BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-10-04
sAfl JUAN OCTOBER 4
National Bad Manners.


When the commander of the Ger
man cruiser Panther SUNNI oned Adml-
raj Killick to surrender he is reported
to have done so in these words 1t
YOU do not strike your flag in fifteen
minutes and in the meanwhile make no
defensive preparations, shall open ire
on vou." That was very characters
tic way of making the announcement.
It was excessively German-brusque,
hard, insolent. An English captain
would have said Z" I am directed to in
form yon," etc., thereby relieving him
self of the immediate responsibility and
making the matter less personal and
therefore less offensive A Frenchnan
would have begun, II have the. honor
to inform you'-using phrase OF actual
courtesy and employing words that
have a certain honorific SAVIOR to them.
An American might have adopted
either the French or the English form.
but his impulse would have been to say
II regret to inform you
Bad manners, of course, are peculiar
to no particular country; but there are
different degrees Of rudeneas, some OF
which are attained by the people OF one
nation more readily than by those OF
another, On the Continent of Europe,
the British 'morgue' is proverbial ; yet
it is father a passive than active form
of discourtesy. 1t ignores you, but 1t
does not thrust offense upon YOU By
ignoring it ia yoar turn, you need never
feel it, But the aggressive r1deness OF
the Saiss, the boorishness of the Nor
vegians and the rampant 1lerce-
ness of the Germans cannot posi-
bly be avoided. They seek you out,
ard push and heave and grunt around
YOU. no matter how inconSpcuous you
make yourself. These are the most
excitable people O. Europe, with
the Dutch following at a very narrow
interval. In France and Spain and
Italy there are practically no bad man
ners at all when you get above the level
of the criminal classes.
Americans are irreyerent, but they
are intentionally rude only to those
whose self-esteem is much too obvious.
If YOU are ponpous and arrogant and
assertive, they will rejoice to take you
down: bat other ise they will show the
essence Of true politeness, which IS
regard for the rights of others. In
crowd they viii not try to Jostle you
out of your place they will even good
humoredly Inconvenience themselves to
make place for you American ire
we're ace and American imperttnence
are, indeed, never studied or outra-
geous, bit sen1i-humorous and often
based on ki Ill of fundamental friend
Iness. Thus, when Prince Henry was
gliding. up Broadway last spring IN an
open carriage, several young felio $
called out chserily, Hulio, Hullo~ OF
course, ioseisner would interpret this
as a deliberate insult, gross otfeusNe-
ness directed against q royat parsonage
by greasy hoodlnms delighting to out
rage propriety. But probably it was
nothing of the sort. It was. .nos courtIy
that greeting but what it doubtless
meant was You're a good fellow We
are glad to have you with u.s. The
bad manners at the American, in fact,
oftenest arise from excessive trlendlt-
ness, too great readiness. to clap ycu
on the back and assure you of his CON-
radeship If, as Kipling says the Anne
rican would (" match with Destiny for
beers" it is not because he despises Des-
tiny, but because he wishes to treat
Destiny as he would himself desire to
he treated, to give Destiny, as it We're,
fair show in tae game.
When It comes to fundamentally Sc
rious matters, then the American shows
the inherited gravity and even the taci-
turnity of the Anglo-Sa xon with the
kindness Of the transplanted race still
evident. Capt. Philip at Santiago, when
he checked the cheering OF his victo--
rious crew, was most typically national ;
and, indeed, all Americans respect and
feel the majesty Of death. Nothing
could have shown this more Impress.
vely than the hush Which.fell upon 7o,-
ooo,ooo of people at the hour of Presi--
dent McKinleys funeral, Nowhere IN
the whole country was there observable
such a scene as that Shich London ~if-
messed when tie looIigans came out
and yelled in drunkgn ravelry on the
night the kipg lay very near to
death. Visit the nlau oleuil at West
naiuster ii Loudaa where English
kings and queens are buried aud
watch a typical crowd 60 pushing,
squeezing and giiffa wing past the.
tonaos. and then compare them with the
silent throag IF sirrevefcat Americans
who daily Stand uncovered Beside the
bariaI place of (srant or before the se-
pl1lcher OF Washington. The contrast
has It's less3i1, and ws need nos valae
= ~ I.<ss. ~ c