in the first year of
America's participation in the war. Adding to this an augmented naval
force of 150,000, and the Marine Corps, numbering 30,000, a grand
total approximating 1,400,000 men appears as the first American
contribution to the forces fighting Germany.

CHAPTER LXVIII

ENVOYS FROM AMERICA'S ALLIES

What perhaps most vividly brought home to the nation that it was now
one of the belligerents of the Allied Powers was the visit of a number
of special commissioners from the governments of the latter countries,
following the American declaration of war. The presence of the British
and French missions in particular made a deep impression, not only
because of the importance and magnitude of their errand, but because
of their personnel. The British mission was headed by Arthur James
Balfour, a former Conservative premier, and now Foreign Secretary in
the Lloyd-George cabinet. The French mission included Rene Viviani, a
predecessor of Premier Ribot and a member of his cabinet, and Marshal
Joffre, the victor of the Battle of the Marne and an idol of France.
The commanding personalities of Mr. Balfour and Marshal Joffre caught
the American imagination and the visits they paid to several cities
during their brief stay partook of the character of state events,
marked by an imposing welcome and sumptuous hospitality.

A reception no less generous was accorded the members of the other
missions--the Italian, headed by the Prince of Udine, son of the Duke
of Genoa and nephew of King Victor Emmanuel, and including Signor
Marconi, the inventor of wireless telegraphy; the Russian, headed by
Boris Bakhmetieff, the new Russian Ambassador; and the Belgian, headed
by Baron Moncheur. Other missions came from Ireland, Rumania, and
Japan.

The reception of these various missions formed the occasion for a
number of state functions which placed the Administration in the role
of a national host to many distinguished guests from foreign countries
with which the United States was now allied for the first time in a
devastating war. The honors paid to them produced remarkable
proceedings in Congress without parallel in that body's deliberations;
but then the great world war had shattered precedents wherever it
touched. The spectacle was witnessed of a British statesman, in the
person of Mr. Balfour, addressing the House and Senate, an event which
became an enduring memory. Congress also heard addresses from M.
Viviani, Baron