On Tuesday messages of congratulation passed between the President of
the United States and the King. The Presi- dent's " Marconigram " contained a noteworthy sign of the growth of the recognition of the Imperial idea in the fact that he congratulated " the people of the British Empire," and not merely, as would have been the case a generation ago, the British people, on this new and ethereal link between the two branches of the race. Americans are sometimes accused of an unwillingness to recognise the Empire as a permanent political unit, but this is clearly not the case with the President. Scientifically even more remarkable than the wireless ex- change of messages from shore to shore is the wonderful story of the manner in which the Umbria' during her last voyage to New York and back was kept in almost unbroken touch with the outer world. There is something magical in the idea of a vessel in the lonely ocean receiving continual messages from the unseen world beyond the waters that surround her. Every ocean liner should be provided with the apparatus. Had this been done in the case of the 'St. Louis' much terrible anxiety would have been avoided.
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