14 JANUARY 1938, Page 6

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

MR. W. E. DODD, the retiring American Ambassador in Berlin, has got back to his own country and said a little of what he thinks of the Nazi system, with the result that London papers reporting his remarks have been seized by the Secret Police in Germany. Mr. Dodd's feelings can be understood. He is a democrat through and through, as much as Woodrow Wilson, whose Life he wrote ; I discovered that when I dined with him some years ago at Chicago, where he was a Professor. In place of him Berlin gets a professional diplomatist, Mr. Hugh Wilson, who as American Minister at Berne used to keep in close touch with the League of Nations at Geneva. Schooled in the service, he may go a little further towards adjusting himself to his surroundings than his predecessor, who would never consent to attend the Nuremberg Party Rally, but if the Germans think there has been a change from Mr. Dodd to someone with a totally different outlook they have some disillusionment in store—unless, indeed, Mr. Wilson himself has changed considerably since I saw him last. * * * *