The times., 1901-06-09
LONDON NEWS AND GOSSIP.
Americans in the Foreground Dur
ing the Past Week.

| ing the Past Week.
! LONDON, June S.-If Lord Salisbury is
! capable of pride in any public act Of his
he must see in this al-pcrvading glow of
! Angio-Americanism a splendid vindica-
| tion of the root principle Of his dipIo-
macy, since he gave a friendly counter
| check to President Cleveland Much has
been made Of the fact that the crowd on
Epson Downs on Wednesday remained
comparatively mute when the American
colors flew past the Derby winning post,
| and yesterdays reception of Keene's
American victory in the oaks Stakes was
| also tamely received; but the fact is you
can only enthuse an EPSON crowd when
the winner is some popular celebrity, and
| it is ridiculous to contrast the victory of
a Whitney or a keene, of whom most
Englishmen never heard before, with that
of Prince of Wales or Lord Rosebery or
Duke of Westminster. The truly sgnii-
cant fact to note is that the man in the
street accepts it as a perfectly natural
thing that an American horse should take
its turn in winning races traditionally
Consecratcd to the English populace, for
the American is becoming as much one
Of the family as. say, an Irishman or a
Canadian
AS for Mr.. Carnegie's trust. today's par
ticulars quite smooth away the criticisms
which assailed the early forecasts. Sandy
no longer looks suspiciously at Mr.. Car
negie's sixpence. as the cartoonist por-
trayed him, asking as he bit it, Il wonder
if it's guid?" He is, this morning, well
satisfied, while the Englishman is envi-
ousy eager for some expatriated English
millionaire to bestow like boon upon the
equally stricken English education. Mr..
Carnegie has completely met the early in
dictment of his scheme on the ground of
its pauperizing effect by setting apart half
the money for the improvement and ex-
pansion of Scottish university teaching,
leaving the other half for aid to qualified
and deserving students. This exactly meets
Scotland's greatest need, for the Scottish
universities long have been degenerating
into no more than secondary schools in a
none too successful competition with the
secondary schools of the State system.
Thus the universities were being left
without true function unless their facul-
ties could be developed on a wider more
modern. and more various basis of in
structiOn.
in fact. in the words of DR.. William
Wallace, teaching in the Scottish universi-
ties had come to mean skeleton faculties,
supported by skeleton revenues
Mr.. C2rnegie's gift in the hands of
trustees Of such high national repute as
H..
near. and Messrs. BaIfour. Bryce, and
Morley, must change all this. Even the
Times this morning turns it's former
moaning to paeans of praise 1t sees
Scotland lifted to the very highest level
on academic Importance; it's universities
enabled to equip expeditions to enquire
into the life histories of fever-carryiug
MOSQUITOES. and so on. and to undertake
the investigation of problems in organic
and inorganic chemistry of the highest
national industrial Importance. II even
sees in the scheme assurance that no pos
slble Scottish Milton viii remain for the
future either mute or inglorious. 1t is in
truth a splendid vision which these over
iioWlng American millions are unfolding
before Scottish and English eyes.
Mr.. BrOdrick's dust heap" is the now
accredited new title of the War Office. Ger
talnly the report published on Thursday
by the committee of business men and I
financial experts whom the Secretary for |
War commissioned to investigate the /
whole working of the department justi- /
nes the title. The report shows the War /
OHice 10 be a crazy medley of offices and /
officers, created piecemeal, to suit the /
personal and political exigencies of sue !
ceSSiVe Ministries, incapable of that CO. !
operative effort which is the first essen
tial OF any business organization. Wit (
neSSeS who gave evidence under the
pledge Of secrecy proved that officials /
waste large part of their time in finding
out how things should be done and who
should do them. the process generally
ending in nobody doing vital things wait
ing to be done. and nobody is to blame
while large questions of military policy
are left uncOnsidered. AS one summarist
of the report declares: 1T is as if a rail-
way company tried to earn money by I
goods instead Of carrying them"
And it is from this mass of neptitude
that England has expected to get the or
ganiZatiOn of efficient armyi Great |
changes must come. and come soon, for |
the report, in the hands of an alert Oppo-
sition, is enough of a bOmbshen to throw /
half dozen Ministries who dared to neg
Iect it.