New-York tribune., 1907-12-19
AMERICA ABROAD.
TcTosc Journalism and British Dog
RGfgST.
London. Dacer,I,a-

+gn,es be good or bad across the sea there is
..,die of eccentricities and vagaries to ha
,aad daily as samples of American life SO thar
o,ie of regular habits and conservative ideas
= t-npland can understand how unsettled and
.--ssnousjbIe are the conditions of existence in
new country. It is not strange that the great
1e,ublic has q reputation abroad of being the
..o.rest country on earth when the most fan
.ae.,r social and criminal incidents are singled
ou+ dav by DAY as typical and representative of
.-,ericar progress and civilization. When there
.. ,henoreneI prosperity, this medley of freak
,sn and grotesoue episodes serves to show how
..sst+Iing and demoralizing material progress
~ be when il comes suddenly and there are
Inadequate resources Of self-control When
,bere are financial reverses and breaches of
,ryst the Inaddening effects Of rapid accumula-
,;o- NJ wealth and gambling with other peoples
,,nev sre illustrated by suicides bank failures
n. reduction OF spendthrift milionaires TO beg
,.-r the discharge OF hundreds Of thousands
:. U-o-knen and the frantic rush of hordes of
,rnrnigrants to European ports, where they viii
no charge the poor rates. Il ought not
N create astonishment in America il English
men. accustomed TO constant use of the half
n.auv press as a yellowish. refracting medium,
come 10 look on the Land of Dollar as the least
responsible Of civilized countries Systematic ex-
aggregation in season and out Of it can hardly
-afI 20 prejudice Europeans against America. as
g freakish country where nobody has a sense OF
moral responsibility
Harpily there are readjustments in political
oratory. When thorough going Free Trade
rartisan like Nr Runciman, Financial Secre-
;ars Of the Treasury, undertakes TO explain what
A. going on in America, his motives are too plain
10 deceive even the unwary. It IS Of course.
the tariff that is the root of al evil across the
sea! Because there is a tariff in America, there
are unrnanageable trusts. against which there is
q widespread revolt, e:sd behind it are high
,vaynaen OF finance who manipulate great
pcrations for their purposes. obtain control
of groups Of banks for speculative ends, under
mine the confidence Of small investors and de-
rositors and aggravate the evils of the currency
gnd banking systems This IS MI Runciman's
general view, and he lays special stress the
tact that the evil of neslecting the difference
between q mortgage and a bill OF exchange is
Intensified IN 2 protectionist country. Loans are
piled Up on securities dependent on inflated
values produced by the tariff! As the tariff
varies subject TO honest policy or dishonest
'rboodling." values go UP or down, mortgages
are correspondingly insecure and banking is de-
raoralized. Protection enables the inefficient in
dustTies TO show profits for a while, but the
bracing effect of foreign competition is never
felt and economical production is not en-
couraged. America has been working on cham
psgne. according 10 this Free Trade moralist,
and in course Of time its stimulating effect has
disappeared and there is the costly period OF
reaction and depression All this passes as
timely English politics. since the Liberal Treas
ury Official IS at pains to state that while every
thing is going wrong in America under the tariff
system checks are worth their face value in the
Kingdom the banks are safe. manufacturers are
making honest profits and public confidence is
northumberland all because there is Free
Tra6ei
f7ren III the Free Trade orators did not over
reach themselves in their special pleading there
vofld be partisans on the other side to show
that these are highly controversial matters
Lord Lansdowne. instead of being convinced
that everything is going right in England. re-
CARDS the financial situation with grave appre-
hension, perceiyes shrinizage OF sources OF rev.
enue and an increase of liabilities and realizes
that the country is paying too dear for cheap
ness and is weary OF articles Of faith which
were perhaps sound enough in the old days. but
are now of no real protection for the commercial
interests Of the empire. What Lord Miner. Mr.
Balfour. Mr.. Bonar Law and ali the Unionist
speakers NOW engaged in political oratory unite
IN considering necessary is readjustnent Of
the English system by which larger revenues
can be raised by indirect taxation. fairer treat
raent obtained for home industries and closer
relations tablished with the colonies. They
may be right or they may be wrong but az least
they cffer evidenesaef sharp division in politi-
cal opinion throughout the kingdom respecting
the utility and soundness of the fiscal system
Nor Will il he difficult 10 find in commercial and
financial circles skeptics respecting the scientlnc
character Of the currency and banking systems
here. Gold may not have been az d pre-
MUM or paper at a discount. but the bank rate
has bean oppressively high when the industries
Of the kingdom needed cheaper accommodation,
and the gold stocks in sight are small that
TIE rate has 20 be raised whenever there is fnan-
cial disturbance IL any quarter There are many
fna,cations that the currency system adopted
over sixty years ago Is not sufficiently elastic for
The requirements of an enormously increased
commerce and that practical measures ought TO
have leen taken long ago for enlarging the
bullion reserves in London, as has been done IN
Washington. Paris, Berlin, Vienna and st. Pc
tersburg
There were British naval experts in Wash
.netcn az the outbreak OF the war with Spain
~ho coatended that an admiralty vas indispen-
sable ana that the American feet could not WIN
VICTORIES without it, yet the battles OF Manila
and Santiago we're fought IN a "orkhlahike
xav. The American military administration
was subjected TO even more destructive ctlt-
cis-a from Enellshlaen 81 the same time; yet II
re-xaa t,7a uurpose with more efficiency than
the British system during the Boer war. and was
speedily reformed and improved by secretary
Rect at the War Office. whereas mere nave
bsen three reorganizations here ana the "ork Is
SIN in progress. When the Philippines were oe-
cupisd Americans were warned that they Wouia
make q disastrous failure Of the government Oh
the Islands unless they initiated closely the