Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-05

II NAV he a false note but l don't think
So and, anyway, if 1 were asked to sum
up what my humble opinion of the goal
of American life is. / would only want
five letters to express 1t in-Peace.
Americans Enjoy Life.
BY this l mean that the main Ameri-
can ideas appears to be to obtain the most
out of life, with the every ounce that Is
necessary, but at the same time the
least that is necessary of resistance. Inc
people as whole strike me as supremacy
happy, supremely confident of their III,
ture as a race, and supremacy assured
that. even if battle were necessary. they
would battle and win. and win IN the
cause of ultimate peace.
Does not in some way the action OF my
brother Scot, Andrew Carnegie. one OF
the richest of Americans, bear this out!
ing large fortune in trying to teach the
world the Elysium of peace? Has he not
built the peace palace at The hague! IL
/ am not mistaken. did he not win the
Nobel prize given for the best effort in
the cause Of peace?
Yankees Are Cali Smiles"
The general expression of the American
people appears to me to be smiling one.
All the men over forty have benign,
strongly marked, peaceful expression, as
If they had solved the enigma of life. at
any rate sufficient Of 1t to enable them
to meet life squarely and hopefully, con-
fident of the future and prepared Tor
every problem that nature may have in
store for them. / have never anywhere
seen SO many faces with benevolence
without sadness stamped on the features.
In Europe you see many benevolent
faces, with a touch of the divine in them.
but there is ever the tinge OF sadness,
sometimes almost amounting to grimness.
1t is most noticeable in the northern
latitudes, among the Scotch. Irish. Fin
landers and Norsemen 1t is noticeable
in their music. See how sad our old
Scotch and Irish melodies are! Have
you heard the weird. sad songs OF the
Russian peasants? Even in the love song
there is a prayer to the unseen, fear
that even in the ecstasy Of love the dark
shadow is near and may close at any mo-
ment, even at the dawn of loves young
dream.
Cheer in American Song.
Here in America your keynote is song
in joy. Your ragtime music bids you
laugh, not cry-bids you up and away
with dull care. You are not. as people,
less religious, less respectful Of the mys-
teries behind the veil, but you have taken
an attitude OF the joy OF life, as our
! Creator wished us to take 1t. You are not
harassed, as we are. with the ever fear
Of war-brutal, bloody war: war perhaps
on your own cousins and brothers, for
Europe is so intimately associated that
we are all more or less cousins and get
at one another'S Threats all the time. Will
you believe me when / say that quite 70
per cent of the officers Of the Russian
army are Of Scotch, Irish or English
descent?
Why Britons Are Distant.
Perhaps Americans who call US British
ers. as I have heard them call US cold
and distant, do not appreciate the white
mans burden we are carrying, the con-
slant partings our sea-girt home forces
on us. We are always saying goodbye,
goodbye, and o God. how frequently 1t
is forever. Here if you travel your hum
dreds of times the size Of the British
continent. at any rate you have Gods
good ground between you, but We have
always the sea, the sea. and partings.
parting, till life seems made up Of part
tngs, and they leave their mark on us
and make us sad and give us that dis
make new friends because once we do
they are always friends. and we dread
forming fresh attachments because they
mean fresh griefs.
The Land Of Freedom.
So to close their heartfelt ideas on the
dominant note of American nfe-namely
peace-I lift my hat to America and peer
into the future; I see the march of mil
lions and hear the roar of battle. and
see the great American phalanx with the
Stars and Stripes waving them on. and
for the moment the benign look has left
their faces and in its place is q look of