to get beyond the Rhine, or even get there? England, of course,
has hardly tried her hand in the game yet and if the Turk is
cleaned up she will have a lot of Australians and others to help
out in Belgium. Sir George Paish told me they expect to have a
million and a half men in the field by the end of this summer.
Pfeiffer comes here to-day to spend a couple of days trying to do
something for the State Department; I don't know just what, but I
shall be mighty glad to see the old chap. I haven't seen anything
of Lamb since his return.
Do write me again. Affectionately yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
On the sixteenth of March Lane again started for San Francisco,
crossing the continent for the third time within a month. Vice-
President Marshall, Adolph C. Miller, now of the Federal Reserve
Board, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, assistant Secretary of the Navy,
who were going out to visit officially the Exposition, were the
principal members of the party. In Berkeley, on March twenty-
third, 1915, Lane received his degree from the University of
California. In conferring this degree President Wheeler said:--
"Franklin K. Lane,--Your Alma Mater gladly writes to-day your name
upon her list of honour,--in recognition not so much of your
brilliant and unsparing service to state and nation, as of your
sympathetic insight into the institutions of popular government as
the people intended them. An instinctive faith in the righteous
intentions of the average man has endowed you with a singular
power to discern the best intent of the public will. Men follow
gladly in your lead, and are not deceived.
"By direction of the Regents of the University of California I
confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Laws:--
"Creative statesman in a democracy; big-hearted American." On
December 7, 1915, upon receiving a copy of the diploma Lane wrote
in acknowledgement to Dr. Wheeler,--"I have the diploma which it
has taken all the talent of the office to translate. I had one man
from Columbia, another from the University of Virginia, one from
Nebraska, and one at large at work on it. Thank you. It takes the
place of honor over my mantel."
TO WILLIAM P. LAWLOR
JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA
Washington, April 13, 1915
MY DEAR JUDGE,--I have read Eddy O'Day's poem with great delight.
Along toward the end it carries a sentiment that our dear old
friend John Boyle O'Reilly expressed in his poem Bohemia, in which
he speaks of those,
"Who deal out a charity, scrimped and iced, In the name of a
cautious, statistical Christ."
I have never been able to write a line of verse myself, although I
have tried once in a while, but long ago my incapacity was proved.
Pegasus always bucks me off.
I am sorry you took so seriously what I had to say of the wedding
invitation, but you know I am one of those very sentimental chaps,
who loves his friends with a great devotion, and when anything
good comes to them I want to know of it first, and no better
fortune can come to any man than to marry a devoted, high-minded
woman.
Your rise has been a joy to me, because neither you nor I came to
the bar nor to our positions by conventional methods. The union
spirit is very strong among lawyers, and if a man has ideas
outside of law, or wishes to humanize the law, he is regarded with
suspicion by his fellows at the bar. You have proved yourself and
arrived against great odds. No man that I know has ever had such a
testimonial of public confidence as you received in the last
election. I hope that with the hard work much joy will come to
you.
Mrs. Lane has just dropped in and wishes me to send you her warm
regards. Always sincerely yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
TO WILLIAM G. MCADOO
SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
Washington, April 27, 1915
MY DEAR MAC,--Here is a man for us to get next to. He is a
Harriman, a Morgan, a Huntington, a Hill, a Bismarck, a Kuhn Loeb,
and a damn Yankee all rolled into one! Can you beat it? His
daughter also looks like a peach. I do not know the purpose of
this financial congress in which these geniuses from the hot belt
are to gather; but unless I am mistaken you are looking around for
some convenient retreat to go to when this Riggs litigation is
over and you are turned out scalpless upon a cruel world. Here is
your chance! Tie up with Pearson. He has banks, railroads, cows,
horses, mules, land, girls, alfalfa, clubs, and is connected with
every distinguished family in North and South America.
This man, Dr. Hoover, is a genius. When I knew him he was giving
lessons in physical training; but, now, like myself, he is an
LL.D., and, of course, as a fellow LL.D. I have got to treat his
friend properly. So I pass him along to you. Please see that he
has the front bench and is called upon to open the congress with
prayer, which, being a Yankee and a pirate, he undoubtedly can do
in fine fashion.
When he comes, if you will let me know, I shall go out to meet him
in my private yacht; take him for a drive in my tally-ho; give him
a dinner at Childs', and take him to the movies at the Home Club.
I shall also ask Redfield to invite him to the much-heralded shad
luncheon, to which I have received the fourth invitation. Do you
think he would like to meet my friend, Jess Willard?
Cordially yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
A letter from John Burns, from Rome, spoke sarcastically of the
American attitude of neutrality toward the European war, and of
what he called the "new American motto--'Trust the President.'"
TO JOHN CRAWFORD BURNS
ROME, ITALY
Washington, May 29, 1915
MY DEAR JOHN,--I saw Pfeiffer, Lamb, and Mezes the other day up in
New York. Mezes lives among Hebrews, Lamb is broken-hearted that
he can not get into the war, and Pfeiffer is trying to get England
to let his German goods through Holland. Lamb and Pfeiffer do not
agree as to England's duty to allow non-contraband on neutral
ships to pass unmolested.
England is playing a rather high game, violating international law
every day. ... England's attempt to starve Germany has been a
fizzle. Germany will be better off this summer than she was two
years ago, have more food on hand. There are no more men in
Germany outside of the Army. Practically every one has been called
out who could carry a gun, but the women are running the mills and
the prisoners are tilling the farms. Von Hindenburg will come down
upon Italy, when he has lured the Italians up into some pass and
given them a sample of what the Russians got in East Prussia.
You see I am in quite a prophetic mood this afternoon.
Tell me if you understand Italy's position--just how she justifies
herself in entering the war? I have seen no authoritative
justification that I thought would hold water.
The Coalition ministry in England is weaker than the Liberal
ministry. Lord Northcliffe, who is the Hearst of England, has
become its boss. Inasmuch as you object to our new motto, "Trust
the President," I offer as a substitute, "Trust Lord Northcliffe,
Bonar Law, and the Philosopher of Negation." The dear bishops
won't give up their toddy, so England must go without ammunition.
Germany is standing off Belgium, England and France, with her
right hand; Russia with her left, and is about to step on Italy.
Germany has not yet answered our protest in the Lusitania matter.
Neither has England answered our protest, sent some three months
ago, against the invasion of our rights upon the seas. I was very
glad to read the other day that while only eighty per cent of
English-made shells explode, over ninety per cent of American-made
shells explode.
Cordially yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
TO E. W. SCRIPPS
SCRIPPS MCRAE SYNDICATE
Washington, June 1, 1915
MY DEAR MR. SCRIPPS,--I am extremely glad to get your letter--and
such a hearty, noble-spirited letter. It came this morning, and
was so extraordinary in its patriotic spirit that I took it to the
White House and left it with the President.
I am sure that great good will come of the effort you are making
to gather the people in support of the President. The poor man has
been so worried by the great responsibilities put upon him that he
has not had time to think or deal with matters of internal
concern. ... He is extremely appreciative of the spirit you have
shown. I have a large number of matters in my own Department--
Alaskan railroad affairs and proposed legislation--that I ought to
take up with him; but I can not worry him with them while
international concerns are so pressing.
I feel that at last the country has come to a consciousness of the
President's magnitude. They see him as we do who are in close
touch with him. ... My own ability to help him is very limited,
for he is one of those men made by nature to tread the wine-press
alone. The opportunity comes now and then to give a suggestion or
to utter a word of warning, but on the whole I feel that he
probably is less dependent upon others than any President of our
time. He is conscious of public sentiment--surprisingly so--for a
man who sees comparatively few people, and yet he never takes
public sentiment as offering a solution for a difficulty; if he
can think the thing through and arrive at the point where public
sentiment supports him, so much the better. He will loom very
large in the historian's mind two or three decades from now.
In the fall I am going to ask you to lend a hand in support of my
conservation bills, which look like piffling affairs now in
contrast with the big events of the day.
Once more I thank you heartily for your letter. Cordially yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
TO GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM
Washington, July 18, 1915
MY DEAR AND DISTINGUISHED SIR,--I once knew a vainglorious chap
who wrote a poem on the Crucifixion of Christ. The refrain was,--
"Had I been there with three score men, Christ Jesus had not
died."
All of us feel "that-a-way" once in a while when we think of
Germany, Mexico, and such. I shall have a few words to say upon
the German note next Tuesday. [Footnote: Day of Cabinet meeting.]
They will be short and somewhat ugly Anglo-Saxon words, utterly
undiplomatic, and I hope that some of them will be used.
There is no man who has a greater capacity for indignation than
the gentleman who has to write that note, and no man who has a
sincerer feeling of dignity, and no man who dislikes more to have
a damned army officer, filled with struttitudinousness, spit upon
the American Flag--a damned goose-stepping army officer!
This morning comes word that they tried to torpedo the Orduna, but
failed by a hair. This does not look like a reversal of policy. Of
course those chaps think we are bluffing because we have been too
polite. We have talked Princetonian English to a water-front
bully. I did not believe for one moment that our friends, the
Germans, were so unable to see any other standpoint than their
own.
I saw ex-secretary Nagel here the other day. We were at the same
table for lunch at the Cosmos Club. One of the men at the table
said, "I think Lane ought to have been appointed Secretary of
State." Nagel's usual diplomacy deserted him, and with a face
evidencing a heated mind replied, "Oh, my God, that would never
do, never do; born in Canada." So you see I am cut out from all
these great honors. Is this visiting the sins of the fathers upon
the children?
I wish you joy in your work and I wish I could lay some of my
troubles on your shoulders. Mrs. Lane and I are going up to see
you just as soon as we get the chance. I had to decline to address
the American Bar Association because I did not want to be away
from here for a week. This is Sunday, and I am trying to catch up
some of my personal mail which has been neglected for six weeks.
Thus you may know that I am in the Government Service.
I send you by this mail a copy of my speech in San Francisco,
which has been gotten up to suit the artistic taste of my private
secretary. As always,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
TO FREDERIC J. LANE
Washington, July 21, 1915
MY DEAR FRITZ,--I wish I could think of something I could do for
you dear people back there. I haven't heard from George for a long
while, but I hope he is getting something in mind that makes him
think life worth living. It is strange that every lawyer I know
would like to be situated just as George is, with a little farm in
a quiet dell. Last night I talked with Senator Sutherland. It is
his hope sometime to reach this ideal. And the other night I
talked with Justice Lamar, and told him of George's life, and he
said that he had dreamt of such an existence for fifty years but
has never been able to see his way to its realization.
There is no chance of our getting out to the Coast this year. The
President expects us to be within call, and I am very much
interested in the Mexican question, as to which I have presented a
program to him which so far he has accepted. These are times of
terrible strain upon him. I saw him last night for a couple of
hours, and the responsibility of the situation weighs terribly
upon him. How to keep us out of war and at the same time maintain
our dignity--this is a task certainly large enough for the largest
of men.
Conditions politically are very unsettled, and much will turn I
suppose on what Congress does. More and more I am getting to
believe that it would be a good thing to have universal military
service. To have a boy of eighteen given a couple of months for
two or three years in the open would be a good thing for him and
would develop a very strong national sense, which we much lack.
The country believes that a man must be paid for doing anything
for his country. We even propose to pay men for the time they put
in drilling, so as to protect their own liberties and property.
This is absurd! We must all learn that sacrifices are necessary if
we are to have a country. The theory of the American people,
apparently, is that the country is to give, give, give, and buy
everything that it gets.
Hope things are going well with you. Drop me a line when you can.
Affectionately,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
TO JOHN CRAWFORD BURNS
ROME, ITALY
Washington, July 30, 1915
MY DEAR JOHN,--Things have come to such a tension here that I
doubt the wisdom of my discussing international politics with you;
nevertheless, I want you not to be weary in well-doing, but
continue to give me the views of the Tory Squire. I hope that your
admiration for Balfour will prove justified. Of course, our press,
which can not be said to sympathize strongly with the conservative
side, makes it appear that Lloyd George is now bearing a great
part in the work of securing ammunition. This is the inevitable
result of allowing the people to vote. The man who has the
people's confidence proves to be the most useful in a time of
emergency. However, it may be that Balfour is himself directing
all that Lloyd George does.
This morning's papers contain an official statement from Petrograd
suggesting that the English get to work upon the west line. This
seems to me extremely unkind, inasmuch as the English have already
lost over 300,000 and have furnished a large amount of money to
Russia, I understand.
Pfeiffer sent me an article the other day from a German professor,
in which he said that the three million men that Kitchener talked
about was all a bluff. Pfeiffer keeps sending me long protests
against England's attitude regarding our trade, which seem to me
to be fair statements of international law.
The word that I get rather leads me to believe that the war will
last for at least another year and a half, which is quite in line
with Kitchener's prophecy, but where will all these countries be
from a financial standpoint at the end of that time? I fancy some
of them will have to go into bankruptcy and actually repudiate
their debt, and what will become by that time of the high-spirited
French, who are holding three hundred and fifty miles of line
against eleven held by the British and thirty by the Belgians?
Yesterday I received a request from a German Independence League
for my resignation, as I was born under the British flag and was
supposed to be influential with the President, who has recently
sent a very direct and business-like letter to Germany. My answer
was that they had mistaken my nationality. My real name was Lange
and my father had stricken out the G.! Affectionately yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
TO EUGENE A. AVERY
Washington, August 2, 1915
MY DEAR AVERY,--I am very glad to hear from you and to get your
verse. I had a glorious time at Berkeley. I could have received no
honor that would have given me greater satisfaction, but oh! as I
look over that old list of professors and associate professors! I
don't know a tenth of them, and I never heard of half of them. How
far I am removed from the scholastic life, and how far we both are
from those old days when you used to sit with your pipe in your
mouth, in front of your cabin, and discourse to me upon God and
men!
Well, we don't any of us know any more about God, but we know
something more about man. But after all is said and done, I guess
I like him about as much, as I did in the enthusiastic days when
we used to quiz old Moses. The streak of ideality that I had then
I still retain. The reason that I have remained a Democrat is
because I felt that we gave prime concern to the interests of men,
as such, and had more faith that we could help on a revolution.
These are times of trial. The well we look into is very deep. The
stars are not very bright. It is hard to find our way, but the
pilot has a good nerve. I know the trouble that Ulysses had with
Scylla and Charybdis.
Thank you, old man, very heartily for your word of cheer.
Cordially yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
TO JOHN F. DAVIS
Washington, August 2, 1915
MY DEAR JOHN,--I am very glad to get your letter of July 28,
telling me your views regarding the last note. I believe the
paragraph to which you refer was absolutely essential to make
Germany understand that we meant business; that she could not have
taken our opposition seriously is evidenced by her previous note,
and which, I think, was as insulting as any note ever addressed by
one power to another. Think of the absurd proposition, that we
should be allowed a certain number of ships to be prescribed by
Germany upon which our people could sail! Of course, if we
accepted her conditions, we would have to accept the conditions
that any other belligerent, or neutral, for that matter, might
impose. What becomes of a neutral's rights under these conditions?
The Leenalaw case shows that Germany can do exactly what we have
been asking her to do; namely, give people a chance to get off the
ship before they blow her up. This is good sense and good morals;
and the whole neutral world is behind us. If, in response to our
note, Germany had said, "We regret the destruction of American
lives, and are willing to make reparation, and have directed our
submarines that they shall not torpedo any ships until the ship
has been given an opportunity to halt," there would have been no
trouble; but Germany evidently did not take us seriously. Our
English was a bit too diplomatic.
I am writing you thus frankly, and in confidence, of course,
because I respect your opinion greatly. Cordially yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
In the middle of August, Lane joined his family at Essex-on-
Champlain, New York, for a few days. While there he went with Mr.
and Mrs. James S. Harlan to Westport, some miles further south on
the lake, to see the summer boat races and water sports. Mr.
Harlan's motor-boat, the Gladwater, which had been built on his
dock by Dick Mead, won the race, and that evening on their return
Lane gave the following letter to the successful builder:--
August 21, 1915
To "Dick" Mead on winning the race at Westport in the Gladwater.
We wonder sometimes why man was made, so full is life of things
that terrorize, that sadden and embitter. This life is a sea;
tranquil sometimes but so often fierce and cruel. And you and I
are conscript sailors. Whether we will or no we must sail the sea
of life, and in a ship that each must build for himself. To each
is given iron and unhewn timber, to some more and to some less,
with which to fashion his craft. Then the race really starts.
Some of us build ships that are no more than rafts, formless, lazy
things that float. Fair weather things for moonlight nights. But
others, high-hearted men of vision, will not be satisfied to drift
with the current or accept the easy way. They know that they can
do better than drift, and they must! The timber and the iron
become plastic under their touch. The dreams of the long night
they test in the too-short day. They make and they unmake; they
drop their tools perhaps for a time and drift; they despair and
curse their impatient and unsatisfied souls. But rising, they set
to work again, and one day comes the reward, the planks fit
together, and feeling the purpose of the builder, clasp each other
in firm and beautiful lines; the unwilling metal at last melts
into form and place and becomes the harmonious heart of the whole
--and so a ship is born that masters the cruel sea, that cuts the
fierce waves with a knife of courage.
To dream and model, to join and file, to melt and carve, to
balance and adjust, to test and to toil--these are the making of
the ship. And to a few like yourself comes the vision of the true
line and the glory of the victory. Sincerely yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
TO JOHN CRAWFORD BURNS
ROME, ITALY
Washington, August 31, 1915
MY DEAR JOHN,-- ... I met three friends of yours in New York the
other day, Lamb, Fletcher, and Pfeiffer, to whom I told in my
dismal way, the correspondence that we have been carrying on, and
all sympathized with me very sincerely.
Things look brighter now. The President seems to have been able to
make Germany hear him at last. I am very much surprised that you
think we ought to enter the war. Now that you have secured Italy
to intervene, what is the necessity? What have you to offer by way
of a bribe? I see that you are distributing territory generously.
Or do you think that we should go in because we were threatened as
England was--although she says it was Belgium that brought her in?
Fletcher is very much for fighting; Lamb says that the Allies will
win in the next two weeks. Pfeiffer thinks that nobody will win. I
can't tell you what I think. If I were only nearer I would have
more fun with you. Affectionately yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
TO SIDNEY E. MEZES
PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
Washington, September 7, 1915
MY DEAR SID,--I enclose a more formal letter for presentation to
your friend, Baron de--. Why in hell you should plague me with
this thing, except that I am the only real good-natured man
connected with the Government, I don't understand. Speaking of
good nature reminds me that you are a clam; in fact, a clam is
vociferous alongside of you.
As you know I have been guiding the affairs of this Government for
the past three months, and have received advice from every man,
woman, and child in the country, including the German-American
Union, the Independent Union, the Friends of Peace, the Sons of
Hibernia, and all the other troglodytes that live; and yet, you
alone have not thought me of sufficient consequence to advise me
as to what to do with the Kaiser or Carranza or Hoke Smith or
Roosevelt.
Before you go back to work why don't you come down here and spend
a day or two? We can have a perfectly bully time, and I will tell
you how to run your University and you can tell me how to run the
Government. ...
I have not seen House nor heard from him, though I have wanted to
talk with him more than with any other human being, these three
months gone. Yours as always,
F. K. L.
TO CORDENIO SEVERANCE
Washington, September 13, 1915
MY DEAR CORDY,--I envy you very much the opportunity that you have
to entertain Miss Nancy Lane. [Footnote: Born January 4, 1903.]
When she is herself, she is a most charming young lady. She has
powers of fascination excelled by few. If she grows angry, owing
to her artistic temperament, and throws plates at you or chases
you out of the house with a broom, you must forgive her because
you know that great artists like Sarah Bernhardt often have this
failing.