doned his
active Far-Eastern policy, and confined himself to stimulating the
large banks of America into becoming interested in the building of
railways and other economic means of development in China. This policy
was described as "Dollar Diplomacy" by the Democratic Opposition,
and violently opposed. When, therefore, the votes went against the
Republican Party, and President Wilson came to the helm, he let
the Far-Eastern policy drop. High Finance immediately seized this
opportunity in order to extricate itself from Chinese undertakings.
It had only embarked upon "Dollar Diplomacy" at the request of the
Government, and the venture had yielded but little profit, owing
to the fact that Americans are not inclined to invest in foreign
securities.

Secretary of State Knox's policy, which was always supported by
us, accounted for the fact that the official relations between
the German and American Governments were never more cordial than
during the years 1909-13, in spite of a short disturbance resulting
from a dispute over our potash exports to the United States. The best
proof of how friendly the official relations of the two Governments
were is shown by the ease with which this quarrel was settled. We
were also successful in concluding a commercial agreement which
was satisfactory to both sides, and overcame the danger of a customs
war as the result of America's new customs tariffs; whereas Taft's
economic plans, which aimed at reciprocity and union with Canada,
came to grief for political reasons, as the result of Canadian
Opposition, and left behind a bitter after-taste both in the United
States, Canada and England.

Official diplomatic communications excepted, however, it must
unfortunately be admitted, that mutual misunderstanding has been
the principal feature of German-American relations. In Germany
there was no understanding for the curious mixture of political
sagacity, commercial acumen, tenacity and sentimentality, which
goes to make up the character of the American people. The power of
the Union was therefore underestimated by us, and the high-spirited
utterances of American youthful strength were more disapproved of
than was necessary, because they were interpreted as mere "bluff"
and arrogance. We never sufficiently allowed for the fact that
the Americans are very "emotional"--that is to say, that they are
easily carried away by their feelings and then become uncertain.
Political surprises in the United