me to do mine. . . .

Faithfully yours,

E.M. House.

It will be observed that Colonel House had taken the advice of Sir
William Tyrrell, and had sailed directly to Germany on a German
ship--the _Imperator_. Ambassador Gerard had made preparations for his
reception in Berlin, and the American soon had long talks with Admiral
von Tirpitz, Falkenhayn, Von Jagow, Solf, and others. Von
Bethmann-Hollweg's wife died almost on the day of his arrival in Berlin,
so it was impossible for him to see the Chancellor--the man who would
have probably been the most receptive to these peace ideas. All the
leaders of the government, except Von Tirpitz, gave Colonel House's
proposals a respectful if somewhat cynical hearing. Von Tirpitz was
openly and demonstratively hostile. The leader of the German Navy simply
bristled with antagonism at any suggestion for peace or disarmament or
world cooeperation. He consumed a large part of the time which Colonel
House spent with him denouncing England and all its works. Hatred of the
"Island Kingdom" was apparently the consuming passion of his existence.
On the whole, Von Tirpitz thus made no attempt to conceal his feeling
that the purpose of the House mission was extremely distasteful to him.
The other members of the Government, while not so tactlessly hostile,
were not particularly encouraging. The usual objections to disarmament
were urged--the fear of other Powers, the walled-in state of Germany,
the vigilant enemies against which it was necessary constantly to be
prepared and watchful. Even more than the unsympathetic politeness of
the German Cabinet the general atmosphere of Berlin was depressing to
Colonel House. The militaristic oligarchy was absolutely in control.
Militarism possessed not only the army, the navy, and the chief officers
of state, but the populace as well. One almost trivial circumstance has
left a lasting impression on Colonel House's mind. Ambassador Gerard
took him out one evening for a little relaxation. Both Mr. Gerard and
Colonel House were fond of target shooting and the two men sought one of
the numerous rifle galleries of Berlin. They visited gallery after
gallery, but could not get into one. Great crowds lined up at every
place, waiting their turns at the target; it seemed as though every
able-bodied man in Berlin was spending all his time improving his
marksmanship. But this was merely a small indication of the atmosphere
of militarism which prevaile