A Christmas Present

Edward W. Bok, retired publisher of Philadelphia, went to New York and traveled up Fifth Avenue to the residence of Elihu Root. Mr. Root handed Mr. Bok a Christmas present--for which Mr. Bok is to pay $50,000, perhaps $100,000. It was the plan selected by the Jury of Award as the best of 22,165 plans submitted for the "American Peace Award."

Mr. Bok offered (TIME, July 9, Nov. 26) $100,000 for the most practical plan by which the U. S. may cooperate with other nations to secure world peace. To the author of the plan chosen by the Jury of Award, $50,000 will now be given. An additional $50,000 will be given to the author if the practicability of the plan is demonstrated through adoption by the Senate or because of "a sufficient popular response."

At midnight Nov. 15 the time for submitting plans closed, with a total of 22,165 plans filed. In all some 800,000 letters were received by the Policy Committee of the Award. The plans were given to the Jury of Award without the authors' names attached.

Seven good men and true, Democrats and Republicans from several walks of life, constituted the Jury of Award: Elihu Root, Secretary of State under Roosevelt, Chairman; General James Guthrie Harbord, Chief of Staff of the A. E F.; Colonel Edward M. House, familiar of Woodrow Wilson; Ellen Fitz Pendleton, President of Wellesley College; Roscoe Pound, Dean of the Harvard Law School; William Allen White, Kansas editor; Brand Whitlock, U. S. Minister to Belgium during the War.

The jury sorted until 70 of the 22,165 plans remained. Then the hardest work; began. At last, just before Christmas, a plan was chosen unanimously.

Unknown to the public, the identity of the author of the winning plan will remain equally unknown to the Jury until a referendum has been taken to determine the degree of popular support of the plan. He will be given $50,000 at once, and sworn to hold his peace.

A referendum will be taken as soon as the plan is published, on Jan. 7; citizens will be given an opportunity to indicate whether or not they consider the plan to be feasible. Women's organizations, labor organizations, clubs of all kinds, patriotic organizations and churches will assist in taking a poll of the country. Newspapers and magazines--to the number of 5,000 or 6,000, will print ballots and assist in conducting the poll. By Feb. 1 it is hoped that the results will be tabulated.

Mr. Bok declared he would vote "yes" in the referendum. To stimulate interest further, he announced in the January issue of the Atlantic Monthly that if the referendum were favorable to the plan, he would take "a second step toward the advancement of world peace with a far wider scope and intent and an award larger and more important in every respect."

To politicians the decision to hold the referendum without announcing the name of the author of the plan is disquieting. It would be most disconcerting if the author were afterwards discovered to be a political opponent, a financier or even a college professor.