a's serious intentions
to appeal if necessary to arms, would back down; and that now Mr.
Bryan was made to appear as a wrecker of the President's policy. His
resignation thus became more necessary than ever, and Mr. Lansing,
hitherto head of the State Department of Justice, replaced him.
American opinion, however, laid the chief blame for what had occurred
on Dr. Dumba, who was henceforward regarded as a dangerous intriguer.

Mr. Lansing was a lawyer, not a politician, and looked at everything
from the point of view of a lawyer and his position as the President's
sole legal adviser. He was, so to speak, Mr. Wilson's legal conscience.
My personal relations with him were always extremely cordial.

Mr. Bryan's point of view was in every sense that of a neutral.
The only really effective way of safeguarding American interests
was, of course, to forbid the use of hostile passenger ships by
citizens of the United States, who could perfectly well travel on
their own vessels, or those of Holland or Scandinavia. However,
the greater part of American public opinion did not accept this
strict view of neutrality, and Mr. Wilson, therefore, adapted himself
to the predominant opinion. It was useless for us to demand that
the President should interpret his neutrality in the manner most
convenient to us; we had to accept the fact that his ideas on this
subject were neither ours nor Mr. Bryan's, and, on this basis,
endeavor to come to an understanding with Mr. Wilson, if we did
not intend to bring the United States into the war. It must be
remembered that, as I have already said, we had no means of bringing
pressure to bear on America, whereas from her point of view war
with Germany would be a comparatively simple affair, which would
involve no vital risks for her, but would, on the contrary, greatly
benefit her from an industrial point of view, besides gratifying
the jingoes, by giving them an opportunity of making full use of
their long-desired Army, Navy and commercial fleet. There could
be considered, as factors tending to the preservation of peace,
only the pacific sentiment of the majority of the people working
in alliance with the dilatory policy of the President, who still
nourished a hope that some favorable turn or other in events, or
perhaps the advent of peace, would give him a chance to avoid breaking
of relations with Germany.

The diplomatic incident, mentioned above, made such an impression
on Mr. Gerard, as to induc