310 BANQUET. 



leagues who has just come from Washington. The letter from the Secretary of the Navy 

 is as follows: — 



"Washington, 15 November, 1919. 



"Dear Mr. President : It was with the greatest regret that I found myself unable to 

 be with you tonight. Since becoming Secretary of the Navy I have regarded it as part of 

 my official duty to accept every invitation to the annual dinner of the Society of Naval Archi- 

 tects and Marine Engineers, but, unfortunately, this time there is a conflict of duties which 

 prevents my coming to New York. 



"It gave me the greatest pleasure last year, immediately after the armistice, to congrat- 

 ulate the Society upon the wonderful work accomplished by its members during the war. 

 During the last year there has been no let-down on your part, and the progress has been 

 remarkable. 



"I am oue of those with an abiding faith in the future of the American merchant ma- 

 rine, and how could I fail to have such faith when I know what has been accomplished con- 

 structively by the naval architects and marine engineers of the United States, practically all 

 included in your membership? If the problem of the merchant marine were one of construc- 

 tion alone, it would have been already solved. There are future problems, but none harder 

 than those which are largely behind us, and I feel sure there are none that will not be solved 

 by American genius, enterprise and determination. 



"Sincerely yours, 



"JosEPHUs Daniels." 



The enforced absence of the Secretary is greatly regretted, but his expressions of com- 

 mendation of the work of the membership of the Society are deeply appreciated. Two words 

 with which we have all become familiar within the last few years are the simple ones "Carry 

 On." In all well-regulated military and naval services there is no such condition as "no com- 

 manding officer" or no one to respond to the requirements of such a position. The one who 

 will respond in this case became our guest with the implied promise that he would not be called 

 upon to respond to a toast. Yet when I learned yesterday that the Secretary of the Navy 

 could not be with us I telephoned him the conditions and suggested that, as the senior naval 

 officer present, he should respond to the toast, "The Navy." He immediately replied : — "I 

 will be at your service." It is a very great pleasure and privilege to have with us the one 

 who will respond to this toast. He really has more years to his credit than your presiding 

 officer, though he may not look it. To tell tales out of school, he entered the Naval Acad- 

 emy several years before I did, and as he was a first class man when I was a poor forlorn 

 "plebe," he was naturally regarded as somewhat of a superman. 



During the war he had the great good fortune to command our naval forces in French 

 waters, and recently he was selected by the President of the United States to command our 

 great Atlantic fleet. His splendid record in these two positions of great responsibility is known 

 to all of you. Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I give you the toast "The Navy" and 

 present to you Admiral Henry Braid Wilson, United States Navy, Commander-in-Chief of the 

 Atlantic fleet. 



