17 NOVEMBER 1917, Page 15

In welcoming the American Mission, all Englishmen will wish to

pay a particular tribute of respect to Colonel House. A man of a most penetrating judgment and scrupulous and straightforward motives, he used to add, we imagine, the touch of personal judgment and personal knowledge to the conclusions which President Wilson was forming at Washington on the strength of diplomatic documents. As a sequel to, and of course as a result of, his earlier unofficial journeys to Europe, Colonel House comes back now in an official position ; and he comes—this is the remarkable fact—already in possession of the entire trust of the British people. They feel that he is here, in President Wilson's phrase, " not to talk about peace but to talk about war." There is not a doubt that he will do so to great purpose, and we should like President Wilson to know that all Englishmen feel that he has sent them the right man.