Mr. Fitzgerald, a Member of the House of Representatives for
Massachusetts, and presumably an Irishman, has induced some eighty Members of the House to sign a telegram addressed to General Cronje, Cape Town," congratulating him on his heroism in his "brave fight for human rights,"—a somewhat curious way of describing those who invaded Natal and the Cape in order to prevent men getting the very rights which are so freely accorded to every Outlander in America. However, when party spirit is keenly involved all considerations of reason and good feeling go to the winds, and the act was a purely party one, only Democrats signing. We cannot say we feel either angry or even hurt. The British cause is only used as a convenient wall at which the Democrats shy stones with the hope that they will bound off and injure the Republicans. We must warn our readers, however, and most strongly, not to jump because of this fact to the conclusion that the Democrats hate England, and that therefore the Republicans are the party to whom our sympathies ought to go forth. Neither party really hates England, and both parties would be equally willing in the heat of a fight to injure England verbally to any extent. We are told that many Americans make a great point of supporting the Boer States because they are Republics. Do they not realise that in essence the British Kingdom is far more truly Republican than the Transvaal ? The Democratic party, again, is not anti-Republican in the true sense, though it is opposed to the Republican party. Neither are we, because we fight two nominal Republics, a country in which the will of the people does not prevail and tyranny and oppression flourish. America must not be misled by the mere whistling of a word.
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