New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-15
AMERICA is NOT PRO-ALLY
ua c,.,, .,der or Two Anything Might Happen 10 ~
National Sou-As 1t L the Dollar Rules
the Editor Of The Tribune.

/ To the Edlt0f OF nc
Sir. The Tribune OF December 20 pun
ushed an editorial which with signihcant
clarity and calm precision-not' indeed
without a certain weary pathos-warhen 'ho
Allies that the people Of the United states
will not and cannot conceive Of their cause
as il is conceived Of by the Allies themselves
However disquieting encrvating, forebodng
even. So dispassionate conviction may oe 10
the stricken minority-to those Americans
who, profoundly pro-Ally, have never lost
sight of luminous vision OF the ehhooieo
issues which alone justify the existence OF so
terrifying a conHict-the truth Of this con-
viction can hardly be denied To the thought
| ful analyst, TO the patient. unhurrled oDser
ver-if indeed the jcstled and beset times
may admit of so detached performance-the
American people as whole are in an amazing
| Indifference to the values involved in the des-
perate protest Of the Allies against their enc
mics purposes Your editorial puts it with a
poignant breyty: America is not pro-Ally
Our still patient analyst with a grip on his
fact-howevcr welcome or unwelcome 1t IS he
| is bound to disregsrd-must, if he is all he
offers himself to be, having got thus far con-
tinue TO observe and reflect. If then, says he
pertinently, the bulk Of my ccuntrymen are
not pro-Ally in any profounder sense than
perhaps an eleemosynary pity, why are they
not? And having asked this he Immediately
perceives that he has put TO himself per-
picking. a delicate, indeed very disagreed
bic question Either this people, he proceeds
cautiously. is after mature study outrageous
/ IS skeptica Of any and all the profered high
ayowals OF the Allies. or It is for some corro-
siye reason fabbily indsposed to respond to
such supposedly stirring issues as justice, ma
| tions right, democracy in danger.
| After brief consideration our onlooker
| feels bound to discard his earlier alternative.
| Il seems to him unlikely that a recognized
Discrimination to thoughtful processes COM
/ bined with an exuberant, often tickle, ma
tonal sentimentality, could conduce TO such
nopular, he even hazards such Gallic, cyni-
cism as would sardonicaiiy discount. with
! Aippant gesture, the ardent Allied protesto-
| lions. There remains tor him then his second
superstition, the lethargic If it is true. and
our haras3ed friend sees no escape from his
conclusion. that moral issues as such meet
no flushed acceptance by the people "a
whole what therefore has so sedatvely oper-
sted on NATIONAL temperament that has
heretofore been supposed to give itself, has
been given, too otherwhere, a good deal OF
the swagger Of hotheaded youth, OF rebel re-
formers. of--to use the large phrase-cham-
pions OF freedom?
The meditative visitor to Concord Bridge
there are still such, one supposes-resds
fondly with iiumined eye the harsh, resonant
robust English of fine, fearless Affirmation
BY the rude bridge which arched the food
Their flag TO freedoms breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world"
The penning o. these singularly stirring
words at a period when our intellectual mani
festations had. in the isolated and Illuminated
Concord Group. 50 rich and distinguished
towering would seem to connote no more Of
moral apathy than did tho bold firing o. that
earlier unanimously echoing shot. It is un-
necessary, By the same token, 10 dwell on
that tempestuous, bloody outburst which cul-
minated in the freedom of the negro slave
and gave to this nation. along with the fiat
terinc completeness attendant on a trium-
phant, Just cause. a surprising claim 20 an
other greatest statesman, the invoked Lincoln.
The closing Of hat imprisoned epoch, re-
fleets our ploddine observer-thaS spiritual
epoch. he adds-seems to be the beginning of
another period in which national spirit ceases
TO soar and in which the affairs OF sacrifice
are converted with a plausibiity, an artful-
ness. q logic moreover. into counters in the
market places. The expression OF national
desires and aims presently assumes a logged.
unimag native quality. scientific material
ism with an odd. picturesque admiXture OF
romantic achieyement-an achievement, how
ever which provircialiy perhaps, but solidly.
mposingly. measured itself in that rich sym
bolism, now fallen into disuse. the Drown
stone front" That impressive though scarce
Is winsome exterior became. as 70 We're. an
IDEAL an IDEAL ediiicc. And If it's fashion,
oy reason Of the swift devices Of tra1sporta-
ton 80 aluring 10 tho American people,
which permit Of the wonders Of travel. has
come 10 seem less enviable to-day than for
merly. the ideal Of il has not apprcciably
changed. Aren't VIC, in short-snd our friend,
works IL out somewhat wryly-s nation OF
shopkeepcrs? But, indeed the phrase is no.
Of his making; il has a European origin, he
hasters to add, and is spoken rather than
printed. This triumphant embodiment Of
scientific commercialism, OF commercialized
science. he wonders. is 10 compatible with
national spiritual something unrelated to the
reyivalist) expression? Or isn't it in itself,
considered by its opponents, Just that, ma
tional spiritual expression? The battling
quality in it seems it's utter lack Of anything
mercenary. The joy OF the chase Is really
the larger ideal The round. frank ring o. The
dollar on tho counting table and then with all
speed to spend il. Here is where the for
eigner misjudges the shopkeeper. Our analyst
hinted a moment ago that the ideal had not
appreciaby changed. A longer reflection
leads him to believe that it has at least
new involved factor-the eoriied brownstone