Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-01-31
WHAT ENGLISHMEN
WANT OF AMERICA
1t Is Not Material Support, but
Sympathy in What They Call
Their Fight for
Freedom
By GILBERT VIVIAN sELDEs
Special Correspondence Evonin0 Ledger
LONDON. Jan. 10.

You cannot ask that question outright:
II you did your answer might be IKE thht U,
the famous captain: ~ don't want none ~
your whisky and I don't want none OF
your seegnrs All ask is common ceeNeel-
ity. and burned little Of that"
But II is possible &C. find out what the
people here feel Is lacking, and, OCCASION
ally, f you are talking about somethlns e'se
you may have the whole thing put lhto
words. a few nights ago ! got the dlrect
answer to my question from very good
friend Of the United states. man VINO mas
lived there in an official capacity Tor some
time and who has the interests or America
at heart.
"'rhc next year is going to he very hard,
he said and IL would help us If we could
only feel that the United states could g.Ne
MS a little of the spirit of human compassion
Maybe cant explain that directly but you
will know what ! mean II | tell you that
we need more than anything else inc spirit
Of Lincoln in America"
| did know what he meant. In five
months have heard three Americans spoken
Of in England; Roosevelt, Wilson and LIN
coin The first two are mentioned with
either praise or scorn. but the name OF
Lincoln is spoken only in reverence. ~ o.
Gardiner. the editor of the Daily News. a
great Liberal and an almost violent admircr
of Mr.. Wilson, asked me little sadiE'
"You aren't breeding any more bincolns'
are you?" For all Englshmcn who know
Of the century, and Lincoln is the great
human hero above all others.
Lincoln's Sympathy for Englishmen
There is n special reason why Lincoln
is in the minds of Britons just now. When
President Wilson's note was published last
December not one of the newspapers here
and hardly any observers believed that the
Allies would or could turn it to their adTan-
tage by doing exactly what he asked them
to do Many comparisons were made with
the conditions during the Civil War when
Napoleon Ill offered to mediate between
the North and the South. But the most
significant thing was the comparison made
between President Wilson's suggestion that
neutrals were suffering and the suncrngs
of the Manchester workers in the civil War
My friend who spoke of Lincoln. also spoke
of Charles Francis Adams who was Am
bassador to Great Britain during the Civil
| War.
Adams was badly treated by society he
| said There was a great deal of sympathy
! for the South But the only persons who
! We're affected by the war were the cotton
! operatives in the north of England. They
were actually starving Yet day after day
! memorials came in to Adams to be trans
! mittcd TO President Lincoln expressing the
! sympathy Of Lancashire i'm his trials and
! bidding him be Of good heart until the
! battle was won. To one of these memorials
| President Lincoln wrote a reply, in which
| he called the sclf-sacrifce of these workers
| IAN instance Of sublime Christian heroism," ,"
! and wrote further:
1t is, indeed, an energetic and rein
spring assurance of the inherent power
of truth and of the ultimate and uni
NerSal triumph of justice. humanity and
| freedom. | do not doubt that the senti-
! ments you have expressed will be sus-
| tatned by your great nation; and, on
| the other hand / have no hesitation in
assuring you that they will excite ad-
niration, esteem and the most recipro-
cal feelings Of friendship among the
| American people. ! hail this inter-
change Of sentiment. therefore, as an
augury that whatever else may happen,
| whatever misfortune may befal your
country my own, the peace and
friendship which now exist between the
two nations will be, it shall be my
desire to make them, perpetual.
THAT is the note which has not been
| struck since this war began" said Mr..
| Gardiner The misfortune Lincoln wrote
| OF has befallen my country, but the spirit
of compassion and sympathy has hardly
| come from yours. 1t has come from a few
but everything else has been bitter or touchy
| or smart Good Heavens. we've made mis-
| takes; but we've been at war DO your
people realize that certain departments and
certain individuals have been bounded at
and these are the very people whom neu-
trails accuse Of being high-handed and ag.
gressive. Naturally you don't know the
tension under which we are living. That's
what makes me feel so bitter about the
whole thing. What we want is for you tc
| understand"
irresponsible Agitation Resented
The one thing which Brtons resent r
the whole relations of the two countries
does not come from the United States al
all. 1t comes from irresponsible persons who
have tried to make the United States be-
lievc from the start that the British Gov.
ernment wanted the United States to joir
the Entente. OF course, if the United State.
had felt that she must join, it would hav,
cheered Britons great deal and reaffirmet
their faith in the justice OF their cause Bu'
there was never any real feeling, either
officially or in the mass of the people, tha
the United States should be egged or urget
or cajoled into fighting. Those who CAV,
that impression from this side and thos,
who exploited it on the other side ar,
equally despised here.
Very few persons are optimistic Just nov
concerning the immediate future of ou
relations. The editor of a weekly told m
several weeks ago that the time had past
there would not even be moral gain il tn
United states came in now-but that is a
extreme view In spite of the suggestion
OF bclligerency, no one seriously expect
| Germany to force the United States into tn
war and no one expects the United State
to realize suddenly that there is a grea
; Issue at stake in which she Is herself vital
interested. She is not cesired as a wa
mate half so much as she is wanted as
> sympathetic and compassionate frient
ready to hear small ills and extending
; Britain the full strength of her spiritua
support.
The thing which will help least of eII
the persistence of comment by American
, to the effect that Britons are beginning
realize that this is not war for freedor
2 and that they are being tTicked into COY
/ tiuuing n war for prestige. No one VIII
knows the facts can say these things, bl
they hurt when they are said because n
e friend would say them.
. The truth is that Britons are realizln
r1Dre and more, with each day, that this
Il war which will prove in Lincoln's word
! 'the inherent power of truth and of II
5 ultimate and universal triumph of justic
= | humanity and freedom" That is why the
= are so keen on having the sympathy of Il
i country which gave Lincoln to the world
n GERMAN SPORTSMANSHIP