tation and demoralisation into which it has fallen. I would never have believed that I should see the quiet self-pos- sessed Britishers in such a condition of lamentable hysterics.
Kindly do not mention my name to Mr. Sanders, as I am afraid I may have offended his feelings, though I hope I have not shattered his ideals completely. I should indeed like to meet him some day and converse with him on his beautiful ideals, though I do not share them."
I do not wish to add any remarks to those made by my friend, and hope this letter will reach you in the best of health and spirits. I also hope that the Censor will not take exception to the contents of this letter, as everybody knows you to be a patriotic Britisher-vide your statement in the Standard in Au- tumn 1909. He ought to let you have it in order that you may be able to convince such evil-minded and immoral persons as my friend appears to be that they are wrong and that honesty and not hypocrisy rules the world."
N.B. The views which I am said to hold, according to the writer of the above lotter, are quite imaginary.
H.S.
London, E.C., 3rd April, 1915.
.I received about a fortnight ago a letter from our mutual friend, X...., dated New York as far back as February, of which you may have a copy. I will try to answer it over Easter.
I should not like him—least of all men-to have such views as he expresses, on matters which he can- not know as we know them. With kind, &c.........
46
Holland Park, W., Easter, 1915.
The War produces strange phenomena indeed! That nice and dispassionate man X...., always fond of English people and liked by them, your own best friend, writes me a violently anti-English letter. It is dated New York 5th February, though I received
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it only two or three weeks ago.
He refers therein to my Shanghai correspondence and, after stating views which I am supposed to hold- but do not, controverts them by way of a dialogue between himself and an imaginary American,
He, however, does not substantiate his dictum: "that this War has been prepared by England against Germany for many years,"
unless he wishes me to accept as the "cause" of the War its "consequences!" These consequences are the interference by England with the enemy's trade in general (justified by recognised international usage), the liquidation instead of supervision of enemy-firms in the Colonies (one of the blunders of the war) and the newspaper-campaign, which he mentions, to capture German industries and trade, a desire but human, though badly expressed in the extravagant language of non-commercial writers, and impossible of realisation wherever German national characteristics have been the decisive factor in creating a particular industry.
But, the business of the nation is not run by news- papers and if X.... knew what our business men think about these matters, and if he knew the scrupulous fairness and impartiality of our civil courts whenever a question as to enemy-property has arisen, he would not write what he does write.
However, errors of judgment were sure to be com- mitted on both sides in this unprecedented war and we can only know hereafter which side has made most. That is the point. Even battles, causing death and endless suffering, may be won and lost in consequence of somebody's blunder. The hardships and monetary losses of civilians thus sink into comparative insignificance.
I know, this is but cold comfort and realise that the liquidation of his Hongkong house must rankle in X....'s mind, as he himself is quite innocent of the provocative "bravado" of certain young Germans, with its possible dangers in time of war, and would have coun- selled moderation had he been in Hongkong at the time.
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572