The Washington herald., 1917-11-23
From London,

. Washington is filled with mystery regarding the
exact mission upon which Col. House has been sent
abroad No such mystery enshrouds London. There
has been pontifcal reticence observed in this Capital
about matters which the public has right to know
Yet it is the privilege of any British paramentarian,
when nterpellated in the house of commons, to tell
the American people facts about their own affairs
which have been studiously withheld from them in
Washington.
Lloyd George, on Monday, made the first official
nouncement that the American Mission supported his
plan for Capitalization of control and was anxious
to 20 even further than he able to do. Bonar
Law on Tuesday, told the house of that
Col House had been instructed to attend the inter-
allied conference at Paris with Gen Bliss his mill
tary aid. On the days in question officials of the
State department profess either ignorance unwill
ingness to talk about the subjects in question
Doubtless we will continue, hereafter to get the
vital news of American war policy from London If
present conditions continue American newspapers will
regularly query their London correspondents as to
what their government is thinking about. An
anomalous situation exists in this Capital and there
is no hope of any escape from it. The State De-
partment is so completely overshadowe and overawed
by the White House the really fundamental matters
of policy that it remains dumb and inartcuate
matter of course Mr. Lansing occasionally puts forth
cold and cammy hand-out that has important
casual and so utterly unrelated the needs of public
opinion that much of their value is lost in the way they
put forth 1t is obvious to any newspaper that
responsible official of the State Department knows
much about popular psychology, anything
about it The reason for this indifference is obscure,
but much of it in the urdisputed fact that the
real foreign office of the American government is in
the upstairs library of the Executive Mansion, and not
in the sanctum that has been occupied by John Hay,
Elihu Root and Robert Lansing.
At this critical hour OF foreign policy Mr.. Lam
sing remans-as he has been at all times since he be-
came Secretary of State except on the purely legal side
of international affairs-a subordinate and almost
minor figure. What are the reasons? One man will
attribute to the fact that he is wrapped in egalism
another will say he is simply an oId-ne lawyer and
hplomat possessing urbanity and certain flair for
negotiaon still another that the President has made
the control of foreign affairs his own and will share
the war limeght with no one. There is a certain
amount of truth in all Of these assertions. We do
believe that Mr. Lansing has the slightest sympathy
with the ideasm the vision with which President VIII
son is trying to invest American foreign policy He
may profess such sympathy, but heart he regards it
rather fantastic and amateurish
Under these circumstances the State Department is
dumb as an oyster about matters which almost
the exclusive property of the President and Col House
As to the President clostered he is, burdened with
the war as he is he is no more available to the ordi
nary channels of publicity than is the Pope OF Rome
He is taking the nation into his confidence in the
matters that nearest to him. These are leaking
out sporadcaly causing the administration irritation
because of the which they treated by the
press. The blame with the administration, not
with the press, and will continue do so until there
is radical change of which there S no immediate
hope.