JOHN AND JONATHAN.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 103, 2 May 1908, Page 4

JOHN AND JONATHAN.

The cabled information that Sir William White—possibly the most eminent authority now living on the general question of naval architecture —has declared the American navy to be second only to the British, and "ship for ship, equal to anything in the world," will be received with satisfaction by most British1 folk. To the studious, it win also furnish food for thought, and Mr Frank Morton, whose weekly contributions to our paper are always read with close attention, supplies the following wellconsidered expressions of opinion, which are apparently the result of close observation upon the part of the writer. It is a very pretty theory, he says,' that a close alliance, between England.and the United States would enable -the English-speaking races to control, and if necessary to whip, the world—pretty, though unproven; and it is a very pleasant hope that some day soon that alliance will be accomplished. But in the close circles of diplomacy no such hope is seriously cherished, Diplomats know that, despite present ties of language, and I despite some distant ties of kinship, national good feeling between England and America rests always on a very precarious edge. The English^ as a nation, are not at all popular in the United States; not nearly so popular, for instance, as the French are. ■ Also, it is probable that in 1908 there is a more genuine friendliness between England and France, and certainly a more genuine friendliness between England and Italy, than there ever has been between England p.nd America. When the -English National Anthem. 'b. perfunctorily i

played at a i public gathering in i\ew , York, it is "generally played amid a j silent company; but the German National Anthem seldom or never fails to arouse a certain enthusiasm. Any close and inviolable alliance between England and the United States is at best a distant possibility. Meantime, the American navy is the second best in the world; and behind the American navy there are the great disorderly wealth, the restless activity, the boundless ambition, the splendid energy, and the inveterate, childish vanity of America. America is the problem, and she is still in some sense the hope of the world. The United States is a strange and disconcerting country. Its resources are so vast as to appear almost limitless Its people, whatever their faults and whimsies, are passionately ..patriotic and progressive. Its history is at least inspiring. It is s-jf-supporting and self-sufficing—or I*, easily could be so at need. Its jnen are the most greedy and eagPi, and its women the most indepeiiuent, of any men and women iri the world. And yet, Plutus -is Tsar of that wide country: a Tsar more merciless and arbitrary than ever ground down the Russians. Behind all that splendid wealth and progress lie misery, squalour, and an infinite unrest. Conditions in America are ripening "for revolution. Wherefore, ft is possible that stress of herhome affairs'may .keep her from dangerous intriguing with other great powers.- ' Were it otherwise, any serious bre'aking-away from the Monroe Doctrine' might easily make America a cause of grave disturbance in the world.