ms_0466_s2_v4_050 |
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For many years I had been hoped the United States would become as democratic as
Great Britain and France, but I now wondered whether <add>at present</add> we were not better off than
they <del>at present</del>. I startled them when I made the statement that no sovereign
in Europe was so powerful as our President for the limited term of his office,
and I explained why this was true.
I spoke of my present difficulties in both England and France in try-
ing to obtain action and reach definite conclusions. I could get from each
Cabinet official his individual view, but it was almost impossible to get the
collective view of the Government upon any question. In France, we had no
feeling of security because the Government shifted so frequently that continuity
of policy could not be relied upon. In Germany and the United States more de-
finite results could be reached in a day than in a month in either England or
France. The curious feature of the German Government was that in many ways it
was socialistic with all its military autocracy.
We discussed different phases of the situation as it is now, as it
might be at the end of the war, and the effect the war may have upon the future <add>of</add>
civilization. Briand thought if Germany had not made war when she did, she
would have made a peaceful conquest of the world. This follows my own conclu-
sions. His idea is that France would have become lazy and indifferent, and
would have furnished the necessary wealth. Germany would have furnished the
initiative, and finally would have dominated both countries. De Constant dis-
agreed with this. He thought France would have taken some of Germany's effi-
ciency through contact with her, and that Germany would have become more refined
in thought and purpose by contact with France. In this way both would have bene-
fited and neither would have dominated. I agreed with Briand rather than with
de Constant, although there is much to be said for his point of view.
Our conversation went on uninterruptedly until the British Ambassador
| Title | ms_0466_s2_v4_050 |
| Transcript |
For many years I had been hoped the United States would become as democratic as
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