Evening star., 1925-10-22
EDITED BY BURTON j. HENDRICK.
Continuing Ambassador Pages letter
of June %, 1917, to President WilsOn.)

/
Some weeks ago there was a more
or less general fear here lest France
| herself might say, "Well, I've almost
| exhausted myself; l can go no
further. Great Britain must carry on
! the war" The coming in of the
United States gave her new spirit and
new hope. This accounts in some
measure for the extraordinary display
of sentiment when Gen, Pershing
reached Paris-I cannot say how
much cold truth there is in this quite
generally held British opinion. But
| do know that it had much to do with
their profound appreciation of our
help.
Again-the friction between the
Australians and Canadians and the
British sometimes reaches seriousness
There is likely to be a stiff controver-
sy when the lid is lifted
Many such seamy-side pieces of in
formation come to me, but only as
reflected and refracted by English
minds. l imagine we ought to learn
them-such as are true-authorit;t-
lively ! get them by sometimes eat
ing three meals day and committing
who have attended these conferences.
Military Mission Urged.
Regarding the establishment Of
military mission here-that seems
necessary and urgent. Men. commit
tees, commissions come, some bring
ing credentials from some department
Of our Government and some bringing
of them seek the same information
that was given to their predecessors
Il week or two weeks ago. Then they
go away. In a few more weeks new
information is acquired and nobody
gets that. This whole business of our
Government seeking information from
this government ought to be sys-
tematiZed and co-urdinated Officers
of our Government of technical tram
ing ought to remain here-most of
the subjects dealt with are military
and inquiries should be made OF this
commission by all branches of our
Government and all inquirers should
come To them. About this. too, |
have telegraphed. The principal al
lied governments have just such a
practical working arrangement. |
have telegraphed about this. too.
The British views that reach me
Ill army circles are as cheerful and
hopeful as the news that comes from
navy sources is discoiraging. There
is no danger of a serious shortage
of food for any period that may be
fOreseen. But the generally informed
fear a very serious lack of such ma
.i,lS oil
uses both for the fleet and for the
army. There is no doubt of a very
grave fear raised by the submarines
The admiralty is detected. No sub
marine ..antidote" has been found. A
few are sunk. But there are vast
armies that must yet be killed before
the Germans will have to give in.
The feeling here is that if the subma-
rine success were discouragingly
diminished. the spirit of the German
army would quickly fail.
Help Direly Needed.
The multitudinous tasks Of prep
aration in the United States report
ed. but reported very briefly, in the
London papers make most favor
able impression, and these reports are
read here most gratefully. In their
gratitude there is a confession of the
allies dire need of our help-a far
more urgent need than anybody con
tesses or than anybody realizes but
the men who know the inside facts.
l have had momentary fears that the
British may depend on us too much
and expect too much-a state of mind
that, however much we do, will lead
to disappointment. But there is Yet
no evidence of this. And | am glad
to say 1 have yet seeTeno evidence to
show that the British will lie down
on us''-relaX their efforts because we
are now helping. They are not built
that way. They have vices and they
are not always easy to live with or
to fight and die with, and we shall
have our troubles with them. But l
do not expect them to try to put their
own tasks on us. Their continental
allies have depended too much on