The Irish standard., 1899-02-04
OF AN ANGLomANlAC.


Irish Standard an adequate idea of the
style of the Anglo-Saxon press in mould
ing public opinion. we give below an
editorial utterance of the Chicago Trib-
une on the recent meeting in New York
to protest against Imperialism and alli-
ance with foreign nations. To better
understand the animus of the Tribune
against the Irish people, it may be
necessary to state that the meeting was
! called by the Continental league; that
William Temple Emmett, chairman Of
the committee of arrangements, called
the meeting to order; that Austin G.
Fox, the distinguished lawyer, presided,
and that the following leading citizens
acted as vice-presdents of the meeting:
Charles F. Southmayd, Wheeler H. Peck
ham, Abram S. Hewitt Cannon F. Ran
dolph Henry Loomis Nelson, William
B. Hornblower, Antonio yucca, James S.
Coleman. Roger A. Pryor. John C. Nc
Guire, Francis Wayland Glen, Chauncey
Q. Truax, E. s. Egerton, John Quinn,
William HALEY, Robert C. Scholz, Rod
erick J. Kennedy, Benjamin Perkins, J.
H. Hughes. Robert s. Minturn, H. C. s.
Simpson. G. w. Wickersham, Andrew
Jackson Smith, Horace Deming, Hamil-
ton Odeil, William H. Walker, John
Hosey, Edwin Worcester, Jr., Chas. A.
Marshall, Thomas S. Moore, Michael
Kennedy Daniel Magrino Albert Stick
ney, John M. Digney. Robert Grier Mon
roe, Giovanni Chiesa, Eugene A. A. Phil
bin. John e. Parsons. Edward O'Fla-
herty. John c. Sheehan, Michael j. Nc
Cam. Henry A. Goulden, John H. Gree
vey, Charles Rowland Russell and Fred
eric r. Coudert.
Letters were read from Grover Cleve-
land, VIM. J. Bryan, Bishop Potter and
others, and the first speech of the even
ing was delivered by Hon. James B. Eus-
tbs, ex-minister to France. knowing
all this. the Chicago Tribune speaks of
the meeting in the following fashion:
The anti-expansion mass meeting in New
York city was well attended. The :au;ou
was that n considerable perrrn, lye If the
Irish Americans. who have "A strong praiu-
dice against England and t.uglisnE,rn. ..hic!
mhnifests Itself sometimes m lii" most IT,
rational and neXrlicablr way. II IS :! ;.reju-
dirn which takes posse -Snn of Tho minds ana
clouds the understandings of men v.iln can
reason intrllscntly.
The English people and their government
have let 1t be understood quite plainly that
the acquisition Of tn" Philippine Islands y
the United States will he rather pleasing to
h..yp, ~,
Irish Americans of New York jump at .he
conclusion that tn" United States ought not
t" acquire the Philippines. IT, the British
government had limited that this country
ought not to have the Philippines thea these
Irish Americans would have demanded their
retention. BUT whatever England does not
object to they assume Is wrong, and must
not be done
Men who refuse to consult first the inter-
estS OF their own country when a course Of
action is proposed. but who look across the
ocean to discover what some other nation
thinks about the matter and ,hen oppose
what 1t indorseS and favor what II di5ip-
proves &C, are not ideal American citizens.
They sacrifice the welfare Of their country to
ancestral grudges and hates The, 10 n,t
care how much the United States may be
harmed If they think they can spite Eng
land.
This blind. inscnsnte hostility to England
, does not obtain among the Protestant Irish
~ tnlS country. Yet Whatever mag have
! been the case In the past. the PrOtrsIants
In Ireland do not enjoy now ii aolitar: right
or privilege which is withheld by tn. Jaws
from lrishmcn of the predominant faith
or OF any other faith. The professors OF all
crecds are on footing of absolute e4, ,lity
Furthermore. Ireland Is given Il disprarur-
tionat"ly large represent lt:on in the house
! of commons. With population of less than
i.IoW%'. II has lW members of parliament
| while Scotland. with II oopnl ,ri"r Of aho't
| i.2aoO'H. has - members. on the basis, + the
census of 1891. England has one member fol.
every 5a',oD inhabitants. and Ireland one COR
every i5ONM Inhabitants
/, Nevertheless northwestern irish Amcii-
cans. whether born in Ireland or In this
country. allow their ntl-En ,lish prri,,,lices
to sway their Judgments. even In such uucs-
! irons as the ACQUISITION OF tn" Philippines
| For wha, other reason is there why so
| many rish-Amcrcans In New York city
should orpos" their acquisition? What other
reason is there for their applauding some Of
! the absurd arguments against expansion
| made by the speakers at the meeting? Thus
| when Bourke Cochran spoke of "thc heresy
| of imperialism which Is sweeping over the
/; country. MS hearers assumed that "im-
perialism must be bad, because 1t reminded
them of the British empire" But demo
| cratic imperinlism-thc Imperialism OF this
republic--is the possession of such national
| grandeur and power that 1t shall play second
1 fiddle to no other nation.
| Gompcrs pretended to fear tho coming of
II day when Fllipinos. enlisted In the regular
army. would be called on to shoot down
American wagc-earners. Fic wn,ld have
produced greater effect on his audience
had he suggested the possibility of Filipino.
| cling imported to take the places ~ to 20
lice force and IN other branches OF the mu-
ncipal service held by Irish Americans now.
But absurd as his statement was about i'm
| porting Filipino soldiers. his audience took
| 1t all In. II was In Il mood to believe that
! anything might happen IL the United States
| did something which England did not look
| on with disfav0r. Men actuated By such no.
+, lions are unucsrrvinr of much attention
, Their res buttons count for nothing for they
/ do not express the views of men who think
first and last Of America and American inter
| est.
The Tribune thinks, or pretends to
think. that Irsh-Americans are so
prejudiced against England that they
would oppose any policy, no matter how
beneficial it may prove to the United
States. If it is only pleasing to the Brit
ish government and people 1t can be
safely stated that any American policy
which merits the approval Of England
must be radically wrong. Thousands of
Americans, nay. millions of them, en-
tertain the same opinion, and believe
that England's professions of friendship
are prompted by selfshness and hypoc-
risy. If there are Americans who be-
lfeVe otherwise thew must have reod