Benefit funds amounted to $8,740,000. The society is not a " secret " one, and no oaths are administered. Much attention is given to educational work. A chair of American history was founded by the society at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and 50 scholarships endowed at the same institution. The Knights of Columbus endeavour to combat socialism and radicalism by public lectures and publications. Beginning with the Spanish- American War (1898) they engaged in humanitarian relief. When America entered the World War (1917) about $1,000,000 was at once raised among the members, and work was undertaken at the various training camps in the United States. Further public appeals were made, and in recognition of their excellent service $40,000,000 in all was raised for war relief work. In America 350 buildings were maintained in the camps, and recreation was provided for enlisted men. Similar service was undertaken overseas and 250 recreation centres established. Comforts were provided on board transports and at piers. After the Armistice the Knights established employment bureaus and assisted ex-service men in finding work.
KNOX, PHILANDER CHASE (1853-1921), American politician, was born at Brownsville, Pa., May 6 1853. He graduated from Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio, in 1872; studied law in an office in Pittsburgh and was admitted to the bar in 1875. The following year he was appointed assistant U.S. attorney for the western district of Pennsylvania. In 1877 he opened an office in Pittsburgh and soon developed a lucrative practice. In 1901 he was appointed Attorney-General by President McKinley and was retained by President Roosevelt. He resigned in 1904, having been appointed to fill the unexpired term of Matthew S. Quay deceased, as senator for Pennsylvania and was reelected to serve 1905-11. In 1909 he resigned from the Senate to enter the Cabinet of President Taft as Secretary of State, holding that office for four years. He was again returned to the Senate for 1917-23. While he was Attorney-General many important suits were instituted, notably those against the " Beef Trust " and the Northern Securities Co. As senator he was active in debates relating to the Panama Canal, favouring the lock type which was finally adopted. He was opposed to the Panama Canal Tolls Repeal Bill passed in 1914. In 1916 he attacked the administration's Mexican policy and disapproved of the Adamson Eight-Hour Law. In 1919 he desired to separate the League of Nations, which he opposed, from the Peace Treaty. In 1920 he offered a resolution declaring that war with Germany was at an end, which was adopted by both Senate and House, but later failed to pass over President Wilson's veto; but a similar joint resolution of Congress was approved by President Harding July 2 1921 and a formal treaty of peace with Germany signed Aug. 25. He was the author of numerous addresses on railroad rates and commerce. He died in Washington, D.C., Oct. 12 1921.
KNOX-LITTLE, WILLIAM JOHN (1839-1918), British divine, was born at Stewartstown, Co. Tyrone, Ireland, Dec. 1 1839. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his degree in 1862, being ordained in 1863. From 1865 to 1870 he was assistant master at Sherborne school, but afterwards held various curacies and livings, attracting much attention as an eloquent preacher. He was made canon of Worcester in 1881, and in 1885 became rector of Hoar Cross, Staffs. During the South African War he acted as chaplain to the brigade of Guards, and was mentioned in despatches. He resigned his living in 1907, and died at Worcester Feb. 3 1918.
KOLCHAK, VLADIMIR VASILIEVICH (1875–1920), Russian admiral, was the son of an engineer. His father took part in the Crimean War, and was one of the defenders of the famous Malakhoff Hill. Kolchak spent his childhood at a factory where his father was employed. In 1888 he entered the naval college at St. Petersburg and finished his studies successfully in 1894. In 1900 an Arctic expedition was organized by the Academy of Sciences for the purpose of exploring the " Sannikov Land," to the north of the Siberian shore, the true position and even the existence of which was uncertain. Baron Toll, the leader of the expedition, invited Kolchak to come with him. At that time he was abroad with the battle fleet, in which he held the rank of lieutenant, but he joined the expedition and took part in its hardships. After many exciting adventures the non-existence of the " Sannikov Land " was proved. The expedition was then divided into two sections: one of them, under Baron Toll, undertook the exploration of the uninhabited Bennet Is. ; no member of this expedition was ever seen again. The other party, which included Lieut. Kolchak, after waiting in vain for the return of their companions, sailed back for St. Petersburg in the autumn of 1903.
Kolchak insisted on the necessity of sending a new expedition for the recovery of Baron Toll and his companions. The Academy upheld this opinion, and a new small expedition under Kolchak was sent to Bennet Is. in Jan. 1904. It succeeded in finding the place of the last camp of Baron Toll and in discovering his journal, from which it was clear that the unfortunate explorers, being at the end of their food supplies, had tried to return to the continent and had undoubtedly perished in the Arctic Sea. Kolchak returned to Siberia, bringing with him rich collections accumulated by Baron Toll. In Irkutsk he learned the news of the Russo-Japanese War, and left immediately for Port Arthur. His gallant behaviour during the siege received recognition even from the enemy: after the capitulation of Port Arthur he was allowed to wear his sword with the Cross of St. George when all weapons were taken from other officers. On his return to St. Petersburg in 1905 Kolchak handed to the Academy a report on his Arctic expedition, which was fully approved, and he was presented with a gold medal. Subsequently Kolchak took a leading part in the campaign for the reorganization of the Russian Naval Department and the reconstruction of the Russian fleet. A new general staff of the navy was created and Kolchak was appointed the head of the organizing and statistical section. His report on the " Distribution of the Naval Forces " was used as a basis of the new naval programme.
At the beginning of the World War Kolchak had the rank of captain and was in command of a destroyer in the Baltic. He took part in the operations in the Gulf of Riga in Aug. 1915 which resulted in the complete failure of the German attempt to seize the Riga shore and secured for a long time the right wing of the Russfan front. In the summer of 1916 he was appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet, with the rank of rear-admiral. His activities in this command were most valuable. Even after the revolution the Black Sea Fleet remained for some time the only part of the Russian military force where order and discipline were maintained. But the rising wave of disorganization eventually prevailed here as elsewhere. Kolchak refused to recognize the dictatorship of the Council of Workmen, Sailors and Soldiers at Sevastopol, and when he was ordered to surrender to them his sword with the Cross of St. George, he threw it overboard and left the fleet.
After staying for some time in America, Kolchak returned to Russia, and took an active part in the fighting against the Bolshevists in Siberia. On Nov. 18 1917, by a decision of the Russian Government at Omsk, Adml. Kolchak elected to assume the supreme power instead of the Directorate, which was abolished. He became virtually dictator of Russia. The Council of Ministers remained unchanged under the leadership of Vologodsky. Kolchak assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia, and declared officially that he would convoke a National Assembly, which must be convened as soon as normal conditions were restored, and which alone could have power to decide the future organization of Russia. But he refused to recognize the Constituent Assembly elected in 1917 under abnormal conditions as it did not represent the will of the nation. He proclaimed his sole aim to be the liberation of Russia from enslavement by the Bolshevists, and pledged himself to carry on the struggle to complete victory.
On Jan. 20 1918, at the first meeting of the revived Russian Senate, whose sitting at Petrograd had been suspended by the Bolshevists, Kolchak solemnly took the oath to obey the laws and to fulfil faithfully his trust as Supreme Ruler. The land policy of the new Government was modelled on democratic lines, in view of the advance of the army westward. Whoever sowed was entitled to the harvest, irrespective of the ownership of the land; every
