The Library World Volume 19 Issue 11

Only a day or two ago the Stars and Stripes were floating over the House of Lords and the invigorating “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was sung at St. Paul's in the presence of the King Emperor. The events were unique, and to all Britons happy in prophecy. English librarians have long admired their American brethren and their work; and of late they had read with regret the rather querulous remarks in at least one American library journal about the restrictions on book imports incidental to the blockade, and such phrases as “we have friends in both countries,” which gave the impression that our American friends failed to distinguish between the moral value of right and wrong in this world‐struggle. All this was intensified by the fact that every Briton in his heart believes the American to be of his own household, “to come of the blood,” and the want of understanding which we thought we detected was a particularly bitter thing. Of course this was a superficial view, and many of us realized how great was the sympathy between the English speaking races, and how difficult for the American the interracial problems of his country. Now, however, the air has been clarified, and the English librarian may look upon his American brethren as at one with himself in the struggle to preserve that freedom in the world which pervades the literature of our common language.