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Marshall; madison corTY, n. cJthursday, decemmber 10, i908.
VOL. II.
NO. 31.
i r
da
THE MESSAGE.
Washington, D.C. The President's
Message was read before both the
f" Senate and the House, following the
opening of Congress. It is, in part,
as follows:
To the Senate and House of Repre
sentatives:
The financial standing of the Na
tion at the present time Is excellent,
and the financial management of the
Nation's Interests by the Government
during the last seven years has shown
the most satisfactory results. But
our currency system Is Imperfect, and
it is earnestly to be hoped that the
Currency Commission will be able to
propose a thoroughly good system
which will do away with the existing
oereets.
The President's Message then
States that during the past seven years
and three months there has been a
net surplus of nearly one hundred
millions of receipts over expenditures,
a reduction of the Interest bearing
debt by ninety millions, in spite of
the extraordinary expense of the Pan
ama Canal, and a saving of nearly
Sine millions on the annual interest
charge. This is an exceedingly satis
factory showing, especially in view of
the fact that during this period the
Nation has never hesitated to under
take any expenditure that it regarded
as necessary. There have been no
new taxes and no Increases of taxes;
-on the contrary some taxes have been
taken off; there has been a reduction
of taxation.
As regards the great corporations
engaged in interstate business, and
especially the railroads, I can only
repeat what I have already again and
again said in my messages to the Con
gress. I believe that under the Inter
state clause of the Constitution the
United States has complete and para
mount right to control all agencies of
Interstate commerce, and I believe
that the National Government alone
can exercise this right with wisdom
and effectiveness so as both to secure
justice from, and to do justice to, the
great corporations which are the most
Important factors In modern business.
I believe that it is worse than folly
to attempt to prohibit all combina
tions as is done by the Sherman anti
trust law, because such a law can be
enforced only imperfectly and une
qually, and its enforcement workB al
most as much hardship as good. 1
strongly advocate that instead of an
unwise effort to prohibit all comblna
x tlons. there shall be substituted a law
which shn'l expressly permit ombln-i
ations which are in, the Interest of the
' public, but shall at the same time
give to some agency of the National
Government full power of control and
1 supervision over them. One of the
fhief features of this control should
be securing entire publicity in all
matters wblch the public has a right
to know, and furthermore, the power,
not by judicial but by executive ac
tion; to avevent or put a stop to every
form of improper favoritism or olhor
wrongdoing.
The railways of the country should
to put completely under the Inter
state Commerce Commission and re
moved from the domain of the anti
trust law. The power of the Com
mission should be made thorough
going, so that it could exercise com
plete supervision and control over the
issue of securities as well as over the
raising and lowering of rates. As re
gards rates, at least, this power
should be summary. The power to
Investigate the financial operations
and accounts of the railways has been
one of the most valuable features in
recent legislation. Power to make
combinations and traffic agreements
should he lexpllcltly conferred upon
the railroads, the permission of the
Commission being first gained and
the combination or agreement being
published in all Its details. In the
interest of the nubile the representa
tives of the public should have com
plete po r to see that the railroads
do their dty by the public, and as a
matter of course this power should
also be eze'-cised so as to see that no
injustice Is done to the railroads. The
shareholders, the employes and tho
shippers all have Interests that must
be guarded. It Is to the Interest of
all of them that no swindling stock
speculation should be allowed, and
- that there should be no improper
Issuance of securities. The guiding
Intelligences necessary for the w'c
cessful building and successful man
agement of railroads should receive
ample remuneration, but 1 no man
should be allowed to make money in
connection with railroads out of frau-
v dulent overcapitalization and kin
dred stock gambling performances;
there must be no defrauding of in
vestors, oppression of the farmers
and business men wno ship freight,
or callous disregard of the rights and
needs of the employes. In addition
to this the Interests of the sharehold
ers, of the employes, and of the ship
pers should all be guarded as against
one another.- To give-any one bf them
" undue and improper consideration is
to do injustice to the others. Rates
lnust be made as low as is compatible
with giving proper returnsto ail the
employes of . the railroad, from the
highest to the lowest, and proper re-
- - turns to the shareholders, but they
must not, for instance, be reduced in
' auch fashion as to necessitate n cut in
. the wages of the employes or the abo-
lltion of the proper and legitimate
; profits of honest shareholders. .
Telegraph and telephone companies
engaged in interstate business should
- be put under the jurisdiction ot the
Interstate Commerce Commission. ' :
" ' It is very earnestly to be wjshed
that onr people, through thoir repre
sentatives, should act In this matter.
' It is hard to say whether most . dam
age to the country at large would
come from entire failure on the part
the ad ions of the great cortforaUons,
or from the exercise of the necessary
governmental power in a way which
would do injustice and wrong to the
corporations. Both the preachers of
an unrestricted Individualism and the
preachers of an oppression which
would deny to able men of business
the just reward of their initiative and
business sagacity, are advocating pol
icies that would be fraught with fie
gravest harm to the whole country.
It is to the Interest of all of us that
there should be a premium put upon
individual initiative and Individual
capacity, and an ample reward for
the great directing Intelligences alone
competent to manage the great busi
ness operations of to-day. It is well
to keep in mind that exactly as the
anarchist Is the worst enemy of lib
erty and the reactionary the worBt
enemy of order, so the men who de
fend the rights of property have most
to fear from the wrongdoers of great
wealth, and the men who are cham
pioning popular rights have most to
fear from the damagogues who In the
name ot popular rights would do
wrong to oppress honest business
men, honest men of wealth; for the
success ot either type of wrongdoer
necessarily Invites a violent reaction
against the cause the wrongdoer nom
inally upholds. In point of danger to
the Nation' there Is nothing to choose
between on the one hand the corrup
tlonlst, the bribe-giver, the bribe-taker,
the man who employs his great
talent to swindle his fellow-citizens
on a large scale, and, on the other
band, the preacher of class hatred,
the man who, whether from ignor
ance or from willingness to sacrifice
his country to his ambition, persuades
well meaning but wrong-headed men
to try to destroy the Instruments
upon which our prosperity mainly
rests. Let each group of men beware
of and guard against the shortcom
ings to which that group is itself
most liable.
The opposition to Government con
trol of these great corporations makes I
us most effective effort in the suape
of an appeal to the old doctrine of
States' rights. Of course there are
many sincere men who now believe
in unrestricted Individualism in busi
ness, just as there were formerly
many sincere men who believed In
slavery that Is, in the unrestricted
right of an individual to own another
Individual. These men do not by
themselves have great weight, how
ever. The effective fight against ade
quate Government control and super
vision of individual, and especially of
corporate, wealth engaged in inter
state business is chiefly done nnder
cover, and esneclally under cover of
an appeal to States' rights. It is not
t all infro4ueat to read In the same
speech a denunciation of predatory
wealth fostered by special privilege
and defiant of both the public welfare
and law of the land, and a denuncia
tion of centralization in the Central
Government of the power to deal with
this centralized and organized wealth.
Of course the policy set forth in such
twin denunciations amounts to abso
lutely nothing, for the first half is
nullified by the second half. The
chief reason, among the many sound
and compelling reasons, that led to
the formation of the National Govern
ment, was the absolute need that the
Union, and not the several States,
should deal with Interstate and for
eign commerce; and the power to deal
with interstate commerce was granted
absolutely and plenarlly to the Cen
tral Government, and was exercised
completely as regards the only in
struments of interstate commerce
known In those days the waterways,
the highroads, as well as the partner
ships of individuals who then con
ducted all of what business there was.
Interstate commerce is now chiefly
conducted by railroads, and the great
corporation has supplanted the mass
of small partnerships or individuals.
The proposal to make the Natloual
Government supreme over, and there
fore to give It complete control over.
the railroads and other instruments
of interstate commerce Is merely a
proposal to carry out to the letter
one of the prime purposes. It not the
prime purpose, for which the Consti
tution was founded.
We do not object to the concentra
tion of wealth and administration;
but we do believe in the distribution
of tbe wealth In profits to the real
owners, and in securing to the public
the full benefit of the concentrated
administration. We believe that with
concentration In administration there
come both the advantage of a
larger ownership and of a more equit
able distribution of profits, and at the
same time a better service to the
commonwealth.
Many laws are needed. There
should be regulation by the National
Government of the great interstate
corporations, including a simple
method of account keeping, publicity,
supervision ot the issue of securities,
abolition ot rebates and of special
privileges. There should be short
time franchises for all corporations
engaged in public business; includ
ing the corporations which get power
from water rights. There should be
National as well as State guardian
ship of mines and forests.
There are many matters atrecting
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. -. . 'inis
administration is nearing its end;
and, moreover, under our form of
government the solution of the prob
lem depends npon the action of the
States as much as upon the action ot
the Nation, Nevertheless, there are
certain considerations which I wish
to set before" you, because I hope
that our people will more and more
keep them in mind; A blind and ig
norant resistance to every effort tor
the reform of abuses and for the read
justment of society to modern rauus
trial conditions represents- not true
conservatism but an incitement to tbe
wildest radicalism; for wise radical-
ism and wise conservatism go nana
in hand, one bent on progress, the
other bent on seeing that no change
is made unless in the right direction.
I believe in a steady effort, or per
haps it would be more accurate to say
In steady efforts in many different
directions, to bring about a condition
of affairs under which the men who
work with hand or brain, the labor
ers, the superintendents, the men
who produce for the market and the
men who find a market for the arti
cles produced, shall own a far great
er 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
recognition of tbe advantages con
ferred by machinery, organization,
and division of labor, accompanied
by an effort to bring about a larger
share in the ownership by wage-worker
of railway, mill, and factory. In
farming, 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 prop
erty of absentee landlords who farm
them by tenants, nor yet so small
that the farmer becomes like a Eu
ropean peasant. Again, the deposit
ors in our savings banks now number
over one-tenth of our entire popula
tion. 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 various industries. The more
we increase their number, the more
we introduce the principles of co-operation
into our industry. Every in
crease in the number of small stock
holders in corporations is a good
thing, for the same reasons; and
where the employes are the stockhol
ders the result is particularly good.
Very much of this movement must
be outside of anything that can be
accomplished by legislation; but leg
islation can do a good deal. Postal
savings banks will make It easy for
the poorest to keep their savings in
absolute safety. The regulation of
the national highways must be such
that they shall serve all people with
equal justice. Corporate finances
must be supervised so as to make it
far safer than at present for the man
of small means to Invest his money in
stocks. There must be prohibition of
child labor, diminution of woman
labor, shortening of hours of all me
chanical labor; stock watering should
be prohibited, and stock gambling so
far as possible discouraged. There
should be a progressive inheritance
tax on large fortunes. Industrial ed
ucation should be encouraged. As
far as .possible we should lighten the
burde of taxation on thgsmall man.
We sbtould put a premWmuTn thrift,
hard. Work and business energy, but
these qualities cease to be the main
factors in accumulating a fortune
long before that fortune reaches 'a
point where it would be. seriously af
fected by any inheritance tax such as
I propose. It is eminently right that
the Nation should fix the terms upon
which the treat fortunes are inherit
ed. They rarely do good and they or'
ten do harm to those who lnnerit
them In their entirety.
The President then devotes a chap
ter to "protection for wagework
era." He says there should be no pal
tering with the question ot taking
care of those who become crippled or
worn out in our industrial system.
He urges proper employers' liability
laws. He also calls attention to the
steps toward providing old-age pen
sions that have been taken by many
private Industries. . He urges Con
gress to pass a comprehensive em
ployers' liability law for the District
of Columbia.
The President devotes much space
to the subject of the courts. First he
urges increased, pay for our judges
and then says:
It is earnestly to be desired that
some method should be devised for
doing away with thei long delays
which now obtain in the administra
tion of justice, and which operate
with peculiar severity against persons
of small means, and favor only the
very criminals whom it is most desir
able to punish. These long delays in
the final decisions of- cases make in
the aggregate a crying evil, and a
remedy should be devised. Much ot
this intolerable delay is due to im
proper regard paid to technicalities
which are a mere hindrance to .Jus-i
tlce. In some noted recent cases this
over-regard for technicalities has re
sulted in. a striking denial of justice,
and flagrant wrong to the body poli
tic. . .
At the last election certain leaders
of organized labor made a violent and
sweeping attack upon the entire Judi
ciary of the country, an attack
couched In such terms as to include
tbe most upright, honest and broad
minded, judges, no less than those of
narrower mind and more restricted
outlook. It was the kind ot attack
admirably fitted to prevent any suc
cessful attempt to reform- abuses of
the judiciary, because it gave the
champions of the unjust judge their
eagerly desired opportunity to' shift
their ground into a championship of
Just judges who were unjustly as
sailed.' Last year, before the House
Committee on the Judiciary, these
same labor leaders formulated their
demands, specifying the bill that con
tained them, refusing all compromise,
stating they wished the principle of
that bill or nothing. They insisted
on a nrovlslon that in a labor dispute
no Injunction should issue except to
protect a property rigui, "i'c""
cally provided that the right to carry
on business should not be construed
as a property right, and in a second
provision their bill made legal in a la
bor dispute any act or agreement by
or between two or more persons that
would not have been unlawful If done
by a single person. In other words,
this bill legalised blacklisting an
boycotting in every form, legal,
tor instance, those forms of the
ondary boycott which the ant'
coal Btrlke commission so
edly condemned; while, the
carry on a business was explicitly
taken out from under that protection
wh'A the law throws over property.
The demand was made that there
should be trial by jury In contempt
esses, thereby most seriously Impair
ing the authority ot the courts. Ail
this' represented a course of policy
which, if carried out, would mean the
enthronement of class privilege In its
crudest and most brutal form, and the
destruction of one of the most essen
tial1 function of the Judiciary in ail
civilized lands.
The wageworkers.the workingmen.
the laboring men of the country by
the way In which they repudiated the
effort to get them to cast their votes
in response to an appeal to class ha
tred have emphasized their sound
patriotism and Americanism. The
wh(e country has cause to feel pride
in is attitude of sturdy Independ
ence in this uncompromising Insist
ence upon acting simply as good citi
zens, as good Americans, without re
gard? to fancied and Improper class
Interests. Such an attitude is an ob
ject lesson in good citizenship to the
entire nation.'
But the extreme reactionaries, the
persons who blind themselves to the
wrongs now and then committed by
the courts on laboring men, should
also think seriously as to what such
a movement as this portends. Tha
Judges who have shown themselves
able and willing effectively to cheek
the dishonest activity of the very rich
man who works iniquity by the mis
management of corporations, who
have, shown themselves alert to do
Justice to the wageworker, and sym
pathetic with the needs of the mass
of our people, so that the dweller in
the tenement houses, the man who
practices a dangerous trade, the man
who Is crushed by excessive hours of
labor, feel that their needs are under
stood by the courts these judges are
the real bulwark of the courts; these
judges, the judges of the stamp of
the President-elect, who have been
fearless in opposing labor when it has
gone wrong, but fearless also in hold
ing to strict account corporations that
work iniquity, and far sighted in see
ing tbkt the worklngman gets his rights,
are tie men of all others to whom
we 6 we it that the appeal tor such
violent and mistaken legislation has
fallen on deaf eats, that tbe agitation
for Its passage proved to be without
snbsxantlal basis. The courts are
Jeoparded primarily by the action of
theseFederai and State judges who
shewjlnablllty or unwillingness to
putfc,rT)p to the wrongdoing or very
rich i'' In under modern industrial
condjUfis, and inability or unwllling
nefj&l rellaLOt-ateatof small
meatL Tor wageworkers who are
crush id nown by these modern indus
trial ( oncjltlons; who, in other words,
fall 1 3 understand and apply the
neede I remedies for the new wrongs
produ ped by the new and highly com
plex i oclal and industrial civilization
which1 has grown up in the last half
century.
There are certain decisions by va-
PrtojHslcourts which have been exceed
ing!; l detrimental to the rights of
wage, iskers. This is true of all the
decisions that 'decide that men and
women are, by the Constitution,
"guaranteed their liberty," to con
tract to enter a dangerous occupation,
or to work an undesirable or impro
per number of hours, or to work in
unhealthy surroundings, and there
fore can not recover damages when
maimed in that occupation, and can
not be forbidden to work what
the Legislature decides is an excessive
number -of hours, or to carry Tin the
work under conditions which the
Legislature decides to be. unhealthy.
There is also, I think, ground for
the belief that substantial Injustice is
often suffered by employes In conse
quence of the custom of courts issu
ing temporary injunctions without
notice to them, and punishing them
for contempt of court in Instances
where? as a matter of fact, they have
no knowledge of any proceedings.
Outside of organized labor there Is a
widespread feeling that this system
often works great injustice to wase
workers when their efforts to better
their. working condition results in in
dustrial disputes. A temporary In
junction procured ex parte may as a
matter of fact have all the effect of a
permanent Injunction In causing dis
aster to the wageworkers' side in
such' a dispute. Organized labor is
chafing under the unjust restraint
which comes from repeated resort to
this plan of procedure. Its discontent
has been nnwisely expressed, and of
ten improperly expressed, but there
is a sound basis for it, and the orderly
and law abiding people of a commu
nity would be in a far stronger posi
tion for upholding the courts if the
undoubtedly existing abuses could be
pnr)5ed against.
Too power of injunction is a great
equitable remedy, which should on no
account be destroyed. But safeguards
should be erected against its abuse.
For many of the shortcomings of
Justice in our country our people as a
whole are themselves to blame, and
the judges and Juries merely bear
their share together with the public
as a. whole. It is discreditable to us
as a people that there should be diffi
culty in convicting murderers, or in
bringing to Justice men who as pub
lic Servants have been guilty of cor
ruption, or who have profited by the
corruption of public servants. The
result is equally unfortunate, whether
due to hair-splitting technicalities in
the Interpretation ot law by judges,
to sentimentality and class conscious
ness on the part of juries, or to hys
teria and sensationalism in the daily
press. For much of this failure of
jnitire no responsibility whatever lies
on. rich men as such. We who make
ml mass of the people can not
responsibility from our own
i. But there Is an important
- failure which has specially
'"'fly to hold to proper
I wealth, who behave
The chief breakdown is in dealing
with the new relations that arise
from the mutualism, the interdepen
dence of our time. Every new social
relation begets a new type of wrong
doing of sin, to use an old-fashioned
word and many years always
elapse before society is able to turn
this sin into crime which can be ef
fectively punished at law. During
the lifetime of the older men now
alive the social relations have
changed far more rapidly than In the
preceding two centuries. The Im
mense growth of corporations, of
business done by associations, and the
extreme strain and pressure of mod
ern life, have produced conditions
which render the public confused as
to who its really dangerous foes are;
and among the public servants who
have not only shared this confusion,
but by some of their acts have In
creased It, are certain judges. Marked
Inefficiency has been shown In dealing
with corporations and in re-settling
the proper attitude to be taken by the
public not only toward corporations,
but toward labor, and toward the so
cial questions arising out of the fac
tory system, and the enormous
growth of our great cities.
The huge wealth that has been ac
cumulated by a few Individuals of re
cent years, in what has amounted to
a social and industrial revolution, has
been as regards some of these indi
viduals made possible only by the im
proper use of the modern corporation.
A certain type of modern corpora
tion, with Its officers and agents, Its
many issues of securities, and its con
stant consolidation with allied under
takings, finally becomes an Instru
ment so complex as to contain a
greater number of elements that, nn
der various Judicial derisions, lend
themselves to fraud and oppression
than any device yet evolved in the hu
man brain. Corporations are neces
sary Instruments of modern business.
They have been permitted to become
a menace largely because the govern
mental representatives of the people
have worked slowly In providing for
adequate control over them.
The chief offender In any given
case may be an executive, a Legislat
ure or a judge. Every executive head
who advises violent, instead of grad
ual, action, or who advocates ill-considered
and sweeping measures of re
form (especially if they are tainted
with vlndlctlveness. and disregard for
the rights of the minority) is particu
larly blameworthy. The several leg
islatures are responsible for the fact
that our laws are often prepared with
slovenly haste and lack of considera
tion. Moreover, they are often pre
pared, and still more frequently
amended during pasage,rthe ugnCy of Cuba- wifrend in about two
gestlon of the ,very parties against
whom they are afterward enforced.
Our- great clusters of corporations,
huge trusts and fabulously wealthy
multimillionaires, employ the very
best lawyers they can obtain to pick
flaws in these statutes after the!
passage, but they also employ a class
of secret agents who seek, under the
advice of experts, to render hostfle
legislation Innocuous by making it
unconstitutional, often through the
insertion of what appear on their face
to be drastic and sweeping provisions
against the interests of the parties
inspiring them; while the dema
gogues, the corrupt creatures who In
troduce blackmailing schemes to
"strike" corporations, and all who de
mand extreme, and undesirably radi
cal, measures, show themselves to be
the worst enemies of the very public
whose loud mouthed champions they
profess to be.
Real damage has been done by the
manifold and conflicting interpreta
tions of the Interstate commerce law.
Control over the great corporations
doing interstate business can be ef
fective only if it Is vested with full
power in an administrative depart
ment, a branch of the Federal execu
tive, carrying out a Federal law; it
can never be effective if a divided re
sponsibility Is left In both the States
and the Nation; it can never be ef
fective It left in the hands of the
courts to be decided by lawsuits.
In no other nation in the world do
the courts wield such vast and far
reaching power as In the United
States. All that Is necessary Is that
the courts as a whole should exercise
this power with the far sighted wis
dom already shown by those Judges
who scan the future while they act in
the present. Let them exercise this
great power not only honestly and
bravely, but with wise Insight Into
the needs and fixed purposes of the
people, so that they may do Justice,
and work equity, so that they may
protect all persons In their rights,
and vet break down the barriers of
privilege, which is the foe of right.
The President devotes a long chap
ter to the subject of forests, declaring
that If there is one duty which more
than another we owe to our children
and our children's children, it is to
save the forests ot this country, for
they constitute the first and most im
portant element in the conservation
of our natural resources.
The Message then turns to inland
waterways and maintains that action
for their improvement should begin
forthwith. It is also urged that all
our National parks adjacent to Na
tional forests be placed under the con
trol ot the forest service of the Agri
cultural Department. I am happy to
say, continues Mr. Roosevelt, that I
have been able to set aside in various
parts of the country small, well
chosen tracts ot ground to serve as
sanctuaries and nurseries tor wild
creatures. -4. -. .'.
The Message announces that the
ubb in the arts and industries of de
natured ' alcohol -Is making fair
progress and the law making It pos
sible is entitled to further support
from the Congress. According to the
President.' the pure food legislation
has already worked a benefit difficult
to overestimate. In the paragraph, on
the Indian service the Message tells
tow it has been completely removed
from the atmosphere of political ac
tivity and the ground cleared for
larger constructive work to prepare
the Indians for responsible citizen
ship. The President regrets that an
amendment was incorporated In the
measure providing for the Secret Ser
vice forbidding details and transfers
therefrom. He declares it is of ben
efit only to the criminal classes. He
renews his recommendations for pos
tal savings banks and urges an exten
tion of the parcel post on the rural
routes. He declares that the unfor
tunate state of affairs as regards the
National educational office be reme
died by adequate appropriations. He
strongly urges that the supervisors
and enumerators for the approaching.
Census be not appointed under the
Civil Service law, but that appoint
ments to the force be done under that
law, geographical requirements be
ing waived. The President main
tains that there should be intelligent
action on the question of preserving
the health of the country and sug
gests a redistribution of the health
bureaus. He recommends the plac
ing of the Government Printing Office
under the Department of Commerce
and Labor and the various Soldiers
Homes under the War Department.
He advocates the immediate admis
sion of New Mexico and Arizona as
separate States. Mr. Roosevelt then
writes of the interstate fisheries prob
lem, saying that those matters wblch
no particular State can control Con
gress ought to control. The statute
regarding game should Include flsb,
and the fur-seal service should be
vested in the Bureau of Fisheries.
In regard to our foreign policy he
announces that it is based on the
theory that right must prevail be
tween nations as between individuals
and then urges the special claims of
Latin-American Republics to our at
tention. The Message states that the
Panama Canal Is being dug with
speed and efficiency and then recom
mends the extension of ocean mail
lines to South America, Asia, the
Philippines and Australasia. Atten
tion 4s called to the admirable condi
tion of Hawaii, where coolie labor
has practically ceased and Pearl Har
bor Is being made a Laval base with
the necessary military fortficatlons.
Real progress, the President contin
ues, toward self-government is being
made in the Philippines, but it would
bo worse than folly to prophesy the
exact date when it will be wise to
consider independence as a fixed and
definite policy. It is recommended that
American citizenship be conferred
upon the people of Porto Rico and
announcement is made mat our occu-
months' time. The Cubans ara
warned that they must govern them
selves within Jn order to avoid gov
ernment from without. The Presi
dent hopes Americans' will do what
is possible to make the Japanese Ex
nosltlon of 1917 a success and then
thanks Japan, Australia, New Zealand
and the States ot soutn America ior
their hospitality to the battle fleet.
Mr. Roosevelt urges the passage ot
the bill to promote army officers at
reasonable ages through a process ot
selection and declares the cavalry arm
should be reorganized upon modern
lines. We have not enough infantry
and artillery and attention should be '
centred on tbe machine gun. A gen
eral service corps should be estab
lished. It behooves the Government
to perfect the efficiency of the Na
tional Guard as a part of the National
forces and Congressional aid should
be extended to those who are pro
moting rifle practice teaching our
men to shoot.
In regards to the navy, the Presi
dent recommends the increase sug
gested by the General Board and
thinks the General Board should be
turned Into a General Staff. He urges
that two hospital ships be provided
and then concludes his Message as
follows:
Nothing better for the Navy from
every standpoint has ever occurred
than the cruise of the battle fleet
around the world. The improvement
of the ships in every way has been
extraordinary, and they have gained
far more experience in battle tactics
than they would have gained if they
had stayed in the Atlantic waters,
The American people have cause tot
profound gratification, both in view
of the excellent condition of the fleet
as shown by this cruise, and In view
ot the Improvement the cruise has
worked In this already high condi
tion. I do not believe that there U
any ether service in the world In
which the average of character and
efficiency in the enlisted men is at
high as is now the case in our own.
I believe that the same statement can
be made as to our officers, taken as a
whole; but there must be a reserva
tion made in regard to those in the
highest ranks as to which I have
already spoken and in regard tq
those who have just entered the ser
vice; because we do not now get full
benefit from our excellent naval
school at Annapolis. , It is absurd not
to graduate the midshipmen as en
signs; to keep them for two years in
such an anomalous position as at
present the law requires is detri
mental to them and to the service. Ia
the academy itself, every first class- :
man 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 hit
standing at graduation. The Board
of Visitors should be appointed to
January, and each member should be
required to 'give at least six days'
service, only from one to three days'
to be performed during June week,
which is the least desirable time for
the board to be at Annapolis so far at
benefiting the navy by their observa
tions is concerned. - .
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, j
. Tha White House, ;
y
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