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

PLANTING THE SEEDS OF PEACE

241

tions, be united and led to clean up the tropics, the great
armies might gradually become sanitary police, as in Panama,
and finally gradually forget the fighting idea and at last
dissolve...
But Page felt that the Europeans were too traditionally
minded to embark upon such a plan, which had in it something suggestive of the Secretariat of the League of Nations.
'On the Continent of Europe,' he wrote, 'the Kaiser is
probably the foremost man. Yet he cannot think far beyond
the provincial views of the Germans. In England, Sir
Edward Grey is the largest-visioned statesman. Yet even
he does not seem to have a definitely constructive mind.'
House did not force his ideas upon the British at this time,
but he discovered that in Sir Edward Grey he would deal
with a man who may have lacked imagination, but who was
sincerely desirous of attempting any scheme that might lead
towards the maintenance of peace. On July 3, 1913, Colonel
House had lunch with Grey, Lord Crewe, and Page.
'We discussed the feeling between Germany and England.
Sir Edward remarked that the great cause of antagonism
between nations was the distrust each felt for the other's
motives. Before leaving this subject I told him of my
luncheon with Count von Bernstorff, German Ambassador
at Washington, and that I had been surprised to hear him
say he believed that good feeling would soon come between
England and Germany. My purpose in repeating this was to
plant the seeds of peace.'
On his return to the United States, House was caught in
the swirl of appointments and the passage of the Federal
Reserve Act. But whenever he had the opportunity, he returned to his study of the European problem.

'September 1, 1913: I have had some interesting conversa