the
work of the American people, soldiers, sailors and civilians, in the
World War which had been brought to a successful conclusion on November
11th. His speech, in part, follows:

"The year that has elapsed since I last stood before you to fulfill my
constitutional duty to give to the Congress from time to time
information on the state of the Union has been so crowded with great
events, great processes and great results that I can not hope to give
you an adequate picture of its transactions or of the far-reaching
changes which have been wrought in the life of our Nation and of the
world. You have yourselves witnessed these things, as I have. It is too
soon to assess them; and we who stand in the midst of them and are part
of them are less qualified than men of another generation will be to say
what they mean or even what they have been. But some great outstanding
facts are unmistakable and constitute in a sense part of the public
business with which it is our duty to deal. To state them is to set the
stage for the legislative and executive action which must grow out of
them and which we have yet to shape and determine.

TROOP MOVEMENT DURING THE YEAR.

"A year ago we had sent 145,918 men overseas. Since then we have sent
1,950,513, an average of 162,542 each month, the number in fact rising
in May last to 245,951, in June to 278,760, in July to 307,182 and
continuing to reach similar figures in August and September--in August
289,570 and in September 257,438. No such movement of troops ever took
place before, across 3,000 miles of sea, followed by adequate equipment
and supplies, and carried safely through extraordinary dangers of
attack, dangers which were alike strange and infinitely difficult to
guard against. In all this movement only 758 men were lost by enemy
attacks, 630 of whom were upon a single English transport which was sunk
near the Orkney Islands.

"I need not tell you what lay back of this great movement of men and
material. It is not invidious to say that back of it lay a supporting
organization of the industries of the country and of all its productive
activities more complete, more thorough in method and effective in
results, more spirited and unanimous in purpose and effort than any
other great belligerent had ever been able to effect. We profited
greatly by the experience of the nations which had already been engaged
for nearly three years in the exigent and exacting business, their every
re