narrowness of one-sided economic interests, while Europe is likewise Americanizing herself spontaneously. Politically, this drawing together of modern America and Europe is noteworthy; and, in it, immigrant influences are traceable, especially those of the Germans and the Jews. On the other hand, the interest which Young England takes in Young America should not be overlooked, although, or perhaps because, Young America deliberately takes its stand against Anglo-Saxondom and claims that America is no longer Anglo-Saxon. And it is only in the nature of things that Bennett, Cannon, Walpole and Lawrence should be widely read in America alongside of Wells. The American decision to join the Allies, and thus to evince a lively interest in Europe, was not wholly unconnected with this intellectual development and with the change in modern America which is reflected in her literature.
I hasten to add that my own interest in American literature was political rather than literary. As in the cases of France and England, I sought in literature an answer to the question what part the Americans would play in the war, with what spirit and with what success. Nothing evil was prophesied even by the most trenchant critics and malcontents; and what I saw and heard strengthened my conviction that the American contribution to victory would be weighty. To the numbers and equipment of the troops sent to Europe I paid special heed. The way the troops were looked after—not only the officers but the men—impressed me greatly. Europeans, accustomed to aristocratic armies in which the officers are chiefly cared for, cared for, would have called it downright luxurious.
I was glad to find that the transport arrangements worked faultlessly and that the German submarines were powerless. In America, too, I realized from direct experience how huge is the share of industry in modern warfare—the quantities of food, arms and munitions were astounding. It was a mass war waged in the mass. The manufacture of artillery and rifles, machine-guns and other weapons grew in bewildering proportions. Ships were built in the twinkling of an eye. True, the hopes first placed in the production of innumerable aircraft were not fulfilled; and, like other countries, America had her “war rich” and her profiteers. But, as American soldiers told me gleefully, the French were astonished at their technical skill and at the rapidity with which railways were laid from harbour to battlefield.
