THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Friday, February 18, 1910. AN ANGLO-AMERICAN ALLIANCE.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12722, 18 February 1910, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Friday, February 18, 1910. AN ANGLO-AMERICAN ALLIANCE.

In the course of one of his public statements during his' recent visit to ATnorica,Admiral Lord Charles Beresford uttered the prophecy that in the mext great naval engagement the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack would fly side by side. In a criticism in the "National Review," a student of American affairs, Mr Maurice A. Low, challenges Lord Charles Beresford's anticipation of the future on the grounds that such speeches are unwise from the diplomatic point of .view, and postpone .rather than accelerate tho ultimate federation of the two great brandies of tlio Anglo- | Saxon race. If it ivere determined to test American public sentiment, he says, there is perhaps no man better fitted for that -.purpose than. Lord Charles Beresford. Personally pepui lar, and with a host, of friends on that side of tlie Atlantic, lie is liked for what -he has done and for what he is. His profession is in his favour. The navy, whether American or that of any other Power, appeals to American imagination. Nor do Americans forget that Lord Charles has proved his courage, that lie can fight as well as talk, that whether in command of a fleet or replying to a toast, he will do^ or say something worth while. In a word,. he is a good sailor as well as a good fellow, and Americans like him. Yet his speech, at the luncheon given him by the Pilgrims of the United States, in whioh he .suggested an- Anglo-American alliance, has been received by the press with disapproval. "Let England fight her 7)wn battles, but don't let. | her expect us to help," sums up the [attitude of tlie American pres"s. "We have our own destinies to carve out and cannot be bothered with European entanglements. Britain is big enough to take care of herself, if she does not lose her courage in contemplating the dangers which now engage her attention. The complexion of things in the -Far East alone is a sufficient argument against any such arrangement as ' Lord Charles j proposes. 'The five great nations,' of which Britain's Empire is composed, must guard that Empire's safety." Like Gaul, Americans may be divided into three parts. There are' Americans who have a sincere liking for England and everything British, and who are proud of tho common de>scent,, the common tongue and the common institutions, but N who are none the less Americans. There are Americans who have inherited a deepseated prejudice against England, and who find a justification for their prejudice in the events of a hundred years ago. Sonic of these men arc descended from or are affiliated with races that have; been the traditional enemy of England. Finally there are Americans who have : no strong, feeling one way or the other, to whom England" mcafis little if "atiythirig jnore than does Germany or France, to whom an Englishman is a "foreigner" almost as much as is a German or a Frenciiman, wduo knows nothing of any .country, except his own, and-cares i less. The two . la&t elements would, of course, oppose any alliance with England— unless it was clearly for .the interest of their own country, and then, of course, they would gladly welcome it— the other might sanction it, but reluctantly, la other words, if a pact is entered into between England anA the United States, it will- bo not becaii'se England desires it, but because America asks it.