BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-06-18
SAEIJUAN, JUNO !
A Strictly English Opinion

The English press is still puzzllng
itself greatly over the qualified entente
which the German Emperor has man
aged to establish with the United ota-
ties. Americans attach so little 1mpor-
tance to the whole thing as to make
this English mystifcation source to
them of mingled amusement ana sur
prise. Americans look at all the lit
tie civilities which have been exchang-
ed between the two governments as no
more significant that so many cores
ponding courtesies between two lnd1v1-
duals in private life. They do not
commit Germany to anything in partl-
cu1ar. and, most assuredly, they have
no political influence with us. But the
English are still trying to discover So
mething very deep and deadly lying
concealed beneath the surface. The
visit of Prince Henry gave them food
for comm 9nt which lasted quite While,
and now the presentation of the statue
of Frederick the Great has set them OFT
again.
The London Spectator devotes a
long and characteristic article to the
subject. about which it says good ma.
nv sensible things, curiously mingled
with other things that are quite absurd
It appreciates the American point OF
view up to a certain point. 1t recognl
zes the fact that we have not taken the
Kaiser's civilities very seriously. 1t sees
that out interest in Prince Henry's visit
was purely spectacular, and it acqults
us of even the slightest touch of snob
bishness in the enthusiasm of our wei
come to him. The following is rather
good
The Americans delighted to honor
Prince Henry, but it never even occurr
ed to them to think that they were be
ing specially honored by the visit
They imagined that all Germany was
envying the Prince for enjoying such a
lovely time" and ''hustling around" SO
magnifcently. The Emperor need not
have been anxious, as we understand
he was, lest the Americans should have
thought they we're being patronlzed
The possibility never occurred to them.
If they thought about it at all, they
thought how mad the Emperor must
be that he could not see all the wonder
full things his brother had the luck to
see In the case of their new statue
the Americans are, we feet certain, &C.
nuinely pleased to have in their aapital
marble image of the great crowned
ynic The Germans need have no
fear lest, as the "Berliner*Tageb'at'
expresses it, many a republican on the
other side of the Atlantic may find 1t
difficult to reconcile himself to the cree.
ton of a statue of crowned head IN
the capital of the republic" The Anne
rican republican will find no such diff
fculty. He would be pleased to see
the statues of all the kings of Europe
ranged round the Capitol and respect
fully listening to the strains of Hail,
Columbia"
This is all very trne. Where The
Spectator goes ludicrously astray is
in its assumption that we take the Ger
man Kaiser rather lightly, because Of
the particular nature of his govern
ment. 1t goes on with the most por-
tentous seriousness to mark out pro
gramme, set of ''rules of conduct so
to speak, b. carefully observing which
it thinks the Kaiser could not only win
our profound confidence and respect.
but would put us under great obliga-
ton, and even lead us to make sacri-
fees for him in the sphere of inter
national politics. The Spectator" lee
lures the Kaiser as though he were a
school1oy 1t tells him that if he
would abolish prosecutions for "Majes-
tatsbeleidigung" free the German uni
versities from official control and CEN
sorshlp. stop prosecuting the press and
give it freedom, revolutionize the SEN
timent in the German army which sets
the soldier high above the civilian, and
also cease himself to pose as a sacro-
sanct personality, divinely appointed to
rule over nation of bondmen-then
says the Spectator" the American
people would be carried away with
Hood of enthusiasm for the Emperor
The "naivete" of all this is truly
1aughable The importance of it, so
far as it possesses any, lies in It's dem
onstration, if any demonstration were
really needed, of the fact that our
national temperament and attitude
seem to be utterly beyond the CON-
prehension of even the most friendly
foreigner. The Spectator might re
fresh its memory little and recall our
longcontinued friendship for Russia
which began at the period of the Civil |
War and hich has lost very little of
its warmth from that day TO the present
time. The circumstance that the Rus.
sian government is ten times more
despotic than the German has never
made the slightest difference in A1aer-
ican sentiment As a matter Of fact,
Americans have ! s,1trio,fs and almost