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

PAGE'S VEXATIONS

311

while ago to telegraph that I 'conferred' with the neutral
Ministers, meaning, of course, that I talked with them and
found out what facts I could. It was their ships that were
stopped, with American cargoes. I got back a despatch from
Washington saying I had no authority to be making shipping
and trade agreements with neutral Powers - they did that
themselves at Washington! Now what damfool in the State
Department supposed that I was making agreements with
any Govt. or that I was doing anything but trying day and
night to get an American cargo released and to prevent
more from being stopped - I don't know, nor care to know;
and I haven't a trace of a shade of a dream of feeling about
it. Anybody's at liberty to think anything about me he
pleases; I've long since ceased to care a fig. A man in a difficult public place must turn heaven and earth to do his very
uttermost duty - must try doubly and trebly hard at any
cost and must absolutely exhaust every possible effort and
resource and satisfy his most exacting conscience. He will
be blamed then. He will be misunderstood. He will be misjudged. He must accept that and go on without paying
the least heed to it. I can do that easily. I don't care a
fig. I'm incapable of resenting any misunderstanding.
But- BUT, you can't help doubting the intelligence of a
man (whoever he is) that breaks loose with a sermon about
my making 'agreements with other governments'; and you
don't know just how much dependence to put in the next
telegram about something else, that comes from the same
source....
Everybody here, so far as I have heard (and I shd hear,
you may be sure), regards us all as neutral of course, and
so treats us -English, Germans, Austrians, French, and neutrals. Of the neutral members of the diplomatic corps I
see much (in spite of my inability to make 'agreements with
other countries'); and I can't tell you to save my life what
the leanings are of any of them! I have felt no suspicion from