Franklin D. Roosevelt to Woodrow Wilson

In confirmation of what I said to you about the North Sea question, I have thought over the composition of a Board or Commission to make a speedy report on the advisability of making the attempt to carry out this plan on a large scale. I do not think that such a Board should be composed wholly of line officers of the Navy and would, therefore, suggest its composition somewhat as follows:One officer from the mine force of the Atlantic Fleet, possibly Captain R. R. Belknap, its commanding officer.One officer from the Bureau of Ordnance.One officer from the Bureau of Yards & Docks; for instance, Civil Engineer Kirby Smith, who has given the whole subject much study.One representative from the Coast and Geodetic Survey, because the Department of Commerce has had much experience with buoys, wire-drags, etc.One representative of the Naval Consulting Board. I would suggest Mr. Thomas Robbins, the secretary, as Mr. Robbins represents no special group in the Board and is in touch with all the members.It is not my idea that a Board or Commission of this kind should carry on extensive experiments. There is enough data in regard to mines, nets, buoys, currents, etc., to enable them to report on the advisability of making the attempt on a large scale, and I cannot help feeling that time is of the essence of the plan, especially because during the next three or four months the weather conditions will be good for carrying out the preliminary work.
I am showing this to Mr. Daniels, and I feel sure that the whole Department will approve the initiation of the project. May I say, however, that it is a matter which is bigger than any mere Department, and that in the execution of the work the usual department routine and red tape should be cut to a minimum, and that outside of the actual patrol of such a barrier the work to be done has a distinctly civilian and industrial character.The President