THE ENGLISHMAN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 207, 10 December 1910, Page 10

THE ENGLISHMAN.

AMERICAN APPRECIATION. Mr. Arthur E. Stillwell is an American writer who has more than once given proof of the realty of his admiration for the Englishman, and we are bound to count him amongst our warmest friends. In his new book, "Confidence or National Suicide?" which is just published by Ranker's Publishing Company, of New York, he devotes a chapter to "The Englishman," and not only distributes his praise with a gratifying lavishness, but, incidentally, also provides a curiously significant comment upon the croakings of our stay-at-home pessimists, who are for ever bewailing the employment of British capital in industrial and commercial enterprises abroad. It is in Mr. Stillwell's view, precisely because Englishmen have so boldly invested their surplus capital abroad that Englishmen are great. He explains this so graphically that no apology need be made for lengthy quotation. Thus: The Englishman is the most successful coloniser and settler that the world has ever known. He governs one-fifth of it, and rules one-fourth of the population. He thinks in continents.' English universities and her Church have impressed their mark on the world. Wherever the English flag flies, investments are safe. Of chief importance, his Government is clean. Everywhere he is the pioneer, and his flag flies in every port of the world. He lands in New Zealand, teaches the natives to plant and grind grain, and soon New Zealand is part of the Empire. He founds a convict colony at Botany Bay, adding a new ' continent to the realm. He founds the East India Company, wrests the trade of that Empire from the Dutch and Portuguese, and brings home the wealth of India. He develops, explores, and colonises Canada, and the North-west by founding the Hudson Bay Company, and the steel ribbon of his railway extends from Halifax to Vancouver. He explores the wilds of Russia; penetrates Tibet, reaching the forbidden city of Lhassa; penetrates to within a hundred miles of the South Pole. The Englishman marches into unexplored regions, makes terme with the native chief, and the flag of England flies over one more protectorate; the light of civilisation arises from the earth that had reeked with the blood of victims captured in war; in after years the son and grandsons of this bloody chief study in English schools, to carry the seed of education to germinate in their old homes, there implanting the love of the English flag, and the progress for which it stands. He fishes for pearls in India; grinds into paper pulp the spruce of Newfoundland; makes soap in Holland; erects packing houses in Uruguay and Paraguay; bottles waters in Germany; and brews beer in Brazil. The Englishman herds sheep in Australia aaid New Zealand; penetrates the forests of Brazil for rubber and plants it in Ceylon; plants cotton in the highlands of Central Africa; sails the Nile and reclaims its lost tracts of desert, to yield a thousandfold; grows tea in Ceylon and India, spans its torrents, and explores its fastnesses with rails of commerce. He institutes banks in all new countries with branches in London, and his Bank of England fixes the discount rate for all the world. He digs for coal in China; mines mines nitrates in Peru;. prospects for ore in Russia; delves in the mines of the Rand; redeems West Africa, and opens its treasure-house of gold. The Englishman drills for oil in India, Russia, Persia, the States, and Mexico; builds refineries and establishes steamship lines for carrying oil to all continents. He builds great sewerage systems and docks in Mexico, wharves in Uruguay, and equips the cities of Argentine with trams and electric lights. The Englishman harnesses the waterfalls of Brazil and Mexico, and furnishes electric light and power to their cities. He operates trams in Calcutta, constructs railroads in Turkey, and controls the Suez Canal. He spans Tehuantepec, linking the Atlantic with the Pacific; owns the railroads of Peru; climbs the Andes and connects the Argentine with Chili; and realising Cecil Rhodes' dream, runs a railway from Cape to Cairo. Such is the Englishman; his word is his bond; he is square in his dealings. All he wants is his share. He is a sportsman, loving horses, cricket, and football. Worcestershire sauce, evening dress, and Bass's ale follow the English flag. He does not care for great wealth, arfd knows when to retire, not to die in harness. He is the Jiest friend in the world, and, once yonfiwin his confidence, it is your fault if you do not keep it to the end. He trades in every clime. He has been God's right hand agent in hastening the hands of progress. Macaulay says: "The history of England is the history of progress."