YEAR BOOK A RECORD OF EVENTS AND PROGRESS 1914 EDITED BY FRANCIS G. WICKWARE, B. A., B. Sc. WITH CO-OPERATION OF A SUPERVISORY BOARD PREFACE With the publication of this volume, covering the events and progress of 1914, the AMERICAN YEAR BOOK reaches its fifth issue. In general, the YEAR BOOK for 1914 follows the lines of the issue for 1913. Two departments, "Population and Immigration" and "Prevention, Correction, and Charity," have been consolidated with the department, "Social and Economic Problems." The order of the remaining departments is unchanged, but the subdivision of topics has been carefully revised as experience has demonstrated the possibility of improvement for the convenience of the user. New titles have been added to the list of permanent topics, and a few topics have been combined in a new arrangement. 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 275021 |