The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-10-27
TELLS THE ENGLISH
OF OUR ATTITUDE
Harold Begbie Advises His Govern
to Reform the Censorship
and Confer on Finance.

and Confer on Finance.
CLondon Cableto New York Tines.
In The Chronicle this morning,
writing from New York, Harold
Besbie writes his impressions of the
American attitude toward the
belligerents in the present war. d
incidentally gives some advice to his
fellow-countrymen on the attitude
they should adopt toward the United
States. He says:
In this article I endeavor 20 sum
Marie conversations with many emf
nent and public men in America who
nave been so good as to speak quite
frankly to me Of the present situa-
ton, in spite of the Presidential at
titude Of neutrality.
| was dc on the highest authority
before | left London that America was
entirely satisfied with the British case
and that it would be unwise of Great
Britain to step down from her pedestal
of traditional dignity and jostle Shout
ders with Germany in a rival court
ship Of America. England" l was
told, has impressed America by her
degnihed attitude and her d%ecorous re-
serve"
Now what does TINS mean? It means
that official England and official
America are on very good terms with
CaSA lie IL means Cnal neither
Mr.. ASQuith nor Sir Edward GREY
need trouble his head about the ca
pacity of President Wilson or Secre-
tary Bryan to'judge between the Brit
1sh and the German cases. There is
no need for an English Bernstorff or
an English D%ernburg to take up his
quarters in New York. Let ENGLAND
preserve at all costs her traditional
dignity. The white Paper brushes
the German at every fresh wriggle to-
ward the good graceS Of America.
England need not concern herself any
further with America.
But Official circles are not democra.
cIes. The democracy Of America is no
more StudiOuS of Foreign Office docu-
ments than the democracy of Great
Britain. America is busy and reads
newspapers and forgets from day to
day what it has read, and judges
Chiefly by the latest neWs-fresh from
Berlin.
1t is perfectly true that nothing
could be SO unwise for England to un-
dertake as a Sordid cap-in-hand
courtship of America, such as the ma
ton of culture is now prosecuting with
a perfection Of organization that will
one day astOniSh Profs. Eucken and
Harnack. But nothing could be so
foolish as the ignoring of the Ameri.
can democracy by the English demo-
NhOSJ. IL ISt 1SII lduy SCnO us news
ana It's tracts and it's agents of every
kind and degree, and to send nothing
from England-this is stupid and al
most dangerous.
What car England dc to seize the
opportunity now presented to her by
the sentiments and intellectual CON
victiOns of America? First. let me
say that never has England stood so
high in the estimination of America.
and never has the shadow of the
halser fallen more blackly
and ominously across the pages
Of the Monroe Doctrine. The
debt that England owes to the news
PAPER world of America cannot be
estimated. The editors Of the best
journals have been fearless and very
shreWd champions Of the Allies
cause. 1t is these editors who have
made the German monster q reality
10 the American people, and this
quletly' with a most deadly logic. We
have no better allies in America than
the editors Of the great papers.
wv shall be the next. Americans
tell me; and they speak of South
America and Canada-these men who
are free, and who hate militarism far
more than we hate it in England.
Your navy" one man said re nc
mot only guards the British Empire:
1T guards the American Republic"
Another man Of distinction said to
me; the club and everywhere I went
some such expression as, Thank the
Lord we trent in it," I've not heard
any such phrase for over a month. On
the contrary, I've heard expressions
OF anxiety and confessions of re-
pentance for past ignorance. You've
seen what DR.. Eliot Of Harvard has
Just said That is immensely signi-
fcant. But all over the country it's
the same. Americans see that Ger.
many is a world menace, and that
unless democratic ideals are to perish
she must be resisted"
What can we do to lay the founda-
lions, in this hour Of mutual peril |
Of an Anglo-Saxon alliance?
first, we must reform our war cen
sorsh1p. IT we cannot get rid of il
at least we must place the best of
our Journalists in that office and send
TO America a continual stream of re-
liable lnformatiOn-not only about
battles, but about the messages sent
from Germany to deceive the world
At present news which has already |