But the American Government is a mere joke to them.

They don't even believe that we ourselves believe in it.

We've had no foreign policy, no continuity of plan, no matured scheme, no settled way of doing things and we seem afraid of Irishmen or Germans or some "element" when a chance for real action comes.

I'm writing to the President about this and telling him stories to show how it works.
We needn't talk any longer about keeping aloof.

If Cecil Spring Rice would tell you the complaints he has already presented and if you saw the work that goes on here--more than in all the other posts in Europe--you'd see that all the old talk about keeping aloof is Missouri buncombe.