New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-03-26

,.,.,rosed Tilden elected, with an immense
headline. reading GLORY 20 God, the bioous
chr. Wiped Out Forever every Amer '0ai
voter whether Democrat or Kepuoiic"n
.b,ckIed over il; and when, after days VEN
b.. ridden homes vanished that same paper
besdlined Let Us Pray" the entire naIlo"
forgettiry all about business, was ehgu'ie0
by the crisis. co,.
7 merely mention the foregoing as a COZ
trast with the present day attitude Oh ina
same American people. Their prlhlahS on
tivitv and intense interest in national ana
In those DAYS seem TO have given way to-oas
TO a nonchalance, 10 an apathy, haro " o.
count for. OF course, the puolc taAes go
an interest in elections, PresldenllaI VI -
cressional. but notice the percentage OF 'noS'
citizens who refuse or neglect 70 eNeiS 'S y.
tbeir RIGHTS by failing to register! And II
s+rncL mo then in my greenhorn days that
America had been maligned when 1t was ms
ro,resorteS 10 us in Europe as being nauot
whose god was the almighty dollar, wheh
saw the contrary, and that the alteration o.
the golden calf attributed to Americans was
a calumny and a SANDER.
Apother contrast which cannot fail to I'M
nross the impartial reader is the America
attitude during the last Franco-Germah val
as compared with the present world Wat ;
1874 was but an outpost engagement SO ~
- - yiov If the present titanic struggle
~ got Americans were not hypnotized INTO
n neutrality trance as they seem TO De to-da!
In those davs American pro-GermahS '"u
American pro French would get INTO he"'eu
discussions, no matter where lhey "ei'
los restaurants and theatres during inter
mission were the selected places Tor 'ne ar
ing Of partisan arguments. u may saIe'y -,
stated that with the spirit and viriii'y uhu
manhood OF the American people III tnose
DAYS the Belgium infamy would not nave nap
pened.
| No President would have dared take refuge
in a neutrality of thought and utteranee
proclamation; no intelligent American wouio
have sanctioned the indifference manifested
nv America before the German propaganus
and the leniency shown for the German plot
tors II in the days | speak OF a Lusltanls
incident had occurred, satisfaction, material
satisfaction. would have been asked ana oo'
taired in twenty-four hours. :. ..
To-dav's indifference is staggering IL Is
almost year since Americans were Nlleo ~
the hands Of Germans, and you, Americans
descendants of heroes, brave as you are, NV
ING for Justice and independence, are sun
negotiating with the murderers and grasplne
with avidity the least little Berlin note that
is not insulting as drowning man ei"SP'
piece of wood.
What Is the reason, may ask, for such a
phenomenal change OF attitude2 why is IN
terest in vital matters tagging? am sure
Americans are the same fair-minded people
bent on justice. What. then. is the reason
Tor their apathy? Can it be that the pourlng,
in TO these shores of millions and millions oil
immigrants has adulterated the quality OF the
race? Can it be that the assimilation we near
so much about is but dream, and that Things
really American interest but niue those VINO
,nioy American hospitality | do not mean
70 solve the problem, but the phenomenon Is
visible TO the naked eye. 1t is as plain as can
be that the American nation is in state OF
lethargy when confronting the gravest inter-
.ational or even national questions.
Take the Mexican situation. In the last
five years numbers of Americans have been
uolested, some Of them killed, others rem