it would be difficult for an individual member of Congress to come
forward as the active advocate of a British alliance and not lose his
seat; but in the end, the man who did it, or the party which did it,
would surely win. When two peoples have a dislike of each other based on
intimate knowledge by each of the other's character, to rise as the
champion of their alliance might be hopeless; but when two peoples are
held apart only by misunderstanding and by lack of perception of the
boons that alliance between them would bring, it can need but courage
and earnestness to carry conviction to the people and to bring success.

In such a cause there is one man in America to whom one's thoughts of
necessity turn; and he is hampered by being President of the United
States. Perhaps when his present term of office is over Mr. Roosevelt,
instead of seeking the honourable seclusion which so often engulfs
ex-Presidents, will find ready to his hand a task more than worthy of
the man who was instrumental in bringing peace to Russia and Japan,--a
task in the execution of which it would be far from being a disadvantage
that he is as cordially regarded in Germany as he is in England and has
himself great good-will towards the German Empire. Any movement on the
part of Great Britain in company with any European nation could only be
regarded by Germany as a conspiracy against herself: nothing that
England or France or Japan--or any Englishman, Frenchman, or
Japanese--could say or do would be received otherwise than with
suspicion and resentment. But, after all, the good of humanity must come
before any aspirations on the part of the German Empire, and it is the
American people which must speak, though it speaks through the mouth of
its President. If the American people makes up its mind that its
interest and its duty alike dictate that it should join hands with
England in the cause of peace, neither Germany nor any Power can do
otherwise than acquiesce.

It is no novelty, either in the United States or in other countries, for
considerations of temporary political expediency to stand in the way of
the welfare of the people, nor is there any particular reason why an
American politician should attach any importance to the desires of
England. But we find ourselves again confronted with the same old
question, whether the American people as a whole, who have often shown
an ability to rise above party politics, can find any excuse for setting
an