that I can not judge the Americans. They perhaps
expect too much from their freedom and their republican ideas. I shall
never be a republican. I believe that we all have all the freedom we
deserve. It is well to remember that man is an animal. After all his
polish and refinement, he has animal tastes and desires, and if he makes
laws that are in direct opposition to the indulgence which his animal
nature suggests, he certainly must have some method of enforcing the
laws. Like all animals, some men are easily influenced and others not,
and the human animal has not made progress so far but that he needs
watching in order to make him conform to what he has decided or elected
to call right.

You will expect me to compare the American to the Chinaman, but it is
impossible. Some things which we look upon as right, the American
considers grievous sins. The point of view is entirely at variance, but
I have boundless faith in the brilliant and good men and women I have
met in America. I say this despite my other impressions, which also
hold.

The great political scheme of the people is poorly devised and crude. It
is so arranged that in some States governors are elected every year or
two and other officers every year, representatives of the people in
Congress every two years, senators every six, Presidents every four
years. Thus the country is constantly in a whirl, and as soon as the
rancor of one national election is over begins the scheming for another.
The people have really little to do with the selection of a President. A
small band of rich and influential schemers generally have the entire
plan or "slate" laid out. A plan, natural in appearance, is _arranged_
for the public, and at the right time the slated program is sprung.
Senators should be elected by the people, congressmen should be elected
for a longer period, and Presidents should have twice the terms they do.
But it is easy to suggest, and I confess that my suggestions are those
of many American people themselves which I hear reformers cry abroad.

The vital trouble with America to-day is that she can not assimilate
the 600,000 debased, ignorant, poverty-stricken foreigners who are
coming in every year. They keep out the one peaceful nation. They
exclude the Chinese and take to the national heart the Jew, the
Socialist, the Italian, the Roumanian and others who constitute a nation
of unrest. What America needs is the "rest cure" that you hear so much
about he