No Clouds

In presenting his credentials to President Coolidge in the Blue Room of the White House, Sir Esme Howard, recently appointed British Ambassador to the U. S., made the following speech:

Mr. President, in handing to you my credentials as Ambassador of His Majesty King George to replace my distinguished predecessor, Sir Auckland Geddes, I have the honor to inform you that before leaving England I was charged both by His Majesty the King and his Prime Minister with messages of cordial and sincere good will and friendship toward the United States and toward you, sir, as President of this great republic.

The King further desired me to say that he sees in the good understanding between the two countries the best guarantee for the future peace of the world. Both His Majesty and the Prime Minister referred with heartfelt satisfaction to the cordial relations now existing between the two countries.

Many ties of personal friendship already bind me to your country and people, and I wish to assure you, sir, that it will ever be my endeavor to maintain and promote in every way those cordial relations between the two countries so much desired, not only by those in high places in England, but also by every member of the British Empire. I sincerely hope that, while carrying out the instructions and intentions of His Majesty's Government, I may do so in a manner satisfactory to you and to your Government. President Coolidge replied:

The greetings and expressions of friendship which you bear from His Majesty the King, and from the Prime Minister of your country, are cordially reciprocated and, together with your own well-known goodwill, give every assurance of the success of your mission in promoting that good understanding and intimacy of intercourse which both Governments desire to maintain.

Happily, no clouds shadow the relations between our two countries. Such slight causes of misunderstandings as arise are promptly removed and, as is always the case when friends disagree, the necessary explanations incidental to their adjustment make for friendship which is more enduring because the more candid. When two nations cherish similar ideals, growing out of a common regard for disciplined liberty, for truth and love of justice, they seek to work in essential harmony.

It is this common feeling, this conscious identity of general aims which, I believe, will be a mighty force in bringing to the world a just and lasting peace. In your relations with this Government you may always be assured of sympathy and understanding.