ntraband, the searching of cargoes upon the high seas,
belligerent trading through neutral ports, war zones, orders in council,
and all the other jargon of maritime rights in time of war. These topics
engrossed him as completely as the extension of democracy and the
significance of British-American cooeperation engrossed all the thoughts
of Page and Grey.

That Page took this larger view is evident from the communications which
he now began sending to the President. One that he wrote on October 15,
1915, is especially to the point. The date is extremely important; so
early had Page formulated the standards that should guide the United
States and so early had he begun his work of attempting to make
President Wilson understand the real nature of the conflict. The
position which Page now assumed was one from which he never departed.

_To the President_

In this great argument about shipping I cannot help being alarmed
because we are getting into deep water uselessly. The Foreign
Office has yielded unquestioningly to all our requests and has
shown the sincerest wish to meet all our suggestions, so long as
it is not called upon to admit war materials into Germany. It will
not give way to us in that. We would not yield it if we were in
their place. Neither would the Germans. England will risk a serious
quarrel or even hostilities with us rather than yield. You may look
upon this as the final word.

Since the last lists of contraband and conditional contraband were
published, such materials as rubber and copper and petroleum have
developed entirely new uses in war. The British simply will not let
Germany import them. Nothing that can be used for war purposes in
Germany now will be used for anything else. Representatives of
Spain, Holland, and all the Scandinavian states agree that they can
do nothing but acquiesce and file protests and claims, and they
admit that Great Britain has the right to revise the list of
contraband. This is not a war in the sense in which we have
hitherto used that word. It is a world-clash of systems of
government, a struggle to the extermination of English civilization
or of Prussian military autocracy. Precedents have gone to the
scrap heap. We have a new measure for military and diplomatic
action. Let us suppose that we press for a few rights to which the
shippers have a