The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-07-29

any controversy. l am 'S' -
est of fair play to take the uhpopu."'
side and ask a portion of your space III
:, fnw observations concerning the Am
ercan attitude toward t''e va
east. o,,,
1t is natural for people to take so'lH
side In n matter Of such general inter
est. and not unatural or strange ~
many should sympathize with the ~
tJe Japs" But when we consider rus
s;o,s lnnp continued friendship for this
country, he active interest IN oui
half when friendship meant so much 10
orr existence, and the fnct that ,h'
very name of an American mas io'
years been a free passport anu oai
conduct in the farthest doIninlohs o.
the Car the violent ana n,liins, go.
yersal sympathy for Japan which seems
hind TO every consideration OF fairness
and truth Is hard to understand Eh
enlargement of assassination, hopes o.
Russian annihilation and destruction VI
the Car are freely expressed,
japanese partisans VIII ho' s',e
credence or hardly listen to statements
from such sources as Senator Bever-
idge or w. r. Stead, and while iiieS
all have some reasons for thel: views.
the little Japs" is the substance OF
most OF the reasoning used o's'o'
says that the documentary Slorshcaho'
OF Japan is because the japanese are
a nation If killers. In other woods,
what Carlyle politely called hero Wor-
ship" which now finds an object OF
alteration IN every Jap VINO co'nn'its
hari-kari or otherwise shows the orr
entail contempt for human existence
While this doubtless contributes To
Japanese support. the real reason TO-
hostility to Russia appears TO me 10 pe
found in the popular misconcepllon ana
superficial knowledge Of the situation
and a sort of sentimental sympathy Tor
the little fellow"
A short time ago | was trying 20 en-
plain to a prominent business man OF
more than ordinary intelligence ana
general information that the popular
idea that Russia tries to keep he: peo-
ple in Ignorance and darkness Is
mistake; that millions of money are
spent by the government every year III
the establishment and supnort ol
schools throughout Russia and Siberia:
that. according to Senator Bevcridge,
Russia has eighty thousand public
schools attended by four million child
rem: that every inducement is held out
for the spread of popular education ana
the government Is doing all In It's pow
er, considering the magnitude OF the
work.l pointed out that recruits ior
the army who can read and write are
required to serve a shorter term than
those who cannot, that every regiment
has II school master and no soldier can
he discharged until he has learned to
read and write The business man re-
Piled that he supposed 1t was the pol
Icy of all Catholic countries to keep
their people in ignorance.
Repeating this conversation to pro-
fessional man few days later was
again surprised to hear him say that
while he knew Russia was not exactly
Catholic country he supposed 1t was
under control of the pope This repre-
N,,l,., !, n
intelligence applied to the situation,
and it shows that the average Amer
lean has about the same knowledge OF
the Russian government and the peo-
pie thas - latter have of us.
Tha, 60 :. t.cas are prevalent is not
strange. Russia is remote country
and for centuries has had little inter-
course With the rest of the world And
when we consider that most of our In
formation has come through English
sources, that ever since Russia began
to develop England has regarded hel
as natural enemy and has system
atically done all in her power to pre-
judice the world against Russia and
weaken her in the eyes of civilization
1t may afford some light on the stu
alton. For hundred years England
has hardly been able to sleep nights fol
fear of Russia in India and on the
Bosphorus. That the cause of this feal
Udu ITO III ldGl anu "eS Lii'
nightmare OF Imagination. made no diff
ference. Realizing that alone she wa:
no match for Russia, she pursued he
usual nollcy of seeking allies In ever.
quarter of the globe. Knowing as sh
does that public sentiment controls on
government as none other in the world
this country has furnished an excellen
field for her propaganda. Under tn
the guise of news" furnished to syn
dlcates Of newspapers and repeated b
sensational writer's at so much pei
the work Of Anglicizing publ
sentiment has gone on for years.
Once started the work of prejudic
sentiment is always ultimately righ
we know how easily 1t is induced t
lend Il fcothy support or condemnatio
to a given thing, with little regard to 1t
rea. merits. Numerous foreigners
mostly Englishmen, have generousl
pointed out to us our national faults an
foibies but this is one they have ap
parently overlooked. With the possibl
exception of the French, we are Il,
greatest bahd-wagon people in tn
world. Let any man or set of me
do spectacular act and every shoulde
ts is joined in the general boost Let hi
do something unpopular or somethir
which for n moment looks wrong
foolish, and Immediately every toe
Forthcoming to aid in the accelerate
of his pace down the decline. The n
cent careers of Roosevelt, of Dewey al
Hobson furnish excellent illustration.
The daily newspapers instead of tr,
ing to correct this popular tendenc
join in the general hue. Pursuing Il
III. avowed policy of furnishing the poop
the kind of news wanted, they give fr
rein to whichever side appears for
most at the time. Since the begihnil
of the war the news from the fro
has furnished them excellent gallopi
ground. When the first news of t
battle of the Yalu We're received t
dailies told in startling headlines ht
$4,000 laps had completely defeated 3
600 Russians. A few days later a cal
81 full reader might pick out from t
bottom of the foreign news column II
the battle was fought only in pursual
Of the previous. Russian plan of hf
RAISING the enemy and falling back
another line of defense and that
Japanese outnumbered the Russia
several to one. But the head lines h
done their work.
A few weeks ago one of the gr
dailies published in fine print in {
of its remote corners some corr
pondence from Korea. telling, amt
other things, OF the brutal treatm
of the Koreans by the Japanese; h
the traditions of four hundred we
have caused japan to be referred to
that accuraed nation;" how on DC
ber 4, 1895, the empress of Korea ,
foully assassirated, stabbed, sprink
with Kerosene and burned by the j
anese residents of Korea with the
provement of the Japanese minis
and concluding that taking over
government and country by Japan
like stealing candy from blind CT
"a few days later the same paper p
Iished an editorial on laps. in Kor
evidently written without regard to
correspondence commenting on
peaceful acquisition Ut Korea and