spoke the English
| language--conditions not imposed upon these
of othcr tongues, Such matters are not,
venture to say, proper subjects for arbitra-
ton. GEORGE e. HARRISON.
Commercial Traveller.
Every American newspaper is in
honor and duty bound to voice as far
| as possible the sentiment of the Ameri-
can people. But where the popular will
has not been expressed the function Of
the American press is to mold public
opinion in consonance with the basic
principles of the republic. In dealing
with the British-Boer controversy
Americans should not merely be
guided by the sense of international
amity or of international reciprocity,
but by the traditional sympathy which
| Is due from the citizens of the greatest
republic to the citizens of the smaller
republics.
Grant that the animosity engendered
against Britons by the revolutionary
war, the war of 1872 and the slave
holders rebellion of 1865 has been
oblterated by the recent display of
good will on the part of Great Britain
during the Spanish-Ameriean war,
America and Americans imbued with
republican principles cannot and
should not withhold their sympathy
from any people struggling with n
powerful monarchy to preserve and
maintain government by the people.
Americans will always remember
with gratitude the invaluable service