The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-23
Defeat Our Defeat,
Is View of Aged Lord Cromer
By EDWARD

entered through a hallway lined with
books. one or " points In u talk
required book reference and 10 these
references he turned easily, without
the q .lghtest hesitation either as to the
position Of the volumes on the many
shelves or as TO the location in the
volumes of the precise passages which
ne wished to ind. I had heard about
his library and his familiarity with II.
but was not prepared for such an ex.
hibition Of his knowledge Of books.
After his long and wholly useful life
Of constructive effort for his country
he seemed a~stonishingly vigorous to
me, but he assured me that he had
retired from everything akin TO active
life before the outbreak Of the wei.
and that u talk was an emergence
which he had never thought to make
from the co%ntemplative seclusion in
which he had intended to spend the
rest of his days.
We talked about the wal Of course
and his opinions were to me especially
impressive because surely his life has
been to give him breadth Of vision.
and because his knowledge Of our
country. which became intimate at the
lIfnt VI our civil NdT. WUeu nc bDeUt
some weeks with the Northern forces,
has been gathered with n conAta mt.
sympathetic aud usually approving in.
terest.
There IA not the slightest doubt in
my mind" he said gravely. that in
this war the interests Of the United
States and Great Britain are essen
TALLY identical. We stand for every
thing which you regard as the es-
sential principles Of Rovernment-free
institutions. liberty OF the individual
and al the rest. our defeat IN this
war would be your defeat. for Il would
he defeat not only Of Great Britain but
of these principles.
This being the fact 1t Is with deep
regret thai I must acknowledge the
existence here Of a strong feeling,
more of surprise than OF resentment,
but in which the former Ia not un-
mixed with the latter, toward our
Government. IL IL difficult to say how
deep seated this resentment may be.
II No he merely on the surface or Il
may he far more serious than that.
Certainly the average intelligent
F.nglishman feels that YOU pol!ti-
clans are not to be trusted. Ii is
rather curious TO note that In the
British mind distinct differentiation Is
made between the people OF America
and the politicians Of America. Brit
ish critics OF o u governmental poll
cies DO not d!strust our people.
no n in Great Britain expected
the United States to take part in the
war. Every thoughtful person be-
4 tia..Ao tha. "a, bno laap tho haitian fa,-
our side ;ha, you have not Joined
in IL. But we make a curious differ
erce. as | have said, between your
Government and your people and gem
orally believe tina; the real Americans
would have been glad 10 Join. We
rave believed and still believe the
allied cause TO be the just one. and
We feel hampered by the attitude OF
some OF these Americans who now
at Washington chance to represent
those real Americans.
while the average intelligent Eng
lishman believes II TO hav been far
better for u side that you have not
come in he believes your w loss
in prestige II morals TO have been
tremendous through the course which
you have taken. We believe %
President should not nave raised the
many questions regarding the course
OF the Allies which he has brought
forward and tina, some OF them have
been OF the unfortunate nature of
mere excuses for delaying just and
honorable action with regard to us
and self-respcCting action toward our
enemies.
80 hos yluEn nm "a vary NNHsInNf i'm
preston here that at the head OF Your
affairs at present a. this time Of the
worlds throes are peace at any price
men, The peace at any price man
never has aroused the highest feelings
of respect,
And We have been Informed ~ the
activities Of the German agitators in
the states. In all my koWlcdec of m
terrational event ! md no record q; n
similar assault by subtle outside iniiu-
ences upon the internal peace and the
good order of a nation similar to that
which Germany mas made within Your
boundaries; yet the resentment OF
these %outrages seems to he confined
almost entirely to the press and Ia IN
dignant individuals. ~sCarce,y. II AZ all.
affecting your responsible Government.
How long is that TO last"
Il have said hat many I~.Eg.ishmen
believe il TO have been far better that
the United States did not enter the
war upon II side. hut tdc general
principles of public morality and the
general principles OF democratic moral
lily nigh, have been upheld IN various
ways without your actual entrance into
the war.
I'VE upheld them, | believe. in the
instance of your wal with spain,
thereby doing more than YOU have
done during our war with Germany.
At that time | VAS in charge of Egypt
and when the Spanish fleet came. any
ious TO pass through the Sucz Canal.
ON the way to the Philippines. Euro
pean opinion. except English, was
strongly pro-Spanish and in favor Of
permitting tho passage of the ships.
"Rut they did not pass.
when they wanted coal | raised y
question which occurred 10 me. was
not n lawyer. being indeed i'll NcrSed
In the deIiracics Of hat profession. But
England and the United States were
d'mocracics in sympathy,
II consented to supply tho ships Of
Your enemy with coal to take them To
the nearest nome port, but | would no,
consent to lot them have more. In