Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1911-09-01
1.-THE DUTCH COMPANY
Editorial Correspondence.
Hutchinson News.)
Arnhem, Aug.

InlS Is the last chance Suatl0n in
Holland. About ten miles more and
we cross the line into Germany. This
is also the only hilly part Of Holland
and it really is surprise to find tina
somewhere in this little country
there are neither canals nor dikes
The river Rhine flows here with
some current and the official docu.
ments, say that at Anthem 1t is 80
feet above the level of the sea. Right
sharp little hills, as big as those
about Strong City, rise from the river
bank and are covered with woods and
handsome homes. Queen Wilhelmina
has her summer residence near here
and Dutch colonials, who have made
their fortunes and returned to the
native land, are fond of this small
and elevated piece of Netherland,
The Dutch make great deal of
money out of their East India col
onies, one of which is Java. They
are not so much interested in prepar-
ing the Javanese or the Mochans for
the work of SELF government as our
folks are the Filipinos. The Dutch
theory is to treat the natives kindly
but make them work like the dogs do
in Holland. And the JavaneSe or the
Javans, or whatever you call them,
are too busy to get dissatisfied and
plan revolutions. This question of
what TO do with the white man. bur.
den is a hard one to settle off+hand.
The brown people do not understand
the American motives and the Ameri-
cans are probably the most detested
people in the Orient. And yet the
Americans are the only conquering ma
ton which does not regard colonies
as personal property and which tries
to elevate the citizenship it finds,
The English hold India by fear, but
some day the English are going to be
chased out of that part of Asia by
the Indians they try to keep down.
The other European nations make
no bones of the fact that they own
and operate their foreign possessions
for what they can get out of them.
A Hollander makes a very strong
American when he is caught young
On Shipboard l made the acquaint-
ance of a young man about 25 years
old who had been in America nine
years and was now going to his birth
place, The Hague, on business for the
Chicago firm with which he is con-
nected. l met him in The Hague this
week. He wore a western cowboy
hat, had a small American flag in his
buttonhole, and wore no vest. The
stories he was telling about the Unit
ed States to his Dutch friends show
ed that he would have made a sue
cess as a real estate man if he had
settled in Western Kansas. And the
manner in which he did not take off
his hat when he met a doctor or a
lawyer or a duke or a notary public
was shocking to his family but was
sweet American patriotism to him.
He was still loyal to Holland but he
would not trade his new home with
its opportunities for all the comforts
Of canals and clean streets. "You
see,' he said, Gin Holland every man
has to take off his hat to those above
him-and there are always those
above him. Of course We have
classes, in way, in our country, but
a man never has to take off his hat
to pay homage to another man, and
the real American, homegrown, or
imported, can't get that feeling of
equality out of his system. l think
the Europeans must grow very tired
of us Americans, our clustering ways
and Dragging talk, but they are kind
enough not to mention it so long as
our money holds out.
Passenger fares on trains are
cheaper in Holland than with US.
But of course their railroad business
is really like an inter-urban street car
system. Freight rates are higher
than viii us. The wages paid railroad
employees run from 60 cents a day to
section hands up to 81 a day for an
engineer-just about one-third to one
half our schedule. The service is
good, the stations and tracks are bet
ter, every little country road crossing
is protected by flagman or a flag
woman. Of course the canals and
rivers do so much of the carrying
business, and distances are so small
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