The American Year Book

THE AMERICAN
YEAR BOOK

A RECORD OF EVENTS AND PROGRESS

1915

EDITED BY

FRANCIS G. WICKWARE, B. A., B. Sc.

WITH COOPERATION OF A SUPERVISORY BOARD
REPRESENTING NATIONAL LEARNED SOCIETIES

AINTER

FOLIA

NEW YORK AND LONDON

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

1916

HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY
RECEIVED THROUGH THE

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Afr. 15,1924.

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

Printed in the United States of America

PREFACE

With the publication of this volume, covering the events in progress in 1915, the AMERICAN YEAR BOOK reaches its sixth issue. The YEAR BOOK for 1915 follows the lines of the issue for 1914, with the organization of the departments changed only in minor details, and the scope of the work remains as defined in the preface to the first issue:

"The AMERICAN YEAR BOOK is intended for the needs of writers and searchers of every kind. Because of its inclusion of scientific subjects, it has been necessary to limit the political and statistical material which is the staple of many annual handbooks; the book does not aim to treat everything that could be useful, but throughout to select from the enormous mass of details those things which, in the judgment of experts in each field, are most significant, most permanent in value, most likely to answer the searchers' questions.

"The AMERICAN YEAR BOOK does not aim to be a rival of other annual publications, either foreign or domestic. Details as to elections, the personnel of state and municipal governments, political personalities, societies, and educational, literary, and scientific institutions have deliberately been reduced, in order to make room for material of a kind not found in most of the annuals. The AMERICAN YEAR BOOK appeals first of all to students in all fields, who wish a record of progress, not only in their own, but in other departments of human endeavor. It is intended, also, as a handbook for busy men, editors, contributors, professional men, teachers, scientific workers, engineers, practical and business men, who wish to verify or confirm points that arise in their minds; and to serve as a handy body of reference material settling questions of fact. Throughout the work the object has been to make the volume convenient for the user; hence the YEAR BOOK is arranged on a plan entirely unique in publications of this general character. It is intended to make reference easier by subdividing material into departments, by putting cognate subjects into close association, and by liberal cross-references, making it easy to turn at once to the discussions relating to any subject. A full and carefully analyzed index is also provided in order to open up all remote connections and relations of a topic. This arrangement by groups of affiliated subjects, instead of haphazard or alpha

betical succession of topics, is more convenient, and at the same time more scientific."

The Supervisory Board of representatives of national learned and scientific societies, officially known as the American Year Book Corporation, has continued actively to assist in the preparation of the YEAR BOOK. The members of this Board, who originally projected the work, remain individually responsible for the scope and content of the reviews of their respective fields; several are themselves contributors; many have coöperated with the Editor in securing contributors; and all have assisted the Editor with criticism and counsel. The Supervisory Board has now forty members, a complete list of whom will be found on a subsequent page, representing forty-four societies. Only one change in personnel has occurred during the year, the death of Mr. John W. Alexander, President of the National Academy of Design, and the appointment of Mr. Herbert Adams as representative of the American Federation of Arts.

One hundred and twenty-five contributors have coöperated in the preparation of this issue. All are experts in their special fields, and the complete list printed on a subsequent page contains many names of eminence.

The record of the year 1915 is dominated by the influence of the European War. The pages of this volume reveal the amazing diversity of its reactions in the United States, which touch every aspect of American life, in some directions with profound and permanent results. No domestic event of the year approaches in importance the controversies with the European belliger. ents in which the defense of neutral rights has involved the United States, and none is more striking than the effects of the war on American foreign commerce and domestic industry. These principal reactions in America are discussed in this volume with fullness and authority, as are the military operations of the war and the course of events in the warring countries. American events and progress in politics, economics, sociology, the sciences, the arts, and the humanities, are comprehensively reviewed, and are placed in their proper perspective by a background of the significant events in foreign countries.

The acknowledgments of the Editor are due, not only to the contributors and members of the Supervisory Board, but also to the many public officials, Federal, state, and municipal, who have courteously responded to requests for statistical data, and to the readers who have offered disinterested criticism of previous issues. The Editor welcomes criticism and suggestions from any source on the selection of material and method of treatment, or on the more formal side of typography, make-up, and conveniences for users.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE AMERICAN YEAR BOOK is arranged in thirty-three departments, in which
are grouped articles on related subjects. In the following Table of Contents only
the main topics in each department are listed; a complete Index will be found
at the end of the volume. SMALL CAPS indicate titles of separate articles.