Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-12
THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
Taking an Interest in Our
Political Situation.
CAUSES OF CHANGES
DESIRE TO UNITE THE TWO MA
TONS CLOSER.
British Think Very Highly Of President
Roosevelt and Believe He
Will Be Elected.
CAUSES OF CHANGES
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star

LONDON, March u, 1904.
The English people are taking an amazing
interest in the present political situation In
the United States. This interest comes from
| an intelligent understanding Of American
| politics, In such marked contrast to the
| ignorance and Indifference Of even two
| years ago as to be remarkable. The cause
| may be found in the fad for things Ameri-
| can. o ftwo years growth. among the social
| and political elements, in the INVASION OF
| American capital into British fields or In
dustry, and in the lively personality OF fres-
| ident Roosevelt.
With the exception of special articles Wit
| ten for the English papers by American
| writer's 1t cannot be said that the Engnsn
press has contributed SO greatly to this bet
| ter understanding. The big LONDON DANES
| continue to print cable news of a character
most bewiidering to The American c.'l1eh
| abroad English writer's who have journey
| ed to tire states print articles in the many
grave and admirable English reviews. ana
! treat of the national political NE VI tne
United States with an assumptlon ci ii,l-
| macy not borne out by their deductions.
These lapses may, however, really represent
| the state of partial Information Whlch &C
| tuaHy exists in tie British MIND, anu may,
| therefore, be but a fair indication OF the
MONT 10 which this notably rapid edhcauon
has progressed Even in the press, now
| ever. far more space is given TO American
| affairs than ever before, and the names oi
prominent republicans and democrats occur
| almost daily in the news and editorial col
umnS.
| Comment on Senator Hanna's Death. /.
A rather severe test of the accuracy OF
British information as to American politics
was found in The comment MADE upon Inc
| death of Senator Hanna. 1t was to be ex-
n Tn r
great commercial interests in which so much
English capital is concerned would be intel
Ugently appreciated and so disposed Of TO
| find. however, that the British public took
an interest in the relations OF senator
| Hanna to American politics not ohly from
a national point of view, but IN MS personal
attitude toward other republican leaoers,
may be considered surprising. No one
American venture has attracted greater in
terest in England than the purchase Oh tne
English steamship lines. In all discussion
of Anglo-American affairs this enterprise
has apparently awakened liveher contro-
yersy and a greater effort 10 OBTAIN d
thorough understanding of American con-
dit:ons than ANYTHING else which has been
accomplished in the course OF the So-caiieu
American invasion. While senator mamma
was not largely concerned personally
with the shipping industry, he was possibly
rightly looked upon the man representing
the great transportation and lnoustriai "
terests not only in Congress hut IN an po-
Iitjcal damOnStflt ms DTVuSlil HIS az
tivities and his personality into. frequent
mention and observation. Through THESE IN
dustrial channels, therefore, came 10 the
British public much OF the new lniorHia-
ton in regard to American AFFAIRS wh-ch mas
apparently spread itself throughout the
land.
The tragic death of President Mckinney
shocked the entire civilized World; anu,
&C ming as it did at time when unusual
interest in America had been aroused po-=
litically and industrialy throughout the
British empire, ii concentrated attentioll
uron the personality of his successor. Eng
land already knew some thing about Presl-
dent Roosevelt. He had been in public lie
in Washington before i'll position where
he was thrown in contact with many Eng
Eshmen No departing mt of government IS
watched with livelier interest than that OF
the navy With their world-famed love or
sport, the man who made rot only pas
| time but a business of hunting big game
would naturally attract even more atten-
| ton than was warranted by an oficial po-
sition in the naval service At the same
time little was known of the character OF
his diplomacy or OF his administrative
| faculty Immediately after his accession
to the presidency he came Into more or less
conflict with Senator Hanna, representing
the industries which were appealing 50
strongly to British attertion. This, to-
eether with the fact that his administration
Rad at once become concerned with the
problems of capital and labor, so long be-
| fore the British people, fixed the calcium
| light of Information al interest not only upon
the Presidents action but upon his per-
sCnaltty.
Causes of Interest in United States.
Englisfimcn are intelligent, insular in
their prejudices, cosmopolitan in their
knowledge of the worlds affairs Almost
as by a miracle a very general and fairly
accurate knowledge of conditions in the
United States was found among the think
! olo II &c tn cay where
| this information came FROM but one thing
is certain-it would never have been dem
| onstrated but for a corresponding increase
| in TIE interest which preceded its acquisi-
ton.
! This interest as stated. came from sew
eral causes. The inspiring motive of Brit
| ish diplomacy in very recent years has
| been to cement the ties between England
| and the United States. To bring about
one or more treaties which would make
| these two countries allies IN fact is the de-
sire of the British government. British
| ambassador to the United States who can
| lay claim to the credit of bringing about
| Anglo-American compact of tangible value
| to England in time of stress would be
| hailed as a great statesman; and 70 favors
| he could ask of the home government
would be denied. The antagonism in the
| United States to any entangling alliances
! with Great Britain is well recognized here,
but it is hoped that in time it will be over
come. To secure even an arbitration treaty,
such now exists between france ana
England would be considered a distinct
gain. and much encouragement is felt at
the cordial reception gwen to MIR. Thomas
Barclay in Washington within the past
/ three months, his mission having been to
sound American sentiment as to the max
ing of such treaty.
British politics and British diplomacy
have an important social side. In pur-
suance, therefore, of the traditions of the
Diplomatic corps Americans visiting Eng
land in the past two years have found a
welcome almost embarrassing in it's APP
parent cordially and exoansiveness. AS
one of England's best known titled women,
prominent in political life, recently re-
marked 1T Is the thing, you know, now
to be polite TO you Americans" AS a saw
ing clause. however, and to make her
frankness more gracious, she added that 1T
WAS not so very hard after all. Since a
better understanding of American politics
(. has come to the English mind it is more
| fully realized that the social element cuts
a much smaller figure in American politics
than it does in Europe, and that any al
| liances contracted must be secured through
community of commercial interests and a
mutual recognition of the power for good
of the English-speaking race in preserving
Of off