PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Document Deals with Questions of Vast 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 tatlves; We still continue In a period o' 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 wdnnowed 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 ia 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 l>e great among the nations. We may either fall greatly or succeed greatly; but we cannot avoid the endeavor from which either great failure or great success must come. Even 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 Is due to no sudden or accidental causes, but to the play of the economic forces In this country for over a century; to our laws, our sustained and continuous policies: above all, to the high individ ual average of our citizenship. Great fortunes have beea wort by those who have taken the lead In this phenomenal Industrial development, and most of these fortunes have been won not by doing evil, but as 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 furtunas 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 off than they have ever been before. The Insurance companies, which are prac tically mutual beneflt 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 the 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 thut we should endeavor to cut out this evil, but let us keep a due sense of proportion; let us not In Axing our gaze upon the lesser evil forget the 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 fail In our duty if we did not try to remedy the evils, but we shall succeed only if we proceed patiently, with practical common sense as well a* resolution, separating tiie good from the bad and holding on to the former while endeavoring to get rid of the latter. National Action to Control Trust*. In my message to the present Congress at its first session I discussed at length the question of the regulation of those big corporations commonly doing an 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 is 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 such a way as to prevent the misuse of these powers. Corporations, and rape daily combinations of corporations, should he managed under public regula tion. Kxperience has shown that under our system of government the necessary supervision cannot he obtained by state action. It must therefore be 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 nothiug of good In the way of regulating and supervising these corporations until we Hx 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. alone 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 and 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 overtender 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 lcadi r.-shlp of the international Industrial world, rot 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 means delay In achieving the possible, exactly ns, on ihe 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 tiuth 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 lias 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 la*- would be a necessary and proper ex ercise of congressional authority to the end that such evils should be eradicated. Evil* 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. I earnestly recommend this subject to 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 finally 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. proposition advocated has been the reduction of the tariff as a means of reaching the evils of the trusts which fall within the category I have describ ed. Not merely 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 evil*. Many of the 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 "hange interfered with the general pros perity of the country. The only relation of the tariff to big corporations as a whole i« that the tariff make* manufac lures profitable, and the tariff remedy proposed would be in effect simply to make manufactures unprofitable. To re move the tariff a* a punitive measure di rected against trusts would inevitably re sult In ruin to the weaker competitors who are 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 whlrh would affect unfavorably all do iiiestic 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 be the prime economic need of this country. This stability should not be losslllsatlon. The country has aequleaced 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 tn 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 Inconveniences and Inequalities in some schedules than to upset business by too quick an«l too radical changes. It 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 I nquestlonably these business Interests will best be served If together with fixity of principle as regards the tariff we combine a system which will permit us from time to time to make the neces sary reupptlcallon of the principle to the shifting national needs. We must take scrupulous care that the reappllcatkm 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 hue paralysis in the business energies of the community. The tlrst considera tion in making these changes would of course, be to preserve the principle which underlies our whole tariff system—that is ihe 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 duty to more Ikon cover the difference between the la bor cost here umj abroad. The well-be ing of the wage-worker, like the well being uf the tiller of the soil, should be treated as an essential in shaping our whole economic pulley. There must never be any change which wiil 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 producers on the one hand, and on the other to secure in practical shape the lowering of duties when they are no tonger 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 applleatlon 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 tile 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 repoinmend 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 eases in which the tariff can pro duce r« 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 works 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 I 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 rateg 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 lie 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 the business interests ! of the 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 the use of such instrumentalities as will automatically supply every legitimate demand of pro ductive industries and of commerce, not only in the amount, but in the character I of circulation; and of making all kinds 1 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 ttie unscrupulous man. whether employer or * mploye, 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. Kxactly as business men find they must often work through corporations, and as I it is a constant tendency of these cor porations to grow huger, 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 tiie 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 tieen accomplished through both corporations and unions. Bach must re frain from arbitrary or tyrannous Inter ference with the rights of others. Organ ized capital and organized labor alike should remember tiiat 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. Bach should remember that in addition to power. It must strive after the realization of healthy, lofty and generous ideals. Kvery employed, every wage worker, must be guaranteed his liberty and his right 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 art of our economic system. It is. from our own standpoint, a short sighted and mischievous policy to fail to recognize tills need. Moreover, it 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 tiie North, should make all our sis ter nations of the American continent feel that whenever they will permit it we desire to show ourseh-es 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 power*; 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 The 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 i^a01ir,.-.O“"truy ^at ‘he I’nlted States anil Mexico should have been the first to use the 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 sister republic. It Is earnestlv to be hop ed that this first case will serve as a precedent for others, tn which not only the I nited States, but foreign nation's 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 oare rul 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 sure her assent to our building the canal. This work should be carried out as a continuing policy without regard to • hunge 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 he 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 trnplcar 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 Cnlted 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. racmc 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 11s 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 laid promptly proi ceded 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, g. g. Nero, for the purpose of discovering c practicable route for a trnns-Paciflc 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 soundings and to consent to the landing urtd lhy*ttjr of >« ruble, subject tft tivny alterations or additions thereto Impoted by the Congress. This was deemed prop er, especially as It Whs clear that a eabtlo connection if some kind with China, n foreign country, was a [>urt of the corw pany’a plan. These concltlons prescribed. among other things. maximum rate for com mercial messages and that the company should construct' r*> line from the Philip pine islands to China, there being at present, as is well known, a British llnX1 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 las tween our Pacific coast awl 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 »he 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 Moron, hut with the late insurrectionary Filipinos the war hU3 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, hut 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; but 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 or 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 expert. Tot 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 tor civil government; and similar credit belongs to the civil authorities for the way ia which they have planted the seeds of self-gov ernment In the ground thus msde ready for them. The courage, the unflinching endurance, the high soldierly efficiency, and the general kind-heartedness and humanity of our troops have been strik ingly manifested. There now remain only some 15,(KM) 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 Anally these efforts 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-civillzed 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 flelent work which has been done is well-nigh Incalculable. Praise for Friendly Filipinos. Taking the work of Hip army and the civil authorities together. It may be ques tioned whether anywheie 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 joimd with our rep resentatives to wtui with hearty good will for the welfare of the Islands. National Guard Reorganization. The measure providing for the reor ganization of (he militia system and for securing the highest eflh tency In the na tional guard, which has already passed the House, should receive piompt 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 1'nited 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 t'ongreag in recent years than the Inauguration of the system of nationally aided Irrigation for the arid regions of the far Weat. A food beginning therein hint been made. Now that rbta policy of national Irrigation baa been adopted, the need* of thorough and •<*! entitle forest protection will cron more rap Idly than ever throughout the public-land atatea. fto far aa they are available for agriculture, and to whatever extent they may be reclaimed under the national irrigation law. tbe remain ing public lands should t*e held rigidly for the home builder, tbe settler who Uvea on hl« land, and for no one else. lu their actual uae the desert-land law. the timber and atone law. and the com mutation clause of tbe home, stead law have been so perverted from the In tention with which they were enacted aa to permit tba acquisition of large areas of the public domain for othera than actual settle re and tbe consequent prevention of settlement. The sound and steady development of the West depends upon tbe building up of homes therein. Much of our prosperity aa a nation ha* been due to tbe operation of the homestead law. On tbe other band, we should recognize the fact lhat 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 hla brother, tbe homesteader, is allowed to uae of arable land. One hundred and sixty acres of fairly rich and well watered toll, nr a much smaller amount of Irrigated land, may keep a family In plenty, whereas no one could get a living from 160 acres of d**y pasture land capable of supporting at the outside ouly one head of cattlo to every ten acres. In the past great tracts of the public domain have l*een fenced In by persona having no title thereto. In direct defiance of the law forbidding the maintenance or construction of any such unlawful inelosvre of public land. F'or various reasons there has been little Interference with such Inelosure* In the past, but ample notice has now been given the trespasser*, ami all the resources At the comma ml of the government will hereafter be used to put a atop 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 nix lor the Immediate com mmol of the admiral of the navy. Constantly Increasing attention la being paid to the gunnery of the navy, but It la yet for from what It should be. I earnestly urge that the Im re a tie naked for by the Secretary of the Navy in the appropriation for Improv ing tho iiitnkfttnausblp be granted. In battle the only abuth that count are the shots that hit. It la necessary to provide ample funds for practice with the great guns in time of peact*. These funds must provide not only for the purchase of projectile**, but for allowances for prize* to encourage the gun crews, and «»k|m» dally the gun pointers, and for perfecting an intelligent system under which uK-no it is possible to get gu«»d practice. There should bo no halt In the work of build ing up the navy, providing every year addi tional lighting craft. We arc H very rich coun try. vast In extent of territory and great in populutlmi; a country, moreover, which baa an army diminutive Indeed when compared with that of uny other first clans power. We have deliberately made our own certain foreign poli cies which demand the possession of a first class uuvy. The tathmlnn canal will greatly Increase tbe efficiency of our navy If tho navy la of stifflrieut size; but If we have an Inade quate navy, then the building of the canal would be merely giviug a hostage to uny power H of gftperlof strength The Monroe decffffcu •f should' bo tfen *d m the curdlnnl' feature of American foreign policy; but It would be »or»o •ban Idle to aster* It unless we Intended to fwk It un. and It eon be backed up only by a thoroughly good oawy. A g<*,d navy Is not a ja-ovoestlye of war. I* la tbe rarest guaranty of phaea. More Sailors Called For. II calf your special attention to the need of providing for the wanning of the ships. Se rious tr affile threatens us If we cannot do bet ter than we are now doing as regards securing the asrvi eg of a sufficient number of the high est type of aallormen. of aeu mocha tiles. It 1* no more possible to improvlae a i rear than It is poKsttde to Improvise a warship. To hulM the flueBt ship, with the deadliest battery, and to send It atloat with a raw crew, no matter how brave they were Individually, would bo to Insure disaster If a foe of ayerage capacity were meat]ntereil. Neither ships nor men can be improvleed when war hai begun. We need a thousand additional offieera In order to properly man the sbl|» now provided for and under construction. Tbe classes at the naval school at Annapolis should tie 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 I* to lie kept efficient. There la not a cloud on the horizon at pres ent. There seems not the slightest chance of trouble with a foreign |w>wer. We moat ear uesllv lio|s- tlint this state of things may am. tluue; and the way U> Insure Its continuance is to provide for a thoroughly efficient navy. The refusal to malutaln such a navy would Invite trouble, and If trouble came would In sure disaster. Fatuous self-complacency or vanity, or short sighleilncss In refusing to pre pare for danger, Is both foolish and wtekeil In such a nation as onm, and psst experience has shown that such fatuity In refusing to rec ognize or prepare for any crisis in advance In usually succeeded by a mad panic of hysterical fear once the crisis has actually arrived. Rural Free Delivery a Success. The »lliking iociviBe in tbe itfponei of the postoffice department shows clearly tbe pros perity of our poop]** snd tbe increasing activ ity of the business of the country. The receipt! of the post office department for the lineal year ending June 30 last amounted to S121.848.047.26, au inn ease of $IO,210,8£3.87 over the preceding year, the largest increase known in the history of tbe postal service. The mag nitude of this increase will best apiwar from the fact that the entire postal receipts for the year 1860 amounted to but $8,£18,067. Kural free delivery aernc* is no longer in the experimental stage; ft has become a fixed policy. 'Hie results following Its Introduction have fully Justified the Congress In the large appropriations made for Its establishment and extension. The average yearly increase iu post office receipts In the rural districts of the country la about two |**r cent. We are now able, by actual results, to show that whom rural free delivery service has beeu established to such an extent as to enable us to maka comparisons the yearly lucreaae has been up ward of ten per cent. On Nov 1. 1902. 11,650 rural free delivery mutes had been established and were In opera tion. covering about one-third of the territory of the Totted States available for rural frwa delivery aervice. There are now awaiting the action of the department Mentions and appli cations for the estatdlahment of 10,746 addi tional routes. This shows conclusively the waufc which the establishment of the service has met and the ueed of further extending It an rapidly as possible. It la justified both by the financial results snd by the practical bene fits to our rural population; It brings the men who live on the soil Into close relationa with the active business world; It keeps the farmer In dally tou«-b with the markets; It la a po tential educational fo.ce; It enhances the 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 la to be hoped that the Congress will make liberal appropriations for the continuance of the service already established aud for lla 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 laws as la the case. Alaska needs a good land law and such pro visions for homesteads and preemptions as will encourage permanent settlement. Wo should shape legislation with a view not to the ex ploiting snd abandoning of the territory, but to the building up of homes therein. The land laws should be liberal In type, ao aa to hold out Inducements to the actual settler whom vve most desire to see take possession of the country. The forests of Alaska should be 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 s congressional commit tea could visit Alaska aud investigate Its needs on the ground. The Indian Problem. In dealing with the Indians our aim should be their ultimate absorption Into the body of our people. Hut lu many cases this absorption must and should he very slow. The first and most Important step toward the absorption of the Indian is to teach htm to earn hla living; yet It Is not necessarily to be assumed that In esch community all ludlaus must become either tillers of the soil or stock raisers. Their Industries may properly ha diversified, aud those who show special desire or adaptability for industrial or even commercial pursuits should be encouraged so far as practicable to follow out each hla own bent. Scientific Aid to Farmoro. In no department of governmental work In recent years hits there bsen greater success than in that of giving scientific aid to the farming population, thereby showing them how most efficiently to help themselves. There Is no ue*d of insisting upon lta Importance, for the welfare of the farmer to fundamentally u*cesaary to the welfare of the republic aa s whole. In addition to such work aa quaran tine against animal aud vegetable plagues, snd warring against them when here Introduced. rnu< h efB'-tent help bss been rvudered to the farmer by the Introduction of new plants spe cially fitted for cultivation under the peculiar conditions existing lu different portions of the country. lu th*- Southwest the possibility of re grassing overstocked range lands has been detnoustrated; 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 and shipped In auch a. way as to find a profitable market abroad. Needs of Washington. The District of Columbia is the only park of our territory in which the national govern ment exercises local or municipal functions, snd where Id consequence the government has a free hand In reference to certain typea of social and economic legislation which must b# esscDtlslly lo«-ul 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 a high char acter. The city should b« a model in every, respect, for all the cities of the country. More over. while Washington is not a great indna trlnl city, there is some industrialism here, 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 paas, for Instance, a wise employer■ liability act for the District of ('olumhla, and we need auch an act in our navy-yard*. Railroad companies In the district ought to be required by law to block their frogs. Protection for Railway Men. The safety appliance Inn. for the better pro lection of the lives mil llmlia of railway em ployes, which »«i passed In 18*3, went Into lull effect An*. 1. 1901. it hie resulted la avertlug thousands of casualties. Experience shows, however, the necessity of additional leg lalotlon to perfect thin luiv. A bill to pro vide for thin |>useed the Senate at the laat session, It la to be hoped that noma auch measure may now be enacted Into law. Gratifying progress haa been made during the year In the extension of the merit ayateui of making appointments In the government aerv lee. II la uioeh to lie desired that our colt* aular system lie established bv law on a bust, providing for appointment anil promotion only In consequence of proved Illness. Restoration of the White House. Through a wise provision of the Congress al Ha last session the while house, which las become disfigured by Incongruous additions snd changes, has now been restored to what u was planned to be by Washington. The white house is the property of the nation, ami „„ far na ^ eompalltue 1.111, living (herein It should he kept n« it originally was, for Iba same reasons that we keep Mount Vernon ns It originally wa. is i'i.? * 1 ns t0 Pr,'»'‘rvo such building* ns historic monuments which keep alive our sense „f continuity with the nation's pal' The teporls of the several executive deport rommunlcat*«B.m *‘*