orkman has every time saved the situation. While a
danger point does lie here, there is no reason to be more fearful
now than at any preceding time when no especial trouble was
brewing. This wave of gossip and fear has no right to sweep over
the country now.

Labour hopes and expects and is preparing to win the next General
Election--whether with good reason or not I cannot guess. But most
men expect it to win the Government at some time--most of them
_after_ the war. I recall that Lord Grey once said to me, before
the war began, that a general political success of the Labour Party
was soon to be expected.

Another wave which, I hear, has swept over Rome as well as London
is a wave of early peace expectation. The British newspapers have
lately been encouraging this by mysterious phrases. Some men here
of good sense and sound judgment think that this is the result of
the so-called German "peace offensive," which makes the present the
most dangerous period of the war.

W.H.P.

_To David F. Houston_[72]

London, March 23, 1918.

MY DEAR HOUSTON:

It is very kind of you indeed to write so generously about the
British visitors who are invading our sacred premises, such as the
Archbishop of York, and it is good to hear from you anyhow about
any subject and I needn't say that it is quite a rare experience
also. I wish you would take a little of your abundant leisure and
devote it to good letters to me.

And in some one of your letters tell me this.--The British send
over men of this class that you have written about to see us, but
they invite over here--and we permit to come--cranks on
prohibition, experts in the investigation of crime, short-haired
women who wish to see how British babies are reared, peace cranks
and freaks of other kinds[73]. Our Government apparently won't let
plain, honest, normal civilians come over, but if a fellow comes
along who wants to investigate some monstrosity then one half of
the Senate, one half of the House of Representatives, and a number
of the executive offices of the Government give him the most
cordial letters. Now there are many things, of course, that I don't
know, but it has been my fate to have a pretty extensive
acquaintance with cranks of every description in the United States.