The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1905-11-09

no attempt to colonize in Asia. If the
old world cannot colOnize in the new,
why should the new world colonize in
the oldp The characteristic, which is
evident from the foregoing, is that of
inconsistency.
There is another notable character
istic thatlis almost a vice, that Of self
Americans actually make
themselves believe that, when they do
a despicable act, it is in the interest of
If you ask an orthodox
American what was the object of the
late Spanish war, he will piously answer:
"To free the poor, downtrodden Cubans
from the cruel yoke of SPAIN" That
sounds very praiseworthy, if you take
it seriously. The fact that the battle
ship Maine was blown up in Havana
Harbor Immediately preceding the
declaration of war, must have been
only coincidence. The well known
battle-cry, Remember the Maine and
to hell with Spain," had no particular
significance. But you cannot stife the
suspicion that the war with Spain was
war of revenge, and also calculated
to afford an opportunity for more favor
able commercial relations with Cuba.
Another example of their successful
self-deception, is the general belief of
the Americans that European diplo-
matte circles are astounded and
charmed with what is called shirt
sleeve diplomacy, an American tnven.
tion. If they would read what the
British reviews have to say about GER
tain American ambassadors to the
Court of St. James, they might see this
brand of diplomacy In different light.
Diplomacy is polite, suave and cour-
teous, or it is not diplomacy. The
plain fact of the matter is that the
gentle art was quite beyond the earlier
American ambassadors, and to hide
their utter lack of training, or knowl-
edge of methods diplomatic, they re-
sorted to an ungentlemanly bluster
and bravado, quite in keeping with
their entire makeup. John Hay was
not shirt-sleeve diplomatist, but he
did more to raise the United States of
America in the esteem of other na-
tions than all his predecessors together.
He was gentleman. When jingoists,
like Grover Cleveland and that ilk, get
busy they make the United States the
laughing stock of the rest of the
nations. Cleveland was the man who
was going to arise some morning and
conquer Canada before breakfast. He
probably counted on late breakfast
Canada, like Ireland, never was con
quered, and never will be.
Again the Americans deceive them
selves into believing that they are {
great naval power. Now I don't NEAR
to disparage the navy-what there il
Fof it-but, when it is compared will
J other navies, it looks small indeed
. Only recently Great Britain discarded
nearly as many vessels as the United
States navy contains, as being obsolete
, altho it was held by many nava
! authorities that they were still in serv
: iceable condition. There is no doub
7 that the American navy includes sew
: eral ships that are not as efficient, a
those discarded ones were. German.
r is making strenuous efforts to over
! take France, and to become the seconl
. sea power of the world. The Unite
: States will have to hurry and bull
more than two ships year, if sh
. wishes to accomplish anything start
h ling in the naval line.
Q Another pleasing bit of fiction, whic
the Americans love to flatter then
b selves with, is that Canada will som
q day be annexed to the United State
o Any man who makes that statemer
k either knows nothing of Canada All
s Canadians, or he is incapable of form
+ ing correct conclusions. There wer
IS at one time, few men in Canada wh
were in favor of annexation, but the
II are either all dead, or have experience
n q change Of heart. The question
n not given serious thought nowadsy
y The more Canadians realize the bount
+ less wealth their country contains, Il
u less chance is there Of this nation ge