Government of France, in recognition of what had been accomplished, conferred on Mr. Bedford the Cross of the Legion of Honour. Co-ordination having been arranged, the problems to be dealt with came under two heads, (1) Increased production; (2) Sea-transport. The first constitutes a record of highly organized endeavour never surpassed in the history of industry; the second one of actual heroism. Plans for increased production were well under way by the summer of 1917 and it must be remembered that the entrance of the United States into the war and our resolve to create an immense and fully equipped army greatly increased domestic necessities in addition to the obligation to keep our allies in Europe supplied. The thoughts of all were fixed on the great blows which were to end the war in 1918. When the winter of 1917–8 arrived it seemed as though the elements were fighting on the side of the Hohenzollerns. The extraordinary severity of that winter, complicated by a coal shortage, all but paralyzed railroad traffic. Thus, deliveries of the finished products necessary to war industry and belligerent activity were embarrassed in a degree that caused the greatest anxiety to the National Petroleum Committee. Yet somehow or other it performed its task and the refineries trebled their pre-war output, expanding their capacities like an accordion. In addition to the vast quantities consumed at home, shipments abroad arose to stupendous figures. In the year 1918, 2,628,961 tons of fuel oil alone were shipped from the Eastern seaboard for the use of allied navies; and in the same year more than one million tons of high distillates and other petroleum products also crossed the Atlantic, entailing more than 500 tank steamer loadings. This was accomplished in the face of a shipping shortage that appalled those in the secret of its extent and in the face of the submarine activity virulently directed against oil cargoes. It was in this matter that the sailors of the American merchant marine showed a heroism not excelled by soldiers in the field or the seamen of any nation. The great value to civilization of the fleet of tank steamers built up by American oil exporters was also demonstrated. When President Wilson declared war one great company had already lost three big vessels through submarine attack, and during the war these losses were augmented by seven more, representing a loss of more than 75,000 deadweight tons and a toll of many lives. To meet its losses this particular company undertook to build a new ship for each sunk, and so efficiently was this policy carried out that its fleet, which had totalled 445,975 tons at the commencement of unrestricted submarine warfare in February, 1917, had grown to 492,080 tons under the American flag when the armistice was signed in November, 1918. Nor was the problem of shipping limited to that of carrying petroleum across the Atlantic. Much was required for coastwise trade in North and South America.