Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1901 — As to Ideals. [ARTICLE]

As to Ideals.

It is said that London financiers take the projected continental boycott of American goods seriously, and that some of them are Inclined to believe that England should take part in It. Their view is that the menace of America is not merely a matter of trade. They Kss to regard the question from a y moral standpoint. They say It Is no advantage to the world that a great nation should dominate It with Ideals Into which, they allege, nothing except money can enter and with a system of government In which money ta the controlling power. The ideals of Europe have ever been higher than that, and to drop to the American standard would be a fatal error. Sad, Isn’t It? The Upited States Is the only country which has engaged In war within the last forty years from any but selfish motives. Its rescue of the Cubans was the only piece of pure knight-errantry seen In that time. Europe allowed the Armenians to be tortured and massacred because no European power could trust the others where there was plunder In sight For the same reason Europe permitted the Sultan to trample on the Greeks. England Is engaged at present In stamping the life out of two little republics for their gold mines. Americans have the knack of getting money, but they part with It more lavishly than any other people in the world. They help to support the impecunious aristocracy of Europe, which is willing to barter its soul for American dollars. Mr. Frederic Harrison said that the impression produced upon him by America’s educational resources was thpt their volume was at least ten times that of the resources devoted to the same purpose in England. More money is given away for education every year in America than in all Europe in ten years. In America money is often prized as a means to noble ends; in Europe it is Bought for selfish enjoyment. Above all, romance still survives In America, and marriages are still made for love. When people in Europe cease to sell themselves into matrimony they may talk about their “ideals” and deprecate the error of "dropping to the American standard.”