o meet the necessary working expenses of a commission it can effect
little or nothing in behalf of exhibitors. An International Inventions
Exhibition is to be held in London next May. This will cover a field of
special importance, in which our country holds a foremost rank; but the
Executive is at present powerless to organize a proper representation of
our vast national interests in this direction.

I have in several previous messages referred to this subject. It seems to
me that a statute giving to the Executive general discretionary authority
to accept such invitations and to appoint honorary commissioners, without
salary, and placing at the disposal of the Secretary of State a small
fund for defraying their reasonable expenses, would be of great public
utility.

This Government has received official notice that the revised
international regulations for preventing collisions at sea have been
adopted by all the leading maritime powers except the United States, and
came into force on the 1st of September last. For the due protection of
our shipping interests the provisions of our statutes should at once be
brought into conformity with these regulations.

The question of securing to authors, composers, and artists copyright
privileges in this country in return for reciprocal rights abroad is one
that may justly challenge your attention. It is true that conventions
will be necessary for fully accomplishing this result; but until
Congress shall by statute fix the extent to which foreign holders of
copyright shall be here privileged it has been deemed inadvisable to
negotiate such conventions. For this reason the United States were not
represented at the recent conference at Berne.

I recommend that the scope of the neutrality laws of the United States
be so enlarged as to cover all patent acts of hostility committed in our
territory and aimed against the peace of a friendly nation. Existing
statutes prohibit the fitting out of armed expeditions and restrict the
shipment of explosives, though the enactments in the latter respect were
not framed with regard to international obligations, but simply for the
protection of passenger travel. All these statutes were intended to meet
special emergencies that had already arisen. Other emergencies have
arisen since, and modern ingenuity supplies means for the organization
of hostilities without open resort to armed vessels or to filibustering
parties.

I see no reason why overt