New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-13
AMATEUR DIPLOMACY ABROAD
By ROBERT DELL
Bv Courtesy of 1.-The Ne,U Republic"

In normal times we should hesitate to take
man at his own valuation; but We are not nor
NAL in Europe at present. Human beings, as
Mr.. Bertrand Russell has recently told us, are
normally guided by impulse not by reason. and
use their reason only to attempt to justify
their impulses and to prove that they are good
and the impulses of other people bad. The few
exceptions to this rule are the prophets whom
we stone in their time and whose sepuchres
we build after their death. Why is Bernard
Shaw suspected and dstrusted by the majority
of Englishmen? Merely because he is guided
by reason and makes us SILVER by cold douches
of that "most uncommon commodity" What
is abnormal in Europe at present is that we
have ceased to use our reason even as an after
thought and that intellect has descended to
level that should satisfy even NJ Bergson.
Besides, the impulses by which we are guided
are more and more those of primitive man.
The almost universal acceptance in England
early in the war of the great Archangellc
myth-that large Russian army had arrived
in England-was only the most conspicuous
example of the mentality that the war has
created or rather resusctated. Thousands of
sane persons swore that they had seen TIE Rus
slams and firmly believed it. To doubt the ex-
istence of the mythical Russians or the truth
of any other legend, however preposterous, was
to stamp ones self as a pro-German.
One Of the characteristics of primitive man
or at any rate of the contemporary savage
who is at present the nearest approach to him
is to take people at their own valuation. If
you tell savages that you have divine powers
it is almost certain that they will believe you
and the performance of a single conjuring
trick will make it quite certain; they will then
either worship you or eat you, according TO the
custom of their trbe-folklorsts tell us that
the two ceremonies have often much the same
significance. The habit of eating gods has
not yet been revived in Europe; instead, we
entertain them at a banquet Mr.. Whitney
Warren has been entertained at many BAN
quets he has lectured to the Institute of
France; interviews with him fill columns Of
the newspapers and even the serious "Temps"
devotes leading articles to his utterances. All
this must give great deal of innocent pleas
ure to Mr. Whitney Warren, and there could
be no serious objection TO it had not Mr. War
rem, with the best possible intentions and in
the most complete good faith, led French opin-
ion very much astray. He seemed to have
come over this time in order to enlighten US
about the forthcoming Presidential election,
and he and other Americans succeeded in con-
vincng the whole French press that Mr..
Roosevelt would certainly be chosen as the Re-
publican candidate and certainly be elected
President of the United States. The result
was that the whole French press, from the
Temps" downward, adopted Mr. Roosevelt as
the candidate of the Allies and insinuated that
Mr.. Hughes was a pro-German. To my knowl-
edge, one at least of the more serious papers
hesitated to express an opinion about matter
which, after all, is one for America, and was
induced to do so only by Mr.. Warrens positive
assertions that Mr.. Roosevelt's selection by the
Republican Convention could not be doubted.
This is no great matter and no permanent
harm will be done to the relations of the two
great republics whose traditional friendship is
based on too solid foundation to be shaken by
the laundering diplomacy of few well mean
ing persons. Those Frenchmen who know the
United States know well enough that, whether
Mr.. Wilson or Mr.. Hughes is elected President,
American policy will continue TO be as friendly
to France as it has always been. But 1t would
be pity, nevertheless, that America should be
even temporarily misunderstood by any part
of the French public, and a still greater pity
that the misunderstanding should be caused by
Americans American sympathy is keenly APP
preciated in France and it has been practically
and lavishly manifested; Americans have
shown the generosity that is an American
cbar octa Nd bo,r -.
bulance work and relief funds; the American
hospital for French wounded at Neuilly is a
model of it's kind. All this will never be for
gotten by the French people, but that is no
reason why the French people should be mis-
informed. If might venture to offer a word
of advice to the well-ntentioned persons who
have taken upon themselves the superfiuous
task of improving Franco-American relations
it would be: Let well enough alone.