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Mr. Roosevelt Makes Recommendations
Concerning Needed Legislation
m mm prosperous
rveeoniBi;nc!&4.icns Covcrin a Wide
Hane cf Subjects Finances, Com
filiations, Transportation, Natural
r.cccurct3 and Other Interesting
Topics Brought to tha Attention cf
Car Lcraakins Eoiy.
The message of President Roosevelt
r the second session of the Sixtieth
V:-press was read in bolh houses,
: "i was in substance as follows:
'v r he Senate and House of Repres
entatives: Tinances.
7! -c financial standing of the nation
r the present time is excellent, and
:.t :i:iancial management of the na
:.s interests by the Government
:::i:r the last seven jears has shown
:.l nest satisfactory results. But
n.- currency system is imperfect, and
i : earnestly to be hoped that the
V.nciiey Commission will be able to
: e n thoroughly good system
'!(h will tlo away wit li the existing
t
lairing the period from July 1,
1 1. to September 30, 190S, there
was an increase in the amount of
ircn-y in circulation of $002,991,399.
I' o increase in the per capita during
this period v.-as -f7.0G. Within this
tirr.i there were several occasions
v. ';.,!! it was necessary for the Treas
ury Department to come to the relief
of the money market by purchases of
i ilen-ptic ns of United States bonds;
liy increasing deposits in national
bai:ks; by stimulating additional is-s.-es
of national bank notes, and by
iaeiiitirating importations from
abroad of gold. Our imperfect cur
rency system has made these proceed
ings necessary, and they were effec
tive until the monetary disturbance
in the fall of 1907 immensely inereas
c! the difficulty of ordinary methods
of relief. By the middle of Novem
ber the available working balance in
the Treasury had been reduced to ap
proximately $3,000,000. Clearing
1. ot;se a oriations throughout the
fount ry had been obliged to resort to
1 he expedient of issuing clearing
house certificates, to be used as
xwoy. Ia this emergency it was de
trraineu to invite subscriptions for
S.I'hOno.000 Panama Canal bonds, and
flOO.OCn.OOO 3 per cent certificates of
indebtedness authorized by the act of
June 13. 1903. It was proposed to re
dVpcsit in the national banks the pro-cr-"ds
of those issues, and to permit
t!:e:r use as a basis for additional eir
eulatir.g notes of national banks. The
moral effect of this procedure was so
great that it was necessary to issue
only $24,631,980 of the Panama Canal
bonds and $15,436,500 of the certifi
cates of indebtedness.
Daring the seven years and three
nxnths there has been a net surplus
fi' nearly one hundred millions of re
ceipts over expenditures, a reduction
cf The interest-bearing debt by ninety
mrihons, in spite cf the extraordinary
expense of the Panama Canal, and a
ev;ng of ncaily nine millions on the
nnr.ua! interest charge. This is ran
exceedingly satisfactory showing, es
pecially in v:ew of the faet thaj ur
inc this period the Nation has never
c-suated To undertake any expendi
ture that it regarded as necessary,
ii'.cre have been no new taxes andlno
increase of taxes; on the contrary
!uo taxes have been taken off ; there
J r s been a reduction of taxation.
Corporations.
As regards the great corporations
fn-a-d i interstate business, and
'specially tho railroads, I oan only
rep, -a what I have already again and
FS'.iin said in my message to the Con.
P'-sa. I believe that under the inter,
fiate clause cf the Constitution the
L-.i'cd States has complete and para
rnfnnt light to control all agencies of
i'Ucrcstate eemmerce ,and I believe
that the National Government alone
c"n exercise this right with wisdom
f n i effectiveness so as both to secure
justice frcm, and to do justice to, the
p at corporations which are the most
important factors in modern business.
I believe that it is worst than folly
t" attempt to prohibit all combina-t;--ns
as is done by the Sherman anti
,ust law, because such a law can be
enforced only imperfectly and un
id'y, and its enforcement works
r':u ost as much hardship as good. I
Jongly advocate that instead of an
!!;iwise effort to prohibit all combina
,: ns, there shall be substituted a law
which shall expressly permit combina
tions which are in the interest of the
Public, but shall at the same time
KJve to some agency of the National
Government full power of control and
supervision over them. One" of the
ca:ef features of this control' should
os securing entire publicity in all
batters which the public has a right
to know, and furthermore, the power,
not by judicial but by executive
action, to prevent or put a stop to
every form of improper favoritism or
otner wrongdoing.
The railways of the country should
Jc p:rt completely under the Inter-F;-ite
Commerce Commission and re
"cved frcm the domain of the anti
trust law. The power of the Commis
o:i should be made throughgoing, so
T:it it could exercise complete super
on and control over the issue of
'9i
securities as well as over the raising
and lowering of rates. As regards
rates, at least, this power should bo
summary. The power to investigate
the financial operations and accounts
of the railways has been one of the
most valuable features in recent legis
lation. Power to make combinations
and traffic agreements should be ex
plicitly conferred upon the railroads,
the permission of the Commission be
ing first gained and the combination
or agreement being published in" all
its details. In the interest of the pub
lic the representatives of the public
should have complete power to see
that the railroads do their duty by
the public, and as a matter of course
this power should also be exercised so
as to see that no injustice is done to
the railroads. The share-holders, the
employees and the shippers all have
interests that must bo guarded. It is
to the interest cf all of them that no
swindling stock speculation should be
allowed, and that there should be no
improper issuance of securities. The
guiding intelligences neeessarv for
the successful "building and successful
management of railroads should re
ceive ample remuneration; but no
man should be allowed to make money
in connection with railroads out of
fraudulent over-capitalizations and
kindred stock-gambling performan
ces ; there must be no "defrauding of
investors, oppression of the farmers
and business men who ship freight, or
callous disregard of the rights and
needs of the employees. In addition
to this the interests of ( the share
holders, of the emploj-ees, and of the
shippers should all be guarded as
against one another. To give any one
of them undue and improper consid
eration is to do injustice to the others.
Kates must be made as low as is com
patible with giving proper returns to
all the employees of the railroad,
frcm the highest to the lowest, and
proper returns to the shareholders;
but they must not, for instance, be re
duced in such fashion as to necessi
tate a cut in the wages of the emploj--ees
or the abolition of the proper and
legitimate profits of honest sharehold
ers. Telegraph and telephone comprjiies
engaged in interstate business should
be put tinder the jurisdiction of the
Interstate Commerce Commission.
Labor.
There are many matters affecting
labor and the status of the wage,
worker to which I should like to draw
your attention, but an exhaustive dis
cussion of the problem in all its as
pects is not now necessary. This ad
ministration is nearing its end; and,
moreover, under our form of govern
ment the solution of the problem de
pends upon the action cf the States
as much as npon the action cf the
Nation. Nevertheless, there are i-er
tain considerations which I wish to
set before you, because I hope that
ou? people will more and more keep
thez? in mind. A blind and ignorant
resistance to every effort for the re
form of abuses and for the readjust
ment of society to modern industrial
conditions represents not true conser
vatism but an incitement to the wild
est radicalism; for wise radicalism
and wise conservatism go hand in
hand, one bent on progress, the other
bent on seeing that no change is made
unless in the right direction. I be
lieve in a steady effort, or perhaps it
would be more accurate to say ia
steady efforts in many different direc
tiona, to bring about a condition cf
affairs undey which the men who work
with hand or brain, the laborers, the
superintendents, the men who pro
duce for the market and the men
who find & market for the articles
produced, shall own a far greater
share than at present of the wealth
they produce, and be enabled to in
vest it in the tools and instruments by
which all work is carried on. As far
as possible I hope to see a frank rec
ognition of the advantages conferred
by machinery, organization, and di
vision of labor, accompanied by an
effort to bring about a larger share
in the ownership by wage-workers of
railway, mill, and factory. In farm
ing, this simply means that we wish
to see the farmer own his own land;
we do not wish to see the farms so
large that they become the property
of absentee landlords who farm them
by tenants, nor yet so small that the
farmer becomes like a European peas
ant. Again, the depositors in our
saving banks now number ""over one
tenth of our entire population. These
are all capitalists, who through the
savings banks loan their money to
the workers that is, in many cases
to themselves to carry on their var
ious industries. The more we increase
their, number, the more we introduce
the principles of cooperation into our
industry. Every increase in the.nuxnv
ber of small stockholders in corpora
tions is a good thing, for the same
reasons I and where the employees are
the stockholders the result is particu
larly good. Very much of this move
ment must be outside of anything that
can be accomplished by legislation;
but legislation can do a eood deal.
Postal savings banks will make it
easy, for the poorest to keer their
savings in absolute safety. The reg
ulation of the national highways must
be such that they shall serve all peo
ple with equal justice. Corporate
finances must be supervised so as to
make it far safer than at present for
PITTSBORQ. CHATHAM COUNTY. N. d. WEDNESDAY. 'DECEMBER 9. 1908 .NO. 17
the man of small means to invest his
money in stocks. ' There must be pro
hibition of child labor, diminution of
woman labor, shortening of hours of
ajl mechanical labor 5 stock watering
should be prohibited, and stock ganuV
ling so far as is possible discouraged.
There phould be a progressive inheri
tance tax on large fortunes, Indus
trial education should be encouraged.
As fay as possible we should lighten
the burden of taxation on the small
man. We should put a premium upon
thrift, hard work, and business ener
gy; but these qualities cease to be the
main factors in accumulating a for
tune long before that fortune reaches
a point where it would be seriously
affected by any inheritance tax such
as I propose. It is eminently right
that the Nation should fix tho terms
upon which the great fortunes are in
herited. They rarely do good and
they often do harm tc, those who in
herit them in their entirety.
The above is the merest sketch,
hardly even a sketch in outline, of
the reforms for which we should
work. But there is one matter with
which the Congress should deal at this
session. There should no longer be
any paltering with the question of
taking care of the wage-workers who,
under our present industrial system,
become killed, crippled, or worn out
as part of the regular incidents of a
given business. The majority of wage
workers must have their rights se
cured for them by State action ; but
the National Government should leg
islate in thoroughgoing and far-reaching
fashion not only for all eraploxees
of the National Government, biit for
all persons engaged in interestate
commerce. The object sought for
cuold be achieved to a measurable de
gree, as far as these killed or crippled
are concerned, - by proper employers'
liability laws. As far as conecrn?
those Avho have been worn out. I call
.your attention to the fact that definite
steps toward provding old-ago pen
sions have been taken in many of our
private industries. These may be in
definitely extended through voluntary
association and contributory schemes,
or through the agency cf savings
banks, as under the recent Massachu
setts plan. To strengthen these prac
tical measures should 'be cur imme
diate dut3; it is not at present neces
sary to consider the larger and more
general governmental schemes that
most Eurcpena government? have
found themselves obliged to adopt. ,
I renew my recommendation made
in a previous message that half-holidays
be granted during summer to all
wage-workers in Government employ.
I al?o renew my recommendation
that the principle of the eight-hour
day should as raplcly and as far as
practicable be extended to the entire
work being carried o: by the Govern
ment; the present law shonld be
amended . to embrace contracts on
these publie works which the present
Avording of the act seems to exclude.
' Tto Courts.
I most earnestly urge upon the Con
gress the duty of increasing the to
tally inadequate salaries now given
to our Judges. On the Avhole there is
no body cf public servants who do as
valuable vrcrk, nor Avhose moneyed re
ward is po - inadequate compared to
their work. Beginning with the Su
preme Court the Judges should have
their salaries doubled. It is not be
fitting the dignity of the Nation that
its most honored public servants
should be paid sums so small compar
ed to what they would earn in private
life that the performance of public
serA-ice by them implies an exceeding
ly heaAy pecuniary sacrifice.
It is earnestly to be desired that
some method should bo devised for
doing away with the long delays
Avhieh now obtain in the administra
tion cf justice, and which operate
with peculiar se7eritv against persons
cf small means, and faAor only the
very criminals whom it is most de
sirable to punish. These long delays
in the final decisions of cases make in
the aggregate a crying evil : and a
remedy should be devised. Mueb of
this intolerable delay is due to im
proper regard paid to technicalities
which are a mere hindrance to justice.
In some noted recent cases this over
regard for technicalities ha3 resulted
in a striking denial of justice,' and
flagrant wrong to the body politic.
Fcresta.
If there Is any one duty which more
than another we oAve it to our children
arid cur children's children to per
form at once, it is to sa-e the forests
of this country, for they constitute
the first and most important element
in the conservation of the natural re
sources of our country. There are of
course two kinds of natural resources.
One is the kind which can only be
used as part of a process of exhaus
tion this is true of mines, natural
oil and gas avcIIs, and the like. The
other, and of course ultimately by far
the most important, includes the re
sources which can be improved in the
process of wise use; the soil, the riv
ers, and the forests come under this
head. Any really civilized nation
will so use all of these three great
national assets that the nation will
haAre their benefit in the future. Just
jis a farmer, after all his life making
his living from his farm, will, if he
is an expert farmer, leave it as an
asset of increased 'alue to his son, so
we should leave our national domain
to our children, increasd in value and
not worn out. There are small sec
tions of our own country, in the East
and in the West, in the Adirondacks,
the White Mountains, and the Appa
lachians, and in the Rockv Mountains,
where we can already see for oursel
ves the damage in the shape of -permanent
injury to the soil and the
riAer sj"stems which comes from reck
less deforestation. It matters not
whether this deforestation is due to
the actual cutting of timber, to the
j fires that inevitably follow such reck
less cutting of timber, or to reckless
an,j uncontrolled grazing, especially
by the great migratory bands of
sheep, the unchecked Ava.nderings cf
which over the country means de
struction of forests and disaster to
the small home makers, the settlers
of limited means,
Inland. Waterways.
'Action should be begun forthwith,
during the present session of the
Congress, for the improveraent of iur
intend waterways action; which wiil
result in giving us nocvonly navi
gable but navigated rivers. We have
spent hundreds of millicus of dollar
upon these waterwaj's, yet the traffic
on nearly all of them is steadily de
clining. This condition i the dheet
result of the absence of any compre
hensive and far-seeing plan of water
way improvement. Obviously we cat;
not continue thus to expend the rev
enues of the GoA'ernment without re
turn. It is poor business to spend
money for inland navigation unless
Ave get it.
Denatured Alcohol.
I had occasion in my message of
May 4, 1900, to urge the passage of
some laAv putting alcohol, used in the
arts, industries, and manufactures,
upon the free list; that is, to pro"ide
for the withdrawal free of tax of
alcohol which is to be denatured for
those purpose:. The Inw of June 7,
1906, and its amendment of March 2.
1907, accomplished what Ayas desired
in that respect, and the use of de
natured alcohol, as intended, is mak
ing a fair degree of progress and is
entitled to further eacouragement and
support from the Congress.
Pure Food.
The pure food legislation has al
ready Arorked a benefit difficult to
overestimate.
Indian Affairs.
It has been my purpose from the
beginning of my administration to
take the Indian Seme xmpletely
out of the atmosphere cf political
actiA-ity, and there has been steady
progress toAvard that end. The last
remaining stronghold of politics in
that service was the agency system,
which had seen its best da3's and was
gradually falling to pieces from nat
ural or purely evolutionary causes,
but, like all such surviA-als, was de
caying slowly in its later stages. It.
seems clear that its extinction had
better be made final now, so that the
ground can be cleared for larger con
tractive Avork on behalf of the In
dians, preparatory to their induction
into the full measures of responsible
citizenship. On November 1 only
eighteen agencies were left on the
rcstcr, Avith tAvo exceptions, where
some legal questions seemed to stand
temporarily in the way, these have
btfn changed to superintendencies.
and their heads brought into the
classified civil sen-ice.
Secret Service.
The law enacted by the last session
of Congress to provide that there
should be no detail from the Secret
Service and no transference there
from seems to haA'e been only in
the interest of the criminal classes,
both large and small, and as a mat
ter cf common interest should be re
pealed and the old sjstem re-enacted.
Corporations are necessary instru
ments of modern business. They have
been permitted to become a menace
largely because the . go Arermental rep
resentatives of the people have work
ed slowly in providing adequate con
trol over themi
Control over the great corporations
doing interstate business can be ef
fective only whenr such control is
A-ested in the. executive department
cf tho government.
Postal Savings Banks.
I again renew my recommendation
for postal saingg banks, for deposit
ing savings with the security of the
GoA'ernment behind them. The object
is to encourage, thrift and economv
in the wage-earner and person of
moderate paeans. In fourteen States
the deposits in savings banks as re?
ported to tho Comptroller of the
Currency amount to $3,590,245,402, or
93.4 per cent pf the entire deposits,
while in the remaining 32 States there
are only $70,303,543, or 1.6 per cent
showing conclusively that there are
many localities in the United States
whero sufficient opportunity Is not
given to the people to deposit their
savings. The result is that money is
kept-iri hiding and unemployed. It
is believed that in the aggregate vast
sums of money would be brought in
to circulation through the instrumen
tality of the postal savings banks.
While there are only 1,453 savings
banks reporting to the Comptroller
there are more than 61,000 post-offices
40,000 of which are money order of
fices. Postal savings banks are hoav
in operation in practically all the
great civilized countries with the ex
ception of the United States.
Parcel Post.
In my last annual message I com
mended the Postmaster-General 's re
commendation for an extension of the
parcel post on the rural routes. The
establishment of a local parcel post
on rural routes would be to the mu
tual benefit of. .the farmer and the
country storekeeper, and it is de
sirable that the routes, serving more
than 15,000,000 people, should be
utilized to thefullest practicable ex
tent. An amendment was proposed
in the Senate at the last session, at
the' suggestion of the Postmaster
General, providing that, for the pur
pose of ascertaining the practicability
of establishing a special local parcel
post system on the rural routes
throughout the United States, . the
Postmaster General be authorized and
directed to experiment and report to
the Congress the result of such ex
periment by establishing ..a special
local parcel post system on rural de
livery routes in ret to exceed four
counties in the United States for
packages cf fourth-class matter orig
inating on a rural route or at the dis
tributing post office for delivery by
rural carrierg. It Avould seem only
proper that such an experiment
should be tried in order to demon
strate the practicability of the prop
osition, especially as the Postmaster
Geneifci estimates that the revenue
derived frcm the opeation of such a
system en all the rural routes would
amount to many .million dollars.
Education.
The share that the National Gov
ernment should take in the broad
Avcrk of education has not received
the attention and the care it rightly
deserves. The immediate responsi
bility for the support and improve
ment of our educational systems and
institutions rests and should always
rest Avith the people of the several
States acting through their state and
local governments, but the Nation
-has an opportunity in education work
which must not be lost and a duty
which should no longer be neglected.
With the l'mitcd means hitherto
pnmded, the Bureau of ' Education
has rendered efficient service, but the
Congress has neglected to adequately
supply the bureau Avith means to meet
the educational groAvth of the coun
try. The appropriations for the gen
eral wrork of the bureau, out side edu
cation in Alaska," for the year 1909
are but $37,500 an amount less than
they were ten years ago, and some of
the important items in these appro
priations are less than they were
thirty j'ears ago. It is an inexcusable
waste of public money to appropri
ate an amount which is so inade
quate as to make it impossible prop
erly to do the Avork authorized, and
it is unfair to the great educational
interests cf the country to deprive
them cf the A-alue of the results which
can be obtained by proper appropri
ations, i
Census.
I strongly urge that the request of
the Director of the Census in connec
tion Avith the decennial Avork so soon
to be begun, be complied with and
that the appointments to the census
force be placed under the civil ser
vice law, waiving the geographical
requirements as requested by the Di
rector of the Census. The supervisers
and enumerators should not be ap
pointed under the civil service law,
for the reasons given by the Director.
I commend to the Congress the care
ful consideration of the admirable re
port of the Director of the Census,
ard I trust that his recommedatiqns
wi'il be adopted and immediate action
thereon taken.
Soldiers' Heme.
All Soldiers' Homes should be plac
ed under the complete jurisdiction
and control of the War Department.
Independent Bureaus and Commis
ciens. ."
Economy and sound business policy
require that all existing independent
bureaus and comnrssions should be
placed under the juridiction of ap
propriate executive departments. It
is unwise frcm eA'erv standpoint, and
results only in mischief, to haA-e any
exceutiA'e Avcrk done save by the
purely executive bodies, under the
centre 1 cf the President; and each
such executive body should be under
tho immediate supervision of a Cabi
net Minister. . .
Statehood.
I 'advoeate the immediate a!tas?
s'on of New Mexico and Arizona as
States. This should be done at the
present session cf the Congress. "The
people of the two Territories haAe
made it eidcnt by their A-otes that
they Avill rot come in as one Slate.
The only aUernati-e is to admitf thpm
r.s tAvo. and I trust that this will be
done without delay.
Interstate Fisheries.
I call the attention of the Con
gress to the importance of the prob
lem cf the fisheries in the interstate
waters. On the Great Lakes we are
now. under the very wise treaty of
April 11th, of this year, endeavoring
to coma to an international agree
ment for the preservation and; satis
factory use cf the fisheries ofUhese
Avaters can not otherwise be achieved.
Lake Erie, for example, has the rich
eat fresh water fisheries in the world 5
but it U now controlled bv the
statutes of two Nations, four States,
and one Province, and in this Prov
ince by different ordinances in dif
ferent counties. All these political
divisions work at cross purposes; and
in no case they achieve protection to
the fisheries, on the one hand. .' and
justice to the. localities and individ
uals on the other. The case is simi
lar in Puget Sound.
Fisheries and Fur Seals.
- The federal statute regulating in
terstate traffic in game should be ex
tended to include fish. Nev federal
fish hatcWies should be estbalished.
The administration of the Alaskan
fur-seal service should be A'csted in
the Bureau of Fisheries.
Foreign Affairs. ..
This Nation's foreign policy is
based on the theory that right must
be done betAveen nations precisely as
between individuals, and in our ac
tions for the last ten years we haA-e
in this matter proven our faith by
our deeds. We have behaved and are
behaving, towards other nations, as in
private life an honorable man would
behave towards his fellows.- .
Latin-American Republics. ;
The commercial and material pro-,
gress of the twenty La tin-American
Rrrmhlics is Avorthv of .the careful
attention of the Cbngies:.' No other!
seeticn of the Avorld h'ss shown a
greater proportionate deA'plopm&nt of
its foreign trade during the last
years and none other has more special
claims on the interest of the United
States. It offers today probably
larger opportunities for the legiti
mate extension cf cur commerce than
any other group cf cou:; tries.'. These
countries will want our products ia
greatly increased quantities, and w
shall ; '-correspondingly need' theirs!
The International Bureau of the Am
erican Republics is doing a useful
work in making thes,o '"nations and
their resources better known" to us
and ip acquainting them tjnot only
with us as a pcopb and with oui
purposes towards them; but with
what we haA-e to exchanse ftr their
goodg. It is an international insti
tution supported bv all the govern
ments cf the; two Americas.
Panama Canal i
The work on the Panama-- Canal
is being done with a.spsed. effioiene
and entire devotion' to duty, Avhieh
make it a model for all -work of the
kind. :No task cf such magnitude has
ever before been 'undertaken by any
nation; and no task of the kind ha?
ever been better performed. The men
on the Isthmus, from Colonel . Tjlce
thals .and his fellow comm-ssioncrs
through the entire list cf emp!oyees
who are faithfullv doing thr'r duty
have AA-cn their rish't to the ungrudging-respeet.
and gratitude cf the Am
erican people.
Ocean Mail lie ex - 4
I again recommend the extension
cf the ocean mail act of 1891 eo that
satisfactory American ocean lines to
South America, Asia, the Phllpines.
and Australia may be established.
The creation of such steamship lines
should be the natural corollary of the
A-oyage of the battle fleet. It should
precede- the opening of the Panama
Canal. Even under favorable con
ditions seAeral years must elapse be
fore such lines ean be put into opera
tion. Accordingly I urge that the
Congress act promptly where fore
sight already shoAVs that action soon
er or later will be inevitable.
Tne Army.
As regards the Army T call atten
tion to the fact that while our junior
officers and cnl"sted men stand very
high, the present svstem of promo
tion by seniority results in bringing
into the higher grades many men of
mediocre cpaeity who have but 0
Short time to serve. No man sboul'1
regard it as his vested right to v'isr
to the highest rank in the Army any
more than , in any other profession
It is a curious and by no means cred
itable fact that there should be so
often a failure on the part of the
puhl'c and its representatives to un
derstand Ihft ereat need, frcm the
standpoint cf the service and the Na
tion, of refusing to promote respect
able, eldeily incompetents. The
higher places should be given to the
most deserving men without regard
to seniority; at leasj seniority should
be treated iis only one consideration.
In the stress of modern indnstritl
competition no business firm could
succeed if 'those responsible for its
management were chosen simplv on
the ground that they Avere the oldest
people in its emplovment ; yet this is
the course advocated as regards the
army, and required by law for all
grades except those of general officer.
As a -matter of fact, all of the best
officers . in "the highest ranks of the
army . are ''those who have attained
their pi-esent position Avhclly or in
part by a process of selection.
" The Navy. .
I approve the recommendations of
the Genera Board for the increase of
the Navy, -calling especial attention
to the need of additional destroyers
and colliers, and above all, of the
f cur battleships. It is desirable to
complete ai son as possible a squad
rcn cf eigBt battleships of the best
existing type. The North Dakota,
Deleware, Florida and Utah w'll form
the first cf th:s squadron. The four
vessels proposed will form the second'
division, ft Avill be an improArement '
rn the first, the ships being of th$ '
heary, single caliber, all big gun!
type.: All the vessels should have the!
same tactidal qualities, that is, speed'
and turning circle, and as near -as'
possible these tactical qualities!
should be ihe same as is in th'e four'
A-eFsds before named noAv being
built. i
The American pcopb have cause
for profound gratification, both in
vieAv of;the excellent icndition of the
fleet as'shoAvu by this cruise ,and in
view cf;".the improvement the cruise
hes worked in this already high con
dition, rl do not believe that there is
any other servico in the world in
Avhieh the average of character and
efficiency in the enlisted men is as
high af' is now the case in our own.
I believe that the same statement can
be made as to cur officers, taken aV a
whole; but there must be a reserva
tion made in regard to those in the
highest ranks as to which I have al
ready spoken and in regard to those
who haA'e just entered f service;
because we do not noAv get full bene
fit 'frcm our excellent - naval school
at Annapcl's. It is absurd not to
graduate the siidshipmeu as ensigns;
to keep them for tAvo years in such
an anomalous position as at present
the :law requires is detrimental to
them' and to the service. In the aca
demy1 itself, every first classman
should be required in turn to 'serve
as? petty officer and officer; his ability-
to discharge his -duties as such
should be a prerequisite to his going
into the line, and his success in com
manding should largely determine his
standing kt graduation. The Board
of Visitors should be appointed in
January, and each member should be
required to give at least six days'
service, chly frcm one to thre,,days'
to be performed during June 'week,
whuh is the least desirable time fcr
Ih? board' to" be at Annapolis so far
cs benefiting the navy by their ob
servation in concerned.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The White House, Tuesday, Decem
ber 8, 1903.
win oe maae.
LAWMAKERS MEET
Second Session of the Six teth
Congress Begins its Work
SEVERAL NEW MEMBERS SWORN
If the EcpuHfcaa Leaders Retain
Present Views There Will Be verj
Little JSlre Done by the Ccnjresj
Bxccp4 Appropriate Mone7 Tci
Various wid Sundry Objects. .
Washington, Special. If Rcpubli
can leaders retain their present views
the legislation of the session of Con
gress: which began Monday will in
clude yery little except the appro
priation bills. These bills will carry
in the aggregate about $1,000,000,000,
and tho general opinion is. that in the
time-"' that -"will be alloAved, the two
houses will find they ean best serve
the country by giving proper atten
tion to these appropriations.
There will be a general effort to
hol4i the expropriations down to tne
lowest possible limit. It is generally
understood that there will bej a bill
for the impioA'ement of I'i-vcrs and
harbors, to carry not less than $25.
000,000 or $30,000,000. Provision
must be made this year for the cen
sus of 1910, and this will require not
less than $10,000,000. There will be
other exceptional demands, so that as
it looks now Congress will do well
if it succeeds in holding the appro
priations for the second " session of
the Sixitieth Congress to the dimen
sions of those of the first session.
The House committee cn appropria
tions already has begun its woik on
the sundry bills.
The fact that the managers desire
to j-estrict legislation Avill not pre
A'errt other members? cf the Seuato
and House from exerting their efforts
in behalf cf faA-orite measures. Tho
first effort in this direction will b
mado in the Senate by Mr. Foraker,
nk .t.:1I . 1. - i t..
passed tho bill authorizing the rc
enlistmcut of the negro eoMlcrs dis
charged without hener cn aeccunt of
the BrownsA'illo riot. This measure
will be the special order for Decem
ber 16tb. Senator BeA'eridge will
make cn effort to obtain early, con
sideraticn cf hip child labor bill, and
Senator Carter, .of the postal saving 4
bank bill.
It is quite certain (hat the recent
agreement betAveen the United Statcg
"and Japan will receive cailv consid
eration in" tho Senate. Already "a
number of Senators have privately
expressed disapproval c the' fact
that the compact was entered into
Without consulting the Senate.
Monday at 12 o'clock both houses
of Congress conA'ened for the begin
ning of the second session of the Six
tieth Congress. Practically no busi
ness was transacted in either house
Monday. In the Senate cx-Governor
Cummins, of Iowa, tcok the oath of
office as the successor of Senator Al
lison ,as did Carroll S. Page, of Ver
mont, as the successor of Senator
Stewart. In the House the seven
members who were elected in Novem
ber to succeed members who havo
died or resigned, are Henry A. Barn
hart, Democrat, who succeeds the late
Mr. Brick, Republican, from the thir
teenth Indiana district; Albert Esto
pinal, Democrat, who succeeds the
lite Mr. Meyer from the first Louis
iana district ; Otto O. Foelker, Re-
8'ubiican, successor to Mr. Dunwell,
lepublican, in the third New York
iMctrtnt. Vrnnlf TV finprriSfiV. RfiO'jb-
. , A . - J J I
lican, successor to Mr. Powers, Re
publican, frcm the fourth Maine dis
trict; Ebeu M. Masters, Republican,
Accessor to Mr. Parker, Republican,
gblr South Dakota at large; O. C.
Wiley, Democrat, successor to his
Wother, A. A. Wiley, Democrat, from
the Second Alabama district, and
John P. Swansay, Republican, suc
eor to Mr. Littlefield, who resigned
during the last session from the ec-
ond Maine district.
The two houses appointed commit
tees each to notify the other Houg .
and the President that tho two bedif
were organized and prepared to p:f
forward Avith the business of the eer
Bion. The Senate then adjourned for
the day, out of respect to the mem
ory of Senator Allison, who died dur
ing the recess. The House terminat
ed its bref session Avith resolution 1
commemorative cf the lives c
Messrs, Parker, Wiley, Dunwell and
Powers, who have died since adjourn
ment last May.
Brave Enzircer Scalded to Death ia .
Hi:. Cah.
Statesboro, Ga., Special. Remain
ing at his pest though danger
threatened, A.. A. Eeppard, a sen cf
the late Avell-known lumberman, R.
D. Reppard, of Savannah, Avas slowl r
ecalded to death when his cnginn
turned OA-er and pinned him in th'i
wreckage, cne mils from Aaron. Ga ,
cn the SaTannah, Augusta & North
ern Railway. Twenty passengers m
a caboose that with the engine mad
up the train had nanw escapes frcm
injury.
PrnmiTiAr.t Woman Suicides.
Bristol, R. I., Special.' Mrs. Em
ma Russell Chesibrough, aged ,3tf
years, wife cf Alfred S. Chesebrougl
a well-known acht designer ct th 1
city, committed- suicide hy ncoar
herself hi tho herd wih ? i-vclve .
She Lad beep tioubled with melai
chclia and insomnia for some timo.
She was the daughter of former Lieu
tenant Governor Jonathan Kcs-u
Bullock.
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