Page:America Fallen!.djvu/63

Rh Government had announced that it had purchased St. Thomas and that it proposed to make of it one of the strongest naval bases in the world.

At the call of the President, a meeting of the Cabinet convened that night at the White House at 9 P.M. In view of the crisis, the members of the Cabinet arrived early, eager to ascertain from the Secretary of State the facts of the grave diplomatic situation. From him they learned, informally, that, having returned late that afternoon from lecturing in the West on "The Perils of Militarism," he was able to find time only for brief interviews with the German and the British Ambassadors. The German Ambassador had informed him that the dispatch published in the afternoon papers was essentially correct.

The President entered, seated himself, and at once asked the Secretary of State to give the latest information available from