The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-03-07
JOHN |, GR|FF|THS
DEFENDS AMERICAN
AT London Club, Consular
General Answers Attack
on II. S. Literature.

New York, March John l.. Grill
Sif.hs. consul gegneral in London, at
house dinner OF the Authors club,
took I'D the cudgel for America in
Literature" A London dispatch to
tho Herald says:
After explaining what an unpopular
and thanklcss task IL Is TO make foiKs
"scc themselves as others sec them,
Mr. Griffiths added that some time
ago he was very much Interested In
reading In an English newspaper the
statement that London was TO be con-
graduated because IL had an Opportun-
ity Of seeing at the same time two
OF the most characteristic American
plays. representative of American So
ciety at It's best--"Mrs. Wigs Of the
Cabbage Patch" and "Strongheart"-
rs II the drawing room OF the typical
American hostess was a sort OF veg
etabIe saloon. and as II it were the
usual thing for an American heiress to
marry "a halfbreed II he should hap
pen to be a half-back on varsity
team.
Cites Writer'S Errors.
In concluding his speech. which
held the attention Of the leading repre-.
sentatives Of contemporary English
literature, Mr. Griffiths alluded to 9th
or misconceptions of America and Am
orleans in some English publications.
Mr.. Griffiths said that some English
writer's apparently believed that Am
erica was a land OF multimilli0naires
sky.scrapers. swift divorces, newspa-
pers-sensational and unclean, with
an enormous number or Harriet" cor
rcspondcnts-crime everywhere ram
pant. lynching n favorite pastime; jus.
ticc. when not slow. corrupt: states.
manship venal: with all public NUM-
cipal life degraded. manners gross and
coarse. humor vapid or grotesque.
trusts omnipotent. spiritual and intel
lcctual values entirety disregarded
According to that view. he asserted.
Rome In the most prosperous days OF
her decline would have been an
earthly paradise compared with Am.
erica.
Has Developed Resources.
After telling his listeners that he
had seen Americans described as EEK
iles," aliens and cousins" in En-.
glish newspapers. Mr.. Griffiths called
attention to the fact that in the 130
years since America had an unpleas.
ant little scrap with the motser coun.
try America has developed her mater.
ial resources, absorbed tens of mil
lions OF strangers and effected a par.
tial adjustment between two races
made the continent habitable and paid
some attention to the intellectual and
spiritual needs of the people. Ameri.
cans have. he said. always had ira.
gic reverence for education and the
foundations of Harvard university
were laid In the Fretch and Indian
war. He did not contend that they
had built up "a great literature. cores.
ponding with European literature, but
there were men and women endeavor
Ing TO interpret American life as they
saw II about them. its trend, signifi
canse. purpose apd ambition.
10 at Least Alive.
Mr.. Griffiths asserted that in diplo
macy II could be said that America
had tried to substitute the Colder
Rule for the finesse. dexterity ant
treachery which characterized diplo
macy at ono time. Judged by its best
representatives. he added. the Ameri
can at least was n man alive with in
tcllectual curiosity. eager for adven
turc. arduous for great undertakings
exceedingly tolerant In his views o.