12 SPECIAL MAY MEETING. 
President Walter M. McFarland in the chair. 
The chairman called the meeting to order at 8.50 p.m. 
Tue PRESIDENT :—Fellow members of the Society, this is the second time in the history 
of the Society when a spring meeting has been held. It was the belief of many of the most 
active members of the Society that one meeting a year gave ample opportunity for the pre- 
sentation of papers and discussion of matters of importance. Other members, however, urged 
the desirability of a spring meeting, and the Council finally decided to hold this one, partly as 
a test of the interest which the membership at large would take in a spring meeting. 
Owing to the forethought of our most efficient secretary, advantage was taken of the 
initial trip of the Majestic to arrange the date of the meeting so that a visit to this great 
ship could be included as one of the attractions. Most of you probably inspected this vessel, 
the largest in the world, this afternoon, and undoubtedly feel that you are repaid for coming 
to the meeting. 
At the annual meetings of the Society it is customary for the president to give a summary 
of the general situation in maritime affairs during the preceding years, with special reference 
to elements of progress. During some recent years, when there was the tremendous boom in 
shipbuilding, both for mercantile and naval purposes, this work of the president was a very 
agreeable one. After a long period of intense discouragement in mercantile matters, it was, 
of course, a delight to us all to realize that the output of our yards was the greatest in the 
world, and that we were building up a merchant marine second only to that of Great Britain, 
and apparently in a position to rival hers. 
At the present time, however, it requires great optimism and strong faith to be cheer- 
ful. The naval holiday is a terrible blow to our great shipyards, for which the building of 
naval vessels has for many years past been the real backbone of the business, and the school 
in which naval architects and marine engineers have gained experience with the highest de- 
velopment of the profession. 
The limited time for this address precludes any detailed discussion of this condition of 
affairs, and, moreover, it has been discussed in public addresses and in testimony before 
government committees by several of the leaders of our profession, so that we are all familiar 
with the situation which confronts us. I believe I voice your sentiments in saying that, in 
view of the naval holiday, it is most important that there should be encouragement for the 
building of large, fast merchant steamers, which will keep our designers and builders in 
practice, so that when the time comes for designing war vessels the skill and experience nec- 
essary will still be available. 
This does not agree with the views of our pacifist friends, who believe that there will 
never be any more wars, and who talk of navies that will be reduced to the condition of a 
maritime police. In the last analysis, wars depend upon human nature, and the teachings of 
history seem unquestionable, that human nature has changed very little since the earliest rec- 
ords. We used to flatter ourselves that the race had become more civilized, and that war- 
fare in modern times could be conducted without the barbarities of the early days. Alas, 
the great war showed that a country which was supposed to be in the very forefront of civili- 
zation would abandon all the amenities of civilized life and wage warfare in a way fit only 
for savages. - 
During the war we liked to believe that all of us who were fighting for civilization and 
for liberty were actuated only by the highest possible motives, but the reports of what has 
