PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Document Deals with Questions cf Yast
Importance to the Nation
TRUSTS AND THE TARIFF DEALT WITH
Fitful Changes of Import Duties a Menace to the Business
Interests of the Country — Reciprocity Treaties
Desirable — Monetary Legislation — Rela
tions of Labor and Capital.
To the Senate and House of Represen
tatives: We still continue in a period of
unbounded prosperity. This prosperity
is not the creature of law, but undoubt
edly the laws under which we work have
been Instrumental in creating the condi
tions which made it possible, and by un
wise legislation It would be easy enough
to destroy it. There will undoubtedly
be periods of depression. The wave will
recede; but the tide will advance. This
nation is seated on a continent flanked
by two great oceans. It Is composed
of men the descendants of pioneers, or
In a sense, pioneers themselves: of men
winnowed out from among the nations
of the old world by the energy, boldness,
and love of adventure found in their own
eager hearts. Such a nation, so placed,
will surely wrest success from fortune.
As a people we have played a large
part in the world, and we are bent upon
making our future even larger than the
past. In particular, the events of the last
four years have definitely decided that,
for woe or for weal, our place must be
great among the nations. We may either
fail greatly or succeed greatly; but wc
cannot avoid the endeavor from which
either great failure or great success
must comp. Rven If we would, we can
not play a small part. If we should try.
all that would follow would be that we
should play a large part ignobly and
shamefully.
No country has ever occupied a higher
plane of material well-being than ours
at the present moment. This well-being
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but to the play of the economic forces
In thl* country for over u century; to
our laws, our sustained and continuous
policies; above all, to the high Individ
ual average of our citizenship. Great
fortunes have been won by those who
have taken the lead In thla phenomenal
Industrial development, and moat of these
fortunes have been won not by doing
evil, but us an Incident to action which
has benefited the community as a whole.
Never before has material well-being
been so widely diffused among our peo
ple. Great fortunes have been accum
ulated and yet In the aggregate these
fortunes are small Indeed when com
pared to the wealth of the people as a
whole. The plain people are better ofT
than they have ever been before. The
Insurance companies, which are prac
"~N . finally mutual benefit societies—especially
helpful to men of moderate means—rep
resent accumulations of capital which are
among the largest In this country. There
are more deposits In tho savings banks,
more owners of farms, more well-paid
wage workers In this country now than
ever before in our history. Of course,
when the conditions have favored the
growth of so much that was good, they
have also favored somewhat the growth
of what was evil. It Is eminently neces
sary that we should endouvor to cut out
this evil, but let us keep a due sense of
proportion; lot us not In fixing our gaze
uppn the lesser evil forget tho greater
good. The evils are real and some of
them are menacing, but they are the
outgrowth, not of misery or decadence,
but of prosperity—of the progress of our
gigantic Industrial development. This
Industrial development must not be
checked, but side by side with It should
go such progressive regulation as will
diminish the evils. We should fall In
our duty if we did not try to remedy the
evils, but we shall succeed only If we
proceed patiently, w'lth practical common
sense us well us resolution, separating
the good from the bad and holding on to
tho former while endeavoring to get rid
of the latter.
National Action to Control Trusts.
In my message to the present Congress
at Its Slrst session I discussed at length
the question of the regulation of those
big corporations commonly doing au in
terstate business, often with some ten
dency to monopoly, which are popularly
known as trusts. The experience of the
past year has emphasized, in my opin
ion. the desirability of the steps I then
proposed. A fundamental base of civil
ization is the Inviolability of property;
but this 13 in no wise Inconsistent with
the right of society to regulate the ex
ercise of the artificial powers which It
confers upon the owners of property, un
der the name of corporate franchises, In
auch a way as to prevent the misuse
of these powers. Corporations, and espe
cially combinations of corporations,
should be managed under public regula
tion. Experience has shown that under
our system of government the necessary
supervision cannot he obtained by state
aotinn If mint therefore he achieved
by national action. Our aim is not to do
away with corporations; on the contrary,
these big aggregations are an inevitable
•development of modern Industrialism, and
the effort to destroy them would be futile
unless accomplished in ways that would
work the utmost mischief to the entire
body politic. We can do nothing of good
in the way of regulating and supervising
these corporations until we tlx clearly in
our minds that we are not attacking the
corporations, but endeavoring to do away
with any evil in them. We are not hos
tile to them, we are merely determined
that they shall be so handled as to sub
serve the public good. We draw the line
against misconduct, not against wealth.
The capitalist who. alono or in conjunc
tion with his fellows, performs some
great industrial feat by which he wins
money is a welldoer, not a wrongdoer,
provided only he works in proper ami
legitimate lines. We wish to favor such
a man when he does well. We wish to
supervise and control his actions only to
prevent him from doing ill. Publicity
can do no harm to the honest corpora
tion; and we need not be overtendar
about sparing the dishonest corporation.
The Necessity for Care.
In curbing and regulating the combina
tions of capital which are or may become
injurious to the public we must be careful
not to stop the great enterprises which
have legitimately reduced the cost of pro
duction, not to abandon the place which
our country has won in the leadership of
the international industrial world, not to
strike down wealth with the result of
closing factories and mines, of turning
the wage-worker idle in the streets and
leaving the farmer without a market for
what he grows. Insistence upon the im
possible cctaaa delay in achieving the
possible, exactly as, on the other hand,
the stubborn defense alike of what Is
good and what is bad In the existing sys
tem. the resolute effort to obstruct any
attempt at betterment, betrays blind
ness to the historic truth that wise evolu
tion is the sure safeguard against revo
lution.
Importance of the Subject.
No more important subject can come
before the Congress than this of the
regulation of interstate business. The
country cannot afford to sit supine on
the plea that under our peculiar system
of government we are helpless In the
presence of the new conditions, and un
able to grapple with them or to cut out
whatever of evil has arisen In connec
tion with them. The power of the Con
gress to regulate Interstate commerce is
an absolute and unqualified grant, and
without limitations other than those pre
scribed by the constitution. The Con
gress has constitutional authority to
make all laws necessary and proper for
executing this power, and I am satisfied
that this power has not been exhausted
by any legislation now on the statute
books. It is evident, therefore, that evils
restrictive of commercial freedom entail
ing restraint upon national commerce fall
within the regulative power of the Con
gress. and that a wise and reasonable
law would be a necessary and proper ex
ercise of congressional authority to the
end that such evils should be eradicated.
Evils Can Be Done Away With.
I believe that monopolies, unjust dis
criminations, which prevent or cripple
competition, fraudulent overcapitaliza
tion. and other evils in trust organiza
tions and practices which injuriously af
fect interstate trade, can be prevented
under the power of the Congress to “regu
late commerce with foreign nations and
among the several states" through regu
lations and requirements operating di
rectly upon such commerce, the instru
mentalities thereof, and those engaged
therein.
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the consideration of the Congress with a
view to the passage of a law reasonable
in its provisions and effective in its oper
ations, upon which the questions can be
ttnally adjudicated that now raise doubts
as to the necessity of constitutional
amendment. If It prove impossible to ac
complish the purposes above set forth by
such a law, then, assuredly, we should
not shrink from amending the constitu
tion as to secure beyond peradventure the
power sought.
The Tariff Question.
One proposition advocated has been the
reduction of the tariff as a means of
reaching the evils of the trusts which
rail within the category I have descrlh
?*'**?* mere,y would this be wholly
ineffective, but the diversion of our ef
forts In such a direction would mean the
abandonment of all Intelligent attempt
to do away with these evils. Many of
th® largest corporations, many of those
which should certainly be Included In
any proper scheme of regulation, would
not be affected In the slightest degree
by a change In the tariff, save as such
change Interfered with the general pros
perity of lhe country. The only relation
of the tariff to big corporations as a
whole is that the tariff makes manufac
tures profitable, and the tariff remedy
proposed would bo In effect simply to
mako manufactures unprofitable. To re
move the turlff as a punitive measure di
rected against trusts would inevitably re
sult in ruin to the weaker competitors
who aro struggling against them. Our
aim should be not by unwise tariff
changes to give foreign products the
advantage over domestic products but by
proper regulation to give domestic com
petition a fair chance: and this end can
not be reached by any tariff changes
which would affect unfavorably all do
mestic competitors, good and bad alike.
The question of regulation of the trusts
stands apart from the question of tariff
revision.
Fitful Tariff Changes Decried.
Stability of economic policy must al
ways bo the prime economic need of this
country. This stability should not be
fossllliation. The country has acquiesced
In the wisdom of the protective tariff
principle. It Is exceedingly undesirable
that this system should be destroyed or
that there should be violent and radical
changes therein. Our past experience
shows that great prosperity In this coun
try has always come under a protective
tariff: and that the country cannot pros
per under fitful tariff changes at short
Intervals. Morever, If the tariff laws
as a whole work well, and If business
has prospered under them and is pros
pering. It Is better to endure for a time
slight Inoonvenlencea and Inequalities In
some schedules than to upset business
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Is most earnestly to be wished that we
could treat the tariff from the stand
point solely of our business needs. It is,
perhaps, too much to hope that partisan
ship may be entirely excluded from con
sideration of the subject, but at least
It can be made secondary to the busi
ness interests of the country—that Is, to
the Interests of our people as a whole.
Unquestionably these business Interests
will best be served If together with
dxity of principle as regards the tariff
we combine a system which will permit
us from time to time to make the neces
sary reapplloatlon of the principle to the
shifting national needs. We must take
scrupulous care that the reapplloatlon
shall be made in such a way that It will
not amount to dislocation of our sys
tem. the mere threat of which (not' to
speak of the performance) would pro
duce paralysis in the business energies
of the community. The lirst considera
tion In making these changes would, of
course, be to preserve the principle which
underlies our whole tariff system—that is,
the principle of putting American busi
ness Interests at least on a full equal
ity with Interests abroad, and of always
allowing a sufficient rate of duly to more
than cover the difference between the la
bor cost here and abroad. The well-be
ing of the wage-worker, like the well
being of the tiller of the soil, should
be treated as an essential In shaping our
whole economic policy. There must never
be any change which will jeopardize the
standard of comfort, the standard of
wages of the American wage-worker.
For Reciprocity Treaties.
One way in which the readjustment
sought can be reached is by reciprocity
treaties. It is greatly to be desired that
such treaties may be adopted. They can
be used to widen our markets and to
give a greater field for the activities of
our producer* on the one hand, and on
the other to secure in practical shape
the lowering of duties when they are no
longer needed for protection among our
own people, or when the minimum of
damage done may be disregarded for the
sake of the maximum of good accom
plished. If It prove impossible to ratify
the pending treaties, and if there seem
to be no warrant for the endeavor to
execute others, or to amend the pending
treaties so that they can be ratified, then
the same end—to secure reciprocity
should be met by direct legislation.
For Expert Tariff Commission.
Wherever the tariff conditions are such
that a needed change cannot with ad
vantage be made by the application of
the reciprocity idea, then it can be made
outright by a lowering of duties on a
given product. If possible, such change
should be made only after the fullest
consideration by practical experts, who
should approach the subject from a
business standpoint, having In view both
the particular interests affected and the
commercial well-being of the people, as
a whole. The machinery for providing
such careful investigation can readily be
supplied. The executive department has
already at its disposal methods of col
lecting facts and figures; and if the con
gress desires additional consideration to
that which will be given the subject by
its own committees, then a commission
of business experts can be appointed
whose duty it should be to recommend
action by the Congress after a deliberate
and scientific examination of the various
schedules as they are affected by the
changed and changing conditions. The
unhurried and unbiased report of this
commission would show what changes
should be made in the various schedules,
and how far these changes could go
without also changing the great pros
perity which this country is now enjoy
ing, or upsetting its fixed economic pol
icy.
The cases In which the tariff can pro
duce a monopoly are so few as to con
stitute an inconsiderable factor in the
question; but of course if in any case
it be found that a given rate of duty
does promote a monopoly which worke
ill, no protectionist would object to such
reduction of the duty as would equalize
competition.
In my Judgment, the tariff on anthra
cite coal should be removed, and anthra
cite put actually, where it now Is nom
inally, on the free list. This would have
no effect at all save in crises; but in
crises it might be of service to the peo
ple.
Monetary Legislation.
Interest rates are a potent factor in
business activity, and in order that these
rates may be equalized to meet the vary
ing needs of the seasons and of widely
separated communities, and to prevent
the recurrence of financial stringencies
which injuriously affect legitimate busi
ness, it is necessary that there should
be an element of elasticity in our mone
tary system. Banks are the natural ser
vants of commerce, and upon them should
be placed, as far as practicable, the
burden of furnishing and maintaining a
circulation adequate to supply the needs
of our diversified industries and of our
domestic and foreign commerce; and
the issue of this should be so regulated
that a sufficient supply should be al
ways available for tho business interests
of tho country.
It would be both unwise and unneces
sary at this time to attempt to recon
struct our financial system, which has
been the growth of a century; but some
additional legislation is, I think, desir
able. The mere outline of any plan suffi
ciently comprehensive to meet these re
quirements would transgress the appro
priate limits of this communication. It
is suggested, however, that all future
legislation on the subject should be with
the view of encouraging tho use of such
Instrumentalities as will automatically
supply every legitimate demand of pro
ductive industries and of commerce, not
only in the amount, hut in the character
of circulation; and of making all kinds
of money interchangeable, and, at the
will of the holder, convertible into the
established gold standard.
Relations of Labor and Capital.
How to secure fair treatment alike for
labor and for capital, how to hold in
check the unscrupulous man, whether
employer or employe, without weakening
individual initiative, without hampering
and cramping the industrial development
of the country, is a problem fraught with
great difficulties and one which it is of
the highest importance to solve on lines
of sanity and far-sighted common sense
as well as of devotion to the right. This
is an era of federation and combination.
Exactly as business men find they must
often work through corporations, and as
it is a constant tendency of these cor
porations to grow larger, so it is often
necessary for laboring men to work in
federations, and these have become im
portant factors of modern industrial life.
Both kinds of federation, capitalistic and
labor, can do much good, and as a neces
sary corrollary they can both do evil.
Opposition to each kind of organization
should take the form of opposition to
whatever is bad in the conduct of any
given corporation or union—not of at
tacks upon corporations as such nor upon
unions as such; for some of the most
far-reaching beneficent work for our peo
ple has been accomplished through both
corporations and unions. Each must re
frain from arbitrary or tyrannous inter
ference with the rights of others. Organ
ized capital and organized labor alike
should remember that In the long run the
interest of each must be brought into
harmony with the Interest of the general
public; and the conduct of each must
conform to the fundamental rules of obe
dience to the law. of individual freedom,
and of Justice and fair dealing toward all.
Each should remember that in addition to
power, it must strive after the realization
of healthy, lofty and generous ideals.
Every employed, every wage worker, must
minranteed his lihertv and his ric-ht to
do as he likes with his property or his la
bor so long as he does not infringe upon
the right of others. It is of the highest im
portance that employer and employe alike
should endeavor to appreciate each tho
viewpoint of the other and the sure dis
aster that will come upon both in the
long run if either grows to take as habit
ual an attitude of sour hostility and dis
trust toward the other. Few people de
serve better of the country than those
representatives both of capital and labor
—and there are many such—who work
continually to bring about a good under
standing of this kind, based upon wisdom
and upon broad and kindly sympathy be
tween employers and employed. Above
all. we need to remember that any kind
of class animosity in the political world
is, if possible, even more wicked, even
more destructive to national welfare,
than sectional, race or religious animos
ity. We can get good government only
upon condition that we keep true to the
principles upon which this nation was
founded, and judge each man not as a
part of a class, but upon his individual
merits. All that we have a right to «sk
of any man. rich or poor, whatever his
creed, his occupation, his birthplace or
his residence, is that he shall act well
and honorably by his neighbor and. by
his country. We are neither for the rich
man as such nor for the poor ma t as
such; we arc for the upright man. rich
or poor. So far as the constitu 'Iona!
powers of the national government imch
these matters of general and vital mo>
ment to the nation, they should be beer*
clsed In conformity with the principles
above set forth.
Department of Commerce Needed.
It Is earnestly hoped that a Secretary
of Commerce may be created, with &
seat In the Cabinet. The rapid multipli
cation of questions affecting labor and
capital, the growth and complexity of the
organisations through which both labor
and capital now find expression, the
steady tendency toward the employment
of capital in huge corporations, and the
wonderful strides of this country toward
leadership in the international business
world justify an urgent demand for the
creation of such a position. Substantial
ly all the leading commercial bodies in
this country have united in requesting its
creation. It Is desirable that some such
measure as that which has already passed
the Senate be enacted kito law. The
creation of such a department w’ould in
itself be an advance toward dealing with
and exercising supervision over the whole
subject of the great corporations doing
an interstate business; and with this
end in view, the Congress should endow
the department with large powers, which
could be increased as experience might
show the need.
Cuba Must Have Consideration.
I hope soon to submit to the Senate a
reciprocity treaty with Cuba. On May 20
last the United States kept its promise
to the island by formally vacating Cuban
soil and turning Cuba over to those whom
her own people had chosen as the first
officials of the new republic.
Cuba lies at our doors, and whatever
affects her for good or for ill affects us
also. So much have our people felt this
that In the Platt amendment we definite
ly took the ground that Cuba must here
after have closer political relations with
us than with any other power. Thus in
a sense Cuba has become a part of our
international political system. This
makes it necessary that in return she
should be given some of the benefits of
becoming part of our economic system.
It is. from our own standpoint, a short
sighted and mischievous policy to fail to
recognize this need. Moreover, !t Is un
worthy of a mighty and generous nation,
itself the greatest and most successful
republic In history, to refuse to stretch
out a helping hand to a young and weak
sister republic just entering upon its
career of independence. We should al
ways fearlessly insist upon our rights in
the face of the strong, and we should
with ungrudging hand do our generous
duty by the weak. I urge the adoption
of reciprocity with Cuba not only because
it is eminently for our own interests to
control the Cuban market and by every
means to foster our supremacy in the
tropical lands and waters south of us.
but also because we, of the giant repub
lic of the North, should make all our sis
ter nations of the American continent
feel that whenever they will permit it we
desire to show ourselves disinterestedly
and effectively their friend.
International Arbitration.
As civilization grows, warfar becomes
less and less the normal condition of for
eign relations. The last century has seen
a marked diminution of wars between
civilized powers; wars with uncivilized
powers are largely mere matters of inter
national police duty, essential for the
welfare of the world. Wherever possible,
arbitration or some similar method should
be employed in lieu of war to settle dif
ficulties between civilized nations, al
though as yet the world has not pro
gressed sufficiently to render it possible
or necessarily desirable, to invoke arbi
tration in every case. The formation of
the international tribunal which sits at
1 he Hague Is an event of good omen
from which great consequences for the
welfare of all mankind may flow. It is
far better, where possible, to invoke such
a permanent tribunal than to create spe
cial arbitrators for a given purpose.
It Is a matter of sincere-congratulation
to our country that the United States
and Mexico should have been the first
to 1se ‘J1? good offices of The Hague
court. This was done last summer with
most satisfactory results in the case of
a claim at issue between us and our
•yPuWIc. It is earnestly to be hop
ed that this first case will serve as a
precedent for others, in which not only
the United States, but foreign nations
may take advantage of the machinery al
ready in existence at The Hague.
I commend to the favorable considera
tion of the Congress the Hawaiian fire
claims, which were the subject of care
ful investigation during the last session.
Panama Canal Favored.
The Congress has wisely provided that
we shall build at once an isthmian ca
nal, if possible at Panama. The attorney
general reports that we can undoubted
ly acquire good title from the French
Panama Canal Company. Negotiations
are now pending with Colombia to se
surc her assent to our building the canal.
This work should be carried out as a
continuing policy without regard to
change of administration; and it should
be begun under circumstances which
will make it a matter of pride for all
administrations to continue the policy.
The canal will be of great benefit to
America, and of Importance to all the
world. It will be of advantage to us
industrially and also as improving our
military position. It will be of advan
tage to the countries of tropical Amer
ica. It is earnestly to be hoped that
all of these countries will do as some
of them have already done with signal
success, and will Invite to their shores
commerce and improve their material
conditions by recognizing that stability
and order are the prerequisites of suc
cessful development. No independent na
tion in America need have the slightest
fear of aggression from the United
States. It behooves each one to main
tain order within its own borders and
to discharge its Just obligations to for
eigners. When this is done, they can
rest assured that, be they strong or
weak, they have nothing to dread from
outside interference. More and more the
increasing Interdependence and complex
ity of International political and eco
nomic relations render it incumbent on
all civilized and orderly powers to in
sist on the proper policing of the world.
Pacific Cable Assured.
During the fall of 1901 a communication
was addressed to the Secretary of State,
asking whether permission would be
granted by the President to a corpora
tion to lay a cable from a point on the
California coast to the Philippine islands
by way of Hawaii. A statement of con
ditions or terms upon which such cor
poration would undertake to lay and
operate a cable was volunteered.
Inasmuch as the Congress was shortly
to convene, and Pacific cable legislation
had been the subject of consideration by
the Congress for several years, it seem
ed to me wise to defer action upon the
application until the Congress had first
an opportunity to act. The Congress ad
journed without taking any action, leav
ing the matter in exactly the same con
dition in which it stood when the Con
gress convened.
Meanwhile it appears that the Com
mercial Pacific Cable Company had
promptly proceeded with preparations for
laying its cable. It also made applica
tion to the President for access to and
use of soundings taken by the U. S. S.
Nero, for the purpose of discovering a
practicable route for a trans-Pacitic ca
ble, the company urging that with ac
cess to these soundings It could complete
its cable much sooner than if it were
required to take soundings upon its own
account.
In consequence of this solicitation of
the cable company, certain conditions
were formulated, upon which the Presi
dent was willing to allow access to these
foundings and t,o consent to the landing
and laying of .lie cable, subject to any
alterations or additions thereto Imposed
by the Congress. This was deemed prop
er, especially as It was clear that a cable
connection of some kind with China, a
foreign country, was a part of the com
pany’s plan.
These conditions prescribed, among
other things, a maximum rate for com
mercial messages and that the company
should construct a line from the Philip
pine Islands to China, there being at
present, as is well known, a British line
from Manila to Hong-Kong.
The representatives of the cable com
pany kept these conditions long under
consideration, continuing, In the mean
time, to prepare for laying the cable.
They have, however, at length acceded
to them, and an all-American line be
tween our Pacific coast and the Chinese
empire, by way of Honolulu and the
Philippine islands, is thus provided for,
and is expected within a few months to
be ready for business.
Philippine Policy Vindicated.
On July 4 last, on the one hundred and
twenty-sixth anniversary of the declara
tion of our independence, peace and am
nesty were promulgated in the Philip
pine islands. Some trouble has since
from time to time threatened with the
Mohammedan Moros, but with the late
insurrectionary Filipinos the war has en
tirely ceased. Civil government has now
been introduced. Not only does each
Filipino enjoy such rights to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness as he has
never before known during the recorded
history of the islands, but the people
taken as a whole now enjoy a measure
of self-government greater than that
granted to any other orientals by any
foreign power and greater than that en
joyed by any other orientals under their
own governments, save the Japanese
alone. We have not gone too far in
granting these rights of liberty and self
government; hut we have certainly gone
to the limit that in the interests of the
Philippine people themselves it was wise
or Just to go. To hurry matters, to go
faster than we are now going, would en
tail calamity on the people of the islands.
No policy ever entered into by the Amer
ican people has vindicated itself in more
signal manner than the policy of holding
the Philippines. The triumph of our
arms, above all the triumph of our laws
and principles, has come sooner than we
had any right to expect. Too much
praise cannot be given to the army for
what it has done in the Philippines, both
in warfare and from an administrative
standpoint in preparing the way for civil
government; and similar credit belongs to
the civil authorities for the way in which
they have planted the seeds of self-gov
ernment In the ground thus made ready
for them. The courage, the unflinching
endurance, the high soldierly efficiency.
c*uu me judicial niuu*mai icuncoa anu
humanity of our troops have been strik
ingly manifested. There now remain only
some 15,000 troops in the islands. All
told, over 100,000 have been sent there.
Of course, there have been Individual in
stances of wrongdoing among them.
They warred under fearful difficulties of
climate and surroundings; and under the
strain of the terrible provocations which
they continually receive from their foes,
occasional instances of cruel retaliation
occurred. Every effort has been made
to prevent such cruelties, and finally
these efTorts have been completely suc
cessful. After making all allowance for
these misdeeds, it remains true that few
indeed have been the instances in which
war has been waged by a civilized power
against semi-civilized and barbarous
forces where there has been so little
wrongdoing by the victors as in the Phil
ippine islands. On the other hand, the
amount of difficult, important, and bene
ficient work which has been done is
well-nigh incalculable.
Praise for Friendly Filipinos.
Taking the work of the army and the
civil authorities together, it may be ques
tioned whether anywhere else in modern
times the world has seen a better exam
ple of real constructive statesmanship
than our people have given in the Philip
pine islands. High praise should also be
given those Filipinos, in the aggregate
very numerous, who have accepted the
new conditions and joined with our rep
resentatives to work with hearty good
will for the welfare of the islands.
National Guard Reorganization.
The measure providing for the reor
ganization of the militia system and for
securing the highest efficiency in the na
tional guard, which has already passed
the House, should receive prompt atten
tion and action. It is of great impor
tance that the relation of the national
guard to the militia and volunteer forces
of the United States should be defined,
and that in place of our present obsolete
laws a practical and efficient system
should be adopted.
Irrigation in the West.
Few subjects of more importance have been
taken up by the Congress in recent years than
the inauguration of the system of nationally
aided irrigation for the arid regions of the far
West. A good beginning therein has been made.
Now that this policy of national irrigation has
been adopted, the need of thorough und sci
entific forest protection will grow more rap
idly than ever throughout the public-land
states.
So far as they are available for agriculture,
and to whatever extent they may bo reclaimed
under the nntional irrigation law. the remain
ing public lands should be held rigidly for the
homo builder, the settler who lives on his
land, and for no one else. In their actual
use the desert-land law. the timber and stone
law. and the commutation clause of the home
stead law have been so perverted from the in
tention with which they were enacted as to
permit the acquisition of large areas of the
public domain for others than actual settlers
and the consequent prevention of settlement.
The sound and steady development of the West
depends upon the building up of homes therein.
Much of our prosperity as a nation has been
due to the operation of the homestead law.
On the other hand, we should recognize the fact
that in the grazing region the man who cor
responds to the homesteader may be unable to
settle permanently if only allowed to use the
same amount of pasture land that his brother,
the homesteader, is allowed to use of arable
land. One hundred and sixty acres of fairly
rich and well watered soil, or a much smaller
amount of Irrigated land, may keep a family
in plenty, whereas no one could get a living
from lttu acres of dry pasture land capable of
■upporting at the outside only one head of
cattle to every ten acres. In the past great
tracts of the public domain have been fenced
in by persona having no title thereto. In direct
defiance of the law forbidding the maintenance
or construction of any such unlawful luclos.«re
of public land. For various reasons there has
been little interference with such Inclosures
in the past, but ample notice has now been
given the trespassers, and all the resources at
the command of the government will hereafter
be used to put a stop to such trespassing.
Pressing Needs of the Navy.
For the first time in our history naval ma
neuvers on a large scale are being held under
the immediate command of the admiral of the
navy. Constantly increasing attention is being
paid to the gunnery of the navy, but it is yet
far from what It should be. I earnestly urge
that the increase asked for by the Secretary
of the Navy in the appropriation for improv
ing the marksmanship be granted. In battle
the only shots that count are the shots that
hit. It is necessary to provide ample funds for
practice with the great guns In time of peace.
These funds must provide not only for the
purchase of projectiles, but for allowances for
prises to encourage the gun crews, and espe
cially the gnu pointers, and for perfecting an
intelligent system under which alone It is
possible to get good practice.
There should be no bait In the work of build
ing up the navy, providing every year addi
tional fighting craft. We are a very rich coun
try. vast in extent of territory and great In
population; a country, moreover, which lias an
army diminutive indeed when compared with
that of any other first-class power. We have
deliberately made our own certain foreign poli
cies which demand the possession of a first
class navy. The isthmian canal will greatly
increase the efficiency of our navy If the navy
is of sufficient sire; but if we have an inade
quate navy, then the building of the canal
Y >uld he merely giving a hostage to any power
of superior strength. The Monroe doctrine
should be treated ns the cardinal feature ef
American foreign policy; bat it would be worse
than idle to assert It unless we intended to
back It up, and It can be backed up enly by
a thoroughly good nary. A good nary Is not
a provocative of war. It is the surest guaranty
of peace.
More Sailor* Called For.
I nil roar apodal attention to the need of
providing for the manning of the ships. Se
rious trouble threatens us If we cannot do bet
ter then we are now doing as regards securing
the services of s sufficient number of the high
est type ef ssllormen, of sea mechanic!, ft Is
no more possible to Improvise a crew than It
is possible to Improvise s warship. To build
the finest ship, with the deadliest battery, sod
to send it afloat with a raw crew, no matter
how brave they were individually, would be
to Insure disaster if a foe of average capacity
were encountered. Neither ships nor men can
be Improvised when war has begun.
We need a thousand additional officers In
order to properly man the ships now provided
for and under construction. The classes at the
naval school at Annapolis should be greatly
enlarged. At the same time that we thus add
the officers where we need them, we should
facilitate the retirement of those at the head of
the list whose usefulness has become impaired.
Promotion must be fostered if the service Is to
be kept efficient.
There Is not a cloud on the horizon at pres
ent. There seems not the slightest chance of
trouble with a foreign power. We most ear
nestly hope that this state of things may con
tinue; and the way to insure Its continuance
is to provide for a thoroughly efficient navy.
The refusal to maintain such a navy would
invite trouble, and if trouble came would In
sure disaster. Fatuous self-complacency of
vanity, or short-sightedness in refusing to pre
pare for danger, is both foolish and ultfmfl
in such a nation as ours; and past experleheA
has shown that such fatnity in refusing to rec
ognize or prepare for any crisis iu advance la
usually succeeded by a mad panic of hysterical
fear once the crisis has actually arrived.
Rural Free Delivery a Success.
The striking increase in the revenues of the
postoffice department shows clearly the pros
perlty of our people aud the increasing activ
ity of the business of the country.
The receipts of the postoffice department for
the fiscal year ending June 30 lust araovoted to
$121,848,047.26, an Increase of $10,216,853.87 over
the preceding year, the largest increase known
In the history of the postal service. The mag
nitude of this increase will best appear from
the fact that the entire postal receipts for
the year 1860 amounted to but $8,518,067.
Rural free delivery service is no longer in
the experimental stage; it has become a fixed
policy. The results following I's introduction
have fully Justified the Congress in the large
appropriations made for its establishment nnd
extension. The average yearly Increase in post
office receipts in the rural districts of the
country is about two per cent. We are now
able, by actual resulta, to show that where
rural free delivery service has been established
to such an extent us to enable us to make
comparisons the yearly increase has been up
ward of ten per cent.
on rsov. l, 1902. li.GoO rural free delivery
routea had been established and were in opera
tion, covering about *«e-third of the territory
of the United State* available for rural free
delivery service. There are now awaiting the
action of the department petitions and appli
cations for the establishment of 10,748 addi
tional routes. This shows conclusively the want
which the establishment of the service baa
met and the need of further extending It as
rapidly as possible. It is justified both by
the financial results and by the practical bene
fit* to our rural population; it brings the meu
who live on the soil into close relations with
the active busineas world; it keeps the farmer
in daily touch with the markets; it is a po
tential educational force; it euhances thd value
of farm property, makes farm life far pleas
anter and less Isolated, and will do much to
check the undesirable current from country to
city.
It is to be hoped that the Congress will make
liberal appropriations for the continuance of
the service already established and for ltm
further extension.
Need of Legislation for Alaska.
I especially urge upon the Congress the need
of wise legislation for Alaska. It is not to
our credit as a nation that Alaska, which
has been ours for thirty-five years, should still
have as poor a system of law* ns is the case.
Alaska needs a good land law and such pro
visions for homesteads and pre-emptions as will
encourage permanent settlement. We should
shape legislation with a view not to the ex
ploiting and abandoning of the territory, buh
to the building up of homes thereiu. The land
laws should be liberal iu type, so as to hold
out Inducements to the actual settler whom
we most desire to see take possession of the
country. The forests of Alaska should bo pro
tected, and, as a secondary but still Impor
tant matter, the game also, and at the same
time it Is Imperative that .the settlers should
he allowed to cut timber, under proper regu
lations, for their own use. Alaska should
have a delegate In the Congress. It would
be well if a congressional committee could
visit Alaska and investigate Its needs on tbo
ground.
The Indian Problem.
In dealing with the Indians our aim should
be their ultimate absorption into the body of
our people. But in many cases this absorption
must and should be very slow. The first and
most Important step toward the absorption of
the Indian is to tench him to earn his living;
yet it is cot necessarily to be assumed that
in each community all Indluns must becom©
either tillers of the soil or stock raisers. Their
iudustrles may properly be diversified, and tboso
who show special desire or adaptability for
industrial or even commercial pursuita should
be encouraged so far as practicable to follow
out each his own bent.
Scientific Aid to Farmers.
In do department of governmental work In
recent yeais has there been greater success
than ia that of giving scientific aid to the
farming population, • thereby showing them how
moat efficiently to help themselves. There is
no need of insisting upon Its importance, for
the welfare of the farmer ia fundamentally
necessary to the welfure of the republic as a
whole. In addition to such work as quaran
tine against animal and vegetable plagues, and
warring against them when here introduced,
much efficient help has been rendered to tho
farmer Ly the Introduction of new plants spe
cially fitted for cultivation under the peculiar
conditions existing in different portions of tha
country. In the Southwest the possibility of
re-grussing overstocked range lands has been
demonstrated; in the North many new forage
crops have been Introduced, while in the East
it has been shown that some of our choicest
fruits can be stored ami shipped in such ft
way as to fiud a profitable market abroad.
Needs of Washington.
The District of Columbia is the only part
of our territory in which the national govern
ment exercises local or municipal functions,
and where in consequence the government haa
a free hand in reference to certain types of
social and economic legislation which must bo
essentially local or municipal in their charac
ter. The government should see to it, for in
stance, that the hygienic and sanitary legis
lation affecting Washington is of u high char
acter. The city should be a model In every
respect for all the cities of the country. More
over, while Washington Is not a great lndua
triul city, there Is some industrialism bare,
and our labor legislation, while it would not
be important In itself, might be made a model
for the rest of the nation. We should pass,
for instance, a wise employer’a-liabllity act for
the District of Columbia, and we need such an
act In our navy-yards. Railroad companies in
the district ought to be required by law to
block their frogs.
Protection for Railway Men.
The safety-appliance law, for tho better pro
tection of the lives and limbs of railway em
ployes. which was passed in 1S93, went into
fuli effect Aug. 1. 19J1. It has resulted In
averting thousands of casualties. Experlenco
shows, however, the necessity of additional leg
islation to perfect this law. A bill to pro
vide for this passed the Senate at the last
session. It is to be hoped that some such
measure may now bo enacted into law.
Gratifying progress has been made during
the year in the extension of the merit system
of making appolntMieuts In the government serv
ice. It is much to be desired that our con
sular system be established by law on a basis
providing for appointment and promotion only
in consequence of proved fitness.
Restoration of the White House.
Through a wise provision of the Congress
at its last session the white house, which baa
become disfigured by incongruous additions aud
changes, has now been restored to what it was
planned to be by Washington. The white housa
is the property of the nation, and so far as Is
compatible with living therein It should be kept
as it originally was, for the same reasons that
we keep Mount Vernon as it originally was.
It Is n good thing to preserve such buildings
as historic monuments which keep alive our
sense of continuity with the nation's past.
The reports of the several executive depart
ments are submitted to the Congress with this
communication.
THEODORE ROUiEVHiJ.
White House, Dec. 1, 1902*
