A complete account of the movement for Preparedness and for Compulsory Military Training, together with arguments pro and con, will be found under these heads in the Encyclopedic Index. Now, therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, by this proclamation do announce the following: That from and after the 15th day of November, 1917, and during the present war with Germany, it will be unlawful to manufacture, distribute, store, use, or possess explosives or ingredients thereof, except as provided in said Act. That the Director of the Bureau of Mines is hereby authorized to utilize, where necessary for the proper administration of said Act, the services of all officers of the United States and of the several States, Territories, dependencies, and municipalities thereof, and of the District of Columbia, and such other agents and agencies as he may designate, who shall have full authority for all acts done by them in the execution of the said Act when acting under his direction. In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done in the District of Columbia, this twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and [SEAL] seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the one hundred and forty-second. By the President: WOODROW WILSON. ROBERT LANSING, Secretary of State. APPEAL FOR FOOD CONSERVATION THE WHITE HOUSE, October 28, 1917. The chief part of the burden of finding food supplies for the peoples associated with us in war falls for the present upon the American people, and the drain upon supplies on such a scale necessarily affects the prices of our necessaries of life. Our country, however, is blessed with an abundance of foodstuffs, and if our people will economize in their use of food, providently confining themselves to the quantities required for the maintenance of health and strength; if they will eliminate waste; and if they will make use of those commodities of which we have a surplus, and thus free for export a large proportion of those required by the world now dependent upon us, we shall not only be able to accomplish our obligations to them, but we shall obtain and establish reasonable prices at home. To provide an adequate supply of food both for our own soldiers. on the other side of the seas and for the civil populations and the armies of the Allies, is one of our first and foremost obligations; for, if we are to maintain their constancy in this struggle for the independence of all nations, we must first maintain their health and strength. The solution of our food problems, therefore, is dependent upon the individual service of every man, woman, and child in the United States. The great voluntary effort in this direction which has been initiated and organized by the Food Administration under my direction offers an opportunity of service in the war which is open to every individual and by which every individual may serve both his own people and the peoples of the world. We cannot accomplish our objects in this great war without sacrifice and devotion, and in no direction can that sacrifice and devotion be shown more than by each home and public eating place in the country pledging its support to the Food Administration and complying with its requests. WOODROW WILSON. EXECUTIVE ORDER [Fixing salary of and vesting certain power and authority in the alien property custodian appointed under Trading-with-the-Enemy Act.] THE WHITE HOUSE, October 29, 1917. By virtue of the authority vested in me by "An act to define, regulate, and punish trading with the enemy," approved October 6, 1917, I hereby make and establish the following order: 1. I hereby fix the salary of the Alien Property Custodian heretofore appointed at the sum of $5,000 per annum. I direct that said Alien Property Custodian shall give a bond in the amount of $100,000 with security to be approved by the Attorney General, and which bond shall be conditioned to well and faithfully hold, administer, and account for all money and property in the United States due or belonging to an enemy or ally of enemy or otherwise, which may be paid, conveyed, transferred, assigned, or delivered to said custodian under the provisions of the trading-with-the-enemy act. 2. I hereby authorize and empower the Alien Property Custodian to employ and appoint in the manner provided in the trading-with-theenemy act in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, and to fix the compensation of, such clerks, attorneys, investigators, accountants, and other employees as he may find necessary for the due administration of the powers conferred on such Alien Property Custodian by law or by any order of the President heretofore or hereafter made. 3. I hereby vest in the Alien Property Custodian the executive administration of the provisions of Section 12 of the trading-with-theenemy act pertaining to the designation of a depositary, or depositaries, and requiring all such designated depositaries to execute and file bonds and prescribing the form, amount, and security thereof. And I authorize and empower the Alien Property Custodian to designate any bank, or banks, or trust company, or trust companies, or other suitable depositary or depositaries located and doing business in the United States, as the depositary or depositaries with which said Alien Property Custodian may deposit any stocks, bonds, notes, time drafts, time bills of exchange, or other securities or property (except money, or checks, or drafts payable on demand) of an enemy or ally of enemy, and to prescribe the bond or bonds and the form, amount, and security thereof which shall be given by said depositary or depositaries. 4. The following sums, or so much thereof as may be necessary, are hereby allotted out of the funds appropriated by the trading-with-theenemy act to the following named officers: ..... . $100,000 25,000 15,000 25,000 To the Alien Property Custodian... To the Federal Trade Commission.... To the Secretary of the Treasury.. To the War Trade Board...... to be expended in the administration of the powers vested respectively in them by law or by any order heretofore or hereafter made by me. 5. The powers and authority herein vested in said Alien Property Custodian are in addition to the powers and authority vested in said Alien Property Custodian by the Executive Order of October 12, 1917. WOODROW WILSON. STATEMENT [An appeal to the American people for Armenian and Syrian Relief.] THE WHITE HOUSE, October 29, 1917. One year ago, in compliance with resolutions passed by the Senate and by the House of Representatives, I appointed days upon which the people of the United States might make such contributions as they felt disposed for the aid of the stricken Armenian and Syrian peoples. American diplomatic and consular representatives and other American residents recently returned from Western Asia assure me that many thousands of lives were saved from starvation by the gifts of the American people last winter. They also bring full assurance of the continued effective distribution of relief and report that the suffering and death from exposure and starvation will inevitably be very much greater this winter than last unless the survivors can be helped by further contributions from America. Reports indicate that of orphans alone there are more than 400,000, besides women and other dependent children, reaching a total of more than 2,000,000 destitute survivors. The situation is so distressing as to make a special appeal to the sympathies of all. In view of the urgent need, I call again upon the people of the United States to make such further contributions as they feel disposed in their sympathy and generosity for the aid of these suffering peoples |