consequence, our shipyards were depleted of their most spirited and efficient labor, and the half-manned yards had to meet the whole demands both of the surface navy and of the new navy called into being to fight the under-water piracy. Never in our history, then, have we been so poorly equipped to make good the losses that we have suffered. It follows, then, that our equitable claim, not only to be whole of the existing German merchant tonnage, but to the service of the German shipyards for a considerable number of years is one that no impartial arbiter could refuse. It is quite certain that President Wilson never intended and that Americans will never require our demands in this matter to be questioned.—Land and Water, 31/10.

CURRENT NAVAL AND PROFESSIONAL PAPERS

UNITED STATES

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. December.Cooling Losses in Internal Combustion Engines as Affecting Design, by C. A. Norman.

SOCIETY OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS AND MARINE ENGINEERS. (Papers read November 14-16, to be published in PROCEEDINGS.) Application of Buoyancy Boxes to S. S. Lucia, by W. T. Donnelly. Experiments Upon Simplified Forms of Ships, by Prof. H. C. Sadler and T. Yamamoto. Application of Electric Welding to Ship Construction, by Jasper Cox.

AERIAL AGE. November 4.-Battle Acrobacy or Trick Flying, by Capt. K. G. Pulliam, U. S. A.

RUDDER. December.-Present and Future of Ship Building, by Charles Piez. Potentialities of Our Inland Water Routes, by Robert G. Skerrett.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. December 14.-Our Navy's Winged Destroyers, by Austin C. Lescarboura. The Rise of Navigation, by R. H. Curtiss.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NAVAL ENGINEERS. November. Mechanical Reduction Gears, by J. A. Davies. Ventilating and Heating from the Marine Point of View, by Chas. F. Gross. Ox-Acetylene Welding, by Stuart Plumley. Screw Propellers, by Rear Admiral C. W. Dyson, U. S. N. Dynamic Balancing, by Commander F. J. Cleary, U. S. N.

"N. Y. TIMES" CURRENT HISTORY. December.-Surrender of German High Seas Fleet. Overseas Transportation of U. S. Troops, by Commander Charles C. Gill. Growth of Commissioned Personnel of U. S. Navy, by Carol Howe Foster.

FLYING.

December.-The Navy's Part in the Air (letter from Vice

Admiral Sims).

GREAT BRITAIN

LAND AND WATER. November 14.-The Armistice, by Hilaire Belloc. What They Have Missed (Surrender of German Fleet), by Arthur Pollen.

ENGINEERING.

November 15.-Construction and Trials of 30,000-Ton Black Sea Floating Dock.

JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION. November.-The Kiao-Chao Campaign, by Major T. C. Compton.

siderations which I hope will seem as conclusive to you as they have seemed to me.

The allied governments have accepted the bases of peace which I outlined to the Congress on the 8th of January last, as the Central Empires also have, and very reasonably desire my personal counsel in their interpretation and application, and it is highly desirable that I should give it in order that the sincere desire of our government to contribute without selfish purpose of any kind to settlements that will be of common benefit to all the nations concerned may be made fully manifest.

The peace settlements which are now to be agreed upon are of transcendent importance both to us and to the rest of the world, and I know of no business or interest which should take precedence of them.

The gallant men of our armed forces on land and sea have consciously fought for the ideals which they knew to be the ideals of their country; I have sought to express those ideals; they have accepted my statements of them as the substance of their own thought and purpose, as the associated governments have accepted them; I owe it to them to see to it, as far as in me lies, that no false or mistaken interpretation is put upon them, and no possible effort omitted to realize them. It is now my duty to play my full part in making good what they offered their life's blood to obtain. I can think of no call to service which could transcend this.

I shall be in close touch with you and with affairs on this side the water. and you will know all that I do. At my request the French and English governments have absolutely removed the censorship of cable news which until within a fortnight they had maintained, and there is now no censorship whatever exercised at this end except upon attempted trade communications with enemy countries.

It has been necessary to keep an open wire constantly available between France and the Department of War. In order that this might be done with the least possible interference with the other use of the cables, I have temporarily taken over the control of both cables in order that they may be used as a single system.

I did so at the advice of the most experienced cable officials, and I hope that the results will justify my hope that the news of the next few months may pass with the utmost freedom and with the least possible delay from each side of the sea to the other.

May I not hope, gentlemen of the Congress, that in the delicate tasks I shall have to perform on the other side of the sea, in my efforts truly and faithfully to interpret the principles and purposes of the country we love, I may have the encouragement and the added strength of your united support? I realize the magnitude and difficulty of the duty I am undertaking; I am poignantly aware of its grave responsibilities.

I am the servant of the nation. I can have no private thought or purpose of my own in performing such an errand. I go to give the best that is in me to the common settlements which I must now assist in arriving at in conference with the other working heads of the associated governments. I shall count upon your friendly countenance and encouragement.

I shall not be inaccessible. The cables and the wireless will render me available for any counsel or service you may desire of me, and I shall be happy in the thought that I am constantly in touch with the weighty matters of domestic policy with which we shall have to deal.

I shall make my absence as brief as possible, and shall hope to return with the happy assurance that it has been possible to translate into action the great ideals for which America has striven.

PRESIDENT SUPPORTS FULL NAVAL PROGRAM.-In the same message the President endorsed as follows the current naval estimates:

I take it for granted that the Congress will carry out the naval program which was undertaken before we entered the war. The Secretary of the

758 men were lost by enemy attack, 630 of whom were upon a single English transport, which was sunk near the Orkney Islands.

I need not tell you what lay back of this great movement of men and material. It is not invidious to say that back of it lay a supporting organization of the industries of the country and of all its productive activities, more complete, more thorough in method and effective in result, more spirited and unanimous in purpose and effort than any other great belligerent has been able to effect. We profited greatly by the experience of the nations which had already been engaged for nearly three years in the exigent and exacting business, their every resource and every executive proficiency taxed to the utmost. We were their pupils. But we learned quickly and acted with a promptness and a readiness that justify our great pride that we were able to serve the world with unparalleled energy and quick accomplishment.

Praises Work of Troops.-But it is not the physical scale and executive efficiency of preparation, supply, equipment and dispatch that I would dwell upon, but the mettle and quality of the officers and men we sent over and of the sailors who kept the seas, and the spirit of the nation that stood behind them. No soldiers or sailors ever proved themselves more quickly ready for the test of battle or acquitted themselves with more splendid courage and achievement when put to the test.

Those of us who played some part in directing the great processes by which the war was pushed irresistibly forward to the final triumph may now forget all that and delight our thoughts with the story of what our men did. Their officers understood the grim and exacting task they had undertaken and performed it with an audacity, efficiency and unhesitating courage that touch the story of convoy and battle with imperishable distinction at every turn, whether the enterprise were great or smallfrom their great chiefs, Pershing and Sims, down to the youngest lieutenant; and their men were worthy of them-such men as hardly need to be commanded, and go to their terrible adventure blithely and with the quick intelligence of those who know just what it is they would accomplish. I am proud to be the fellow countryman of men of such stuff and valor.

Duty Also Well Done by Those at Home.-Those of us who stayed at home did our duty; the war could not have been won or the gallant men who fought it given their opportunity to win it otherwise; but for many a long day we shall think ourselves "accurs'd we were not there and hold our manhoods cheap while any speaks that fought," with those at St. Mihiel or Thierry. The memory of those days of triumphant battle will go with these fortunate men to their graves, and each will have his favorite memory.

Old men forget, yet all shall be forgot, but he'll remember with advantages what feats he did that day!

What we all thank God for with deepest gratitude is that our men went in force into the line of battle just at the critical moment when the whole fate of the world seemed to hang in the balance and threw their fresh strength into the ranks of freedom in time to turn the whole tide and sweep of the fateful struggle-turn it once for all, so that thenceforth it was back, back, back, for their enemies; always back, never again forward! After that it was only a scant four months before the commanders of the Central Powers knew themselves beaten, and now their very empires are in liquidation! [Part of message omitted.]

His "Paramount Duty" to Go.-I welcome this occasion to announce to the Congress my purpose to join in Paris the representatives of the governments with which we have been associated in the war against the Central Empires for the purpose of discussing with them the main features of the treaty of peace. I realize the great inconveniences that will attend my leaving the country, particularly at this time, but the conclusion that it was my paramount duty to go has been forced upon me by con

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zest or enthusiasm. It will daily be a matter of pleasure with me to be brought into consultation with the statesmen of France and her allies in concerting the measures by which we may secure permanence for these happy relations of friendship and co-operation, and secure for the world at large such safety and freedom in its life as can be secured only by the constant association and co-operation of friends.

"I greet you not only with deep personal respect, but as the representative of the great people of France, and beg to bring you the greetings of another great people to whom the fortunes of France are of profound and lasting interest.

"I raise my glass to the health of the President of the French Republic and to Mme. Poincaré and the prosperity of France."

INTERALLIED CONFERENCES POSTPONED.-Plans for the reassembling of the Interallied Conference and the meetings of the Peace Congress are gradually being matured. It was the first intention to have the Interallied Conference meet to-morrow or Tuesday, but owing to the inability of Premier Lloyd George and Foreign Minister Balfour to be here because of the British elections and the approaching holidays, the formal session will not be resumed until after Jan. 1.

Meanwhile President Wilson will have an opportunity to confer with the Premiers and leading statesmen of the Allies and to visit the battlefields and perhaps Italy. King Victor Emmanuel, the Crown Prince and Premier Orlando arrived in Paris Thursday. They will dine with the President some time this week.

The merits of the questions and considerations to come before the conference thus far have developed only in their initial phases, discussions of them having been more or less informal. For the American delegates the chief object to be obtained during the next fortnight is a first-hand understanding of the views of the European statesmen and an opportunity to convey to them the American point of view.-N. Y. Times, 16/12.

FREEDOM OF THE SEAS

In press and public discussion during the period preceding the opening of the formal peace conference, the President's statement regarding freedom of the seas took precedence over other issues, as the clause most difficult of interpretation and most likely to involve differences of opinion among the allied powers. It will be recalled that clause 2 of the President's "Fourteen Points" of January 8, 1918, read as follows:

2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.

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The allied governments, in agreeing to the German request for an armisopen to varitice, accepted the President's terms of peace, but made an exception of this clause, pointing out that the phrase freedom of the seas was ous interpretations, some of which they could not accept." They therefore reserve to themselves complete freedom on this subject when they enter the peace conference." In later discussion it was generally agreed that in " had already existed throughout the "freedom of the seas time of peace past century. It was further accepted that, should some form of a league of nations come into being, the power of blockade and interdiction of commerce would be employed by it as a most effective measure against nations violating the agreements of the league. If, however, such a league were not formed, doubt was expressed whether the maritime states would be wise to give up the safeguards of commerce warfare, which in the past had been the chief weapon of sea power. Following are quotations from various sources.

Navy has submitted to your committees for authorization that part of the program which covers the building plans for the next three years.

These plans have been prepared along the lines and in accordance with the policy which the Congress established, not under the exceptional conditions of the war, but with the intention of adhering to a definite method of development for the navy. I earnestly recommend the uninterrupted pursuit of that policy. It would clearly be unwise for us to attempt to adjust our programs to a future world policy as yet undetermined.

The question which causes me the greatest concern is the question of the policy to be adopted towards the railroads. I frankly turn to you for counsel upon it. I have no confident judgment of my own. I do not see how any thoughtful man can have who knows anything of the complexity of the problem. It is a problem which must be studied, studied immediately and studied without bias or prejudice. Nothing can be gained by becoming partisans of any particular plan of settlement.

THE PRESIDENT'S VOYAGE.-President Wilson and his party sailed from New York on the U. S. S. George Washington on Thursday, December 5, and, arriving in Brest on Friday, reached Paris Saturday morning, December 14. He was given an enthusiastic reception by the people of Paris, and on the same day responded to the welcome of President Poincaré and to an address presented by a Socialist delegation. The reply to President Poincaré follows:

"Mr. President: I am deeply indebted to you for your gracious greeting. It is very delightful to find myself in France and to feel the quick contact of sympathy and unaffected friendship between the representatives of the United States and the representatives of France.

"You have been very generous in what you were pleased to say about myself, but I feel that what I have said and what I have tried to do has been said and done only in an attempt to speak the thought of the people of the United States truly, and to carry that thought out in action.

"From the first, the thought of the people of the United States turned toward something more than the mere winning of this war. It turned to the establishment of eternal principles of right and justice. It realized that merely to win the war was not enough; that it must be won in such a way and the question raised by it settled in such a way as to insure the future peace of the world and lay the foundations for the freedom and happiness of its many peoples and nations.

"Never before has war worn so terrible a visage or exhibited more grossly the debasing influence of illicit ambitions. I am sure that I shall look upon the ruin wrought by the armies of the Central Empires with the same repulsion and deep indignation that they stir in the hearts of the men of France and Belgium, and I appreciate, as you do, sir, the necessity of such action in the final settlement of the issues of the war as will not only rebuke such acts of terror and spoliation, but make men everywhere aware that they cannot be ventured upon without the certainty of just punishment. "I know wh what ardor and enthusiasm the soldiers and sailors of the United States have given the best that was in them to this war of redemption. They have expressed the true spirit of America. They believe their ideals to be acceptable to free peoples everywhere, and are rejoiced to have played the part they have played in giving reality to those ideals in cooperation with the armies of the Allies. We are proud of the part they have played, and we are happy that they should have been associated with such comrades in a common cause

The

"It is with peculiar feeling, Mr. President, that I find myself in France joining with you in rejoicing over the victory that has been won. ties that bind France and the United States are peculiarly close. not know in what other comradeship we could have fought with more

I do