The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-08

a I'm beginning 20 believe that wore
the only people In h world who really
hammer u own system OF government.
Do you know that there are plenty OF Ameri-
cans who when they're travelling In Europe
knock the United States? 1 wouldn't have
believed thai IL l hadn't been by on many
occasions when IL happened. Some Of them
knock their country openly and deliberately
and almost studiously, while others knock
IL by implication; that il. they fail to como
70 the defence o. the United states when
TINS country il being sneered at by Euro
Peans with whom they're cumming.
l don't know which OF these two classes Il
the more cowardly. The touring Ameri-
ans who openly rap the United States,
without any suggestion OF help on the part
Of Europeans with whom they happen TO
DO training, belong to that class 81 obvious
snobs who profess 60 be ashamed OF the
fact that they were born and reared in the
United states. l couldn't possibly have
believed that such a type OF American
existed had l not within the last half year
come into contact with them time and again.
l ought perhaps to add hat while I'm not
Extensively spreadeaglish or anything OF
the sort, II was often about all that l could
do 20 keep from punching the heads Of some
Of the males OF this species.
The touring Americans who let Europeans
wallop their country without any getback
whatever, but who on the contrary tacitly
agree with the rappers and sort Of apologize
Tor the United States. are just about &C hard
to endure. /. at least. found them 50. The
Englishman, for example. points out in a
supposititiously humorous n sometimes
sneering way to the touring American
some of the things that he has read or heard
about corruption in the American govern
mental system, Well. I'm sorry to have to
admit IL, but it's true Too bad. but it's
8 fact Wish l could deny il. but l can't
We're in a bad way back home and no
mistake That's the way Two heard heaps
of spineless Americans humble their replies
to Europeans. particularly Englishmen,
some badly exaggerated mess of rot they've
got pouched about the States waiting TO
spring IL on the first Americans they meet.
IL wondered many times IL thess apollo
getic Americans. who, IT. saemed to me. did
everything but apologies for living-I won
dered il they thought they were making
any kind OF n hit with the Europeans by
standing for all C. he wallops directod at
their country; MT try sanding for them
but agreeing wItS; chem. and ~apologiaing
for the state Of things adverted to. A hitf
! should say not! For the European con-
siders that a man who won't take up for his
own country is a mighty curious sort of
creature, N that's why 50 many Europeans
whO've met up with Americans OF the
type I'm talking about have reached the
conclusion that Americans must be an
invertebrate, unpatriotic lot; and can there
be much reasonable wonde that they
reach such a C~onclusion2
Better, far better, l think, for us to be
offensively American or our travels. than
apologeCically, crawfishily un-American.
There's a happy medium. Of courss, but
we're too volatile a people to be good at
striking happy mediums. Well. then, rather
than be mollusks where our country il
concerned it's better for US to be aggres-
sively American. That's my view. And
it's a view that l put into practical opera
ton on the other side. IL only as a sort OF
personally conducted protest against the
forced to meet