Omaha daily bee., 1911-02-19
WHAT Ais US is LAZINESS
We Boast But Do Not Hustle for
Worlds Business.
CONCE1T IS NOT CONSERVATISM
"ARgIO-saxOn" Indifference in All
Things Responsible for Americans
Failing to Get Trade that
is Due Them.

OMAHA, Neb.. Feb 1s.-To the Editor Of
The Bee: On the editorial page Of The Bee
appears note about the growth Of Prussia
in population, amounting to II per cent in
a decade (while in the new world the popu-
lation OF the finest agricultural state has
decreased during that time). and also the
growth of German trade the world over
We know that we are accustomed to boast
and fume about the superiority OF the
Anglo Saxon in all departments of human
endeayor until We Americans just count
ourselves in. too, among those people. al
though not one drop in ten of our blood
holds any Anglo-Saxon corpuscles.
That absurd position we have drifted into
can be defended only by one skilled i'm the
art of arguing in circle. II we talk OF
trade. he refers to war; IL science, he re-
fers us to politics. SO we can never catch
the boaster
Let as permit ourselves to leave past
ancient history alone. For IL the Anglo
Saxon was the greatest man at one time It
is our shame that we do not equal our
forebears
What is the matter with England and
their cousins? We certainly have no foreign
trade policy worth mentioning; we sell
some stuff-no. we do not sell 1.-THE other
fellow comes here to buy it, We are in
the objective case. Once we were the
actors; now we are objects Of other peo-
pies acts. What is the trouble? The gist
OF the whole question Is that we boast and
brag while the successful ones have studied
and grown. We have become so conceited
yes, conceited and lazy, that we think our
way, eur methods, some OF which were
time honored In the days Of Julius Caesar.
are the summit Of human attainment We,
and mean the "Anglo-Saxon" on which
ever side Of the water he may dwell, carry
ON sort Of Filtration, commercially. with
Latin America. We are not in dead earnest
although we may not be aware Of It. The
German goes after the trade and supplies
the purchaser with what he wants. lie is
IN earnest lie tries TO please his customer
no matter what the purchaser desires. lie
would weave a fabric Of wool and linen IL
necessary. We do nothing OF the kind. We
are so certain Of our superiority over those
greasers" that We are Disguised with him
when our way Of producing merchandise
does not suit him. We have not even sense
enough TO realize that while our goods may
suit US In our own climate. with our ac-
quired tastes, they would not suit people
Of other chimes with differently evolved
fancies Rather than vary our self-satis-
fled habits We forego the business. and de-
plore the Ignorance OF the south.
By way OF illustration permit me 10 refer
20 tHo things in which we are behind civil
lied people. First: We have a sysicm-no
not a system-but a habit OF spelling our
language which confounds mankind. in
cludins ourselves. II would be easy money
TO WAGER that not one member OF any in
teliectual body OF men. say our present
legislature. could write ten letters 20 ten
men, each Of different occupation. without
the use Of a dictionary. We love our bar
barisms In photography 80 dearly. ana We