Arrange with British and French Governments a code of signals to be used in directing merchant ships as to routes to be followed and points of meeting escorts. Establish a patrol of the Atlantic coast. Recruit up to the limit allowed by law for emergencies in order to provide crews for patrols and auxiliaries, and fill battleship complements which have been depleted to supply gun crews to merchant ships. [Illustration: © Harris & Ewing PRESIDENT WILSON AND THE WAR CABINET Around the table, from left to right: the President, Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo, Attorney General Gregory, Secretary of the Navy Daniels, Secretary of Agriculture Houston, Secretary of Labor Wilson, Secretary of Commerce Redfield, Secretary of the Interior Lane, Postmaster General Burleson, Secretary of War Baker, Secretary of State Lansing (in light suit).] [Illustration: AMERICAN DREADNOUGHTS, THE EMBODIMENT OF SEA POWER] At the next meeting of the Cabinet, on Friday, I presented the authority granted by Congress to increase the enlisted strength of the Navy to 87,000, and the President directed me to fill up the Navy and Marine Corps to the full number authorized in case of national emergency. On Saturday afternoon the President called at the Navy Department. Mrs. Wilson came with him. The rapid approach of war weighed upon him, and he wished to keep in close touch with all military preparations. It was then that I brought up the matter of sending to London a naval officer of high rank, which resulted, a few days later, in the sending of Admiral Sims. I also informed him of the result of the important conference we had held that morning with shipbuilders to secure rapid construction of additional destroyers. Before that time we had always insisted upon and been able to secure "fixed price" contracts, under which it could be known precisely what a vessel would cost, the builders being under bond to deliver it to us at the price agreed upon. But this was no longer possible. With the rising cost of labor and materials, the builders were unwilling to name specific figures. Reluctantly, I agreed to a contract based on actual cost of construction with ten per cent profit. Destroyers were sorely needed, we wanted all the shipyards could build, and expedition was worth all it might cost. As a matter of fact, no other construction during the war was accomplished with so little increased cost. That night the President signed the order directing that the authorized enlisted strength of the Navy be increased to 87,000 men, and the next day I sent a telegram to the newspapers of the country, more than a thousand of them, asking them to print the order on the first page and also make an editorial appeal for recruits, saying: