The intimate papers of Colonel House arranged as a narrative by Charles Seymour.

160 INTIMATE PAPERS OF COLONEL HOUSE

in order to be prepared to assist the President when he should
meet the congressional committees. The task which Colonel
House set himself was primarily to prevent the Presidentelect from committing himself to any one scheme until the
problem had been thoroughly studied; later he guided the
measure so that it was left in the control of experts and preserved from the heresies of political incompetents. The
Colonel was the unseen guardian angel of the bill, constantly
assisting the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairmen of
the Senate and House Committees in their active and successful labor of translating it into law. Wilson, who was accused
of a tendency to avoid advice, proved himself in fact to be
far from the self-confident doctrinaire pictured by his opponents, and in the matter of currency reform he was determined that the bill should be founded upon expert opinion.
'The greatest embarrassment of my political career [he
said to an enthusiast on this subject] has been that active
duties seem to deprive me absolutely of time for careful
investigation. I seem almost obliged to form conclusions
from impressions instead of from study, but I intend to go
much more thoroughly into this matter before saying anything about it; and I heartily agree with you that this, the
most fundamental question of all, must be approached with
caution and fearlessness and receive dispassionate and openminded treatment. I wish that I had more knowledge, more
thorough acquaintance, with the matters involved. All that
I can promise you is sincere study. I wish that I could
promise you a constructive ability.'
Colonel House was indefatigable in providing for the
President the knowledge that he sought. He collected in his
study the banking laws of every nation of Europe. He gathered reports and abstracts from college professors of economics and banking. But he laid chief stress upon his frequent