London, Feb. 18.
The Liverpool Mercantile Marine Association, in a letter to Mr. Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Mr. Walter Runciman, President of the Board of Trade, declares that broadcast inquiries among ship-masters and officers reveal the invincible spirit of British seamen. There is no shrinking on account of the German threat, and the only regret is that they are not able to retaliate, The Association suggests that mercantile ship-masters be granted an unpaid temporary commission in the Naval Reserve and the payment of a war bonus to ship-masters and officers by shipowners,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.