Mr. Balfour's visit to America really was.
There is no man they could have sent who could have done it better. He
and the President got along marvellously well. The three of us dined and
spent the evening together and it was delightful to see how sympathetic
their minds were."

A letter from Mr. Polk also discloses the impression which Mr. Balfour
made upon Washington:

_From Frank L. Polk_

Washington, May 25, 1917.

MY DEAR MR. PAGE:

I just want to get off a line to catch the pouch.

You probably know what a wonderful success the British Mission has
been, but I do not think you can realize what a deep impression
they have made on all of us. Mr. Balfour really won the affection
of us all, and I do not know when I was more sorry to have a man
leave than I was to have him go last night. He expressed himself as
having been very much impressed with his reception and the way he
was treated. He was most fair in all discussions, and I think has a
better understanding of our point of view. I had the good fortune
of being present at the financial and the diplomatic conferences,
and I think we all felt that we were dealing with a sympathetic
friend.

He and the President got on tremendously. The best evidence of that
was the fact that the President went up to Congress and sat in the
gallery while Mr. Balfour addressed the House. This is without
precedent.

The difficult problem of course was the blacklist and bunkering
agreement, but I think we are by that. The important thing now is
for the British to make all the concessions possible in connection
with the release of goods in Rotterdam and the release of goods in
Prize Court, though the cases have not been begun. Of course I mean
cases of merely suspicion rather than where there is evidence of
wrongdoing.

The sending of the destroyers and troops abroad is going to do a
great deal toward impressing our people with the fact that we
really are in the war. I do not think it is thoroughly borne home
on the majority yet what a serious road we have chosen.

With warm regards,

Yours faithfully,

FRANK L. POLK.

Mr. Polk's reference to the blacklist recalls an episode which in itself
illustrates the changed character of the relations that had now been
established between the American and the British gov