watchfulness of
British commerce is in the way. "You say you'll shoot men into
self-government," said Sir Edward. "Doesn't that strike you as
comical?" And I answered, "It is comical only to the Briton and to
others who have associated shooting with subjugation. We associate
shooting with freedom." Half this blessed Sunday at this country
house I have been ramming the idea down the throat of the Lord
Chancellor[37]. _He_ sees it, too, being a Scotchman. I take the
members of the Government, as I get the chance or can make it, and
go over with them the A B C of the President's principle: no
territorial annexation; no trafficking with tyrants; no stealing of
American governments by concession or financial thimble-rigging.
They'll not recognize another Huerta--they're sick of that. And
they'll not endanger our friendship. They didn't see the idea in
the beginning. Of course the real trouble has been in Mexico
City--Carden. They don't know yet just what he did. But they will,
if _I_ can find out. I haven't yet been able to make them tell me
at Washington. Washington is a deep hole of silence toward
ambassadors. By gradual approaches, I'm going to prove that Carden
can do--and in a degree has already done--as much harm as Bryce did
good--and all about a paltry few hundreds of million dollars' worth
of oil. What the devil does the oil or the commerce of Mexico or
the investments there amount to in comparison with the close
friendship of the two nations? Carden can't be good long: he'll
break out again presently. He has no political imagination. That's
a rather common disease here, too. Few men have. It's good fun. I'm
inviting the Central and South American Ministers to lunch with me,
one by one, and I'm incidentally loading them up. I have all the
boys in the Embassy full of zeal and they are tackling the
Secretaries of the Central and South American legations. We've got
a _principle_ now to deal by with them. They'll see after a while.

English people are all right, too--except the Doctrinaires. They
write much rank ignorance. But the learned men learn things last of
all.

I thank you heartily for your good news about Tyrrell, about the
President (but I'm sorry he's tired: make him quit eating meat and
play golf); about the Panama tolls; about t