Then he talked a good deal about the idea that lies behind the League for Enforcing Peace—­in a sympathetic mood.  He went on to point out how such a league—­with force behind it—­would at any one of three stages have prevented this war—­(1) When England proposed a conference to France, Germany, Italy, and Russia, all agreed to it but Germany.  Germany alone prevented a discussion.  If the League to Enforce Peace had included England, France, Italy, and Russia—­there would have been no war; for Germany would have seen at once that they would all be against her. (2) Later, when the Czar sent the Kaiser a personal telegram proposing to submit their differences to some tribunal, a League to Enforce Peace would have prevented war.  And (3) when the question of the invasion of Belgium came up, every signatory to the treaty guaranteeing Belgium’s integrity gave assurance of keeping the treaty—­but Germany, and Germany gave an evasive answer.  A league would again have prevented a war—­or put all the military force of all its members against Germany.

Throughout the conversation, which lasted about an hour, Sir Edward said more than once, as he has often said to me, that he hoped we should be able to keep the friction between our governments at the minimum.  He would regard it as the greatest calamity if the ill-feeling that various events have stirred up in sections of public opinion on each side should increase or should become permanent.  His constant wish and effort were to lessen and if possible to remove all misunderstandings.

* * * * *

Lord Bryce was one of the Englishmen with whom Page was especially inclined to discuss pending problems.

     Notes on a conversation with Lord Bryce, July 31, 1916

Lord Bryce spoke of the President’s declaration that we were not concerned with the causes or objects of the war and he said that that remark had caused much talk—­all, as he thought, on a misunderstanding of Mr. Wilson’s meaning.  “He meant, I take it, only that he did not propose at that time to discuss the causes or the objects of the war; and it is a pity that his sentence was capable of being interpreted to mean something else; and the sentence was published and discussed here apart from its context—­a most unfair proceeding.  I can imagine that the President and his friends may be much annoyed by this improper interpretation.”

I remarked that the body of the speech in which this remark occurred might have been written in Downing Street, so friendly was it to the Allies.

“Quite, quite,” said he.

This was at dinner, Lady Bryce and Mrs. Page and he and I only being present.

When he and I went into the library he talked more than an hour.

“And what about this blacklist?” he asked.  I told him.  He had been in France for a week and did not know just what had been done.  He said that that seemed to him a mistake.  “The Government doesn’t know America—­neither does the British public.  Neither does the American Government (no American government) know the British.  Hence your government writes too many notes—­all governments are likely to write too many notes.  Everybody gets tired of seeing them and they lose their effect.”