“The Deutschland?  I take off my hat to Captain Koenig:  he is a plucky fellow.  The U 53?  I have no remarks to offer, except to repeat my previous reference to baby-killing machines.  As for the presence of these two vessels in American waters—­in American ports—­I won’t presume to offer an opinion.  Still, not long ago the U 53 sank six British or neutral vessels off the American coast, just outside territorial waters.  Fortunately for the passengers, an American cruiser was in the neighbourhood, to guard against violation of American waters, and picked them up.  But the whole incident looks to me like a deliberate German plan to jockey an American cruiser into becoming a German submarine tender.

“Let me see—­what else?  Too proud to fight?  Not much!  We know the American people too well.  Besides, we suffer from politicians ourselves, and know what political catch-phrases are.  So don’t let that worry you.

“National Training for America?  There I am neither qualified nor entitled to offer advice.  I know the difficulties with which the true American has to contend in this matter.  I know that this vast country of yours is more of a continent than a country, and that so long as your enormous tide of immigration continues, it will be a matter of immense difficulty developing a national sense of personal responsibility.  I also know that your Middle West is inhabited by people, many of whom have never even seen the sea, who are rendered incapable, by their very environment, of realizing the immensity of the external dangers which threaten their country.  These must see things differently from the more exposed section of the community, and I see how dangerous it would be to enforce upon them a measure which they regard as ridiculous.  But on this great subject of Preparedness, I can refer you to the case of my own country—­not as an example, but as a warning. We were caught unprepared.  In consequence, we had to sacrifice our best, our very best, the kind that can never be replaced in any country, just because they hurried to the rescue and allowed themselves to be wiped out, while the country behind them was being aroused and prepared.  That is the price that we have paid, and no ultimate victory, however glorious, can recompense us for that criminal waste of the flower and pride of our youth and manhood at the outset.

“Do we expect to win the war outright?  Yes, we do.”

It is true that the Central Powers have recently succeeded in devastating another little country, though they have not destroyed its army.  On the other hand, during the past few months the Allied gains on the Somme have included, among other items, a chain of fortresses hitherto considered impregnable, four or five hundred pieces of artillery, fourteen hundred machine-guns, and about ninety-five thousand unwounded German prisoners.  Moreover, the French at Verdun have regained in a few weeks all the ground that the