The times., 1901-04-07
An Indenendcnt Girl.

| aQNlCe TO aNOld entdnStl ing diilcillNSo-
An independent Girl.
| In a recent interview Miss Isola Ham
ilton. the young English girl for whom
the English Ambassador has been
searching in behalf of her relatives,
gives her reasons for not wishing to re
turn To England If what she says is
true-and it sounds quite as if it
were-most Americans viii sympathize
with her in her desire for Independence.
Although she is cousin of the Duke
of Hamilton she seems to be entirely
unimpressed by that fact, and unin-
luenced by any conventional consdera-
| tions She frankly says that there is
little love wasted in English high life,
that she prefers independence to any
| thing else, and that if there is any no
blity in the world it is q matter of in
dividual character and not of class.
Moreover, she states that she has been
away from home three years and that
Mrs Hamilton has not before evineed
any burning desire to have her back
She concludes:
NO sir: I'm not going back to it, I've no
desire to struggle to get in the set where be-
long. I'd rather struggle here for my bread
and butter. 1t isn't any more effort and the
bread and buffers real, and the set isn't
Together with these candidly stated
sentiments are various bits of informa-
tion about the young lady's early life
She declares that there has been no love
in her kome that she has always been
obliged to contribute somehow TO the
support of the family. and never had
anyone TO take care of her Another
trenchant observation is here inserted:
.sThe run-away-frorn-home fever is a disease
never caught by girls whose homes are happy
aud wholesome"
If all this is true Of her-and there
have been and are a good many such
cases-nobody can blame Miss Hamil
ton very much for striking out for her
self In fact, she is only doing what
many American girls have done with
out causing a hundredth part as much
conmotion. Anyone familiar with Eng
lish novels knows the atmosphere of the
poor but -high-class family, in which
the young people, forbidden by an un-
written law to do anything to support
themselves. are driven to adopt un-
worthy ideals of all kinds. We have
not yet the tradition in this country
that it is better and nobler. for a girl
to scheme for a rich husband than to
support herself or if we have. il is
confined to a limited circle. English
novels are full of it. The influence of
such a system is demoralizing all
around The point which Miss Hamilton
makes is that she prefers independence
to any such uncertain and insincere eX-
istence, and her argument sounds un-
commonly like that which would be
made by any honest and bravesouled
young girl in such circumstances.
The other point which she makes
that girls do not have the runaway
from home disease if their homes are
all rights also good one to note.
The girl with a good mother and father
and wholesome training. which allows
her all the freedom she needs, will find
enough food for her active imagina-
ton and awakening affections in her
home and school life. It is not nat
ural for young girl to seek the in
dependence and experience Of a woman
before she reaches the age when it is
proper for her to do so. and unless
she has been wrongly trained, re-
pressed. and mistreated. she is not
likely To do anything of the kind 1t
is not enough for her to have parents;
the mere Fact of owning children is not
guarantee that the father and mother
are wise. SO much has been said about
the ineffable beauty ofsthe parental re-
lation, especially about motherhood,
that people do not always admit the
fact that that relation, when selfish
ness instead of love Is the mothers
ruling power, can become means Of
torture and Generalization. The ex-
perience of motherhood is not enough
to make woman all-wise and unselfsh.
If she regards her motherhood merely
as dignity to which others must bow,
source of power which cannot be
gansaid; if her mother-love is nothing
but an extended egotism, her influence
over her children is not likely to be
very great. and in that case the neigh
borhood will hear things about the in
gratitude Of the children But if there
is real love and unseIfshness in the
home, ii is not very common thing for
the children to want to run away.
The London Daily News is perhaps
not far wrong in saying.that Russia has
a firm friend in the United States and
that the American Government lost no
time in publishing the plausible assu-
RANGES received by Secretary Hay from
Count Cassini, Russian Ambassador at
Washington" There is no sort of doubt
that the Daily News" is correct in
serting that the United States has been
long anxious to get out of the Chinese
embroglo altogether" 1t has been and
is. indeed. The cut and scuttle from Pc
kin and the gratuitous snub administered
10 Field Marshal Count Won Waldersee
are sufficient evidence of that fact.
Secretary Root has decided that the
prohibition of the Hoar amendment
against the dcforestation of the Philip
pines does not affect the right OF the Gov
ernment 10 cut timber on public lands
under the supervision OF the Bureau of
Forestry at Manila We re inclined to