New-York tribune., 1901-07-27

THE CHILDREN OF THE NATIONS. STUDY
OF Colonization and Its Problems. By P0ultney s
Bigelow. NJ. A, F. r. q. 5. Octave pp. Sbo Nc
Clure. Phillips Co.
In the spring Of 1898 between the blowing up
of the Maine and the beginning of the war be-
tween Spain and the United States. Mr.. Bigelow
made "a run across Spain on bicycle There
can be no doubt that that run" the hurry
ing wheelman, being an alert and acute OBJ
server many things worth seeng' ana
worth jotting down in his notebook. In making
a comparable run across the vast domain or the
colonial history of modern nations he has sim
ilary seen many interesting things. and mas
Jotted them down in an ''impressionistic way.
He would scarcely have called the logbook of his
cycling tour a study OF Spain and its peoples
1t is not easy to see good reason for
calling his notebook of colonial history a
study of colonization and its problems: un-
less indeed a hint of his humor is revealed in
the dedication Of the volume to Mark Twain.
For study IL is not Rather is 1t collection
of raw materials which study may be based
AS such It is by no means devoid of value. and
its author must be credited with diligence
and zeal In the work of collecting. The
range Of the thirty-ive chapters is a wide
one extending from Columbus to Dewey.
The topic of the work is also one of un-
! surpassed interest and Importance. For blaz-
vey of the ground however roughly and cur
soriy therefore, Mr.. Bigelow is entitled to
our gratitude. Every work is a good one
which in any degree moves people TO think
! riousy Of the duties of man toward man and of
| government toward those who governed.
There in these pages some striking ex
ampes OF the evil which has come. and which
| is sure to come from the cruel corrupt or
careless exploitation Of country by another.
| We must wish that Mr.. Bigelow had indeed
made of his book study" and had not con-
| tented himself with mere impressions and obiter
dcta. and with these sometimes expressed in the
half fippant style OF the casual reporter. We
/ cannot require every hastily written book OF the
/ hour TO display the literary finish OF the
tured classic. But in study OF a serious
subject coIloquialisms not TO be mistaken
! for epgrams.
1t is as a compilation of data, then, that Mr.
! Bigelow's book is chiefly 70 be valued; though
such It is not always to be accepted
! without question. We must, for example take
exception TO his offhand declaration that "at
| this moment We are repeating in Cuba and the
! Philippines the same political faults which have
made Spanish administration byword through
out the world Faults in administration
| Of those islands there may be. but they are
surely not those of Spain. For. according to
! Mr.. Bigelow's own showing. it Spain's pol
icy to squeeze all possible wealth out of her
colonies for her own enjoyment-in the phrase
which has often been heard at Madrid, Ito make
| Cuba Spain's milch cow" Certainly there has
been not the slightest hint at anything of that
sort in the United States insular policy. Neither
can we pass without word of protest
Mr.. Bigelow's renewed attack upon the con-
sular and what may perhaps call the
colonial service of this country. No doubt there
have been and abuses in the consular SER
vice. But II is surely exaggeration for Mr..
Bigelow to say as he does, that the American
consul is as a rule "a with the shftless
habits OF the professional politician, devoid of
personal credit among Americans and despised
by the people or other countries, unable TO live
respectfully on his salary and prone to make
money by dishonest means" Nor. when we
recall the personality of the who have
been sent to the Philippines as commissioners
and to Porto Rico Governor and what not,
can agree with Mr.. Bigelow's intimatfon that
our colonial service Is filled with 'the political
rinraff the professional failures, the social
tramps" The service may be faulty, and i'm
movement OF il may be desirable. But such
faults are not to be corrected and such i'm
movement is not to be effected by indis-
criminate railing which would leave mot even
Iauncelot brave nor Galahad clean"