Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, December 06, 1905, Page 6, Image 6
TIIE OMAHA DAILY BEE: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1903. 'A THJ2J people of th country eontlnu to enjoy great prosperity. Undoubtedly ther will be ebb and flow of uch pmpscrhy, ' and ' thin ebh and flow will bo felt morn or less by all members of the community, both by the deserving and the undeserving. A1M0M th wrath of the Lord the wlidom of uan cannot avail; tit times of flood or drouth human ingenuity can but partially repair the disaster. A general failure of crop would hurt all of u. Again. If tho folly of man mam the general well-being, then those who are Innocent of the folly will have to pay Part of the penalty In curred br tuoae who are guilty of the folly. A panlo browsjht on by the speculative folly of a part of tho business community would hurt the whole business community. , But such stoppage, of welfare, though It might be aevere, would not be lasting: In the Ion run tho one vital factor iu tne perma nent prosperity of the country Is the high Individual character of the average Amcrt , can worker, the average American citizen, no matter whether his work be mental or manual, whether he be farmer ,or wage worker, business man or professional man. ' - "In our Industrial and social system the Interest of all men are eo closely Inter twined that In the Immense majority of cases- a straight dealing man who by his efficiency, by Ills Ingenuity and Industry, benefits nlmself ho must also benellt oth ers. Normally tne man of great produc tive capacity who become rich by guiding the labor of many other men doe so By enabling them to produc raor than they could produc wltnout his guidance; and Doth he and they share In the benellt, which come auto t th publlo tlarge. ' 1 h superficial fact that the sharing may o unequal must never blind u to the underlying fact that there 1 thl haring, and too th benefit come In som degree to each man concerned. Normally the wage-worker, th man of small mean, and th average consumer, a well a th aver age producer, ara all alike helped by mak ing condition such that the man of excep tional business ability receive an excep tional reward for hi ability. Something can be done by legislation to help the gen eral prosperity; but no surh help of a per manently beueflclal character can be given ' to the lea able end less fortunate, aave a .the results of a policy which shall In ure to th advantage of all Industrious and efficient people who act decently; and thl is only another way of saying' that any benefit which comes ' to the lea able and ies foitunate must of necessity com even more to th more able and more fortunate, if, therefore, the less fortunate man 'la moved by envy of hi more' fortunate irotlier to alrlk at th condition under which they have both, though unequally, (prospered, th result will assuredly be that while damage may come to the one struck at. It will visit with an even heavier load the on, who strike the blow. . Taken a' a whole, i w must all go up or go down together. r ' Corpora tloas. ' "ret, while not , merely, admitting, but Insisting upon this. It Is also true that where there la no governmental restraint or supervision some of the exceptional men use their energies not In ways- that are for the common , good, but In way which tell against this common good. Th for tunes amassed through oorporat organisa tion are now so large, and vest such power in those that wield them, a to -make it a mutter of necessity to give to the sovereign that Is, to the government, which repre sents the people as a whole some effective lower of supervision over their corporate 'use. In order to insure a healthy, social and industrial life, every big corporation should be held responsible by, and be ac countable to, some sovereign strong enough to control it conduct.? I am In no sense hostile to corporation.. This is an age of combination, and any effort to prevent nil combination will be not only useless, hut In th end viciou, because of the con tempt for law which th failure to enforce law Inevitably produces. We should, more over, recognize in cordial and ample fash ion the immense good effected by corporate .fancies In a country such as ours, and (he wealth of intellect, energy and fidelity devoted to their service.' and therefore formally to the service of the public, by their office and. director." The corpora tion , ha. com to stay. Just as the trad union; ha come to stay. aoh can do and has don great good.' Each should he fa vored, so long a it doe good. But each should be sharply checked where It act ' against law and Justice., "Bo long as the finances of the nation are kept upon an honest . basis no other question of internal economy with which the con cress has the power to 'deal begins 10 approach- In importance the matter of endeavoring to secure proper Industrial conditions under which the individuals and t specially the great corporations doing an Interstate business are -to act. The makers . of our national constitution provided espe cially that the regulation of interstate commerce should come within the sphere of the general government. The argu ments In favor of tholr taking thl stand . were even then overwhelming. But they are far- stronger today, in view of the enor- mous development of great business agen cies, 1 usually corporate in form. Experi ence ha shown conclusively that it ia use less to try to get any adequate regulation 'und supervision, these greet corporations by state action. Buch regulation and super vision can only be effectively, exercised by a sovereign whose Jurisdiction is coexten sive with the field of. work of the corporations-thai, Is. by the national government. I believe that thla regulation and super vision can be obtained by the enactment of law by the congress. If this prove im possible. It will certainly be necessary ultl matoly to confer In fullest form such power upon the national government by a proper amendment. of the constitution. It would obviously be unwise to endeavor to secure such an amendment until it la certain that the result cannot be obtained under the constitution a it now la. The laws of the congress and of th several states hitherto as- paaxed upon by the courts, - have re sulted more often In showing 'that the stales have no power In the matter than that tho national government has power to that there at present exists a very un fortunate condition of thing, under which these great corporations doing an inter net business occupy the position of sub ject without a sovereign, neither any state government nor the national government having effective control over them. Our Meady aim should be by legislation, cau tiously and carefully undertaken, but reso lutely persevered in. to assert th sov ereignty of the national government by affirmative action. i. "It has been a mlafnrtuna th-t ' tlunal laws on this subject have hitherto been of a negative, or prohibitive rather T? .V mrm4tl ". "nd still more that they have in part sought to prohibit V V . enecuvely prohibited, and have In part in their prohibitions con founded what should be allow. .a should not be allowed, n . generallr use less to try to prohibit all restraint en competition, whether this restraint : be i-asonable or unreasonable; and where it la rot uselesa it 1 generally hurtful l.ave. shown that it 1. not possible ado- mm...,., - ur wie eniorceinent of any Mw of thla kind by Incessant courts. The Department of Justice has for the laetfour years devoted more attention to thw enforcement of the anti-trust legists ..m ...... .v. i)ii,uiB rise. Much has been nccompllehed; particularly marked has been me moral enect or the prosecutions- but it la increasingly evident that there will be m very Insufficient beneficial result In the ay of economic change. The successful j rosecutlon of one' device to eva'do the law Immediately develops another device to accomplish the same purpose. What la needed la not sweeping prohibition of every rrwt food as. bad. which mav i..h to restrict competition, but such adequate jHiperxiJion and regulation as wlU prevent any restriction, of competition from being tft,the detriment of the public as meil " such supervision end regulation as will preveBt other abuses in no way connected with restriction of competition. Of these abuses, perhaps tha chief, although by no tuans th only one. is overcapitalization generally itself the result 0f dUhonest promotion because of the myriad evils it .txlngs in it tratas for such overoapiiailxa- Me often means' an inflation- that Invites l.uslneaa panic.' it, always couceaja the true relation of the rront earned to the capital .' aVlually invested and it creates a burden 4f interest 'payment which is a fertile auee of improper" reduction in or limitation f -wage: -It domain the' small investor. MUKtMi thrst t,' and cocouraxv gambling f and speculation: while perhaps worst of all Is the trlrklness and dishonesty which It Implies for harm to morals Is worse than, any possible harm to material In terests, and the debauchery of politics nd business by great dishonest corporations la far worse than any actual material evil they do the public Until the national gov ernment obtain, in some manner which the wisdom of the .: congress may suggest, roper control over the big corporations engaged ln Interstate enmtnerrewthat Is. over the great majority of the big corpora tions it will be Impossible to deal ade quately with thpse evils. , ftallroad Rate Rralaloa. "t am well aware of the difficulties of the legislation that I am suggesting, snd of the need of temperate and cautious action In securing It.. I should emphatically pro test against Improperly radical or hasty action. The first thing to do la to deal with the great corporations engaged In the business of Interstate transportation. As I said In my message of December last, the Immediate and most pressing need, o far as legislation 1 concerned. Is th enactment Into law of some scheme to ecure to the agent of the government such supervision and regulation of the rates - i bT tne "roads of the country ngred In Interstate traffic a shall sum- mXly ,'nd ,"Nh Prevent the Impo se t on of unjust or unreasonable rite. It To .f!nr. U" PUU,n'r complete stop to rower" "T" "h,,p ! form. This noZ-.r. I rru!'' rates, like All a'mllar K . ? h lness world, should self r:,C'T'WLth m"tlon. caution, nnd I " ran 11 'i bUt " houM "' " eedan.rU.,effer,,VeI,r ""c1 ." mlMta "thVt J""8"10" to b. . kept In! tratlA ho!t, to som. admln- 7, cr"l by the -congress. If comwl JTent Interet Commerce CmmT to -onranlied Interstate S2I commission, such commission tlve r- 1 unequivocally admlnlstra-Iwerferln-ui beltov ,n th government . lH Wlt5 nrlv' business more then trfZZ "J. 1 do 1101 the gov wh rnr.d:rUnff anv wort which can But 'J b,e wwt ,n Private han(ls But neither do I believe In the govern when Hnhicn8r ,rom over-el.ng .nrworrk Jur. to ormr; v,dent that ' uPerviion. It Is not my prov- law ihinhd,.'?Ut1 MRCt term" of the thl .ThJn?, hOU.ld enllcted; but I call Stotta. .f con to certain ITJi-". C?A tlon w,th whlch tt Is de fmrrt.nl ie,Ll-. .In mr iudfment the most hTiportant provision which such law should petent, administrative body the power to ft! wh',Uron the case beln t-ougVt before raiW.!i i 'a' Klven rat P-ecribel by a rVn,V '"""name ana ;ust, and If it th.l r .b,! unrea'nable and unjust, then, after full Investigation of the com plaint, to prescribe th limit of rate be yond : which it shall not be. lawful to go tne maximum reasonable rate, as it is commonly called-thls decision to go into wlth,n reasonable time and to obtain from thence onward, subject to re view by the courts. It sometimes happens at present, not that a rate la too high. uuiMnai a ravored shipper is given too low a rate. In such case the commission would have the right to fix this already established minimum rate as the maxi mum; and it would need only one or two such decisions by the commlasloa to cure railroad companies of the practice of giv ing Improper minimum rates. I call yous attention to the fact that not to give the commission power to Initiate ur unginaie rates generally, but to regu late a rate already fixed or originated by the roads, . upon complaint and after In vestigation. A heavy penalty should H exacted from any-corporation which falls w respect -an order of the commission. I regard thl power to establish a maximum rate as being essential to any scheme of real reform In the matter of railway regu lation. - The first necessity Is to secure It; and unless It , Is granted to the commis sion there Is , little use. in touching the subject at all. . "Illegal transaction often oonur unH.r th forms of law.' It Has often occurred mat a shipper has-been" told by a trafflo officer- to buy a Iarg'quantlty of some commodity and then after it- ha been bought an open reduction Is made In the rate to take -effect immediately, the 'ar rangement resulting to the nroflt of 'the one snipper and the. one railroad and to the damage of all their competitor; .for it must not be forgotten that the pig: ship per are at least as much to blame as any railroad In the matter of rebates. The law should make it clear so that nobody cau fall to understand - that any kind, of commission paid on freight shipments, whether in thl fornf or lrt the form of fictitious damages, or of a concession, a free pass, reduced . passenger rate, or payment of brokerage, is illegal. It Is worth while considering- whether It would not be wise to confer on the government the right of civil action against the bene ficiary of a rebate for at least twlc the value of the rebate; this would help stop what Is really blackmail, KLevator allow ancea should be stopped, for they have now grown to such an extent that they are demoralising and are used as rebates. "The best -possible - regulation of rates would, of course, be that regulation . se cured by an honest agreement among th railroads themselves to carry out th law. Buch a general agreement would, for In stance,, at once put a stop to the efforts of sny one blavehlpper or big railroad to discriminate against or secure advantages over some rival;- and such agreement would make the railroads themselves agents for enforcing the law. .The power vested in the government to put a stop to agree ments to the detriment , of the publlo should, la my 'Judgment, be accompanied by power to permit, under specific con ditions and careful supervision, agreements clearly in the interest of the publlo. But, in my Judgment, the necessity for giving this' further power Is by no means a great as th necessity for giving the torn mlsMlon or administrative body the other power I have, enumerated above; and it mav well' be Inadvisable . to .attempt to Lvest thl particular power In -. the . cont- mission or omer Miiuiiiiiaun-ouuj ... it already possesses and is exercising what I regard as ,by far. the most Important of all the powers I recommend as Indeed' the vitally important power that, to fix a given maximum rate, which rate, after the lapse of a reasonable time, goes Into full effect, tubject to review by the court. '. ''All privet -oar line. Industrial roads, refrigerator -charge .and the Uk should be expressly put under hw supervision of the Interstate Commerce commission or some ' similar body so ar a rate and agreement practically affecting rate are concerned, t The, private car owner and the owner 'of Industrial railroads are en titled to a fair . and reasonable compenea tlon for their Investment, but neither pri vate cars nor Industrial railroads nor spur tracks should be utilised, as devices for securing preferential rates. A rebate In Icing charges Is Just as pernicious as a re bate. In any other way. No lower rate should apply on goods Imported than actually obtains on domestic goods from the American seaboard to destination ex cept in eaaea where water competition is the controlling influence. There should be publicity of 'the accounta of common'rar riers; no common carrier engaged in Inter state business should keep any books or memoranda ether than those reported pur suant to law or regulation, and these books or memoranda should ba open to the in spection of the government. - Only In' this way can violations or -evasions of the law be surely detected. ' A system of examina tion of. railroad accounts, should be pro vided similar to that now conducted Into the national banks by the back examiners; a tew nrst-claaa railroad accountants. If they had proper direction and proper au thority to inspect books and papers, could accomplish much in preventing willful vio lations of the law. It would not be neces sary for them to examine into the ac counts of any railroad unless for good rea "sons they, were directed to do so by the Interstate Commerce commission. It Is greatly to be deaired that some way. might be found by which an agreement as to transportation wltbtn a elate Intended to operate as a fraud upon the federal Inter state commerce laws could be brought under the Jurisdiction of the federal au thorities. At present It occur that large shipments of Interstate traffic are con trolled by concessions on purely state business, which of course amounts to an evasion of the , law. The , commission should, have foaei to euforo fair trat- Annual Message of President Roosevelt Important Points ment by th great trunk lines of lateral and branch lines. "I urge upon the congress th need of providing for expeditious action .by tr Interstate Commerce commission In all these matters, whether in regulating rates for transportation or for storing or for handling property , or commodities In transit. The history of the case liti gated under th present commerce act shows that Its' efficacy has been to a grent degree destroyed by the weapons of delay, almost the most formidable weapon In the bands of those whose purpose It Is to violate the law." -Safety Appliances.' - The" president again calls attention o the necessity for laws requiring the use of block signals upon railroads engaged In interstate commerce and asks for an Improvement Of the- government inspection service to enforce the same.. ' Labor Problems. Legislation Is recommended limiting the hours of continuous labor of rallron em ployes engaged In the movement snd ope ration of. trains to safeguard travel. A former recommendation Is repeated for the enactment of an employers' liability law for the District of Columbia and in our navy yards. He recommends that all the formidable group of problem connected more or less directly -with what I known as the labor question, which for th most part must be dealt with by the state and municipal authority, be taken up for the District of Columbia so as to make the city of Washington a model city as re gards parks, public playgrounds,- houses of worklngmen, education, truanoy, charities and factory laws. He opposes depriving the courts of the power to Issue Injunc tions In labor disputes as unwise, but looks more favorably upon regulating Injunction procedure by requiring the Judge to give due notice to adverse parties before grant ing the writ. He renews a former recom mendation for an Investigation by the De partment of Commerce and Labor of gen eral labor conditions and also for an In vestigation of the conditions of women In Industry with particular reference to tho disturbance woiked In domestic -and social life of the nation. - Capital and Labor. "The question of securing a healthy, self respecting and mutually sympathetic atti tude as between employer and employe, capitalist and wage worker, , is a difficult one. All phases of the labor problem prove difficult when approached. But the under lying principles, the root principles, in ac cordance ' with which the problem-must be solved are entirely' simple. We tan get Justice and right dealing only If we put as of paramount Importance the prin ciple of treating a man on his worth as a man rather than with referencei to his social position, his occupation, or tne class to which he belongs. There are w selfish and brutal men In all ranks of life. If they are capitalists their selfishness and brutality may take the form of hard In difference to suffering, greedy disregard of every moral restraint which Interfere with the accumulation of - wealth and cold blooded exploitation of the weak; or. If they are laborer, the form of laziness, of sullen envy of the' mors fortunate and of willingness to perform deeds of murder ous violence. Buch conduct 1 Just as repre hensible In one case ss In the other, and air honest and farseelng men should Join in warring agalnat H wherever It becomes manifest. Individual capitalist and indi vidual wageworker, corporation and union are alike entitled to the protection of the law, and must alike obey the law. Insurance. "Th great Insurance companies afford striking examples of corporations whose business has extended so far beyond the Jurisdiction of the states which created, them as to preclude strict .enforcement of supervision and regulation by the parent states. In my last annual message I recom mended that the congress carefully con sider whether the power- of the Bureau of Corporations cannot -constitutionally be ex tended to cover Interstate transactions in insurance.' Recent events have emphasised the Importance of an early and exhaustive consideration of ' this question, to see whether It is not possible to furnish better safeguards than the several .states have been able to furnish against corruption of the flagrant kind which has been exposed. It has been 'only too clearly shown that certain of the men at the head of these large corporations take Hut small note of th ethical distinction between honesty and dishonesty, they draw the line -only thl side of what may be called law honesty, the kind of honesty necessary In order to avoid falling into the clutches of the law. Of course the only complete remedy for this condition must be found In an aroused publlo conscience, a higher sense of ethical conduct In the community at large, and especially among business men and In th great profession of the law, and In the growth of a spirit which condemns all Uls 1 wKA.h m In .Ink . . ... ..Mi. v, m wur man, whether It takes the shape of a bribery or of blackmail. But much ' can be done by legislation which is not only drastic, but practical. There is need Of a far: stricter and more' uniform regulation of "the vast Insurance interests of this country. The United States should In this respect follow the policy of other nations by -providing adequate national - supervision of commer cial interests which are clearly national in character.- My. predecessor have repeat edly recognised that the foreign business of these companies is an Important port of our foreign commercial relations. During th administration of President Cleve land,' Harrison and McKiitley the rltate De partment exercised its influence, through diplomatic channels, to prevent unjust dis crimination by foreign countries against American Insurance companies. Those. ne gotiation illustrated the propriety of the congress recognizing the national charac ter of insurance, for In the absense of fed I eral legislation the State department could j only give expression to the wishes of the I authorities of the several states, - whose ' -tr.llov InvfTi-ctivc thrnnvh m-u - "-. v uni formity. "I repeat my previous recommendation that the congress should also consider whether the federal government has any power or owes any duty with respect to domestic transactions In Insurance of an Interstate character. That state supervision hss proved Inadequate Is generally con ceded, The burden upon insurance com panies, and therefore the policy holders, of conflicting .regulations of many states, la unquestioned, whil but llttla effective check is Imposed upon any able and un scrupulous man who desires to exploit the company In his own Interest at the expense of the policy holders and of tne public Th inability of a stats to regulate . ef fectively insurance corporation created un der the law of other states snd transacting the larger part of their business elsewhere is also clear. . As a remedy for this evil of conflicting. Ineffective and yet 'burden soma regulations there has been for many years a widespread demand for federal su pervision. The congreas has already recog iiliiul that Inters lute Imuran,- mv t . ! proper subject for federal legislation, for In creating tne Bureau of Corporations It authorized It to publish and supply useful information concerning Interstate corpora tions, 'Including corporations engaged In lnsurancs.' It la obvious that If the com pilation of statistics be the limit of the federal power it 1 wholly ineffective to regulate this form of commercial Inter course between the states, and as the In surance business has outgrows in magni tude th possibility of adequate state su pervision, the congress should carefully consider whether further, legislation can be bad. What Is said above applies with equal force to fraternal and benevolent organ isations which contract for life Insurance. Tbe Reveaaas. 'There is more need of stability than of th attempt to attain an Meal perfection in the methods of raising revenue; and the shock and strain to th business world certain to attend any serious change la these methods render such chsnge Inad visable unleaa for grave reason. It is not poaalble to lay down any general rule by which to determine th moment when the reason for will outweigh th reasons against auch a change. Much must de pend, not merely on tha needs, but oa the desire, of 1 U . popl as a wbvl lit Covered In th Stat Iorumont Just Presented to Congress needs and desires are not necessarily Iden tical. Of course, no change can be made on lines beneficial to. or -desired by. one section or one state only.' Tlyre must be something llko a general agreement among the citizens of the several atatoa, as repre sented In the congress, that the change In needed and desired la .the Interest of th people as a whole; snd there should then be a sincere. Intelligent and disin terested effort to make It In such shape as will combine, so far as possible, ( the maximum of good ti the people at large with the minimum of necessary disregard for the special Interests of localities or classes. But In time of peace the revenue must on the average, taking a scries of years together, equal the expenditures or else the revenues must be Increased. Last yesr there was a doflclt. T'nless our ex penditure can b kept within the revenue then our revenue laws must be readjusted.' economy la . Expeadttares The president goes on to ask rigid scrutiny of appropriations, endorses the recommendation ot the land commissioner for the abolishment of the office of re ceiver of public moneys In land offices, promising a saving of $l.ono,onO a year, and declares . 1 hat . a large saving can also be made In the publlo printing, yet objects to false economy, citing s an exsmple any act to cut down the nsy. ' Carreaer. In a brief paragraph a plea Is made for greater elasticity in our monetsry system. "At present," he says, "the Treasury de partment Is at Irregular recurrent Inter vals obliged In the Interest world to try to avert financial crises by providing a remedy which should be provided fey con gressional action." Baalnesa Method ta IVepartmeats. The Investigations Instituted In tha eon duct of affairs ot the executive depart ments are cited and the difficulties met with adverted to. The president contin ues: . "I recommend that congress con sider this subject with a view to provide by legislation for the transfer, distribu tion, consolidation and assignment of du ties and executive organisations, or part of organization,' and for the changes In business methods . within or between the several departments that .. will best pro mote the economy,' efficiency and high character of the government work."' Federal Eleotlons. The president 'renews the recommenda tion for the enactment of a law directed against bribery "and corruption in federal election. His reference to recent dis closures of questionable campaign contribu tions reads: .' .'. : , "In political campaigns In a country as large and populous as ours It Is Inevitable that there should be much expense of an entirely legitimate kind. This, of course, means that many .contributlonr, and some of them of large size, must be made, and, as a matter, of. fact. In any big political contest such contributions are always made to both sides. It is entirely proper both to give and receive them, unless there Is an Improper motive connected with either gift or reception. If they are extorted by any kind of pressure .or- promise, express or Implied, direct or Indirect, In the way of favor or immunity, then the giving or re ceiving becomes not- only Improper but criminal.. It will undoubtedly be difficult as a matter of practical detail to shape an act which shall guard with reasonable cer tainty against such misconduct; but if It is possible to aecare by law the full and verified publication in detail of all sums contributed to and expended by the candi dates or committees of any political parties the result eanno but be wholesome. All contributions by corporations to any. politi cal commute oo tor anv nolltlcal nurnnu should be forbidden by law; directors biiuuiu noi oe permitted to use stockholders' money for guch; purposes, and, moreover, a prohibition of, i this kind would be, as far as It want, i an effectlv method of topping the ftcvlla- aimed at In corrupt practice actsi vt onljr should both the national and htdeVeral State legislature forbid any -offlcrr of a corporation from using the inoney of th corporation In or about any, eleotibn, but They should also forbid such use- of money In connection with any legislation save by the employ Timent of counsel In public manner for dis tinctly legal services. . The Hague Conference.' . "The first conference of nations held at The Hague in ltS9, being unable to dispose of all the business Wore It. recommended the consideration and settlement of a num ber of Important question by another oonferenc to be called ubequontly and ?w narly date. These questions were the following: j. The rights and duties of . ..cuira.B. ...ine limitation, of the armed ; force on land and sea and of military j budgets. 3. The use of new type and cali- bres of military 'and naval gun. 4. The inviolability of private property at sea In time of war. 5. The bombardment of port vuutm Dy navai rorces. . "In October. 1904. at the instance of th Interparliamentary union, which, at a con ference held in .the United States and at- . By mo lawmaker of fifteen dlf- ferent nations, had reiterated the demand i "con(1 conference of nation. I Issued ) invitation, to all the power .Ignatory to I Th Hague convention to send delegate to such a conference, and suggested that ' b,,nJ"',d V The Haue- " I" not of December Id.' I9W, the United States , government communicated to the repre j sentatlves of foreign governments It belief . that the conference could be best arranged j ""r the provisions of th present Hague ' "From, alt the ' power acceptance rec',.v!d' pled In some cases with the' , condition that we should wait until the . end of the war then waging between Rus sia and Japan. -The emperor of Kuesla. Immed ately after'the treaty of peace which so happily terminated this w.rVln a note rr?hroJ04tht PrM,de"t o September 13, through Ambassador Rosen, took the Initiative in recommending that the confer ence be now called. . "This - renders It proper at this time to say something .. to the general attitude of . this government toward peace. More .m.?r. Wa', '" comln to be looked upon as in itself a lamentable and evil hi a , wanton or usele.s war. or war of mere aggresslon-ln short,, any war begun or carried on In a oonscleneelese spirit Is to be . dnm"-i dh" lu"Wy atrocious crime I " humanity. We can. however, do , nothing of permanent value for peace un .w V ,keeD vei- clearly in mind the ethical element which lies at thet root of ithe problem. Our aim Is righteousness. Peace is normally the hsndmalden of j rla-hteouanesa: but when peace and right- eouaneaa conflict, then a great and upright ' neonla Mn , - . . . r, .i ' mvmeni nesitate to follow th path which leads toward righteousness, even though that path also leads to war. Ther are person who sdvo cate twice at any price; there are others who, following a false analoav. think I because it is no longer necessarv in civil. ! laed countries for individuals te protect I their .right with a strong hand. It la there fore unnecessary for nations to be resdy iu .wiena meir ngnts. These persons would .do Irreparable harm to any nation that adopted their principles, and even as It Is they seriously hamper the cause which thty sdvocate by tending to render it ab surd In the eyes of sensible and patriotic men. There' osn be no worse foe of man kind In general, and of his own country In particular, than the demagogue of war, the man who in mere folly or to serve his own selfish ends continually rails st snd abuses o trier nations, who seeks to excite bis countrymen sgalnst foreigners on In sufficient pretexts, who excites and Inflames a perverse and aggressive nstlonal vanity and who may oa occasions wsstonly bring on conflict between his nation and some other nation. But there are demagogue of peace Just a ther are demagogues of war, and In any such movement as thla for The Hague conference It ia esaentlal not to be misled by one set of extremists sny more than, by the other. Whenever It Is possible for a nation or an Individual to work for real peace, .assuredly It Is failure of duty not so to strive; but If war Is neces sary and righteous then either the man pr the nation shrinking from It forfeits all title to slf -respect." Mara DaMrts. Th president deelar thV Monro doc trine on of the most effectlv Instruments for peace. It Is esaentlal to Its maintenance that we make It evident, that "we Co not Intend to treat It In any shape as an excuse for aggrandisement on our part at the ex pense of the republics to the south." We must also make It evident that "we do not Intend to permit the Monroe doctrine to be used by any nation on this continent as a shield to protect It from the consequences ?i .. own misdeeds against foreign na tions; and also, we must ourselves "In KOO(' '"1th try to help upward towards peace and order those of our sister repub lics which need uch help." Santo TWralaao. Referrlna tn t v. . . mingo for our help, he declares: "It Is not of the slightest consequence whether wesrant the aid needed by Ranto Domingo fh. ,nc,dent o the wise development of ine wonroe ductrlne or because we regard V .M "'nJln' wholly by Itsolf. -The imr.nt.po)nt Blv the needed aid." Me cites the negotiation of the treaty with . ,mlnlon 4-overnmcnt to help straighten u. Jr. fln"-nces pending ratification of which by the senate a temporary ar rangement has been made by which the uomlnlcan government has appointed Americans to all the important positions In th customs service to see to the honest " of the revenues, turning over 4 to the government and, putting the eauiLS-P!.r. ST1 lnto ' B8fe depository for equitable division among the creditor. Arsay ail Ky. eJT" cnnot consider the question cf our foreign policy without at the same time treating of the army and navy. We now "f Tf 1a.v"r'' "mall army indeed, one well mgn Infinitesimal when compared with th army of any other large nation. Of course tne army we do have ehould be ss nearly perfect of Its klryi and for Its also as Is possible. I do not believe that any army in the world has a better average of en listed man or a better type bf Junior of ficer; but the army should be trained to act effectively in a mass. Provision should be made by - sufficient appropriations for maneuvers of a practical kind so that the troops may learn how to take care of themselves under, actual servlc condi tion; every march, for Instance, being made with the soldier loaded exactly as he would be in an active campaign. The gen erals and colonels would thereby have op portunity of handling regiments, brigades and divisions, and the commissary and medical department would be tested In the field. Provision should be made for the exercise at least of a brigade and by preference of a division In marching and embarking at some point on our coast and disembarking at some other point and con tinuing Its march. The number of posts In which the army Is kept in time of peace should be materially diminished and the POStS that are left maH s,r-edr.rmrilnirlir Jarger. No local Interests should be al lowed to stand In the way of assembling the greater part of the troops which would at need form our field armies in station of such site as will permit the best training to be given to the personnel of all grade. Including th high officers and staff offi cers. To accomplish this end we must have not company or regimental garrisons, but brigade and division garrisons. Promotion by mere seniority can never result In a thoroughly efficient corps of officers in the higher ranks unless there accompanies It a vigorous weedlng-out process. "Our navy must, relatively to the navies of other nations, always be . of greater size than our army. We have most wisely continued for a number of years to build Up our navy, and It has now reached a fairly high standard of efficiency. This standard of -efficiency must not only ba maintained, but increased. It does not seem to me necessary, however, that the navy should at least In the Immediate future be Increased beyond the present number of units. What is now clearly nec essary Is to substitute efficient for ineffi cient units as. the latter become wornout or as It becomes apparent they are, uselas. Xaturallaatloa I .a its. "- "During the past year evidence has ac cumulated to confirm the expressions con tained In my last two annual messages as to the Importance of revising by appro priate legislation our system of naturalis ing aliens. I appointed last March a com mission to make a careful examination of our naturalization laws,' and to suggest ap propriate measures to avoid the notorious abuses resulting from the Improvident or unlawful granting of citizenship. Thl commission has submitted a report for which I hope tor' favorable action. "The distinguishing recommendation of the commission are: I "Firt-A federal bureau of naturalization! '' - iu me Department of Commerce and Iabor to supervise the ad ministration of the naturalization laws and to receive returns of naturalisations pend ing and accomDltehed. gecond-l niformlty of naturalization cer tificates, fees to be charged, and Dro cedure. cltlIenhTpMOre exact,n" lual'IcaUon for Fourth-Tho preliminary declaration of Intention to be abolished and no alien to be naturalised until at least ninety dav af.r-the .""" ot h's petition. X y rlfth Jurisdiction to naturalize aliens to be confined to Lnited States district courts and to such state courts as have lurladln tlon In civil actions In which the amount In frL,U Un'.,m,,,; ,n f-"Ie ""over 100.000 inhabitants the United States district courts to have exclusive Jurisdiction n the ??tl' " " f the a""n "-"'dents of such Criminal Laws. Attention of congress Is asked to the urgent need of action to make our crim inal law force effective. "Centuries ago " he declares, "it was especially needful to throw every safeguard around the ac cused. The danger then was lest he should be wronged by the state. The danger -now is exactly the reverse. The criminal practices of any court of the United States should run throughout the entire territorial extent of our country The delays of the criminal law, no l-as than of the civil, now amount to a very great evil." Breaches of Traat In Pablle Service. Adverting to. recent examples of be trayed trust by government officials and employes the president says: "There seems to be no statute of the United States which provides for tha punishment of a United States attorney or other officer of the government who cor ruptly agrees to wrongfully do or wrong fully refrain from doing any act when the consideration for such corrupt agree ment la other than one possessing money value. This ought to be remedied by ap propriate - legislation. Legislation should also be enacted to cover, explicitly unequivocally and beyond question! breach of trust In the shape of pre maturely divulging official secrets by an officer or employe of the United States, and to provide a suitable penalty therefor. Such officer or emploje owes the duty to. the United States to guard -carefully and not to divulge or In any manner use, pre maturely, Information which la accessible to the officer or employe by reason of hi official position. Most breaches of public trust are already covered by the" law, and this one -should be. It Is Impossible, no matter hew much care is used, to prevent the occasional appointment to the public service of a man who when tempted proves Unfaithful; but .every means should be pro vided to detect and every effort made to punish the wrongdoer. So far a In my power lie each and every uch wrongdoer hall b relentlessly hunted down; In no in stance In the past has ha been spared, in no instance of , th future shall he be pared. HI crim la a crime against every honest man in th nation, for It is a crime against the whole body politic. Tet in dwelling on such mideeds, It is un just, not to add that they ar altogether exceptional, and that on the whole the employes of the government render upright and faithful service to the people. There are exceptions, notably In one or two branches of the service; but at no time In the nation's history hss the publlo ser vice of the nation, taken as a whole, stood on a higher plan titan now, alike as re gards honesty and as regards efficiency. Pablle La a Laws. .-, - V Mil wa.. - .-n.lM . k condition of th publl viand law a Recant to the need for such changes as will fit t.ieee laws to actual present 'TO'vl'tiona. The honest disposal and rtght u of tha re maining public landa I of fundamental Importance. The Iniquitous methods by which tha monopolizing of the public lands Is being brought about under the present laws are becoming mora generaly known but the existing laws do not furnish ef fectlv remedies. The recommendations of the rubllo Lands commission are wise and should be given effect. "The creation of small Irrigated farms under the reclamation act Is nowerfnl offset to the tendency of certain other laws to foster or permit monopoly of the land. Under that act the construction of great Irrigation worka ha been proceed ing rapidly and successfully, the lands relalmed are ?Hgerly taken tip. and the prospect that the policy of national Ir rigation will accomplish all that was ex pected of It is bright. The act should be extended to Include the state of Texas. "The Reclamation Act derives much of '.ts value from the fact that It tonds to secure greatest possible number of home on the lands, and to create communities of freeholder. In part by settlement on publlo lsnd. In part by forcing the sub division of large private holdings before they can get water from government Ir rigation, works. T!ie law requires that no right to the use of water for land In private ownernhlp shall be sold for a tract exceedingly ISO ceres to any one land owner. This provision has excited active and powerful hostility, but the sue cess of the law Itself depends on the wise and firm enforcement of It. We can not afford to substitute tenants for, freeholders on the public domain. "The greater part of th remaining public lands can not be 'Irlgated. They ar at preent and will probably alway be of greater value for erasing than for any other purpose. This fact ha led to the grazing homestead of (40 acres In Nebraska' and to the proposed extension of It to other states. It Is argued that a family can not be supported on 160 acre of arid grazing land. This Is obviously true; but neither cn a family be supported on 4l acres of much of the land to which it I proposed to apply the grazing homestead. To establish universally any such arbitrary limit would, be unwise at the present time. It would probably result on the one hand In enlarging the holding of om of the great land owners, and on the other In needless suffering and failure on the part of a very considerable proportion of the bona fide settlers wha give faith to th Implied assurance of the government that such an area is sufficient. The best use of the publlo grazing lsnd require the careful examination and classification of these land In' order to give each settler land enough to support his family and no more. While this work is being done, and until the lands are settled, the govern ment should take control of the open range, under reasonable regulations suited to local needs, . following the general policy already In successful operation on th forest reserves. It is probable that tha present grazing value of the open public range Is scarcely more than half what It once ' was or what it might easily be agnln under careful regulation." The message proceeds to urge continu ance) of forest reserve work, further assist ance from the national government toward the construction and maintenance, 'of lower Mississippi levees; ask earnest considera tion of th report of the Merchant Marine commission; commends the claims of the tercentennial celebration of the settlement of Jamestown to congressional considera tion; calls attention to the excellent work of the pension bureau; . recommends na tional care for the -graves of the confeder ate dead, beginning with the graves of those who died In northern prisons. Immigration. The message goes at considerable detail Into the statistics of Immigration, repeat ing what was said in the last messag-e, that "we cannot have too much Immigration of the right sort and we should have none whatever of the wrong sort." Continuing to discuss the problem as follows: ' "In dealing with tills question It is unwise to depart from the old American tradition and to discriminate for or against any man who desire to come her and become a citizen, save on the ground of that man's fitness for citizenship. It Is Our right and duty to consider his moral and social qual ity. His standard of living should be such that he will not, by pressure of competition, lower the standard of living of our own wage-workers: for it must ever be a prime object of our legislation to keep high their standard of living. If the man' who seeks to come here is from the moral nnd social standpoint of , such, a character as to bid fair to add value to the community he should be heartily welcomed. We cannot afford to pay heed to whether he la of one creed or another, of one nation or another. We cannot afford to consider whether he is Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Qenttle; whether he Is Englishman or Irishman, Frenchman or German, Japanese. Itallun, Scandinavian. Slav or Magyar. What we should desire to find out Is the individual quality of the Individual man. In my Judgment, with this end In view, we shall have to prepare through our own agents a far more rigid Inspection In the countries from which the Immigrants come. It will be a great deal better to have" fewer im migrants, but all of tha right kind, than a great number of Immigrants, many of whom are necessarily of the wrong kind." The question of Chinese . Immigration, we are told, stands by, itself. The presi dent takes the position that we should maintain our prohibition upon Immigration of Chinese coolies, but liberalize our treatment of Chinese students, business and professional men of all kinds, encourag ing them to come here on precisely the same footing a similar people of other nations. - "As a people we have talked much of the open door In China and we expect, and quite rightly intend to insist upon, . justice being shown us by the Chinese, but wa cannot expect equity un less we do equity. We cannot ask the Chinese to do to us what we are unwilling to do to them.. Much trouble has com during the past summer from the organized boycott against American goods started In China. The main factor In producing this factor has been the resentment offered by the student and business people of China, by all the Chinese leaders against the harshness of our law toward educated Chinamen." The Civil service. "The elvll service law has been on the statute books for twenty-two years. Every president and a vast majority of heads of departments who have been In office during that period have favored a arradual extension of the merit system. The more thoroughly It principle have been under stood, the greater has been the favor with which the law has been regarded by ad ministrative officers. Any attempt to carry on the great executive departments of the government without this law would Inevitably . result in ' chaos. Th Civil Service commissioners are doing excellent work; snd their compensation Is in adequate considering the service." Copyright liri. Th president urges revision of our copy right laws. He say they ar so defective that to perfect them by further amend ment seems Impracticable and that thor ough and complete revision 1 essential to meet modern conditions. A law has been drafted by the copyright office for presen tation to congreas for which prompt con sideration is asked. Asalteratlon of Faods. A law is recommended to regulate Inter state commerce in mlabranded and adul terated food, drinks- and. drug. Action 1 also recommended to preasrv the public building at Washington' from 'defacement by th smok nuisance. Hatlaaal Park. Th state of California la commended for offering to th United State government th Yoaemtt valley and th Mariposa big trea grove, and acceptance of the gift is asked. Th wish 1 alao expressed tbat the United States may in some way secure prs aeaslon in conjunction with th Canadian government ot Niagara Fall and it sur roundings. In this connection a plea Is made for the preservation of the remaining herds of American buffalo. Congreas Is also asked to provide pensions for mem bers, of the life-saving servlcs on the same plan ss prevails in fire snd police depart ment in our larger cities. laalaaa. "During th year Just past th phase of tha Indian quM4aj k0v& feM been moat sharrlyibrouht rc publle attention I th larger legul algninrnce of the Indian" in duction Info ritleenshlp. This has mad Itself manifest not only In a great acres of litigation In which the citizen ' Indian figures as a pnrty defendant and In a more widespread disposition to levy local taxa tion upon his personality, but In a decision of the United States supreme, court, which "truck away the main prop on which has hitherto rested the government's benevolent (Tort to protect him ngalnat the evils of Intemperance. The rniitt holds. In effect, that when an Indian Iwomes. bv virtue of an allotment of land to him. a citizen of the state in which his land la situated, he passes from under federal control In such, matters as this, and the acts of the con gress prohibiting the sale or gift to him ot intoxicants become substantially Inopera- . ii is gratifying to note that the state an.! municipalities of the west which hav most at stake In the welfare of the Indian ar taking up this subject and are trying to supply, a measure at least, tha abdl. cation of Its trusteeship forced upon the rederal government.. Nevertheless, I would urgently press upon the sttentlon of th congress the question whether some mend ment of the Internal revenue laws might aot be of aid In prosecuting those malefac tors, known In the Indian country as boot leggers, who ar engaged at once In de frauding the United Hlates trnamirr of faxe and. what la far more important. n m. !.Urh.,n ,h" Tn,,h"" hy carrying liquor Illicitly Into territory still completely under federal Jurisdiction. t "Amnn the crying present needs of th Indian are more day schools situated In tho midst of their settlements, more effective Instruction in th Industrie pomued on their own farms, and a more liberal extension or the field matron service, which means the education of the Indian women In tha arts of homo making. Until th mother are well started In th right direction wa cn not reasonably expect much from th children, who are soon to form an Integral part of our American citizenship. Mora over, the excuse continually advanced by male adult Indians for refusing offer of rcnumeratlv employment at a distance from their homes Is that, they dar not leave their families too long out of sight. One effectual remedy , for this state of things Is to employ th minds nd trengthen the moral fiber of the Indian women the end. to which the work of the field matron Is especially directed. 1 trust that the congress will make Its appropria tions for Indian day schools and , field matrons as generous as may consist with pressing demands upon Its providence. Tha Philippines. Conditions In th Philippine are reviewed at some length with reference to the mis fortune plied upon th Philippines by th succession of war, the rlnder pest, the locusts, the drouth and the cholera, calling for generous treatment at the hands of our government ' In order to restore complete prosperity. "The most encouraging feature of th whole situation." declares the pres Indent, "has been the very great Interest taken by the common people in education and the great increase In the number of en rolled student In the publlo. schools. This Increase was from 300,000 to 600,000 pupils." He says further, that, "the agricultural conditions of the Islands enforce, more trongly than ever the argument In favor of reducing the tariff on the products of the Philippine Islands entering the United States. I earnestly recommend that the tariff now Imposed by the Dlngley bill upon Philippine products be entirely removed except on sugar and tobacco, and that the tariff be reduced to 26 per cent of the present rates. That after July 1, 1909, the tariff on tobacco , and sugar 'be entirely removed and free trade between the islands and the United States In the products of our country then be provided for-by law." Hawaii aad Porto Rleo.. The president expresses the opinion thst Immediate steps should be taken to fortify Hawaii. He also declares that Hawaii Is too heavily taxed, and while there are great obstacle in the way of 'building up a representative community In Hawaii, many an American- commonwealth ha been built up against odds equal to those. He advocates American citizenship for the people of Porto Rico and -eHriou Improve ments In Porto Kico to. b undertaken at the expense of our government. .' ' This ts-followed' WltB a peolni plea, for for more liberal treatment of tha question of franchise In our island twaeaslons. "In th proper desire to prevent the islands being; exploited by speculators, an error has been made in refusing to grant suffi ciently liberal terms to indue th Invest ment of American capital in th Philip pine and in Porto Rico. For Alaska the request Is made that it be' given an elective delegate and govern ment assistance. In tho construction of a railroad to the Yukon river. - - , Admission to Statehood. "I recommend that Indian Territory and Oklahoma be admitted as one state and that New Mexico and Arizona be admitted as one state. There is no obligation upon us to treat territorial subdivisions, which are matter of convenience only, as bind ing us on the question of admission to statehood. Nothing has taken UP more time In the congress during th last few years that the question as to th statahood to be granted to the four territories above mention, and after caroful consideration of all that has been developed in the discus slons of tho question I recommend that f they be Immediately admitted as two states. ' There Is no Justification for further, delay; and the advisability of making th four territories Into two states has been clearly estabUshed. ' . "In some of the terrttorle th legislative assemblies Issue licenses for gambling. The congress should by law forbid thl prac tice, the harmful result of which ar ob vious at a glance." . Tha Panama Canal. The president reoites th recent history of the Panama canal project and declares that two points about the canal ' have i ceased to be open to debate.' "First, the question of route the canal will be built on the Isthmus of Panama; second, ' the question ef feasibility ther are no phys ical obstaolea on thla route that American . engineering skill will not be able to over come." He. continues: "The point-which remain unsettled la the question of type whether the canal shall be one ot several locks above sea level or at sea level with a Ingle tide lock. On this point I hop to lay before congress at an early day the findings of the advisory board cf engineers and such comments- thereon or recom mendations in reference thereto as may aeem necesry." He refer, to the work of sanitating . the Uthmus and concludes en thl subject: "What Is needed now, and without delay, i an appropriation by con areas to meet the current and accruing ex penses of the commission. The first appro- , priatlon ot 110.000,000, made three years ago, is nearly exhausted. Unless congress appro priates before the end of the year all work must cease. To arrwet progress for any length of time now,- when matters are ad vsnclng so satisfactorily, . would b de plorable. s , ..; The Department at State. "I recommend niore adequate provision than ha been mad heretofore for the work of the Department of State. Within a few Jrear there ,has been a very great increase in the amount and Importunes of the work to b done by that department, both In Washington and abroad. Th! .ha been caused by the great increase of our foreign trade, the increase of wealth among our people, which enables thWm to travel more generally than heretofore; the In crease of American capital which Is seek ing investment In foreign countries, and th growth of our power and weight In tha council of the civilized world. There ha been no corresponding Increase of facilities for doing the.wolk afforded to' the depart ment having charge of ouf foreign rela tions. "Suitable provision should be - made for the expense of keeping our diplomatic offi cers more fully Informed of what la being done from day to day In tha progress ot our diplomatic affair with other countries. The lack of surh Information, caused by Insufficient : appropriations available for cable tolls and for clerical and messenger service, frequently puis , our officers at a great disadvantage and detracts from their usefulntas. The salary list should be re adjusted. It does not now correnor.d cither to the importance or the aervlce to he ren dered and the degrees of ability and ex perience required in the different position, or to th differences In the coat of living, la many eaaes-the salarte are qulta IqI adequate. - THfcODORM ROOBEVk.T1' J Th Wait llOU, Pauses I, - J 5S y"