The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-01-27
THE BRITISH IN SOUTH AFRICA.


No one, however critical Of British
craftsmanship before the South Afri-
can war, British generalship during
the war, and the unusual symptom.
Of hysteria among the British public
which have followed the disasters il
the field, can hope for the civilization
and progress Of South Africa withou.
wishing that British arms may be sue
cessful there. The Advertiser has mad,
this point more than once, but thai
does not inhibit the indulgence in such
comment as the more moderate Lon
don journals themselves are making
upon the folliesNand weaknesses of the
campaign. We note by a local organ
Of British sentiment that a paragraph
in yesterdays Advertiser is regarded
by at least one Britisher as an insult
to Her Majesty's subjects, when 1t
was far from being. The worst insllt
to them would be to quote with APP
prevail the scurrile jests which appear
in the radical British journals. It is
not a Honolulu, but a London paper
which says that the British are re-
treating in splendid order and the en-
envy following in great confusion. Aft
er that and thousand English para
graphs like it, surely the observation
is not out of order in a Honolulu paper
that fasting and prayer in the face of
disasters that must be met by sword
and shell is scarcely a British chard1-
teristic. Since the time of the fierce
beef-eaters who overran Europe. o.
were overrun in it, Englishmen have
no. been prone to turn from defeat
to sackcloth, be-. have taken a rresh
grip ana out of tie nettle Danger
pluckeG the flower Safety.
That is what we expect them to do
in this instance and will applaud them
for doing, and this Notwithstanding the
fact that England has never given
Americans much reason to love her.
One time at a foreign peace confer
enee, ex-Secretary of State John w.
Foster accorded the writer a press in
terview in which he said: when ] |
think of the way England treated us
in colonial times, in the Revolution. |
previous to and during the war of 1912, |
in the boundary dispute and In the |
Civil War, feel an unmistakable pref
udice against her; but when l consid- |
er that wherever her flag waves justice |
is administered, revenues honestly col |
lected and civilization advanced, l say |
of England, God bless her." These are
the views, we believe, of most rational |
Americans. and while they are such
as not to repress criticisms OF British |
failures and shams, they are OF a sort |
to encourage our kinsmen beyond the
Atlantic in the pursuit of policies
which work for the betterment OF hu-
mainly and the world.
Such is the policy OF reclamation in
South Africa. The Beers, splendid
fighting men that they area quality
they share with the Dervishes-are ye;
as much in the way of the unity and |
civilization of South Africa as were |
the Dutchmen of New Amsterdam of |
the unity and civilization of North |
America. They are dull, fierce bipeds, |
standing in the path. The best inter |
ests of the region of the Cape, per-
haps of the Dark Continent itself, re- |
quire that their distinctive political |
institutions be wiped out and they. |
themselves, amalgamated with the |
Anglo-Saxon race. A mighty people |
would be born of such a union, a peo-
pie fit to grapple with the sternest |
work of pioneering and of the noblest |
problems Of craftsmanship and to build |
in some bright future the United States |
of South Africa. Looking toward !
such a coHsummation what American |
Is there who cannot hope that 1t may |
be speedily realized and this prospect
i've Of any private prejudice he may
bear towards Great Britain as a power. |
N