heartily into the matter, giving full powers to the minister here
to do whatever was necessary, subject to my approval. The result
is that we are quite as well provided for as any other delegation
at the conference.

In the afternoon our delegation met at the house of the American
minister and was duly organized. Although named by the President
first in the list of delegates, I preferred to leave the matter
of the chairmanship entirely to my associates, and they now
unanimously elected me as their President.

The instructions from the State Department were then read. These
were, in effect, as follows:

The first article of the Russian proposals, relating to the
non-augmentation of land and sea forces, is so inapplicable to
the United States at present that it is deemed advisable to leave
the initiative, upon this subject, to the representatives of
those powers to which it may properly apply.

As regards the articles relating to the non-employment of new
firearms, explosives, and other destructive agencies, the
restricted use of the existing instruments of destruction, and
the prohibition of certain contrivances employed in naval
warfare, it seems to the department that they are lacking in
practicability and that the discussion of these articles would
probably provoke divergency rather than unanimity of view. The
secretary goes on to say that "it is doubtful if wars will be
diminished by rendering them less destructive, for it is the
plain lesson of history that the periods of peace have been