THE PRESIDENTS
r m n nnrn
1NUHL V
JDHbL
TQUmUKERS
Recommends Legislation -on
New and Important
Subjects
INCOME - INHERITANCE TAX
He Believes Such Laws Would Curb
Growth of Fortunes to Dan
gerous Proportions
His Views on Negro Question Asks
for Currency Reform and Shipping
Bill Would Make Citizens of Japs
Many Other Important Subjects
Discussed
Washington Dec 3 President Roose
velts message to the -second session of
tho Fifty ninth congress deals with a
number of new and important subjects
Chief of which is the government prose
cution of the trusts the abuse of injunc
tions in labor troubles the negro ques
tion the preaching of class hatred
between capital and labor additional legis
lation for the control of large corpora
tions a federal Inheritance and Income
tax law and currency reform
Tho message opens with a statement
Of what tho last congress left unfinished
and of this he says
I again recommend a law prohibiting
all corporations from contributing to tho
campaign expenses of any party Such
a bill has already past one house of con
gress Let individuals contribute- as they
desire but let us prohibit in effective
fashion all corporations from making
contributions for any political purpose
directly or indirectly
Another bill which has just past one
house of tho congress and which is
frently necessary should be exacted into
aw is that conferring upon the govern
ment tho right of appeal in criminal
cases on questions of law This right
exists In many of the states it exists In
the District of Columbia by act of the
congress It is of course not proposed
that in any case a verdict for the de
fendant on the merits should be sot
aside Recently in one district where
the government had indicted certain per
sons for conspiracy In connection with
rebates tho court sustained the defend
ants demurrer while in another juris
diction an indictment for conspiracy to
obtain rebates has been sustained by
the court convictions obtained under it
and -two defendants sentenced to impris
onment Tho two cases referred to may
not bo in real conflict with each other
but it is unfortunate that there should
even be an apparent conflict At pres
ent there is no way by which the gov
ernment can cause such a conflict when
It occurs to be solved by an appoal to
a higher court and the wheels of justice
ore blocked without any real decision of
tho question I can not too strongly
Urge the passage of the bill in question
A failure to pass will result in seriously
hampering the government in its effort
to obtain justice especially against
wealthy individuals or corporations who
do wrong and may also prevent the
government from obtaining- justice for
wageworkers who are not themselves
able effectively to contest a case where
the judgment of an inferior court has
been against them 1 have specifically
In view a recent decision by a district
judge leaving railway employees with
out remedy for violation of a certain so
called labor statute It seems an absurd
ity to permit a single district judge
against what may be the judgment of
the immense majority of his colleagues
on the bench to declare a law solemnly
enacted by the congress to be uncon
stitutional and then to deny to the
government the right to have the su
preme court definitely decide the ques
tion
Evasion by Technicalities
In connection with this matter I would
like to call attention to the very unsat
isfactory state of our criminal law re
sulting in large part from the habt of
setting aside the judgments of inferior
courts on technicalities absolutely un
connected with the merits of the case
and where there is no attempt to show
that there has been any failure of sub
stantial justice It would be well to en
act a law providing something to the
effect that
No judgment shall be set aside or new
trial granted in any cause civil or crim
inal on the ground of misdirection of the
jury or the improper admission or re
jection of evidence or for error as to any
matter of pleading or procedure unless
In the opinion of the court to which the
application is made after an examina
tion of the entire cause it shall affirma
tively appear that the error complained
01 has resulted in a miscarriage of
Justice
t Injunctions
On the subject of the abolition of in
junctions in labor disputes he says
In my last message I suggested the en
actment of a law in connection with the
Issuance of Injunctions attention hav
ing been sharply drawn to the matter
by the demand that the right of apply
ing injunctions in labor cases should be
wholly abolished It is at least doubtful
Whether a law abolishing altogether the
ise of injunctions in such cases would
Stand the test of the courts in which
case of course the legislation would be
Ineffective Moreover 1 believe it would
be wrong altogether to prohibit the use
of injunctions It is criminal to permit
sympathy with criminals to weaken our
hands in upholding the law and if men
seek to destroy life or property by mob
violence there should be no impairment
of the power of the courts to deal with
them in the most summary and effective
way possible But so far as possible the
abuse of the power should be provided
against by some such law as I advocated
last year
In this matter of Injunctions there is
lodged in the hands of the judiciary a
necessary power which is nevertheless
subject to the possibility of grave abuse
It is a power that should be exercised
with extreme care and should be sub
fleet to the jealous scrutiny of all men
and condemnation should be meted out
as much to the judge who fails to use
It boldly when necessary as to the Judge
who uses it wantonly or oppressively
Of course a judge strong enough to be
fit for his office will enjoin any resort
to violence or intimidation especially by
conspiracy no matter what his opinion
may be of the rights of the original quar
rel There must be no hesitation in
dealing with disorder But there must
likewise be no such abuse of the in
junctive power as is implied in forbidding
laboring men to strive for their own bet
terment in peaceful and lawful ways
nor must the Injunction be used merely
to aid some big corporation in carrying
out schemes for its own aggrandizement
It must be remembered that a prelim
inary injunction in a labor case if
granted without adequate proof even
when authority can be found to support
the conclusions of law on which it is
founded may often settle the dispute
between the parties and therefore if
improperlv granted may do irreparable
wrong Yet there are many judges who
assume a matter-of-fact course granting
of a preliminary Injunction to be tho
ordinary and proper judicial disposition
of such cases and there have undoubt
edly been flagrant wrongs committed
by Judges In connection with labor dis
putes even within the last few years
altho I think much less often than in
former years Such judges by their un
wise action immensely strengthen the
hands of those w arc striving entirely
to do away with the power of injunction
and therefore such careless use of tho
Injunctive process tends to threaten its
very existence for If tho American peo
ple over become convinced that this
process In habitually abused whether in
matters affecting labor or In matters af
fecting corporations it will bo well nigh
Impossible to prevent Its abolition
The Negro Problem
The negro problem Is given considera
ble attention after calling attention to
tho fact that no section of the country
Is froo from faults andthat no section
has occasion to jeer at tho shortcomings
of any other section he turns to the sub
ject of lynchlngs and especially as ap
plied to the negro of the south He says
the greatest existing cause for mob law
Is tho perpetration by the blacks of the
crimo of rapo a crime which he terms
even worse than murder He quotes the
admonitions to the white people spoken
by Gov Candler of Georgia some years
ago and by Gov Jclks of Alabama re
cently and then says
EVery colored man should realize
that the worst enemy of his race is the
negro criminal and above all the ne
gro criminal who commits the dread
ful crime of rape and It should be felt
as In tho highest degree an offense
against the whole country and against
the colored race In particular for a
colored man to fall to help the officers
of the law In hunting down with all
possible earnestness and zeal every
such infamous offender Moreover In
my judgment the crime of rape should
always be punished with death as is
the case with murder assault with In
tent to commit rape should bo made a
capital crime at least in the discretion
of the court and provision should be
made by which the punishment may
follow Immediately upon the heels of
the offense while the trial should be
so conducted that the victim need not
be wantonly shamed while giving tes
timony and that the least possible
publicity shall be given to the details
The members of the white race on
the other hand should understand that
every lynching represents by just so
much a loosening of the bands of civ
ilization that Hhe spirit of lynching
Inevitably throws Into prominence in
the community all the foul and evil
creatures who dwell therein No man
can take part In the torture of a hu
man being without having his own
moral nature permanently lowered
Every lynching means just so much
moral deterioration in all tho children
who have any knowledge of It and
therefore just so much additional
trouble for the next generation of
Americans
Let justice be both sure and swift
but let it be justice under the law
and not the wild and crooked savagery
of a mob
Need for Negro Education
There is another matter which has
a direct bearing upon this matter of
lynching and of the brutal crime which
sometimes calls It forth and at other
times merely furnishes the excuse for
its existence It Is out of the question
for our people as a whole permanently
to rise by treading down any of their
own number Even those who them
selves for the moment profit by such
maltreatment of their fellows will in
the long run also suffer No more
shortsighted policy can be imagined
than In the fancied interest of one
class to prevent the education of an
other class The free public school the
chance for each boy or girl to get a
good elementary education lies at the
foundation of our whole political situ
ation In every community the poor
est citizens those who need the schools
most would be deprived of them if
they only received school facilities
proportionately to the taxes they paid
This is as true of one portion of our
country as of another It is as true
for the negro as for the white man
The white man if he is wise will de
cline to allow the negroes in a mass to
grow to manhood and womanhood
without education Unquestionably ed
ucation such as is obtained in our pub
lic schools does not do everything to
wards making a man a good citizen
but it does much The lowest and most
brutal criminals those for instance
who commit the crime of rape are in
the great majority men who have had
either no education or very litle just
as they are almost invariably men who
own no property for the man who
puts money by out of his earnings
like the man who acquires education
Is usually lifted above mere brutal
criminality Of course the best type
of education for the colored man ta
ken as a whole is such education as
Is conferred in schools like Hampton
and Tuskegee where the boys and
girls the young men and young wo
men aro trained industrially as well
as in the ordinary public school
branches The graduates of these
schools turn out well In the great ma
jority of cases and hardly any of them
become criminals while what little
criminality there is never takes the
form of that brutal violence which In
vites lynch law Every graduate of
these schools and for the matter of
that every oher colored man or wo
man who leads a lifo so useful and
honorable as to win the good will and
respect of thoso whites whoso neigh
bor he or she is thereby helps the
whole colored race as it can be holpod
In no other way for next to the negro
himself tho man who can do most to
help the negro is his white neighbor
who lives near him and our steady
effort should be to better the relations
between the two Great tho the bone
fit of these schools has been to their
colored pupils and to the colored peo
ple it may well be questioned whether
the benefit has not been at least as
great to the white people among whom
these colored pupils live after thoy
graduate
Capital and Labor
On the subject of capital and labor
tho president takes the agitators of class
hatred to task and says to preach
hatred to the rich man as such
to seek to mislead and inflame to mad
ness honest men whose lives aro hard
and who have not the kind of mental
training which will permit them to ap
preciate the danger In tho doctrines
preached Is to commit a crime against
tho body politic and to be false to every
worthy principle and tradition of Amer
ican national life Continuing on this
subject he says
The plain people who think the
mechanics farmers merchants work
ers with head or hand the men to
whom American traditions are dear
who love their country and try to act
decently by their neighbors owe it to
themselves to remember that the most
damaging blow that can be given pop
ular government is to elect an un
worthv and sinister agitator on a
platform of violence and hypocrisy
Whenever such an issue is raised in
this country nothing can be gained by
flinching from it for in such case dem
ocracy is itself on trial popular self
government under republican forms is
itself on trial The triumph of the
mob is just as evil a thing as the tri
umph of the plutocracy and to have
escaped one danger avails nothing
whatever if we sucuumb to the other
In the end the honest manwhether rich
or poor who earns his own living and
tries to deal justly by his fellows has
as much to fear from the insincere
and unworthy demagog promising
much and performing nothl ng or else
performing nothing but ovil who
would set on the mob to plunder the
rich as from the crafty corruptlontst
who for his own ends would permit
the common people to be exploited by
the very wealthy If we ever let this
government fall into the hands of men
of either of these two classes we shall
show ourselves false to Americas past
Moreover the demagog and corrup
tlonlst often work hand In hand There
are at this moment wealthy reaction
aries of such obtuse morality that they
regard the public servant who prose
cutes them when they violate the law
or who seeks to make them bear their
proper share of the public burdens as
being even more objectionable than
the violent agitator whp liounds on
the mob to plunder the rich There Is
nothing to choose between such a re
actionary and such an agitator funda
mentally they arc alike In their selfish
disregard of the rights of others and
it is natural that they should join in
opposition to any movement of which
the aim Is fearlessly to do exact- and
even justice to all
Railroad Employees Hours
He asks for the passing of the bill lim
iting the number of hours of
employment of railroad employes and
classesthe measure as a very moderate
one He says the aim of all should be
to cteadilv roxltica tho numhar at hours
taaffssggssK sasaar
of labor with a3 a goal the general In
troduction of an eight hour day but In
sists that on the Isthmus of Panama tho
conditions are so different from what
they aro hero that tho Introduction of an
eight hour day on the canal would be
absurd and continues just about as ab
surd as It is so far as tho isthmus is
concerned where white labor cannot bo
employed to bother as to whether the
work is done by alien black men or alien
yellow men
Investigation of Disputes
He urges the enactment of a drastic
child labor law for the District of Co
lumbia and the territories and a foderal
Investigation of the subject of child and
female labor throughout the country
He reviews the work of the commission
appointed to investigate labor conditions
in the coal fields of Pennsylvania in 1902
and refers to the wish of the commission
that the state and federal governments
should provide the machinery for what
may be called the compulsory investiga
tion of controversies between employers
and employes when they arise After
roferrlng to the fact that a bill has aj
ready been introduced to this end he
says
Many of these strikes and lockouts
would not have occurred had the parties
to the dispute been required to appear
before an unprejudiced body representing
tho nation and face to face state the
reasons for their contention In most
Instances the dispute would doubtless be
found to be duo to a misunderstanding
by each of the others rights aggravated
by an unwillingness of either party to ac
cept as true the statements of the other
as to the justice or Injustice of the mat
ters In dispute The exercise of a ju
dicial spirit by a disinterested body
representing the federal government
such as would be provided by a commis
sion on conciliation and arbitration
would tend to create an atmosphere of
friendliness and conciliation between con
tending parties and the giving each side
an equal opportunity to present fully its
case in the presence of the other would
prevent many disputes from developing
into serious strikes or lockouts and in
other cases would enable the commis
sion to persuade the opposing parties to
conio to terms
In this age of great corporate and la
bor combinations neither employers nor
employees should be left completely at
the mercy of the stronger party to a dis
pute regardless of the righteousness of
their respective claims The proposed
measure would be In the line of securing
recognition of the fact that in many
strikes the public has Itself an interest
which cannot wisely be disregarded an
interest not merely of general conven
ience for the question of a Just and
proper public policy must also be con
sidered In all legislation of this kind
It Is well to advance cautiously testing
each step by the actual results the step
proposed can surely be safely taken for
the decisions of the commission would
not bind the parties in legal fashion and
yet would give a chance for public opin
ion to exert Its full force for the right
Control of Corporations
A considerable portion of the message
is devoted to the subject of federal con
trol of corporations in what he refers to
tho passage at the last session of the
rate meat inspection and food laws and
says that all of these have already justi
fied their enactment but recommends
the amendment of the meat inspection
law so as to put dates on the labels of
meat products and also to place the
cost of Inspection on the packers rather
than on the government Continuing on
this subject of the control of corporations
by the federal government he says
It cannot too often be repeated that ex
perience has conclusively shown the im
possibility of securing by the actions of
nearly half a hundred different state
legislatures anything but Ineffective
chaos in the way of dealing with the
great corporations which do not operate
exclusively within the limits of any one
state In some method whether by a
national license lav or in other fashion
we must exorcise and that at an early
date a far more complete control than
at present over these great corpora
tionsa control that will among other
things prevent the evils of excessive
overcapitalization and that will compel
the disclosures by each big corporation
of its stockholders and of its properties
and business whether owned directly or
thru subsidiary or affiliated corporations
This will tend to put a sop to the secur
ing of Inordinate profits by favored
Individuals at the expense whother of
the general public the stockholders or
the wageworkers Our effort should be
not so much to prevent consolidation as
such but so to supervise and control it
as to seo that it results in no harm to
the people The reactionary or ultracon
servtivo apologists for the misuse of
wealth assail the effort to secure such
control as a step toward socialism As a
matter of fact it is these reactionaries
and ultraconservatives who are them
selves most potent In Increasing socialis
tic feeling One of the most efficient
methods of averting tho consequonces of
a dangerous agitation which is SO per
cent wrong is to remedy the 0 per cent
of evil as to which the agitation is well
founded The best way to avert the very
undesirable move for the governmental
ownership of railways is to secure by
tho government on behalf of tho people
as a whole such adequate control and
regulation of the great interstate com
mon carriers as will do away with the
evils which give rise to the agitation
against them So tho proper antidote
to the dangerous and wicked agitation
against tho men of wealth as such is to
and executive
secure by proper legislation
tive action the abolition of the grave
abuses which actually do obtain in con
nection with tho business use of wealth
under our present system or rather no
system of failure to exercise any ade
quate control at all Some persons speak
as If the exercise of such governmental
control would do away with tho freedom
of individual initiative and dwarf indi
vidual effort This is not a fact It
would be a veritable calamity to fall to
put a premium upon Individual initiative
individual capacity and effort upon the
energy character and foresight which
it Is so Important to encourage in the
individual But as a matter of fact the
deadening and degrading effect of pure
socialism and especially of its extreme
form communism and the destruction of
Individual character which they would
bring about aro in part achieved by the
wholly unregulated competition which
results in a single individual or corpor
ation rising at the expense of all others
until his or Its rise effectually checks all
competition and reduces former competi
tors to a position of utter inferiority and
subordination
In enacting and enforcing such legis
lation as this congress already has to its
credit we aro working on a coherent
plan with tho steady endeavor to secure
the needed reform by the joint action of
tho moderate men the plain men who
do not wish anything hysterical or
dangerous but who do intend to deal
In resolute commonsenso fashion with
the real and great evils of the present
system Tho reactionaries ana the vio
lent extremists show symptomB of join
ing hands against us Both assert for
instance that If logical we should go
to government ownership of railroads
and the like the reactionaries because
on such an issue they think the people
would stand with them while the ex
tremists care rather to preach discontent
and agitation than to achieve solid re
sults As a matter of fact our position
is as remote from that of the bourbon
reactionary as from that of the imprac
ticable or sinister visionary Wo hold
that the government should not conduct
the business of the nation but that it
should exercise such supervision as will
Insure Its being conducted in the inter
est of the nation Our aim is so far as
may be to secure for all decent hard
working men equality of opportunity and
equality of burden
Combinations Are Necessary
The actual working of our laws has
shown that the effort to prohibit all com
bination good or bad is noxious where
it is not Ineffective Combination of
capital like combination of labor is a
necessary element of our present indus
trial system It is not possible completely
to prevent It and If It were possible
such complete prevention would do dam
age to the body pontic What we need
Is not vainly to prevent all combination
but to secure such rigorous and adequate
control and supervision of the combina
tions as to prevent their injuring the
public or existing in such form as Inev
itably to threaten injury for the mere
fact that a combination has secured
practically complete control of a neces
sary of life would under any circum
stances show that such combination was
to be presumed to be adverse to the pub
lic interest It Is unfortunate that our
present laws should forbid all combina
tions instead of sharply discriminating
between those combinations which do
evil Rebates for instance are as often
due to the pressure of big shippers as
jiZZS
was shown In the investigation of tho
Standard OH company und as has been
shown since by tho Investigation of tho
tobacco and sugar trusts as to the initi
ative of big railroads Often railroads
would like to combine for the purpose of
preventing a big shipper from maintain
ing improper advantages at the expense
of small shippers and of the general pub
lic Such a combination Instead of being
forbidden by law should be favored In
other words It should be permitted to
railroads to make agreements provided
these agreements were sanctioned by the
interstate commerce commission and
wero published With these two condi
tions complied with It Is Impossible to
see what harm such a combination could
do to tho public at large It is a public
evil to have on tho statute books a law
Incapable of full enforcement because
both judges and juries realize that its
full enforcement would destroy the busi
ness of the country for tho result is to
make decent railroad men violators of
the law against their will and to put a
premium on the behavior of the wilful
wrongdoers Such a result In turn tend
to throw tho decent man and the wilful
wrongdoer Into close association and in
the end to drag down the former to the
lattera level for the man who becomes
a lawbreaker In one way unhappily tends
to lose all respect for law and to be
willing to break It In many ways No
more scathing condemnation could be
visited upon a law than is contained In
tho words of the Interstate commerce
commission when In commenting upon
the fact that the numerous Joint traffic
associations do technically violate the
law they say The decision of the
United States supreme court in the
TransmississippI case and the Joint
Traffic association case has produced no
practical effect upon the railway opera
tions of the country Such associations
in fact exist now as they did before
these decisions and with the same gen
eral effect In justice to all parties wc
ought probably to add that it is difficult
to see how our interstate railways could
be operated with due regard to the inter
est of the shipper and the railway
without concerted action of the kind af
forded thru ttieso associations
This means that the law as construed
by the supreme court is such that the
business of the country cannot be con
ducted without breaking it I recommend
that you give careful and early consider
ation to this subject and if you find the
opinion of the interstate commerce com
mission justified that you amend the
law so as to obviato the evil disclosed
Inheritance and Income Tax
It was expected that the president
would refer in some way to his belief
In tho necessity for the curbing of enor
mous fortunes and he has done so by
recommending legislation for both in
come and an Inheritance tax He be
lieves the government should impose a
graduated inheritance tax and If possi
ble a graduated income tax He says
I am well aware that such a subject
as this needs long and careful study in
order that the people may become famil
iar with what is proposed to be done
may clearly see the necessity of proceed
ing with wisdom and self restraint and
may make up their minds just how far
they are willing to go in the matter
while only trained legislators can work
out the project in necessary detail But
I feel that in the near future our nation
al legislators should enact a law provid
ing for a graduated inheritance tax by
which a steadily increasing rate of duty
should be put upon all moneys or other
valuables coming by gift bequest or
devise to any individual or corporation
It may be well to make the tax heavy
In proportion as tho individual benefited
is remote of kin In any event in my
judgment the pro rata of the tax should
Increase very heavily with the increase
of the amount left to any one Individual
after a certain point has been reached
It is most desirable to encourage thrift
and ambition and a potent source of
thrift and ambition Is the desire on the
part of the breadwinner to leave his chil
dren well off This object can be attained
by making the tax very small on moder
ate amounts of property left because
the prime object should be to put a con
stantly increasing burden on the inher
itance of those swollen fortunes which
it is certainly of no benefit to this coun
try to perpetuate
There can be no question of the eth
ical propriety of the government thus de
termining the conditions upon which any
gift or inheritance should be received
Exactly how far the inheritance tax
would as an incident have the effect of
limiting tho transmission by devise or
gift of the enormous fortunes in question
it Is not necessary at present to discuss
It is wise that progress in this direction
should be gradual At first a permanent
national inheritance tax while it might
be more substantial than any such tax
has hitherto been need not approximate
either in amount or in the extent of thi
increase by graduation to what such s
tax should ultimately be
Inheritance Tax Constitutional
This species of tax has again and again
been imposed altho only temporarily by
the national government It was first
imposed by the act of July 6 17S7 when
the makers of the Constitution were
alive and at the head of affairs It was
a graduated tax tho small In amount
the rate was increased with tho amount
left to any Individual exceptions being
made in the case of certain close kin A
similar tax was again imposed by the
act of July 1 1S62 a minimum sum of
51000 in personal property being excepted
from taxation the tax then becoming
progressive according to the remoteness
of kin The war revenue act of Juno 13
1S98 provided for an inheritance tax on
any sum exceeding the value of 10000
the rate of tax increasing both in accord
ance with the amounts left and In ac
cordance with the legatees remoteness
of kin The supreme court has held that
the succession tax imposed at tlTe time
of the civil war was not a direct tax but
an impose of excise which was both con
stitutional and valid More recently the
court In an opinion delivered by Mr
Justice White which contained an ex
ceedingly able and elaborate discussion
of the powers of the congress to impose
death duties sustained tho constitution
ality of the inheritance tax feature of the
war revenue act of 1S9S
Is Income Tax Constitutional
In its incidents and apart from the
main purpose of raising revenue an
income tax stands on an entirely differ
ent footing from an inheritance tax be
cause it involves no question of the per
petuation of fortunes swollen to an un
healthy size The question is in its
essence a question of the proper adjust
ment of burdens to benefits As the
iaw now stands it is undoubtedly diffi
cult to devise a national income tax
which shall be constitutional But
whether it is absolutely impossible is an
other question and if possible it is most
certainly desirable The first purely in
come tax Taw was past by the congress
in 1S61 but the most important law deal
ing with the subject was that of 1S94
This the court held to be
The question is undoubtedly very In
tricate delicate and troublesome The
decision of the court was only reached
by one majority It Is tho law of the
land and of course 53 excepted as such
and loyallv obeyed by all good citizens
Nevertheless the hesitation evidently
felt by the court as a whole in coming
to a conclusion when considered to
gether with the previous decisions on
the subject may perhaps Indicate the
possibilitv of devising a constitutional
income tax law which shall substan
tially acccomplish the results aimed
at The dlfiicultv of amending the con
stitution is so great that only real ne
cessity can justify a resort thereto
Every effort should be made In dealing
with this subject as with the subject
of the proper control by the national
government over the use of corporate
wealth in interstate business to devise
legislation which without such action
shall attain the desired end but if this
fails there will ultimately be no al
ternative to a constitutional amend-
He makes a strong plea for technical
and industrial education for the nasscs
and while the federal government can do
but little in this line he asks that
schools of this character be established
Fn the District of Columbia as an ex
ample to the various states
Agricultural Interests
He appeals for every encouragement
that the congress can give to the agri
cultural Interests of the country He
points to the good that is being done by
the various forms of grange organiza
tions and says
Several factors must cooperate in the
improvement of the farmers condition
He must have the chance to be educated
in the widest possible sense in the sense
i which Keeps ever m vic m mi
relationship between the theory of edu
cation und tho facts of lifo In nil
education wo should widen our alms It
Is a good thing to produce a certain num
ber of trained rcholars anil students
but the education superintended by tho
sUUe must seek rather to produco a hun
dred good citizens than merely one
scholar and It must be turned now and
then from the class book to tho study
of tho great book of nature Itself This
Is especially true of tho farmer as has
been pointed out again and again by all
observers most competent to pass prac
tical Judgment on tho problems of our
country life All studonts now realize
that education must seek to train the
executive powers of young people and to
confer more real significance upon tho
phrase dignity of labor and to pre
pare tho pupils so that in addition to
each developing in the highest degree
his individual capacity for work they
may together help create a right public
opinion and show In many ways social
and cooperative spirit Organization has
become necessary in the business world
and it has accomplished much for good
In the world of labor It is no less neces
sary for farmers Such a movement as
the grange movement Is good in itself
and Is capable of a well nigh Infinlto fur
ther extension for good so long as It In
kept to its own legitimate business The
benefits to be derived by the association
of farmers for mutual advantage are
partly economic and partly sociological
Moreover while In the long run volun
tary effort will prove more efficacious
than government assistance while the
farmers must primarily do most for
themselves yet the government can also
do much The department of agriculture
has broken new ground In many direc
tions and year by year it finds how it
can improve its methods and develop
fresh usefulness Its constant effort is
to give the governmental assistance In
the most effective way that is thru as
sociations of farmers rather than to or
thru individual farmers It is also striv
ing to coordinate its work with the agri
cultural departments of the several
states and so far as its own work is
educational to coordinate it with the
work of other educational authorities
Agricultural education is necessarily
based upon general education but our
agricultural educational institutions are
wisely specializing themselves making
their course relate to the actual teaching
of the agricultural and kindred sciences
to young country people or young city
people who wish to live In the country
Great progress has already been made
among farmers by the creation of
farmers institutes of dairy associa
tions of breeders associations horti
cultural associations and the like A
striking example of how the govern
ment and the farmers can cooperate is
shown in connection with the menace
offered to the cotton growers of the
southern states by the advance of the
boll weevil The department is doing
all it can to organize the farmers in
the threatened districts just as it has
been doing all it can to organize them
in aid of its work to eradicate the cat
tle fever tick in the south The depart
ment can and will cooperate with all
such associations and it must have
their help If its own work Is to be
done in the most efficient style
He urges the extension of the irriga
tion and forest preservation system and
asks for an appropriation for building a
memorial theater at Arlington
Marriage and Divorce
As a means of bringing about national
regulation of marriage and divorce he
suggests a constitutional amendment and
says it is not safe to leave these ques
tions to be dealt with by he various
states Continuing on this subject he
says
When home ties are loosened when
men and women cease to regard a
worthy family life with all its duties
fully performed and all its responsi
bilities lived up to as the life best
worth living then evil days for tho
commonwealth are at hand There are
regions in our land and classes of our
population where the birth rate has
sunk below the death rate Surely it
should need no demonstration to show
that wilful sterility is from the
standpoint of tho nation from me
standpoint of the human race tho one
sin for which the penalty is national
death race death a sin for which
there is no atonement a sin which is
tho more dreadful oxactly In propor
tion as the mon and women guilty
thereof are in othor respects in char
acter and bodily and mental powers
those whom for the sake of tho
it would be well to seo the fathers
and mothers of manv healthy childron
well brourht up in homes made happy
by their presence No man no woman
can shirk the primary duties of life
whother for love of ease and pleasure
or for any other cause and retain his
or her self respect
Th president asks for the enactment
into lav of a shipping bill that will place
American interests on the seas on a par
with those of othor countrios and urges
especially that something bo done that
will establish direct steamship commu
nication witii South American ports
Currency Reform
Amendments to the present currency
laws are asked for and after showing
that present laws are inadequate because
of the wide fluctuation of interest
charges he says
The mere statement of these facts
shows that our present system is seri
ously defectlvq There Is need of a
change Unfortunately however many
of the proooscd changes must be ruled
from consideration because they are
complicated are not easy of compre
hension and tend to disturb existing
rights and interests We must also
rule out any plan which would ma
terially Impair the value of the United
States two per cent bonds now pledged
to secure circulation the issue of
which was made under conditions pe
culiarly creditable to tho treasury I
do not press any special plan Various
plans have recently been proposed by
expert committees of bankers Amnnj
the plans which are possibly feasible
and which cortainly should rocoive
your consideration Is that repeatedly
brought to your attention by tho pres
ent secretary of the treasury tho es
sential features of which have boon
approved by many prominent bankers
and business men According to this
plan national banks should be per
mitted to issue a specified proportion
of their capital in notes of a given
kind the issuo to bo taxed at so high
a rate as to drive the notes back whin
not wanted in legitimate trade This
plan would not permit the issuo of
currency to give banks additional
profits but to moot the emergency pre
sented by times of stringency
Need of Automatic System
I do not say that this is the right
system I only advance it to empha
size my belief that there Is need for
the adoption of some system which
shall be automatic and open to all
sound banks so as to avoid all pos
sibility of discrimination and favorit
ism Such a plan would tend to pre
vent the spasms of high money and
speculation which now obtain in the
Kew York market for at present
there is too much currency at certain
seasons of the year and its accumu
lation at New York tempts bankers
to lend it at low rates for speculative
purposes whereas at other times when
the crops are bing moved there Is
urgent need for a large but temporary
increase in the cum ncy supply It
must never bo forgotten that this
question concerns business men gen
erally quite as much as bankers es
pecially is this true of stockmen
farmers and business men In the west
for at present at certain seasons of
the year the difference in interest
rates between the east and tho west is
from six to ten per cont whereas in
Canada the corresponding difference is
but two per cent Any plan must of
course guard tho interests of west
ern and southern bankers as carefully
as it guards tho interests of New York
or Chicago bankers and must be
drawn from the standpoints of tho
farmer and the merchant no less than
from tho standpoints of the city
banker and tho country banker
The law should be amended so as to
specifically to provide that the funds de
rived from customs duties may be treat
ed by the secretary of the treasury as
he treats funds obtained under the In
ternal revenue laws There should be
a considerable Increase In bills of small
denominations Permission should be
given banks if necessary under settled
restrictions to Fetire tbeir circulation to
a larger amount than 000000 a month
He again asks for free trade with this
country for the Philippines and in the
same connection reviews the work done
by this country in the islands and says
if we have erred In the Philippines It
has been in proceeding too rapidly in
h aMW SLESSW T Z
uro of 8uI sovCJV sho urn he con
American citizenship
forred on tho citizens l Rico
Ti harbor of San Juan forto
should bo rtredeed l and jprov T vto
deral co ur
expenses of tho federal
Rico should bo oi the af
treasury Tho administration n t
faf Blco together
of Porto
Havra I and ou 4
of the Philippines an
should
Insular possessions t y
ed under ono ec or the
department or sim
preference tho
department of war
Naturalization of Japs
asiUtrfoan So iTh X
to play a constantly oent Wo
the groat ocean of the
wish as we ought to wish for a sreat
commercial development In r P1
Ings with Asia and it Yy
pcrmanenuy
question that wc should
we rree
unless
lave such development
lv and gladly extend to other nationi
the 1 measure of justice and goo J
treatment which we expect to recede
In return It Is only a very mainody
of our citizens that act badly J en
It
the federal government J power
will deal summarily with anj siicn
Whore the several states have power
I earnestly ask that thoy also denl
with such con
wisely ami promptly
duct or else this small body of wrong
the great
doers may bring shame upon
mans of their Innocent and rUiu
thinklns fellows that is upon onr
Good mann rn
nation as a whole
should be an international no less than
an Individual attribute I ask fair
treatment for the Japanese as I would
ask fair treatment for Germans or
Englishmen Frenchmen Russians m
Italians I ask it as duo to humanlt
and civilization I ask it as due to
ourselves because we must act up
rightly toward all men
I recommend to the congress that
an act be passed specifically provdlng for
the naturalization of Japanese who come
hero intending to become American cit
izens One of the great embarrassments
attending the performance of our In
ternational obligations Is the fact that
the statutes of the United States gov
ernment are entirely inadequate They
fail to give to the national government
sufficiently ample power through United
States courts and by the use of the
army and navy to protect aliens In the
rights secured to them under so emn
treaties which aro the law of the land
I therefore earnestly recommend that
the criminal and civil statutes of the
United States be so amended and added
to as to enable the president acting for
the United States government which is
responsible in our international rela
tions to enforce the rights of aliens un
der treaties Even as the law npw ia
something can be done by the federal
government toward this end and In the
matter now before me affecting tho Jap
anese everything that it is in rny power
to do will be done ard rs of the foreps
militarv and civil of the United States
which I may lawfully employ will be
so employed There should however bo
no particle of doubt as to the power of
the national government completely to
perform nnd enforce its own obligations
to other nations The mob of a single
city may at any time perform acts of
lawless violence against some class of
foreigners which would plunge us Into
war The city by itself would be power
less to make defense against the for
eign power thus assaulted and if inde
pendent of this government it would
never venture to perform or permit the
performance of the acts complained of
The entire power and tho whole duty to
protect the offending city or the offend
ing community lies In the hands of the
United States government It is un
thinkable that we should continue a pol
icy under which a given locality may be
allowed to commit a crime against a
friendly nation and the United States
government limited not to preventing
the commission of the crime but in tho
last resort to defending the people who
have committed it against the conse
quences of their own wrongdoing
Cuban Intervention
The rebellion in Cuba and tho inci
dents leading up to the establishment of
the provisional government is reviewed
and the president says
When tho election has been held and
the new government Inaugurated In
peaceful and orderly fashion of the provi
sional government will come to an end
take this opportunity of expressing
upon behalf of the American people
with all possible solemnity our most
earnest hope that the people of Cuba
will realize the imperative need of pre
serving justice and keeping order in the
island The United States wishes noth
ing of Cuba except that it shall prosper
morally anil materially and wishes noth
ing of the Cubans save that they shall
be able to preserve order among them
selves and therefore to preserve their
independence If the elections become a
farce and if the Insurrectionary habit
becomes confirmed in the island it is ab
solutely out of the question that tho
island should continue independent and
the United States which has assumed
the sporsorship before the civilized world
for Cubas career as a nation would
again have to intervene and to see that
the government was managed In such
orderly fashion as to secure the safety
of life and property The path to be
trodden by those who exercise self-government
is always hard and we should
have every charity and patience with the
Cubans as they tread this difficult parth
I have the utmost sympathy with and
regard for them but I most earnestly
adjure them solemnly to weigh their re
sponsibilities and to see that when their
new government is started it shall run
smoothly and with freedom from fla
grant denial of right on the one hand
and from insurrectionary disturbances on
the other
Considerable space Is devoted to the
international conference of American re
publics and the visit of Secretary Root
to South America and points to the fact
that our efforts in behalf of the nations
of that country are appreciated by them
On the subject of the Panama canal he
promises a special message in the near
future
The Army and Navy
The message closes with a plea for
the maintenance of the navy at its pres
ent standard to do which he says would
mean the building of one battleship each
year Of the present efficiency of the
army and navy he says
The readiness and efficiency of both tho
army and navy in dealing with the re
cent sudden crisis in Cuba Illustrates
afresh their value to the nation This
readiness and efficiency would have been
very much less had It not been for tho
existence of the general staff In the armv
and the general board in the navy both
are essential to the proper development
and use of our military forces afloat and
ashore The troops that were sent to
Cuba were handled flawlessly It was
the swiftest mobilization and dispatch of
troops over sea ever accomplished bv
our government The expedition landed
completely equipped and ready for im
mediate service several of its organisa
tions hardly remaining in Havana over
night before splitting up into detach
ments and going to their several posts
It was a fine demonstration of the valor
and efficiency or the general staff Sim
ilarly it was owing in large part to tho
general board that the
navy was able
at the outset to meet the Cuban crisis
with such instant efficiencv ship after
ship appearing on the shortest notice at
any threatened point while the marina
corps in particular performed ndlspens
able service The
army and
navy war
colleges are of
incalculable value to the
two services and they cooperate with
SortanSe1 mCreasine efficiency and lm-
pTie coSress has most wisely provided
for a national board for the
promotion
of rifle
practise Excellent result have
already come from this law but it does
Ur RIar
is so small that In anv srrent ay
should have to trust mainly to vol
unteers and in such event these voln
teers should already know how to shoJt7
for If a soldier has the ff htlnn S
and ability to take S
care of hlmse
the open his efficiency on the fine of
battle is almost directly
proportionate to
excCilce m marksmanship W short
establish shooting galleries in all the
large public and military schools shouli
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