The Washington herald., 1922-11-04
Page Letters Give
Inside War Story
American Diplomat Reveals
Early Secrets of Great
World Struggle. :

VVAaS 0k@ s88<s
The Life ana Letters ef walter
n. Page, ~ Barton ,. HenlFick.
tDsuhleday. Page q Co..
In the tremendous grist Of chaff
ground out by the book publishers.
there passes occasionally. like q
comet. q book that seems destined
for permanency. The Page letters
seem to be this sort OF rarity. to be
authentic additions to the history
and literature of America. Nor Is
this opinion an unsupported one. So
notable a judge as Col. =. N. House
has declared that they are destined
to become classics Assuredly. they
seem to possess all the elements
needful for such an elevation. They
are a living chronicle. written from
"the inside" Of the most perilous
Gays that Europe has lived through.
They are written staunchly. finely.
with humor, with earnestness, some
times with dogmatism. but always
with the abounding charm of home
illness. With all their sound English
and weighty matters, they carry no
Side" You SAVIOUR the ''sai' Of the
earth" just good plain Ainericanism,
You get IL in the Holy Moses. what
a worldr' penned during war time.
in the chatty ambasssdorial letters
written for President Wilson's own
eye, In the exasperated fulminations
concerning william Jennings Bry-
aw - 10
State.
While Mr.. Hendrick has written
full account of Pages life. IL In
subordinated to the Page letters.
A good two-thirds of two sturdy
volumes that comprise the work
are devoted to the phases of the
world war as encountered by Page.
Which is eminently right and
proper. II is Americas wartime
Ambassador to Great Britain that
Page will take his place in history.
His correspondence with the ad-
ministration during that period Of
stress is one of the most interest
Ing chapters placed on record thus
far in the authentic history of the
late unpleasantness. In II will be
found some justification for Presi-
dent Wilson's annoyed remark. II
can't pay any attention to what
Page says. He's an Englishman."
Still. as Wilson finally espoused the
caues of the allies. which Page had
os repeatedly advocated. It is to be
assumed that he had no serious
fault to find with his Ambassador
to England. Nor does a close read
ing make II apparent that Page
was converted to the English idea.
True. he saw England as the nat
ural alley of the United States and
his LIES ambition was the fur
thercnce OF better understanding
between the two countries. But he
saw America as the leader Of Eng
land. as her successor TO the reins
of empire by virtue of an over
whelming preponderancy of white
English speaking population. Time
and again he hammers this point
home.
But the Page letters deal with
more than mere treaties and empire.
IL is the unimportant bits. the hu-
man lights that make them SO inn
portant, so likely to survive as per-
mamert literature He writes dur
ing the war of states being knocked
off his roof, bricks knocked DOWN
the chimney. broken skylights. the
nose of a shrapnel falling his area.
All this was not the work of the
German aeroplanes. but OF British
anti-aircraf; defense. He winds up
whimsically, What goes up must
come down. Between our own de-
fences and the enemy. God knows
which will kill us first" He goes
to dinner with the Asquiths, and Mrs.
Asquith assures him everything is
going to the devil damned fast" He
writes of some diplomatic difficulty.
The British foreign office has
lot of lawyers. They and our
lawyers will now butt and rebut as
long as there is a goat Of them left
alive on either side"
The war. absorbed Page body and
soul, wrecked his health and sent
hIm home to die, happily. with the
consciousness Of task well done. His
great anxiety, his burdened mind are
frequently made evident in the later
letters. On June 10. 1918. we find
tragic memorandum Of German
gains, concluding. The United
States is too late. too late; what IL
IL should turn out sor''
but IL was Sc uom tnat idge gave
way to even a touch of gloom. The
pre-war section of the work is alive
with gayety and there are giiNpSe<
of humor even in the darkest days.
There is a long and unforgettably
quaint letter addressed to his first
grandson. He declares that since
the presentation of American women
at court is sort of personal per-
Quisite OF the Ambassador he is
going to present none but hand
some women. He pokes mild fun at
the British. tells about them COM
planning of the cold and then they
run into their heartless houses and
put on extra wsistcoats and furs
and throw shawls over their knees
and curse Lloyd .ieorge and enjoy
themselves" But he winds up
charitaoly. They're a great people
even without mint juleps in the
summer and eggnog in winter, and
] like them" Something OF the sort
might be said about the Page letters.
They're great reading and prac-
;ically everyone will enjoy them.
NJ. II. V.