The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-16
Germany and the United States.

with the Government in expressing good
will toward the United States. The Incl
dent suggests the propriety OF inquiring
how 1t anne to pass that the sympathy,
which has usually obtained between this
country and Germany, was threatened for
a time with interruption. A frank recog-
milton of the causes of estrangement should
lead to their removal.
There is no doubt that when the recent
war with Spain began we had good reason
to expect the friendly neutrality Of Germa-
ny. Our relations Of amity with Prussia,
the principal German State, had lasted for
upward OF a century, and had been repeat
eddy marked by an interchange Of good Of
fees. 1t is true, as Baron o BtLow
pointed out in the Reichstag, that during
our Revolution FREDERICK the Great re-
fused to permit the passage of the mercena-
ry levies hired by GEORGE III. through his
dominions, and that he was ono of the
first Of European sovereigns to recog-
nize the independence of the thirteen
American colonies. The same FREDERICK
was one Of the chief promoters of the So
called League Of Neutrals formed by the
Northern Powers. which by applying adj
ditional pressure overcame the lingering
reluctance of the British Government to
sign the Peace Of 1888. During our civil
war, when Louis NAPOLEON was trying to
bring about a joint Intervention on behalf Of
the Southern Confederacy, Prussia and
other German States made no secret of their
friendship for the Union, and German capt.
talists subscribed for large quantities of our
national bonds at a time when the English
aristocracy was eager to lend money to the
seeding States on very questionable Sc
curity.
We were glad, in our turn, during
the war of 1901 and during the Com
mune. to place the lives and property Of
Germans domiCiled in Paris and elsewhere
in France under the protection OF our diplo-
matte n consular representatives. To
such proofs of official friendship had been
gradually added, after 1913, the ties Of
blood contracted through the emigration to
the United States of many millions of Ger
mans, who, while becoming loyal citizens Of
their adopted country and demonstrating
their devotion on the battlefield during the
war of the rebellion, could not but look back
upon their fatherland with affection. Under
the circumstances here set forth, we had
reason to expect the sympathy Of Germany
in the war undertaken by us against Spain
for the purpose Of delivering the Cubans
from oppression.
We have the authority OF the editor of the
London National Reuiep, who is understood
to be the spokesman of the Right Hon. A.
j. BALFoUR, for saying that the expecta-
ton was not altogether disappointed. Tho
editor Of that periodical has challenged any
continental Foreign Office to contradict his
assertion that, in the interval OF nine weeks
between the destruction of the Maine and
our declaration of war, the Austrian and
French Cabinets BOUNDED other European
Governments with the view OF organizing n
species of Cuban Concert, for the purpose
Of forbidding the United States to in
~terfere with SPANS maladministration of
her West Indian possessions. The editor
of the National ReUielD AYERS that Russia,
though with some reluctance, consented to
back her French ally, but that Germany re-
turned the unsatisfactory reply that she
would only participate in such a concert on
condition that the assent of England should
be first secured. 1t was, no doubt, known
at Berlin that England's assent was out of
the question, for Mr.. A. j. BALFoUR, noto-
riously an ardent friend Of the United
States. had been left at the head of the
British Foreign Office by Lord SALISBURY
during the ~latter's ~sojourn in the south Of
France. Mr.. BALFoURis answer to the
French overture was n peremptory reiec-
tion OF the scheme proposed, and, as we
have said, n corresponding attitude on the
part Of Germany had been indicated in adj
vanna- So far than as fba nttapnpt 10 a.,
our hands beforehand and to prevent our
declaration Of war is concerned, the conduct
Of the Berlin Government, although less
positive than was that OF Great Britain,
shone by comparison with that of France,
Austria and even Russia. OF Russia, how
ever, 1t must be owned that she was in an
awkward predicament, and may fairly plead
that she promised to accede to the Cuban
Concert, not because she. loved us less, but
because an existing alliance compelled her
to seem to love France more.
So much must be said in justice to Ger
many. On the other hand, it must be recog-
nized that the Berlin Government, like
any other Government in a free country,
cannot control the feelings or utterances
OF all its citizens or subjects. There are
Jingoes in Germany, just as there are in
Great Britain, and many of the former are
concentrated in the so-called Colonial
party, OF which Admiral Won DIEDERICHs,
commanding the German squadron in
the Far East, must be II typical representa-
tive. OF him the best that can be said is
that a waspish and truculent demeanor did
not grow into any overt act Of hostility.
So much for the German Jingoes and their
reputed representative in the Philippine
waters. 1t remains to speak of the Agrari-
ans, who constitute a considerable though by
no means the strongest party in the Reichs-
tag, and who are sent thither as defenders
of the German agricultural interest. The
incomes OF the German landowners and of
their tenants depend, Of course, upon the
market prices of food staples, and for that
reason they arc protectlonists to a man
whereas the manufacturers and operatives
OF Germany would like to buy food as
cheaply as they may. The agriculturlsts,
of whom the Agrarian party is the Parlia-