The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-04-08
INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN IDEAS.

Cecil Rhodes was a man of few words
and did not leave much on record con-
corning his personal views, but it is evil
dent that his dream of British empire ex-
tension and his larger dream of the unfit
cation of English-speaking peoples con-
tanned a large element of American ideas.
If he had not been an Englishman he
would have been an American and, Briton
as he was, he was a firm believer in the
basic principles of our political system
such as the federation Of States, popular
suffrage. the largest individual liberty,
local rule in local affairs. etc. These are
the principles he wanted 10 see estab-
Grafton of English-speaking peoples which
he dreamed of. Editor Stead. of the Re
view of Reviews. quotes him as writing:
The American has been taught the les
son of home rule and of the success of
leaving the management of the local pump
TO the parish beadle. He does not burden
his House of Commons with the response
bilty of cleansing the parish drains. The
present position of the English House is
ridiculous. You might well expect Ma
poleon to have found time to personally
count his dirty linen before he sent IL TO
the wash and then recount it upon its re-
turn.
This shows that he had grasped one of
the great ideas of our system-that of ma
tional control of national affairs and local
control of local affairs.
Mr.. Stead was an intimate friend of
Rhodes, and they probably thought alike
regarding the possibility of unifying Eng
disappearing races Some interesting views
on the subject are presented in a recent
work by Mr.. Stead entitled 1.-The American
ization of the World" By the American
ization of the world he means it's Anglo
Saxonizing on American lines and with
American political methods predominant
He says that eff race union is TO be
complished the future head of the reunited
states will be elective and republican, even
If the monarchy continues to be cher
ished in these islands as a distinctly local
institution" He says it is absurd to i'm
agine even in a dream that the Americans
would ever Anglicize their written Con-
stituton. which he treats as a model for
democratic government, but he thinks Brit
ish institutions could easily be assimilated
to it. He says:
II a plebscite were to be taken to-mor-
row and every white male adult in the en-
pire weee to be asked TO vote for or against
hereditary legislation, an established church
and our present illogical system of un-
paid parliamentary representation. what
would be the result? II is more than prob
able that even now the majority of British
view. We boast that we have en-
circled the world with self-governing colo
MES. but, without a single exception, every
one of these colonies, while rejoicing in
the shelter of the union lack and enthusi-
astically loyal to the person of the SOW
ereign, has organized its own constitution
on American as opposed to British lines
Not colony has transplanted across the
seas either a hereditary chamber an es-
tablished church or the English system of
unpaid, unequal representation. The de-
scendants of George III retained the al
legiance OF the colonies by allowing them
one and all. TO frame their constitution on
the principles of George Washington.
All this means one thing. and one thing
only. II is we who are going to be Amer
icanized; an advance will have to be made
our side: II is idle to hope and it is not
at all TO be desired that the Americans
will attempt to meet us half way by sad
ding themselves with institutions of which
many OF us are longing earnestly to get
rid.
This extract from a book written by an
intimate friend and admirer of Cecil Rhodes
probably furnishes the keynote of the lat
ter's ideas regarding the Anglo-Saxon-
izing of the world. 1t was not that the
whole world has to be conquered or over
spread by the Anglo-Saxon race, but that
it was to be dominated in the interest of
peace and progress by a great federation
on the American plan. That representative
Englishmen should hold such views is a
remarkable tribute to the influence of
American ideas.