The Irish standard., 1902-12-06

A CnfedQOaIS SuOJeCL 10 IAS ADe~
dent foolishness Of the Protestant mis-
sionaries going to Catholic countries to
bring their peculiar Anglo-Saxon civil
ization and Christianity to benighted
Latin peoples. They SOW only discord
and bad manners and dishonesty ana
they furnish an object lesson to the su'
perior claims Of Catholic civilization
always, says the Freeman's Journal.
Major ]. Orton Kerbey, who now oc'
cupies a responsible position with the
Carnegie company, is well known as
an ex-consul to Brazil and an explorer
in the interior Of South America. His
experiences are one more testimony to
the failure Of Anglo-saxon civilization
10 make men better or happier.
Major Kerbey says always when he
speaks Of missionaries he means Prot
estant missionaries):
"Disinterested investigation Will
show much Of the true inwardness, not
to say cussedness, Of recurring troubles
with the so-called heather people, arise
from our people, especially our jealous
missionaries, attempting to force su-
perior civilization upon people, who, as
thev look at it, consider their own CIV
ilization as good as ours.
ssThe missionary spirit is all right in
the abstract, but experience and OBJ
seryation show that whatever the orig
inal motive may have been, the mis-
sionary movement is always supple
mented by the demand Of trade, which
in turn invariably results in introduce
ing selfish motives under the guise OF
civilization, followed by a dismember-
ment or absorption of their country.
''The question of our superior civil
ization is like that of China-an open
door,
''Those who have not enjoyed the
privilege of foreign travel are apt to
entertain erroneous impressions Of
other lands and other peoples.
"We Americans are taught to think
our country the best on earth, and, in
cidentally, all the rest are of an in
ferior civilization, especially the Latin
races, because they are so slow and un-
progressive, as compared with our
hustling propensities.
"However, the people Of those lands
consider our rush and greed for money
making vulgar, indicating want Of
proper cultivation. They assert that
the basis of our civilization is selfish
ness.
"Civilization may be also largely due
A to latitude and climate. Many things
that are proper enough for this zone
are not at all adapted to their latitude
especially in religion and politics.
''The Anglo-Saxon was fortunate in
being established in the temperate
zone, while the Spaniard, or Latin peo-
pie. became located in the tropics, or
what may be called the zone of un-
healthfulness.
'They have done wonders in over
coming difficulties of climate and ell
vironment, which we have not to con-
tend with in our superior location.
'Is it not possible that we Americans
take some credit to ourselves that is
really due to our superior environment?
We do not give our latitude show.
'If the Spaniards had come here, and
we had gone to their land, what would
have been the result?
''My observations have been largely
in tropical countries, especially in the
interiors of South America. have
twice crossed Equatorial America via
the Amazon, and been over the Andes
five times.
'In all my interior travels, during
months and years Of life among the
people who have never seen Protest.
ant, l have found the conditions su-
perior to those where our civilization
has penetrated. 1t is a common say
ing in South American interiors that
theft and the other vices, unknown In
the interior, are only practiced on the
coast-or, in other words vice begins