The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page Volume II Part 40

I am sure I have the best secret service that could be got by any neutral. I am often amazed at its efficiency. It is good because it is not a secret--certainly not a spy service at all. It is all aboveboard and it is all done by men of high honour and good character--I mean the Emba.s.sy staff. Counting the attaches there are about twenty good men, every one of whom moves in a somewhat different circle from any other one. Every one cultivates his group of English folk, in and out of official life, and his group in the diplomatic corps. There isn't a week but every man of them sees his particular sources of information--at their offices, at the Emba.s.sy, at luncheon, at dinner, at the clubs--everywhere. We all take every possible occasion to serve our friends and they serve us. The result is, I verily believe, that we hear more than any other group in London. These young fellows are all keen as razors. They know when to be silent, too; and they are trusted as they deserve to be. Of course I see them, singly or in pairs, every day in the regular conduct of the work of the Emba.s.sy; and once a week we all meet together and go over everything that properly comes before so large a "cabinet" meeting. Thus some of us are on confidential terms with somebody in every department of the Government, with somebody in every other Emba.s.sy and Legation, with all the newspapers and correspondents--even with the censors. And the wives of those that are married are abler than their husbands. They are most attractive young women--welcome everywhere--and indefatigable. Mrs. Page has them spend one afternoon a week with her, rolling bandages; and that regular meeting always yields something else. They come to my house Thursday afternoons, too, when people always drop in to tea-visitors from other countries, resident Americans, English--everybody--Sometimes one hundred.

n.o.body in this company is a "Spy"--G.o.d forbid! I know no more honourable or attractive group of ladies and gentlemen. Yet can conceive of no organization of spies who could find out as many things. And the loyalty of them all! Somebody now and then prefaces a revelation with the declaration, "This is in strict confidence--absolutely n.o.body is to hear it." The answer is--"Yes, only, you know, I have no secrets from the Amba.s.sador: no member of his staff can ever have."--Of course, we get some fun along with our tragedies. If I can find time, for instance, I am going to write out for House's amus.e.m.e.nt a verbatim report of every conversation that he held in London. It has all come to me--from what he said to the King down; and it all tallies with what House himself told me. He went over it all himself to me the other day at luncheon.--I not only believe--I am sure--that in this way I do get a correct judgment of public feeling and public opinion, from Cabinet Ministers to stock-brokers.

_December 11, 1916._

The new Government is quite as friendly to us in its intentions as the old, and much more energetic. The old Government was a spent force. Mr.

Balfour is an agreeable man to deal with, with a will to keep our sympathy, unless the dire need of s.h.i.+ps forces him to unpleasantness.

The Prime Minister is--American in his ways. Lord Robert has the old Cecil in him, and he's going to maintain the blockade at any cost that he can justify to himself and to public opinion, and the public opinion is with him. They are all eager to have American approval--much more eager, I think, than a large section of public opinion, which has almost ceased to care what Americans think or do. The more we talk about peace, the more they think about war. There is no vindictiveness in the English. They do not care to do hurt to the German people: they regard them as misguided and misled. But no power on earth can stop the British till the German military caste is broken--that leaders.h.i.+p which attacked Belgium and France and would destroy England. Balfour, Lloyd George, the people, the army and the navy are at one in this matter, every labouring man, everybody, except a little handful of Quakers and professors and Noel Buxton. I think I know and see all the peace men. They feel that they can talk to me with safety. They send me their pamphlets and doc.u.ments. I think that all of them have now become warlike but three, and one of them is a woman. If you meet a woman you know on the street and express a sympathy on the loss of her second son, she will say to you, "Yes, he died in defence of his country. My third son will go next week. They all die to save us." Doubtless she sheds tears in private.

But her eyes are dry in public. She has discarded her luxuries to put money in the war loan. Say "Peace" to her? She would insult you.

_May 10, 1917._

We dined at Lambeth Palace. There was Lord Morley, whom I had not seen since his long illness--much reduced in flesh, and quite feeble and old-looking. But his mind and speech were most alert. He spoke of Cobden favouring the Confederate States because the const.i.tution of the Confederacy provided for free trade. But one day Bright informed Cobden that he was making the mistake of his life. Thereafter Cobden came over to the Union side. This, Morley heard direct from Bright.

The Archbishop spoke in high praise of Charnwood's Lincoln--was surprised at its excellence, etc. Geoffrey Robinson[82] asked who wrote the _Quarterly_ articles in favour of the Confederacy all through the war--was it Lord Salisbury? n.o.body knew.

The widow of the former Archbishop Benson was there--the mother of all the Bensons, Hugh, A.C., etc., etc.--a remarkable old lady, who talked much in admiration of Balfour.

The Bishop of--Winchester(?)--was curious to know whether the people in the United States really understood the Irish question--the two-nation, two-religion aspect of the case. I had to say no!

There is an orphan asylum founded by some preceding Archbishop, by the sea. The danger of bombardment raised the question of safety. The Archbishop ordered all the children (40) to be sent to Lambeth Palace.

We dined in a small dining room: "The children," Mrs. Davidson explained, "have the big dining room." Each child has a lady as patroness or protector who "adopts" her, i.e., sees that she is looked after, etc. Some of the ladies who now do this were themselves orphans!

At prayers as usual at 10 o'clock in the chapel where prayers have been held every night--for how many centuries?

At lunch to-day at Mr. Asquith's--Lord Lansdowne there; took much interest in the Knapp farm work while I briefly explained.

Lord Morley said to Mrs. Page he had become almost a Tolstoyan--Human progress hasn't done much for mankind's happiness, etc. Look at the war--by a "progressive" nation. Now the mistake here is horn of a cla.s.s-society, a society that rests on privilege. "Progress," has done everything (1) in liberating men's minds and spirits in the United States. This is the real gain; (2) in arraying all the world _against_ Germany.

_Tuesday, January 22, 1918._

Some days bring a bunch of interesting things or men. Then there sometimes come relatively dull days--not often, however. To-day came:

General Tasker H. Bliss, Chief-of-Staff, now 64--the wisest (so I judge) of our military men, a rather wonderful old chap. He's on his way to Paris as a member of the Supreme War Council at Versailles. The big question he has struck is: Shall American troops be put into the British and French lines, in small groups, to fill up the gaps in those armies?

The British have persuaded him that it is a military necessity. If it were less than a necessity, it would, of course, be wrong--i.e., it would cut across our national pride, force our men under another flag, etc. It is not proposed to deprive Pers.h.i.+ng of his command nor even of his army. The plan is to bring over troops that would not otherwise now come and to lend these to the British and French armies, and to let Pers.h.i.+ng go on with his army as if this hadn't been done. Bliss is inclined to grant this request on condition the British bring these men over, equip and feed them, etc. He came in to ask me to send a telegram for him to-morrow to the President, making this recommendation. But on reflection he decided to wait till he had seen and heard the French also, who desire the same thing as the British.

General Bliss is staying with Major Warburton; and Warburton gave me some interesting glimpses of him. A telegram came for the General.

Warburton thought that he was out of the house and he decided to take it himself to the General's room. He opened the door. There sat the General by the fire talking to himself, wrapped in thought. Warburton walked to the middle of the room. The old man didn't see him. He decided not to disturb him, for he was rehearsing what he proposed to say to the Secretary of State for War or to the Prime Minister--getting his ears as well as his mind used to it. Warburton put the telegram on the table near the General, went out, and wasn't discovered.

Several nights, he sat by the fire with Warburton and began to talk, again rehearsing to himself some important conclusions that he had reached. Every once in a while he'd look up at Warburton and say: "Now, what do you think of that?"

That's an amazing good way to get your thought clear and your plans well laid out. I've done it myself.

I went home and Kipling and Carrie[83] were at lunch with us. Kipling said: "I'll tell you, your coming into the war made a new earth for me."

He is on a committee to see that British graves are properly marked and he talked much about it. I could not help thinking that in the back of his mind there was all the time thought of his own dead boy, John.

Then in the afternoon Major Drain brought the copy of a contract between the United States Government and the British to build together 1500 tanks ($7,500,000). We took it to the Foreign Office and Mr. Balfour and I signed it. Drain thinks that the tanks are capable of much development and he wishes our army after the war to keep on studying and experimenting with and improving such machines of destruction. n.o.body knows what may come of it.

Then I dined at W.W. Astor's (Jr.) There were Balfour, Lord Salisbury, General and Lady Robertson, Mrs. Lyttleton and Philip Kerr.

During the afternoon Captain Amundsen, Arctic explorer came in, on his way from Norway to France as the guest of our Government, whereafter he will go to the United States and talk to Scandinavian people there.

That's a pretty good kind of a full day.

_April, 19, 1918._

Bell[84], and Mrs. Bell during the air raid took their little girl (Evangeline, aged three) to the cellar. They told her they went to the cellar to hear the big fire crackers. After a bomb fell that shook all Chelsea, Evangeline clapped her hands in glee. "Oh, mummy, what a _big_ fire cracker!"

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 79: Colonel (now Major General) George O. Squier, Military Attache at the American Emba.s.sy.]

[Footnote 80: The wedding of Mr. Page's daughter at the Chapel Royal.]

[Footnote 81: Mrs. Page.]

[Footnote 82: Editor of the London _Times_.]

[Footnote 83: Mrs. Kipling.]

[Footnote 84: Mr. Edward Bell, Second Secretary of the American Emba.s.sy.]