"
British entertainment of members of the House family had been
marked and assiduous, and the flattery had had its effect, though
not probably upon the Colonel, who remained unspoiled by social
contacts to the last. Nevertheless, a member of Mr. Wilson's family
had called the President's attention to the social forces that the
British were bringing to bear. The President by this time was in a
mood to be made angry and suspicious. Doubt was lodged in his mind.
And when he found this country critical of the Shantung settlement,
that doubt became a conviction; the British through social
attentions, had wheedled House into a position favorable to their
allies, the Japanese. The loyal House was convicted of the one
unforgivable offense, disloyalty.
When the casting off of House became, later, in this country
unmistakable, I inquired regarding it of the friend and adviser of
the President whom I have just mentioned, and he repeated to me,
forgetting that he used them before, the exact words he had said at
Paris, "The most insidious influence at the Peace Conference was
the social influence."
The most insidious influence with Colonel House was the kindness of
his own heart. He had too many friends. His view of international
relations was too personal. Principles will make a man hard, cold,
and unyielding, and Colonel House had no principles, or had them
only parrot-like from Mr.
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