At the outset, there is one point upon which I wish to insist with all
possible emphasis. The civilized nations who are conquering for
civilization savage lands should work together in a spirit of hearty
mutual good-will. I listened with special interest to what Sir Joseph
Dimsdale said about the blessing of peace and good-will among nations.
I agree with that in the abstract. Let us show by our actions and our
words in specific cases that we agree with it also in the concrete.
Ill-will between civilized nations is bad enough anywhere, but it is
peculiarly harmful and contemptible when those actuated by it are
engaged in the same task, a task of such far-reaching importance to
the future of humanity, the task of subduing the savagery of wild man
and wild nature, and of bringing abreast of our civilization those
lands where there is an older civilization which has somehow gone
crooked. Mankind as a whole has benefited by the noteworthy success
that has attended the French occupation of Algiers and Tunis, just as
mankind as a whole has benefited by what England has done in India;
and each nation should be glad of the other nation's achievements. In
the same way, it is of interest to all civilized men that a similar
success shall attend alike the Englishman and the German as they work
in East Africa; exactly as it has been a benefit to every one that
America took possession of the Philippines.
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