settlement of international disputes between individuals, the Chamber has started a great practical, constructive movement to remove from commercial competition between nations as many of the causes of irritation, suspicion and ill-feeling as possible. It is a step toward that universal peace which is the grand ideal of our civilization. The action of the Chamber in calling the attention of large employers first to the need of encouraging their employees to enlist in the National Guard and Naval Militia; and second of protecting in their positions such of their employees as should respond to the call of their country, in case the Mexican crisis required the services of the National Guard, was distinctly in the interest of national defense and public order. The opposition of the Chamber to the proposed Anti-trust legislation including the creation of a Federal Trade Commission was, in a true sense, constructive criticism. It was not the expression of any antagonism on the part of the Chamber to a policy of fair competition; but it voiced the opinion of the business community, first, that the SHERMAN Anti-trust law, as interpreted by the courts, is proving more satisfactory and more effective than any new legislation needing new interpretation by judicial decisions would probably prove to be for years to come; and second, that further time for careful consideration should be given before new legislation, involving extensive Federal regulation of all interstate trade, should be enacted. ACTION ON THE While the Chamber by the unanimous action which it took at its special meeting of October 20th, recommended a number of important changes in the Federal Reserve Act as it passed the House of Representatives, it made these recommendations in no spirit of hostility to the measure as a whole. On the contrary, the Chamber has been for many years in favor of banking and currency reorganization; and it desired to co-operate with the President and the Congress in perfecting what is unquestionably the most important financial legislation in over half a century. The manner in which the Chamber dealt with the Federal Reserve Act is a striking illustration of the careful, orderly and fair method of its procedure. When the bill was first introduced, the Chamber did not act hastily upon it, but waited until the commercial opinion of New York could be better informed and a comprehensive judgment could be reached, then it added to its standing Committee on Finance and Currency, composed of seven leading bankers, eleven prominent merchants, in order that this committee, in its consideration of the Federal Reserve Act might approach the subject from a broad, commercial standpoint, and not merely from that of technical banking policy. The committee, thus enlarged, entered upon a painstaking examination of the bill, and instructed a sub-committee of five merchants to prepare a preliminary draft of a report. The sub-committee conscientiously performed this duty; and the draft of the report it prepared was, after a number of amendments and verbal changes, adopted unanimously by the full committee of eighteen, one of whom was absent from the country when the report was signed. Their report, and also a copy of the Federal Reserve Act, were sent to every member of the Chamber, and a special meeting of the Chamber was called to pass upon the subject. Thus every effort was made to inform and ascertain the opinion of the 1,600 members of the Chamber; and the fact that the report was adopted unanimously at a largely attended meeting makes the action an impressive expression of commercial opinion of New York upon this great measure. The Chamber, in common with the best banking opinion and experience of the world, would have preferred the establishment of a central bank; but if this could not be secured, it advocated the division of the country into not more than four districts with a Federal Reserve Bank in each. Under the law as passed, however, the country has been divided into twelve banking districts with a regional bank in each. But even with this defect, the new law, notably in its admirable utilization of commercial paper as the basis of banking credit and in its more effective massing of bank reserves, promises to give such additional security and elasticity, that the managers of the national banks have with remarkable unanimity, acted upon the advice of the Chamber by taking a broad, unselfish view of the measure, and co-operating heartily in the organization of the new system. As so much depends upon the administration of the act, especially in view of the opportunity for possible inflation, there has been a general expression of satisfaction over the appointment of MR. PAUL M. WARBURG, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Chamber, as a member of the Federal Reserve Board. COLLEGE OF Two years of study of the subject of commercial education by the Chamber of Commerce have now borne fruit in a definite project for the establishment in this city of a College of Commerce and a Museum of Commerce and Civics. The Chamber's movement for commercial education started during the Presidency of A. BARTON HEPBURN, and largely as the result of MR. HEPBURN's investigation of what had been accomplished by the London Chamber of Commerce in the better training of young men for business pursuits. Fifteen years ago, DR. MAXWELL, the Superintendent of Schools had, in an address to the Chamber, urged its co-operation in the work of increasing the facilities and efficiency of commercial education; and more recently MR. SHEPPARD, Principal of the High School of Commerce in Manhattan, (since deceased,) had, in conversation with officials of the Chamber, made the same suggestion. MR. HEPBURN, impressed with what he had learned, brought the matter before the Executive Committee, which in May 1911 reported in favor of the appointment of a special committee of five to make an investigation and report. MR. WILLARD V. KING was Chairman of this committee which made a painstaking inquiry and reported in favor of action by the Chamber. Then a larger committee of fifteen was appointed to carry along the work. GEORGE P. BRETT, (resigned,) THEODORE F. MILLER, (deceased,) and MORTIMER L. SCHIFF have served as Chairmen of this committee. A vast amount of work was done, much of it necessarily slow, and as the plans of the committee involved the raising of large sums of money, actual results have been delayed until practical business men of large means could be convinced that the plans were for the highest interests of the city. At last a notable measure of success has attended the labors of the committee, and as will be seen from its report, rendered to the Chamber at the November meeting, it is proposed to establish in this city a College of Commerce and a Museum of Commerce and Civics. Some months ago, four members of the Chamber offered to give $50,000 each toward a College of Commerce, provided a total of $500,000 could be raised. Now the committee reports that another member offers to give the entire $500,000 for the College provided the four donors of $200,000 will release their gifts for a Museum of Commerce and Civics to be conducted in connection with the College. The plans involve the co-operation of the City Government and of the College of the City of New York, and since the report was issued, legislation has been obtained enabling the Board of Estimate and Apportionment to enter upon this work, and negotiations have been carried on with the authorities of the City and of the College. The Chamber of Commerce can be engaged in no better work than in the encouragement of education through the establishment of a College of Commerce and Museum of Commerce and Civics. INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION. That is a magnificent conception, of international arbitration of disputes between merchants living in different countries, that was presented in the report of the Committee on Arbitration at the October meeting and adopted at the December meeting. Arbitration has made tremendous strides since it was first established in the New York Chamber in 1768. Then it was a rough and ready method of settling disputes between merchants and others having dif ferences that could not be adjusted convieniently in any other way. Out of this method has developed the Chamber's present and elastic system that is based upon the law of the state. Other Chambers of Commerce in this and other countries have also established arbitration systems that are actually working in many cases, reducing the costs and friction and delay of litigation. Now it is proposed to go a great step further, namely: arbitration by which a decision in one country may be upheld and enforced in another. This idea is not new. It has been advanced by the London Chamber of Commerce. It was put forth in the Fifth International Congress of Chambers of Commerce held in Boston last year. It was again considered at the Sixth International Congress held in Paris in June 1914. But the actual devising of a concrete plan, by which international arbitration of individual disputes may be carried on, was first attempted by our own Committee on Arbitration in this report. The plan is a suggestion only, and may be amended in many particulars in the discussion which is to ensue. But no one can doubt that the general effect of suggesting such a plan must be beneficial, even if the plan itself may seem to be somewhat in advance of the times and difficult of general acceptance. Because arbitration of disputes between nations has not resulted in abolishing all war or even in reducing armaments, that is no reason for stating that it has not performed a great service to the world by settling a multitude of disputes that would otherwise have led to war. In like manner the plan of arbitration of disputes between individuals of different nations may not be practical in many cases; but it would be of incalculable benefit if it worked only in some cases. Copies of our report and plan were sent to the principal Chambers of Commerce of the world from which many replies were received indicating a remarkable and gratifying interest in the proposal. ANTI-TRUST The report made by the Executive Committee in regard to the pending Interstate Trade Commission bill, and adopted by the Chamber with an amendment making its terms of opposition to the proposed legislation still stronger, declared the position of the Chamber to be that the SHERMAN Anti-Trust law as interpreted by the Courts, is sufficient to deal with the problem of monopolies in restraint of trade, and that all new legislation, if any is to be enacted, should be so framed as not unduly to burden the honest business of the country. President CLAFLIN appointed a committee consisting of E. H. OUTERBRIDGE, WILLIAM SLOANE, SAMUEL W. FAIRCHILD, WILLIAM MCCARROLL, CHARLES H. WARREN, EDWARD L. ROGERS, and ALGERNON S. FRISSELL to represent the Chamber at hearings on the bill given by |