Washington Journal., 1916-06-30
Great BritaIn'S Hostility
To the United States
BY JAN VAN vELrHus.
(special-c rrespondence)

In the year 1888, the King of Great
Britain and Ireland found himself
under the disagreeable necessity Of
having to acknowledge the United
States of America as free and indie
pendent states, utterly absolved
from every form of allegiance to the
government, which for a hundred
years and more had persistently ham,
pered and impeded the development
of its colonies in North America.
However, at that time no more than
at present has it been the custom of
his Britannia Majesty's government
to consider a solemn treaty anything
but a scrap of paper, unless it suited
their purpose.
Now it is clear, by this time, that it
never has suited the purpose of the
British government that the former
colonies should be independent COM
pletely and permanently. So they
shaped their course accordingly. 1t
may be worth while once more brief
ly to recount what the attitude of
Great Britain has been towards this
country.
1t began by a calm disregard of n
of the most important articles of the
treaty of peace. 1t had been stipu-
lated that the military posts still oc-
cupied by British troops along our
northwestern frontier should forth
with be surrendered to the American
l government. These posts included
what Is now Detroit, Mackinac, Green
Bay, Prairie du Chen and other
places. Another war was required
before this agreement wan finally per-
formed. In the meantime, however,
each of these posts was a base of sup
j plies where the hostile Indians, who
for years made the settlement of the
northwestern territory impossible,
were provided with rifles, gun powder
and-one of the most important
things-scalping knives.
Next. the British, who were jus.
then fighting Napoleon, had need Of
sailors. Her W sailors had mu-
tinted several times, and anyway, why
| should Englishmen be made to risk
their lives when one might as we'll
get mere Americans to do so? Conse-
quently, whenever they needed re-
cruits for their warships, they took
them from Yankee merchant vessels,
without leave, mind you, for why
should Englishmen care whether their
mere 'colonist liked it or not? indie
pendence? Fiddlesticksl
The New England States who sea-
faring population furnished the vic
Tins, strange to say, minded it least
of all. Their merchants made good
profits by being allowed to act as
carriers for their British masters, just
as New England manufacturers to-
day are permitted to make munitions
for them. In the west, however, then,
as now, there were some u%nreason-
able Americans, and at their instiga-
ton, disloyalty to Great Britain
raised its ugly head" Under the
leadership of Henry Clay, of Ken
lucky, this country actually began
war, although then, as now, it was
decidedly u~nprepared.
Result: The battle Of New Orleans.
Next, Great Britain felt much put
out by the impudence of its v~assals
insisting that they should have all the
land which was promised them in that
ridiculous scrap Of paper, the treaty
of Paris. However, being in a good
natured mood, and remembering that
Old Hickory, of New Orleans fame.
was still alive, John Bull agreed to
the Observation-Disclosures treaty regu-
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