London, September 2nd, 1915.

     DEAR HOUSE: 

You write me about pleasing the Allies, the big Ally in particular.  That doesn’t particularly appeal to me.  We don’t owe them anything.  There’s no obligation.  I’d never confess for a moment that we are under any obligation to any of them nor to anybody.  I’m not out to “please” anybody, as a primary purpose:  that’s not my game nor my idea—­nor yours either.  As for England in particular, the account was squared when she twice sent an army against us—­in her folly—­especially the last time when she burnt our Capitol.  There’s been no obligation since.  The obligation is on the other foot.  We’ve set her an example of what democracy will do for men, an example of efficiency, an example of freedom of opportunity.  The future is ours, and she may follow us and profit by it.  Already we have three white English-speaking men to every two in the British Empire:  we are sixty per cent. of the Anglo-Saxons in the world.  If there be any obligation to please, the obligation is on her to please us.  And she feels and sees it now.

My point is not that, nor is it what we or any other neutral nation has done or may do—­Holland or any other.  This war is the direct result of the over-polite, diplomatic, standing-aloof, bowing-to-one-another in gold lace, which all European nations are guilty of in times of peace—­castes and classes and uniforms and orders and such folderol, instead of the proper business of the day.  Every nation in Europe knew that Germany was preparing for war.  If they had really got together—­not mere Hague Sunday-school talk and resolutions—­but had really got together for business and had said to Germany, “The moment you fire a shot, we’ll all fight against you; we have so many millions of men, so many men-of-war, so many billions of money; and we’ll increase all these if you do not change your system and your building-up of armies”—­then there would have been no war.

     My point is not sentimental.  It is: 

(1) We must maintain our own self-respect and safety.  If we submit to too many insults, that will in time bring Germany against us.  We’ve got to show at some time that we don’t believe, either, in the efficacy of Sunday-School resolves for peace—­that we are neither Daughters of the Dove of Peace nor Sons of the Olive Branch, and

(2) About nagging and forever presenting technical legal points as lawyers do to confuse juries—­the point is the point of efficiency.  If we do that, we can’t carry our main points.  I find it harder and harder to get answers now to important questions because we ask so many unimportant and nagging ones.

I’ve no sentiment—­perhaps not enough.  My gushing days are gone, if I ever had ’em.  The cutting-out of the “100 years of peace” oratory, etc., etc., was one of the blessings of the war.  But we must