THE NEW YEAR BOOK A COMPENDIUM OF THE WORLD'S FOR THE YEAR 1914 EDITOR FRANK MOORE COLBY, M.A. ASSOCIATE EDITORS ALLEN LEON CHURCHILL WILLIAM WALLACE IRWIN HORATIO S. KRANS, PH.D. NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1915 PREFACE In the NEW INTERNATIONAL YEAR BOOK for 1914, the eighth in the new series, which began with the 1907 volume, almost every class of articles shows the effects of the great war. One of the most obvious effects is the stoppage of certain sources of statistical information dealing with trade and industry, and many of the articles on those subjects are less detailed in this respect than formerly. The space thus saved has been given to a description of the abnormal conditions caused by the war, and to a fuller treatment than usual of the history of foreign nations. A lucid and compact narrative of the war itself down to the close of the year will be found in the artiticle on WAR OF THE NATIONS, written by Professor Carlton Hayes. Supplementing this are such articles as MILITARY PROGRESS, NAVAL PROGRESS, BATTLESHIPS, SUBMARINES, AERONAUTICS, and the historical paragraphs on the separate countries. The large size of the YEAR BOOK and its policy of excluding matters that do not pertain to the calendar year, or are not derived from the latest available information, make it possible to include a more comprehensive discussion of this subject than will be found in other annual volumes of its kind. As has been said in previous prefaces this YEAR BOOK is designed as an encyclopædia of the year, and includes a number of departments that are not found or are not so fully represented in other annuals, for example, BIOGRAPHY, AGRICULTURE, POLITICAL HISTORY of the United States and foreign countries, SOCIETIES, and RELIGIOUS BODIES. Among the important articles that may be mentioned in the present volume are: AGRICULTURE by Dr. E. W. Allen and Dr. A. C. True; ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY by Dr. R. H. Lowie and Dr. Clark Wissler; ARCHEOLOGY by Professor O. S. Tonks; DRAMA by Mr. Clayton Hamilton; INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION AND PEACE by Mr. Clinton Rogers Woodruff; ENGLISH, AMERICAN, FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, SCANDINAVIAN, and SPANISH LITERATURES; PHILOLOGY by Professors Charles Knapp and J. L. Gerig; PsyCHOLOGY by Professor Madison Bentley and Dr. C. A. Ruckmich; PHYSICS by Dr. W. W. Stifler; CHEMISTRY by Dr. E. T. Wherry. In addition to articles, which like these cover a very wide field, more specific treatment is given to such topics as RAILWAYS by Mr. William E. Hooper, which discusses important matters of current interest; ELECTORAL REFORM; FEMINISM; WOMAN SUFFRAGE; JEWS; EUGENICS; EXPOSITIONS, with a special reference to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition; and EXPLORATION and POLAR RESEARCH by General A. W. Greely. 279402 As to the UNITED STATES, Some of the chief features are the discussion of the Canal Tolls, Ship Purchase, Trade Commission bills, and the record of the Sixty-third Congress; the results of the elections of November, 1914; the relations of the United States government as affected by the War of the Nations; and the conditions described in the articles SHIPBUILDING, FIRE PROTECTION, BANKS AND BANKING (including an account of the Federal Reserve Act). FRANK MOORE COLBY. |