The British nation and Empire are full of a very
deep sense of gratitude to the American people and Government for roming to the side of the Allies and showing so high a spirit in their deter- mination to fight the war through to a finish, and to have no half- measures and no building of golden bridges by which the Hohen- zollerns may escape the fate they deserve. But while we praise the American Government and people as a whole, we must not forget that there was a class in America who realized the nature of the war and what was America's duty nearly two years before the bulk of their countrymen. All honour to the United States, but all honour also to the American merchants and manufacturers who for two years endured almost without complaint, or at any rate without *a com- plaint which would have been injurious to the cause of the,Allies, the rigour of our Blockade. And this .in spite of the fact that American overseas trade was necessarily interfered with and hampered at every turn.
Previous page
