26 Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope 



tact of his American cousin, but, narrow and prej- 

 udiced as the Briton is in many ways, he takes 

 the broader view in regard to the conduct of the 

 world's affairs. Not till the war with Spain did 

 these challenge the serious interest of Americans. 

 I have read, even in sober reviews, the grossest 

 blunders, the most absurd misrepresentation of facts 

 within the reach of any journalist who has access 

 to a library. In this particular regard the press is 

 French : to please the public, to tickle the ears of 

 the groundlings, they ignore the truth as perversely 

 as the Dreyfusards and anti-Dreyfusards writing in 

 the "Figaro" and the "Echo de Paris." In an English 

 party paper, say the " Standard," you will mark that 

 an account of a Liberal meeting will be faithfully 

 recorded. The speeches will be printed verbatim ; 

 the cheers, the hisses, the questions, will be honestly 

 reported. I have never read in a Western paper 

 a true description of a political meeting. The facts 

 are embellished or mutilated according to the politi- 

 cal views of the editor. Of an enemy, who in 

 private life may be a blameless citizen, nothing too 

 shameful can be said. He is proclaimed a Judas, 

 a Catiline, a Nero, a Verres. Ancient history is 

 ransacked to find his peers in infamy. This is 

 entirely a Gallic characteristic, alien to the Anglo- 

 Saxon spirit and love of fair play. The men who 

 wish to be " posted " buy two daily papers, the 

 Republican and Democratic organs, and form their 

 opinions by what is left unsaid in both. 



On the other hand, the Western man is keenly 

 conscious of his limitations. He wants to know. 

 England is full of men who are quite convinced 



