The Henson Journals

[206]

Monday, February 9th, 1925.

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I travelled to Euston with Canon and Mrs Scott. The train arrived nearly 25 minutes after the scheduled time. Leaving my bags in Park Lane, I went on to the Athenaeum, and lunched. Then I walked to Dean's Yard, and attended the session of the Church Assembly.

Major Torr moved the rejection of Sir Lewis Dibdin's motion that the Patronage Report should be received: and in the course of his speech made a kind of attack on me. I was foolish enough to reply to him in a speech which was certainly not a great performance. Then I returned to the Athenaeum, had tea, & wrote to Ella. I walked to Park Lane, dressed, & drove to Sloane Gardens, where I dined with Sir John & Lady Struthers. It was an interesting party – the late American Ambassador, & Mrs Kellogg, Haldane, Sir Reginald & Lady Wingate, Lady Sandhurst & some others, whose names have escaped me.

Kellogg said that he was with Roosevelt on his famous visit to Berlin, and that Roosevelt told him the following story, which, in K's judgement, indicated a sense of humour: Roosevelt had been invited to witness a Review, where he held forth to the Kaiser with his usual vehemence on military matters. The next day he received a photograph of himself seated on horseback beside [207] [symbol] the Kaiser with his arm raised in emphasizing his argument. Behind was written, "From the Emperor William, Commander in Chief of the German Army to Colonel Roosevelt, Colonel of the Rough Riders'. Haldane was interesting. He told us how, during the Kaiser's visit to King Edward vii, he had been present at a conference of the Kaiser with his ministers. The discussion waxed hot, & Haldane rose to retire, explaining that it seemed to him improper for anyone to be present except His Imperial Majesty's Cabinet. Whereupon the Kaiser appointed him a member of his Cabinet for that night. Haldane justly boasted that he was the only Englishman who had been a Cabinet minister of Wilhelm II. I drew the conversation on to the subject of Prohibition. Kellogg, who had drunk sherry, champagne, and port, declared himself a supporter of Prohibition, and was, of course, warmly seconded by that notorious ascetick, Ld Haldane! However, I put in some posing questions, which he could not answer, &, though I was too magnanimous to press my advantage, I felt that he had not made a very good figure. Sir Reginald Wingate spoke about Egypt and the Soudan. He is, as might be expected, very contemptuous of our recent policy. Lady Sandhurst told me that she was Matthew Arnold's daughter.

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We discussed the population problem in the United States, and, of course, Kellogg was resolutely optimistic. He said that, when he was a member of the Senate, there were only two out of the ninety–six members who were not of English stock. Of these, one was born in Norway, and the other, though born in America, was the son of Norwegians. He would not allow that there was any serious danger of the Anglo–Saxon stocks being submerged.

He said that the 10 southern states, in which the negroes predominated, would maintain Prohibition in the constitution of the Republic. It never seemed to occur to him that it was a strange policy which subordinated the advanced & populous states of the north to the local requirements of the most backward communities. He said Hughes, whom he would succeed as Foreign Minister, would make vaster gains than ever as a lawyer on account of having held office. I inquired of Haldane whether larger incomes were made at the bar in America than in this country, & he replied by giving me some examples of vast fees paid in America – e.g. Carnegie had on one occasion paid a legal fee of 250,000 dollars.

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