It’s very hard, not to say impossible, to write in these swiftly moving days.  Anything written to-day is out of date to-morrow—­even if it be not wrong to start with.  The impression becomes stronger here every day that we shall go into the war “with both feet”—­that the people have pushed the President over in spite of his vision of the Great Peacemaker, and that, being pushed over, his idea now will be to show how he led them into a glorious war in defense of democracy.  That’s my reading of the situation, and I hope I am not wrong.  At any rate, ever since the call of Congress for April 2nd, I have been telegraphing tons of information and plans that can be of use only if we go to war.  Habitually they never acknowledge the receipt of anything at Washington.  I don’t know, therefore, whether they like these pieces of information or not.  I have my staff of twenty-five good men getting all sorts of warlike information; and I have just organized twenty-five or thirty more—­the best business Americans in London—­who are also at work.  I am trying to get the Government at Washington to send over a committee of conference—­a General, an Admiral, a Reserve Board man, etc., etc.  If they do half the things that I recommend we’ll be in at the final lickin’ big, and will save our souls yet.

There’s lots of human nature in this world.  A note is now sometimes heard here in undertone (Northcliffe strikes it)—­that they don’t want the Americans in the war.  This means that if we come in just as the Allies finish the job we’ll get credit, in part, for the victory, which we did little to win!  But that’s a minor note.  The great mass of people do want us in, quick, hard, and strong—­our money and our guns and our ships.

A gift of a billion dollars[52] to France will fix Franco-American history all right for several centuries.  Push it through.  Such a gift could come to this Kingdom also but for the British stupidity about the Irish for three hundred years.  A big loan to Great Britain at a low rate of interest will do the work here.

     My mind keeps constantly on the effect of the war and especially of
     our action on our own country.  Of course that is the most important
     end of the thing for us.  I hope that—­

     1.  It will break up and tear away our isolation;

     2.  It will unhorse our cranks and soft-brains.

     3.  It will make us less promiscuously hospitable to every kind of
     immigrant;

     4.  It will reestablish in our minds and conscience and policy our
     true historic genesis, background, kindred, and destiny—­i.e., kill
     the Irish and the German influence.

     5.  It will revive our real manhood—­put the molly-coddles in
     disgrace, as idiots and dandies are;

     6.  It will make our politics frank and manly by restoring our true
     nationality;