Washington Journal., 1915-12-10
The Hyper
E~nglishman
Especial Correspondence for this paper
by a prominent Washingtonian).

The writer, on a recent trip Ill the
Middle West, had the pleasure OF
conversing for several hours with an
educated English gentleman regard
ing the subject to which all serious
conversations nowadays return with
the certainty of the magnetic needle
pointing 10 the load-stone. On part
ing, | could not refrain from remark
ing that there were many OF my An
glo-American acquaintance with
whom | could not have talked on such
matters for half an hour without
bringing forth remarks which one or
the other Of us would have bitterly
resented.
The Englishman smiled and re-
Piled that he had wondered repeat
eddy how much better people of his
nationality could get along with Ger
man-Americans and even with citi-
zens Of Germany or Austria, than
most Anglo-Americans seemed to be
able to do the moment the war topic
was touched.
1t would be interesting if, assuming
this observation to be fairly typical,
one could trace the psychology UNI
DERIVING this striking difference Of
behavior. My E.nglishman desired
the victory Of his countrymen as
much as any patriotic Britisher ought
to do, and moreover, he was sanguine
enough to expect such a victory. He
had no hatred for the Germans, and
expressed a hope that within a short
time after the peace-friendly rela-
tions between the members of the
various belligerent nations would be
re-established. Throughout, he re-
minded one Of a man of affairs who
differs with. another Regarding an Inn
portant matter Of business and has
invoked the courts to gain his point,
but never dreams of considering his
adversary either a fool or a %scoundrel,
because he takes a different view Of
the situation.
Why is it that so many Americans
OF British descent cannot take a sim
ilarly rational attitude? Seeing that
the war, after all, concerns them but
indirectly, one should think that it
would be a good deal easier for them
than for an Englishman to retain a
sensible state of mind in the matter,
but we have all discovered that there
are far too many among our former
friends of the Anglo-Saxon persuasion
who seem to have lost their heads
as completely as Rudyard Kipling or
Theodore Roosevelt.
1t may be that the nerves of the av-
erage Anglo-American are not as
e.~ong as those of the average Eng
iishman; it may also be that he is
even less informed about other coun
tries and the characteristics Of their
people than most Britishers. The
probability is, however, in my opin-
ion, that a certain class Of Anglo
Americans are SO surprisingly bitter
against not only the Germans, but
also their fellow Americans OF Ger
man blood and tradition, simply be-
cause they are afraid of them.
German superiority in almost every
field Of human endeavor, from the
lowest to the highest, over the civil
l~ization and culture Of all other ma
tons and groups of nations, has of
late years-and by no means only
since the present war began-shown
itself so great and so obvious, that all
most everybody is forced into this
belief, more or less clearly defined:
The leadership Of the world, during
the next few generations. at least,
will be in the hands of the Germans.
In men conscious of possessing q
definite national civilization and cul-
ture Of their own, such as educated
Englishmen. this fear. though by no
means absent. is not likely to assume
such threatening forms as it may in
the minds of Anglo-Americans who
more or less consciously realize that
a specifically American culture does
not yet exist. The logical and patri-
otto conclusion OF that realization
would be to aim at the creation Of
such a truly American culture, and
having once begun work in that d.
rection, few would fail to understand
that the frank amalgamation Of the
best and strongest in German culture
would be the best way for achieving
that result. Then we might reason
ably hope that after the imminent
period of German leadership there