Two banquets have been held this week in America at
which the race-feeling was prominently expressed. The first was a banquet given in honour of General Miles, at which half the notable men of America were present. General Miles, in responding to the toast of his health, used words which in their moderation and perfect " gentlemanliness " and good breeding will give pleasure to millions of English- men : "The war has given us reason and opportunity to appreciate our obligation to the Mother-country for the dignified and powerful influence of the British Empire in the maintenance of our principles and rights." Captain Paget, the gallant British sailor who accompanied the American force in the field at Santiago and won the good opinion of all his comrades in arms, later received a magnifi- cent reception. The other banquet was one given to Lord Herschel at New York on Wednesday, and here the tone of the speeches and the sentiments expressed were equally strong. General Woodford, who was in effect the President's representative, made an excellent speech, and Lord Herechell's reply was very happy. Nothing could be better than these expressions of goodwill, which are as sincere and spontaneous as they are generous. We trust, however, that the American public will clearly understand that we are not seeking a hard- and-fast political alliance, nor are anxious to combine with them to prosecute our and their selfish ends. That is not the sort of alliance we want. We have no desire to go beyond the acknowledgment of the fact, for fact it is, that if either we or the States ever get our backs to the wall the other Anglo-Saxon will be at his side.
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