Part 22 (2/2)

CHAPTER XXII

A WAR EPISODE-MY AMERICAN TEA-PARTIES

The war is too near, too great, and also too much an object from which people turn in weariness and ihtly In spite then of the transcendent effect which the war had upon my life I shall only touch upon one or two salient points The first that I select is as curious as it was interesting It is also appropriate, for it marked a step, and a distinct step, if one which covered only a soal that I have always put beforebetween both branches of the English-speaking race It involves above all things that Aht, in deed, or in word, as foreigners When the war had been going a week or two, I and a number of other editors were summoned to a solemn conclave presided over by a Minister of the Crown We were asked to give advice as to how the Govern to the increasing severity of the censorshi+p they were unable to get any news through to their newspapers Though they were quite friendly and reasonable in one sense about this, they were in a state of agitation because their editors and proprietors on the other side, unable as yet to understand whatthe of interest, to the Aer such as had never before existed in the world's history If the correspondents could not get anything to send they must make room for those who could The notion that the order for news could not be obeyed was regarded as ”ih anxious to do everything they could for the Arip of the censorshi+p The Prime Minister's speeches, even, were censored lest they should afford information to the enemy This policy of intensive suppression was enforced by all sorts of gloomy prophecies fros to be sent out before they have been carefully considered, and thatconsidered, we cannot be responsible for the consequences Things which look perfectly innocent to you or to the people who send theence Office s and intentions By pleasing one American newspaper you may send thousands ofthe tone of the Censor's Office, the Government was naturally in a state of perplexity At the sahtly felt, that it was most undesirable to confront our American friends of the Press (for they were all friendly) with a pure _non possumus_ What made it worse was the fact that the correspondents had told Ministers in plain teret no news here they o to Holland and thence to Berlin, where correspondents were made much of and allowed to send any aested at the , but those which found favour with the Press made the representatives of the Governestions, on the other hand, were, I areeted with polite derision by the journalists Greatly daring, I proposed that we should do for the American correspondents as done for them in their own country by the President President Wilson ton every Monday for a confidential talk of twenty minutes or so What he said and they said was not to be reported, but they were ”put wise” as to the general situation I suggested that in a siive a quarter of an hour once a week to the Aive the to publish, but at any rate if they saw him they would not feel so utterly out of it as they were at the moment To see no one but a Censor who always said No, was like living on an iceberg on a diet of toast-and-water They would be able at least to cable to their chiefs saying that they had seen the Prieneral outline of the situation, though they could not at present publish any of the confidences which had been entrusted to the about the relations between the Govern of the ill be ah by no means astonished to hear of the response hich it met The spokesmen of the Government said in effect: ”Mr Strachey, you estion It cannot be entertained for abetter than that” Unfortunately I could think of nothing better, the other journalists could think of nothing better, the officials could think of nothing better, and so the , as the reporters say, broke up, if not in confusion, at any rate in depression

I was sothe country, and also syues that I felt that I ht back to Brooks' and wrote to Mr Asquith, telling him what the situation hat I had proposed, and hoas regarded as quite crazy I went on to say that I knew this would not affect his mind, but that I was afraid that he would probably not be able to spare the tiested a compromise

Will you [I said] come and lunch with me next Wednesday at my house at 14 Queen Anne's Gate to ive them one talk? As it happens I don't know any of the American correspondents, even by name All the same, I am quite certain that if you show theret it There is not the slightest fear of any betrayal I ae of the honour of le word that you say but do not want published will ever be published

In a word, I guaranteed not ues from across the water I am not a political admirer of Mr

Asquith, and have had, perhaps, to pummel him ords as much as any man in the country I was not, however, the least surprised to find that he would not allow hiestion of his subordinates that the scheme was mad and so forth Very characteristically he wrotethat he would be delighted to meet my friends at lunch on Wednesday next as proposed This acquiescence relieved reatly, for I was convinced that the situation was exceedingly dangerous and disagreeable

My next step, and one that I had to take iether As I have said, I knew nothing of theht it not iet hold of their naht when they received the letter think it was a hoax However, the thing had to be done, so it was no use to waste tiet the help of my friend, Sir Harry Brittain (then Mr Brittain) I wrote to hi for the names and addresses of all the correspondents of Aet exactly why--to believe that he possessed the inforer whoht back a pro the information I required I immediately sat down, dictated my notes, about twenty I think, and had them posted In these I described the situation quite frankly I said that as a journalist I had been very ht of the situation in which the correspondents had been placed They were, I said, like one out, and that house not their own In such circumstances, who could wonder if they knocked over half the furniture in trying to find their way about or to get hold of a light soh not known to theiveWednesday, at 14 Queen Anne's Gate, to ht, by eneral outline of the situation

I knew, of course, that it was not necessary to putwithout definite leave so to do The first principle upon which an Ah he expects frankness fro will ever induce him to reveal what he has been told is confidential and not for publication You can no et stuff not meant for publication froet the secrets of the confessional from a priest Reticence is a point of honour I have no doubt that some of reat merit in this, because the correspondents know quite well that if they were once to betray a public ain Their professional careers would be utterly ruined Though I should not agree that self- preservation was the motive, I knew at any rate that every consideration of sound business and professional pride as well as of honour made it quite certain that there would be no betrayal

I was, therefore, norant of this fact or to seely I merely added that whatever was said was not for publication and also that I was anxious that the fact of this luncheon taking place should not be disclosed I gave s which I hoped to arrange, becan newspapers, I felt that pressure ht be put upon me to include them in my invitations

The result would be a s, and not an intimate social function such as I desired My wishes were respected in every way No word said at the luncheon, or at any of the weekly gatherings that followed it for nearly three years, was ever made public Further, their existence was never alluded to, though the s would havethat was said at theiously kept

I was deeply touched by the letters which I received in reply to my invitation They were all frolad and proud to say that many of them were from men who have since becoenuineness, and war which are characteristics of the A efforts of the Briton to be genial and forthco to the fact that we had moved to our house in the country in the last days of July, 1914, my London house was shut up except for a caretaker, and ive me her help, which would have been invaluable, because she was tre our house ready for what it was so soon to become, _ie_ a hospital with forty beds I had, therefore, to do the necessary cateringthe need for discretion, lish house as Gunter's The very name seemed stable and untouched by the possibility of spies

Accordingly I told Gunter's representative to ements for a luncheon for twenty people and to be sure that all the waiters were Englishmen and, if possible, old service men That accomplished, I awaited the hour I do not think I was anxious as to how o off I was much too busy for that I was at the time deep in work that I considered appropriate to the Sheriff of the County of Surrey, which office I then held On the Tuesday before the luncheon I was sleeping at Queen Anne's Gate, but went as usual to _The Spectator_ office in the ot back half-an-hour before ”zero,” which was 130, so that I uests, a task in which I was helped by Sir Eric Drummond, then Mr

Asquith's Private Secretary Unfortunately I have not a record of all the people ere there, but I know that ao Daily News_, known throughout the newspaper world of London as the doyen of American correspondents He is a man for whoreat number of years which he has devoted not only to the service of his newspaper but to i the relations between this country and his own Mr Price Bell is the most patriotic of Americans, but he has never hesitated to n” does not apply to the relations between Great Britain and Aer of that wonderful institution, The associated Press of Aue and successor now head of the London office, Mr Collins; Mr Keen of The United Press and Mr Edward Marshall of _The New York Times_ were certainly there

Another of the men present hom I was in the future to become intimate was Mr Curtis Brown, the well-known and very able Literary Agent and the representative of the New York Press It was, indeed, at his suggestion that these Memoirs, which have proved the pleasantest literary task ever undertaken by un and were placed in the hands of Messrs Hodder & Stoughton in England and of Major Putnam in the United States Mr Fred Grundy, Mr Patchin, Mr Tewson, and Mr

Tuohy were also ahters”

These ular parties, but there were also a nuood friends and men of interest and ability, such as Mr Palmer, who occupied journalistic posts here for a short time only, and then were moved either to the front or to some other part of Europe or back to their own country

The luncheon proved a great success From the first moment I realised that there was to be no coldness or official reticence or shyness, but a perfectly easy atreeable to uests, and they did the same, not only to him, but to each other, to Mr Asquith's staff, and to me, their host Needless to say that as my object was to introduce the journalists to Mr Asquith and get him to talk to them and they to hih I was still able, if the conversation flagged (which, by the way, it never did) to put in a question or to raise soet infor After luncheon we retired into ars, and I was then able to take each one of uests up to Mr Asquith for a few minutes' talk The result was excellent Mr Asquith was very frank, but, though light in hand, he was as serious as the occasion deuests felt that they were receiving the consideration they ought to receive, which I knew the Government desired that they should receive, but which they had very nearly missed, thanks to the fact that Governht to do, and, indeed, want to do

Official efforts at politeness, instead of being the soft anshich turn arath, too often prove violent irritants

So great was the success of the luncheon that when it was over and Mr

Asquith had to leave for a Cabinet Committee (he remained for over two hours in the house--not a bad compliment to the correspondents in itself, when one remembers that the date was early Septeuests I told theement to meet at 14 Queen Anne's Gate every Wednesday afternoon till further notice, for tea and cigarettes