PROBLEMS AND PEOPLE 5

warmth of affection second only to that which
binds me to my own countrymen, and in some
measure derived from it. It is of them, therefore,
that I shall mainly write; or rather of those whom
I may call " my friends "—a relatively small
number, no doubt, but yet typical of millions.
Not that the two lines of approach can be kept
rigidly distinct. In this problem-haunted land
they cross and mingle at many points, but never
so completely as to absorb the people in the
problems. At the last analysis the human element
always stands out as the greater coefficient. So
at least I have found it.

The mutual understanding of the American
and British peoples is so important to the general
welfare of mankind that anybody who can make
even a small contribution to that object has a duty
to make it. If the Americans and the British
cannot understand one another what other two
peoples can ? Even if it were true, in general, as
Spengler seems to think, that all nations are
isolated units, incapable of understanding one
another, I would make an exception in favour of
the Americans and the British. My reason for
thinking so is, and it will appear more fully in the
course of this book, that they are nearer to mutual
understanding now than they were at any previous
point of my long acquaintance with America,
nearer, but still a long way off. It may be very
little I have to contribute to the end in view; I
fear it is; but my travels in the country have been