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•:• • i-H -' ' * WYl ?.o^**r*?. • mamBKmrnammsi-"*r« > a \\ :£>' w * Vtt* :f **>"' f -- PRESIDENT TO CONGRESS MSi ' Message Read to Both Houses of National Assembly *v-. « ' - . TAM'i fciy \%UvV" ' / I f? &}$ LECtSUTION CALtED FOR Financial Standing of the Nation De­ clared Excellent--Control of Cor­ porations, the President Thinks, Should Be Left to the National Government--Labor Leaders Come In for Criticism--Respect for Law Vital to the Weil-Being of Country. ton.--Hie message of Presi- *v$ •„, dent Roosevelt was rea,d in both houses of congress Tuesday. In sub- .. stance the document was as follows: sfj ^ To the .Senate and House of Represen- tatives: The financial standing of the gT • nation at the "present time JS excellent, pf: •> and the financial management of the na- ^ lion's interests by the government <iur- ijJ.i* * lnR the last seven y ears has shown the tjtf ntoat satisfactory results. But our cur- reney system is Imperfect, and It is ear- <-5 4 J nestly to be hoped that the currency commission will be able to propose a If f1 thoroughly good system which will do felf.fA'C sway with the existing defects. * During the period from July 1, 1901. to IPfev September 30, 1908, there was an increase In the amount of money in circulation of jf C-s&i ; $902,991,399. The increase in the per capita ^S,during this period was $7.06. Within this '"'S&H •' time there were several occasions when * ; It was necessary for the treasury de- partment to come to the relief of the fh. money market by purchases or redemp­ tions of United States bondsby increas­ ing deposits in national banks; by stim­ ulating additional issues of national bank notes, and by facilitating importations from abroad of gold. Our Imperfect cur­ rency system has made these proceedings necessary, and they were effective until „< w * the monetary disturbance In the fall of immensely increased the difficulty ot ^ - ordinary methods of relief. By the mld- i- die of November the available working balance In the treasury had been reduced to approximately J5.000,000. Clearing house associations throughout the coun- i •**!.« try had been obliged to resort to the expedient of issuing clearing house cer­ tificates, to be used as money. In this jfe\, - emergency If. was determined to Invite subscriptions for J50.000.000 Panama canal ffi;" bonds, and $100,000,000 three per cent. certificates of indebtedness authorized by *±£,' th* act of June IS, ISS8. It was proposed S . to redeposlt In the national banks' the proceeds of these issues, and to permit p their use as a basis for additional circu- Kk ~j latin k notes of national banks. The * ^ i *' moral effect of this procedure was so , •, . great that it- was necessary to issue only . $24,631,980 of Hie Panama bonds and $15,- Sy 4S6.500 of the certificates of indebtedness. * During the period from July 1, 1901, to i s September 30. 190S, the balance between " the net ordinary receipts and the net • ordinary expenses of the -government showed a surplus la the four years 1902. . t.W, 190S, and 1907, and a deficit in the * ' years 1904, 1305, 1908 and a fractional part ,/;>/.'•off the fiscal year 190B. The net result % a surplus of $99.2S3,413.&4. The finan­ cial operations of the government during :\*?U ^thls period, based upon these differences W* v |between receipts and expenditures, re- * {salted In a net reduction of the interest- , >*. , "bearing debt of the United States from " to $897,253,990, notwithstanding % '» that there had been t wo sales of Panama |f ,•*"V canal bonds amounting In the aggregate k , to $54,631,98ft, and an issue of three per }i, cent, certificates of indebtedness under Jfthe act of June 13, 1898, amounting to "$1S,436.S0G. Refunding operations of the treasury department under the act of • March 14, 1900, resulted in the conver- **T sion into two per cent, consols of 1930 of r bonds bearing higher rates of ; inUiest A decrease of $S,C87,956 in the h 4 , annual interest charge resulted from these operations. " In short, during the seven years and ' h'- ' ",re® months there has been a net sur- f-?4'v v' plus Of nearly one hundred millions of -i receipts over expenditures, a reduction , • •* Of the interest-bearing debt by ninety v millions, in spite of the extraordinary fi- 0/ Pense of the Panama canal, and a saving w>, ^ V , > " . -;r of nearly nine millions on the »nniifl| | interest charge. Control of Corporations. | As regards the great corporation* sa- jgaged In Interstate business, and espe- • > , - cially the railroads, 1 can only repeat f ' what I have already again and again °°'d > to my messages to the congress. I be­ lieve that under the interstate clause of the constitution the United States has complete and paramount right to con­ trol all agencies of interstate commerce and I believe that the national govern­ ment alone can exercise this right with wisdom ana effectiveness so as both to secure justice from, and to do justice to the great corporations which are ths moBt important factors in modern busi­ ness. I believe that it Is worse than folly to attempt to prohibit all com­ binations ss is done by the Sherman anti-trust law, because such a law can be enforced only imperfectly and un­ equally, and its enforcement works al­ most as much hardship as good I strongly advocate that instead of an uc- P -t •. wiM «ffort to prohibit all combinations, there shall be substituted a law wiiich shall expressly permit combinations • rvr- which are in the interest of the public, _*/ hut shall at the same time give to some *&• /. agencv ln the national government full X power of control and supervision over them. One of the chief features of this , ? ' control should be securing entire pub- ["city In all matters which the public •; >, \ t a rl*ht Xo know, and furthermore, • ^ the power, not by Judicial but by execu- live action, to prevent or put a stop to I •v.ery form of improper favoritism or J- Other wrongdoing, t ^ The railways of the country should he put completely under the interstate com tter« commission and removed from ^ domain of the anti-trust law. The ?' i*i, power of the commission should be made * ' , . thoroughgoing, BO that it could exercise ; ;p. complete supervision and control over pr£the issue of securities as well as over the raising and lowering of rates. As regards rates, at least, this power should w •un^mary. ... Rates must be made '" low as 18 compatible with giving prop- ^ er returns to all the employes of the rail- road, from the highest to the lowest, and proper returns to the shareholders, •r > r"' j they must not, for instance, be re- - 'n such fashion as to necessitate jA:;-.,. » cut In the wages of the employes or W-Mi' th* abolition of the proper and legitimate ^ profits of honest shareholders. J Telegraph and telephone companies en- *aK«d In interstate business should be put under the Jurisdiction of the lnter- 5£„-" state commerce commission • #V It is very earnestly to be wished that ' »t. oar people, through their representatives should act ln this matter. it is to the interest of all of us that there should be a premium put upon in- ^ dividual initiative and individual ca- •X.V' P*cl*y, and an ample reward for the ««6at directing intelligences alone com- •" petent to manage the great business op- erations of to-day. It is well to keep in *i, mind that exactly as the anarchist is the ' V r worst enemy of liberty and the reactton- ' ary the worst enemy of order, so the K'-v. i* men who.defend the rights of property have most to fear from the wrongdoers , •* ""-3 of treat wealth,' and the men who are . •/*" championing popular rights have most Sfj* *° *-ar *rom the demagogues who in the % * xuub>* of popular rights would do wrong t)0 and oppress honest business men, *1 honest men of wealth': for the success of < either iyp« of wrongdoer necessarily ln- •ivitM a. violent reaction agalriHt the cause (sJ the wrongdoer nominally upholds. " Need of Centralization. TO* proposal to make the '^|iq»reape therefore to give It complete control v the railroads and other IMatniments of interstate commerce is mera^f a, propos­ al to carry out to the lettear Ocse of the prime purposes, if not the prime purpose, for which the constitution wail* founded. It does not represent centralisation. It represents merely the acknowledgment of the patent fact that centralisation has already come In business. If this Irre­ sponsible outside business power is to be controlled in the Interest of the general public it can only be controlled In one way; by giving adequate power of con­ trol to the one sovereignty capable of ex­ ercising such power--the national govern­ ment. To abandon the effort for national control means to abandon the eifort for all adequate control and yet to render like­ ly continual bursts of action by state leg­ islatures, which cannot achieve the pur­ pose sought for, but which can do a great deal of damage to the corporation without conferring any real benefit on the public. Corporations Learning Wisdom. I believe that the more farsighted cor­ porations are themselves coming to rec­ ognise the unwisdom of the violent hos­ tility they have displayed during the last few years to regulation and control by the. national government of cQmbinatlons engaged in interstate business. The truth is that we who believe In this movement of asserting and exercising genuine control, in the public Interest, over these great corporations have to contend against two sets of enemies, who, though nominally opposed to one another, are really allies in preventing proper solution of the problem. There are, first, the big corporation men, and the extreme individualists among busi­ ness men. who genuinely believe In ut­ terly unregulated business--that US, In the reign of plutocracy; and, second, the men who, being blind to the econom­ ic movements of the day. believe in a movement of repression rather than of regulation of corporations, and who de­ nounce both the power of the railroads and the exercise of the federal power which alone can really control the rail­ roads. Those who believe in efficient na­ tional control, on the other hand, do not in the least object to combinations; do not In the least object to' concentration in business administration. On the con­ trary, they favor both, with the all-impor­ tant proviso that there shall be such pub­ licity about their workings, and such thoroughgoing control over them, as to insure their being ln the interest, and not against the Interest, of the general public. We do not object to the concen­ tration of wealth and administration; but we do believe in the distribution of the wealth in profits to the real owners, arid in securing to the public the full benefit of the concentrated administration. We believe that with concentration in ad­ ministration there can come both the advantage of a larger owneship and of a more equitable distribution. of profits, and at the same time a better service to the commonwealth. We believe that the administration should be for the benefit of the many; and that greed and ras­ cality, practiced on a large scale, should be punished as relentlessly as if practiced on a small scale. We do not for a moment believe that the problem will be solved by any short and easy method. The solution will come only by pressing various concurrent remedies. Some of these remedies must He outside the domain of all government. Some must lie outside the domain of the federal government. But there is leg­ islation which the federal government alone can enact and which Is absolutely vital in order to secure the attainment «f our purpose. Many laws are needed. There should be regulation by the na­ tional government of the great Interstate corporations. Including a simple method of account keeping, publicity, supervision of the issue of securities, abolition of rebates and of special privileges. There should be short-time franchises for all corporations engaged in public business; including the corporations which get power from water rights. There should be national as well as state guardianship of mines and forests. The labor legisla­ tion hereinafter referred to should con­ currently be enacted into law. To accomplish this, means a certain In­ crease in the use of--not the creation of --power, by the central government. The power already exists; It does not have to be created; the only question is whether it shall be used or left Idle-- and meanwhile the corporations oVter which the power ought to be exercised will not remain Idle. The danger to Amer­ ican democracy lies not in the least in the concentration of administrative power ln responsible and accountable hands. It lies in having the power insufficiently concentrated, so that no one can be held responsible to the people for its uses. Concentrated power is palpable, visible, responsible, easily reached, quickly held to account. Democracy Is In peril wherever the administration of po­ litical power Is scattered among a variety of men who work ln secret, whose very names are un­ known to the common people. It Is not ln peril from any man who derives au­ thority from the people, who exercises It ln sight of the people, and who is from time to time compelled to give an account of its exercise to the people. Legislation fpr Wageworker. There are many matters affecting lator and the status of the wageworker to which I should like to draw your atten­ tion, but an exhaustive-' discussion of the problem In all its aspects is not now nec­ essary. I belfeve ln a steady, ef­ fort, or perhaps It would be more accurate to aay in steady eTTorts ln many different directions, to bring about a condition of affairs under Which the men who work with hand or with brain, the laborers, the superintendents, the men who produce the market and the men who find a market for the articles produced, shaT own a far greater share than at present of the wealth they pro­ duce, and be enabled to Invest it in the tools and inBlruments by which all work Is carried on. As far as possible I hope to see a frank recognition of the advan­ tages conferred by machinery, organiza­ tion and division of labor, accompanied by an effort to bring about a larger share in theow'ncr'hlp by wage-worker of rail­ way, mill and factory. Postal Savings banks will make it easy for the poorest to keep their sav­ ings in absolute safety. The regulation of the national highways must be such that they sh<Jl^ serve all people with equal Justice, corporate finances must be supervised 10 as to make it far safer than at present for the map of small means to lnvrfst his money in stocks. There must be prohibition of chltfl la­ bor, t-.mlnutlon of women labor, short­ ening of hours of all mechanical labor; stock watering should be prohibited, and stock gambling so far as is possi­ ble discouraged. There should be a progressive inheritance tax on large fortunes. Industrial education should be encouraged. As far as possible we should lighten the burden of taxation on the small man. We should put a premium upon thrift, hard work, and business energy; but these qualities cease to be the main factors ln accu­ mulating a fortune long before that fortune reaches a point where it would be seriously affected by any inheri­ tance tax such as I propose. It is emi­ nently right that the nation should fix the terms upon which the great for­ tunes are inherited. They rarely do good and they often do harm to those who inheriV them in their entirety. There should no longer be any palter­ ing with the question of taking care of the wageworkers who, under our pres­ ent industrial system, become killed, crippled, or worn out as part of the regular incidents ot a given busi­ ness. As far as concerns those who have been worn out, I call your attention to the fact that definite steps toward providing old-age 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 fhe agency of saving's Wuks, aa under the Massachusetts plan. ' • Urgent yNeod of Reform. Our present/system, or rathersse «ys» tem, works dreadful wrong, and is ot benefit to only one class «t people--the lawyers. When a workman is Injured whatLhe needs is not an expensive and doubtful lawsuit, but the Certainty of relief through Immediate administra­ tive action. No academic theory about "freedom of contract" or "consti­ tutional liberty to contracts should be permitted to In^tffere with this and similar movement* - Pending a thOTOOghgotng Snvestfga tion and actiq*' 'tgere la certain legia lation whiefc efconfd be enaated at once The law,, passed at of the congress .granting to certain classes of empto|wli»t^th e gov ernmeht .should be extend^fp Include all employes of the goventfjnsnt and should be made more line*!!' in its terms. There Is no good ground for the distinction made In the law be­ tween those engaged In hazardous oc­ cupations and those so en­ gaged. The terms of the act pro­ viding compensation should be made more liberal than in the present act. A year's compensation Is not ade­ quate for a wage-earner's family In the event of his death by accident in the course of his employment. And in the event of death occurring, say, ten or eleven months after the accident, the family would only receive as compen­ sation the equivalent o-t one or two months' earnings. In this respect the generosity of the United States towards its employes compares most unfavora­ bly with that of every country in Eu­ rope--even the poorest. The terms of the act are also a har<J ship in prohibiting payment in cases where the accident is in any way due to the negligence of the employe. It is inevitable that daily familiarity with danger will lead men to take chances tl^t can be construed into negligence. So well is this recognized that in prac* tically all countries In the civilised world, except the United States, only a great degree of negligence acts as a bar to securing compensation. Proba­ bly In no other respect is our legisla­ tion, both state and national, so far be­ hind practjcally the entire civilized world as in the matter or liability and compensation for accidents in industry. It is humiliating that at Kuropean in­ ternational congresses cvn accidents the United States should be singled out as the most belated among the nations in respect to employers' liability legisla­ tion. This government is itself a large employer of labor ,and in its dealings with its employes It should set a stan­ dard in this county^ which would place it on a par with the most progressive countries in Europe. The laws of the U n i t e d S t a t e s I n t h i s r e s p e c t a n d t h e laws of European countries have been summarized in a recent bulletin of the bureau of labor, and no American who reads this summary can fail to be struck by the great contrast between our practices and theirs--a contrast not in any sense to our credit. I renew my recommendation made ln a previous message that half-holidays be granted during summer to all wage- workers in government employ , I also renew my recommendation that the principle of the eight-hour day should as rapidly and as far as practi­ cable be extended to the entire work being carried on by the government; the present law should be amended to embrace contracts on those public works which the present wording Of the act seems to exclude. Would Double Salaries of Judges. I most earnestly urge upon the con­ gress the duty of Increasing the totally Inadequate salaries now given to our judges. On the whole there is no body of public servants who do as valuable work, nor whose moneyed reward is so inadequate compared to their work. Be­ ginning with the supreme court the Judges should have their salaries dou­ bled. It is not befitting the dignity of the nation that its most honored public servants should be paid sums so small compared to what they would earn in private tlfe that the performance of public service by them implies an ex­ ceedingly heavy pecuniary sacrifice. It is earnestly to be desired that some method should be devised for doing away with the long delays which now obtain ln the administration of justice, and which operate with peculiar sever­ ity against persons of small means, and favor only the very criminals whom it Is ' most desirable to ppnl^i. These long delays In the final decisions of cases make In the aggregate a crying evil; and a remedy shouii be devised. Much of this Intolerable delay is due to improper regard paid to technicali­ ties which are a mere hlnderance to justice. 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 politio. Labor Leaders Criticised. At the last election certain leaders of organized labor made & violent and sweeping attack upon the entire Judi­ ciary of the country, an attack couched in such terms as to Include the most upright, honest and broad-minded judges, no less than those of narrower mind and more restricted outlook. Last year, before the house com­ mittee on judiciary, these same labor leaders formulated their de­ mands, specifying the bill that contained them, refusing aU compro­ mise, stating they wished the principle of that bill or nothing. They Insisted on a provision that in a labor dispute no Injunction should issue except to protect a property right, and specifical­ ly provided that the right to carry on business should not be construed as a property right; and In a second provis­ ion their bill made legal ln a labor dis­ pute any act or agreement by or be­ tween two or more persons that would not have been unlawful if done by a single person. In other words, this bill legalized blacklisting and boycotting In every form, legalizing, for Instance, those forms of the secondary boycott which the anthracite coal strike com­ mission so unreservedly condemned; while the right to carry on a business was explicitly taken out from under that protection which the law throws over property. The demand was made that there should be trial by jury In contempt cases, thereby most seriously impairing the authority of the courts. All this represented a course of policy which, if carried out, would mean the enthronement of class privilege ln its crudest and most brutal form, and the destruction of one of the most essen­ tial functions of the Judlicary in aU civ­ ilized lands. The violence of the crusade for this legislation, and Its complete failure. Illustrate two truths which it Is essen­ tial our people should learn. In the ,flrst place, they ou^ht to teach the- workingman, the laborer, the wage^ worker, that by demanding what is Im­ proper and impossibly he plays into the hands of his foes. Buch a crude and vicious attack upon the courts, even if it were temporarily successful, would Inevitably in the end cause a violent reaction and would band the J great mass of citizens together, forcing them !to stand by all the Judges, competent and incompetent alike, rather than to see the wheels of Justice stopped. The wageworkers, the workingmen, the laboring men of the country by the way in which they repudiated the ef­ fort to get them to cast their votes ln response to an appeal to class hatred, have emphasized their sound patriotism and Americanism. Such an attitude Is an object lesson in good citizenship to the entire nation. '* * '-'4 7! Judicial System Sound. Our Judicial system Is sound and effective at core, and It remains, and must ever be maintained, as the safeguard of those principles of lib­ erty ana justice which stand at the foundation of American institutions; for. as Burke finely said, when liberty and justice are separated, neither is safe. There are, however, some members of the judicial body who have lagged be­ hind in their understanding of these great and vital changes in the body politic, whose minds have never been opened to the new applications of the old principles made necessary by the new conditions. Judges of this stamp do last­ ing harm by their decisions, because they convince poor ineu in need of protection that the courts of the land are pro­ foundly Ignorant of and out of sympathy witn their needs, and profoundly Ignorant or hostile to any proposed remedy. To Such men It seems a cruel mockery to have any court decide against them on the ground that It desires to preserve "liberty" in a purely technical form, by withholding liberty In any real and con­ structive sense. There are certain decisions by variefat courts which have been exceedingly det­ rimental to the rights of wage-workers. This is true of all decisions that decide that men are, by the constitution, "guar- . anteed tUelr liberty" to contract to enter a dangerous occupation, or to work an undesirable or Improper number of hoars, or to work in unhealthy surroundings; and therefore cannot recover damages when maimed in that occupation, and cannot be forbidden to work what the legislature decides is an excessive num­ ber of hours, or to carry on the work under conditions which the legislature decides to be unhealthy. Decisions such as those nullify the legislative effort to protect the wage-workers who most need protection from those employ­ ers who take advantage of their grind­ ing need. They halt or hamper the move­ ment for securing better and more equi­ table conditions of labor. There Is also, I think, ground for the belief that substantial Injustice is often suffered by employes In consequence of the custom of courts issuing 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 proceed­ ings. Organized labor Is chafing under the unjust restraint which comes from repeated resort to this plan of procedure. Its discontent has been unwisely expressed, and often Improperly expressed, but there is a sound basis for it, and the or­ derly and law-abiding people of a com­ munity would be ln a far stronger posi­ tion for upholding the courts if the un­ doubtedly existing abuses could be pro­ vided against. ( Matters for Thought for Labor. Such proposals as those mentioned above as advocated by the extreme labor leaders, contain the vital error of being class legislation of the most offensive kind, and ever, if enacted Into law I be­ lieve that the law would rightly be held unconstitutional. Moreover, the labor people are themselves now beginning to invoke the use of the power of injunc­ tion. During the last ten years, a.nd within my own knowledge, at least fifty Injunctions have been obtained by labor unions ln New York city alone, most of them being to protect the union label (a "property right"), but some being ob­ tained fbr other reasons against employ' era. : '4 Injunction Must Remain. The power of Injunction is a great equitable remedy, which should on no account be destroyed. But safeguards should be erected against Its abuse. In substance, provision should be made that no Injunction or temporary re­ straining order issue otherwise than on notice, except where irreparable Injury would otherwise result; and in such case hearing on the merits of the order should be had within a short fixed pe­ riod, and, if not then continued after hearing, it should forthwith lapse. De­ cisions should be rendered immediately, and the chance of delay minimized in every way. Moreover, I believe that the procedure should be sharply defined, and the judge required minutely to state the particulars both of his action and of his reasons therefor, so that the congress can if It desires examine and investigate the same. 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 difficulty ln convicting murderers, or in bringing to justice men who as public servants have been guilty of corruption, or who have profited by the corruption of public servants. The result is equally unfortunate, whether due to hairsplit­ ting technicalities in the Interpretation of law by judges, to sentimentality and class consciousness on the part of Juries, or to hysteria and sensational­ ism ln the daily press. For much of this failure of justice no responsibility whatever lies on rich men as such., We who make up the mass of the people cannot shift the responsibility from our own shoulders. But there is an Impor­ tant part of the failure wuich has spe­ cially to do, with inability to hold to proper account men of wealth who behave badly. ; * The Modern Corporation. The huge wealth that has been accu­ mulated by a few individuals of recent years, in what has amounted to a so­ cial and Industrial revolution, has been as regards some of these individuals made possible only by the Improper use of the modern corporation. A certain type of modern corporation, with Its officers and agents, Its many issues of securities, and its constant consolida­ tion with allied undertakings, finally becomes an Instrument so complex as to contain a greater number of ele­ ments that, under various judicial de­ cisions, lend themselves to fraud and oppression than any device yet evolved in the human brain. Corporations are necessary Instruments of modern busi­ ness. They have been permitted to become a menace largely because the governmental representatives of the people have worked slowly ln provid­ ing for adequate control over them. Our great clusters of corpora­ tions, huge trusts and fabulously wealthy multimillionaires, employ the very best lawyers they can obtain to pick flaws In statutes after their passage; but they also employ a class of secret agents who seek, under the. advice of experts, to render hostile legislation innocuous byrmaking It un­ constitutional, often through the Inser­ tion of what appear on their face to be drastic and sweeping provisions against the interests of the parties inspiring them; while the demagogues, the cor­ rupt creatures who introduce black­ mailing schemes to "strike" corpora­ tions, and all who demand extreme, and undesirably radical. measures, show themselves to be the worst ene­ mies of the very public whose loud­ mouthed champions they profess to be. Real damage has been done by the manifold and conflicting interpretations oi the Interstate commerce law. Con­ trol over the great corporations doing Interstate business can be effective only If It is vested with full power in an administrative department, a branch of the federal executive, carrying out a federal law; it can never be effective If a divided responsibility is left ln both the states and the nation; It can never be effective if left in the hands of the courts to be decided by lawsuits. Respect for Law Must Be Upheld. The courts hold a place of peculiar and deserved sanctity under our form of gov­ ernment. Respect for the law is essen­ tial to the permanence of our institu­ tions; and respect for the law is largely conditioned upon respect for the courts. It is an offense against the republic to say anything which can weaken th{s re­ spect, save for the gravest reason and ln the most carefully guarded manner. 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 nec­ essary is that the courts as a whole should exercise this power with the far- sighted wisdom already shown by those judges who scan the future while they act Irt 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, BO that they may do Justice, and work equity, so that they may protect all per­ sons In their rights, and yet break down the barriers of privilege, which is the fos of right Forest Preservation.... 2 If there is any one duty which more than another we owe It to our children to perform at once. It Is to save the for­ ests of this country, for they constitute the first and most important element in the conservation of the natural re­ sources of the country, . . . Just as a farmer, after all his life making his living from his farm, will, If he is an ex­ pert farmer, leave It as an asset of In­ creased value to his son, so we should leave our national domain to our chil­ dren, increased in value and not worn out. There are small sections of our own country, in the east and in the west. In the Adirondack*, the White mountains and the Appalachians, and in the Rocky mountains, where we can already see for ourselves the damage In the shape of permanent Injury to the soil and the river systems which comes from reckleas deforestation. It matters not whether this deforestation Is due to the actual reckless cutting of timber, to. the fires that Inevitably follow such reckless cut­ ting of timber, or to reckless and uncon­ trolled grkzlng, especially by the great migratory bands of sheep, the un­ checked wandering of which over the oountry means destruction to forests and W&' • J PROVED BY TIME. Hi'Feir of Any Further Trouble, disaster to the small BWlS W•»»**, the settlers of limited means. Thanks to our own recklessness tn the use of our splendid forests, we have already crossed the verge of a timber famine In this country, and no measures that we now take can, at least for many years, undo the mischief that has already been done. But we can pre­ vent further mischief being done; and it would be in the highest degree reprehen­ sible to let any consideration of tem­ porary convenience -.or temporary cost interfere with such action, especially as regards the national forests which the nation can now, at this very moment, controL • , " , The lesson of deforestation In China Is a lesson which mankind should have learned many times already from what has occurred in other places. Denuda­ tion leaves naked soil: then gullying cuts down to the bare rock; and mean­ while the rock-waste buries the bottom­ lands. When the soil is gone, men must go; and the process does not take long. Plea for Inland Waterways, Action should be begun forthwith, dur­ ing the present session of the congress, for the Improvement of our Inland water­ ways-- action which will result ln giving us hot only navigable hut navigated rivers. Until the work of river improvement is undertaken In a modern way it can not have results that will meet the needs of this modern nation. The plan which promises the best and quick­ est results is that of a per­ manent commission authorized to co-or­ dinate the work of all the government departments relating to waterway^, and to frame and supervise the execution of & comprehensive plan. Under such a commission the actual work of construc­ tion might be entrusted to the reclama­ tion service; or to the military engineers acting with a sufficient number of civili­ ans to continue the work in time of war; or it .might be divided between the rec­ lamation service and the corps of en- erineers Funds should be provided from ;urrent revenues if it is deemed wise-- otherwise from the sale of bonds. The essential thing is that the work should go forward under the best possible plan, and with the least possible delay. The time for playing with our waterways is past. The country demands results. The president urges that national parks adjacent to national forests be placed under the control of the forest service of the agricultural depart­ ment; he also points out the benefits derived from pure food legislation. * The message continues: *n Needs of the Secret Service. Last year an amendment was incor­ porated in the measure providing for the secret service, which provided that there should be no detail from the secret serv­ ice and no transfer therefrom. The amendment in question was of benefit to no one excepting to criminals, and it seriously hampers the government in the detection of crime and the securing of justice. - The chief argument in favor of the provision was that the congressmen did not them­ selves wish to be Investigated by the secret service men. Very little of such investigation has been done in the past; but it is true that the work of the secret service agents was partly responsible for the Indictment and conviction of a sen­ ator and a congressman for land frauds ln Oregon. I do not believe that it Is ln the public Interest to protect criminals ln any branch of the public service, and exactly as we have again and again dur­ ing the past seven years prosecuted and convicted such criminals who were In the executive branch of the government, so In my belief we should be given ample means to prosecute them if found ln the legislative branch. But if this is not considered desirable a special exception could be made In the law prohibiting the use of the secret service force in inves­ tigating members of the congress. Postal Savings Banks. I again renew my recommendation for postal savings banks, for deposit­ ing savings with the security of the government behind them. The object is to encourage thrift and economy in the wage-earner and person of mod­ erate means. It is believed that In the aggregate vast sums of money would be brought Into circulation through the In­ strumentality •of the postal savings banks. Parcel Post. In my last annual message I com­ mended the postmaster-general's recommendation 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 mutual benefit of the farmer and the country storekeeper, and it is desirable that the routes, serving more than 15,000,000 people, should be utilized to |k$. fullest practicable extent. ,/V Education. - : ̂ With the limited means hlthertopro- vlded, the bureau of e ducation has rendered efficient service, but the con­ gress has neglected to adequately sup­ ply the bureau with means to meet the educational growth of th« country. I earnestly recommend that this un­ fortunate state of affairs as regards the national educational office be reme­ died by adequate appropriations. This recommendation Ss urged by the repre­ sentatives of our common schools and great state universities and the leading educators, who all unite in requesting favorable consideration and action by the congress upon this subject. The president points out the neces­ sity of better organization of the vari­ ous bureaus responsible for the public health, and urges the placing of all soldiers' homes under the jurisdiction of the war department Statehood. On the question of statehood the president says: I advocate the Immediate admission of New Mrxicw uuu Arizona da btat^o. This should be done at the present session of the congress. The people of the two ter­ ritories hav« made it evident by their votes that they will not come In as one state. The only alternative Is to admit them as two, and I trust that this WU1 be done without delAy. Interstate Fisheries. I call the attention of the congress to the importance of the problem of the fisheries In the interstate waters. On the Great L.ak<*3 we are now, under the very wise treaty of April 11 of this year, en­ deavoring to come to an international agreement for the preservation and sat­ isfactory use of the fisheries of these wa­ ters which can not otherwise be achieved. Lake Erie, for example, has the richest fresh water fisheries in the world; but It is now controlled by the statutes of two nations, four states, and one province, and this province by two different ordi­ nances in different counties. All these political divisions work at cross pur­ poses, and In no case can they achieve protection to the fisheries, on the, one hand, and justice to the localities and In­ dividuals on the other. Foreign Affairs. This nation's foreign policy Is based on the theory that right must be done between nations precisely as between individuals, and in our actions for the last ten years we have in this matter proven our faith by our deeds. We have behaved, and are behaving, to­ wards other nations, as tn private life an honorable man would behave to­ wards his fellows. Latin-American Republics. The commercial and material prog­ ress of the 20 Latin-American republics is worthy of tb« careful attention of the congress. The International Bureau of the American Republics is doing a useful work in making these nations and their resources better known to us, and In acquainting them not only With us as a people and with our pur­ poses towards them, but with what we have to exchange for their goods. Panama Canal. The work on the Panama canal 1# be­ ing done with a speed, efficiency and entire devotion to duty, which make it a model for all work of the kind. The men on the Isthmus, from Col. Goethals and his fellow commissioners through the entire list of employes who are faithfully doing their duty, have won their right to the ungrudging respect Ml gratitude of the Americas people. X again reeemtaea*. fhe .the ocean mali act of . _ factory American ocoa« mmi Ittuta to Sdnth JMaprica. - ABia. tbs ~ sad Australasia may fc* Hawaii. :v t call particular attention to the Ter­ ritory of Htawall. The Importance of those islands Is apparent, and the need of improving their condition and de­ veloping their resources Is urgent. The Philippines. Real progress toward self-government Is being made ln the Philippine islands. I trust that within a generation the time will arrive when "the Philippines can decide for themselves whether it is well for them to become independent, or to continue under the protection of a strong and disinterested power, able to guarantee to the islands order at home and protection from foreign Invasion. Porto Rico. I again recommend that American cit­ izenship be conferred upon the peoplr of Porto Rico. Cuba. In Cuba our occupancy will cease in about two months' time; the Cubans have ln orderly manner elected their own governmental authorities, and the inland will be turned over to them. Our occu­ pation on this occasion has lasted a lit­ tle over two years, and Cuba has thriv­ en and prospered under it. Our earnest hope and one desire Is that the people of the Island shall now govern them­ selves with justice, so that peace itfjd or­ der may be secure. Japanese "Exposition.' The Japanese government has post* poned until 1917 the date of the great international exposition, the action be­ ing taken so as to Insqre am;3le time in'Which to prepare to make tile expo­ sition all that it should be made. The American commissioners have visited Japan and the postponement will mere­ ly give ampler opportunity for Ameri­ ca to be represented at the exposition. Not since the first international expo­ sition has there been one of greater importance than this will be, marking, as it does, the fiftieth anniversary of the ascension to the throne of the em­ peror of Japan. The extraordinary leap to the foremost place among the nations of the world made by Japan during thisi half century Is something unparalleled in all previous history. I take this opportunity publicly to state my appreciation of the way in which in Japan, in Australia, In New Zealand, %nd in all the states of South America, the battle fleet has been re­ ceived on its practice voyage around the world. The American government can not too strongly express its appre­ ciation of the abounding and generous hospitality shown our ship# every port they visited. ^ AS regards the --army'll"t&lf'titilfrtidn to the fact that while our junior offi­ cers. and enlisted men stand very high, the present system of promotion by seniority results in bringing into the higher grades many men of mediocre capacity who have but a short time to serve. No man should regard it as his vested right to rise to the highest rank in the army any more than in any other profession. It is a curious and by no means creditable fact that there should be so often a failure on the part of the public and its representa­ tives to understand the great need, from the standpoint of the service and the natipn, of refusing to promote re­ spectable, elderly incompetents. The higher places should be given to the most deserving men without regard to seniority; at least seniority should be treated as only one consideration. In the stress of modern industrial com­ petition no business firm could succeed if those responsible for its management were chosen simply on the ground that they were the oldest people in its em­ ployment; yet this is the course advo­ cated as regards the army, and re­ quired 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 present posi­ tion wholly or ln part by a process of selection. The scope of retiring boards should be extended so that they could con­ sider general unfitness to command for any cause, in order to secure a far more rigid enforcement than at present In the elimination of officers for mental, physical or temperamental disabilities. But this plan is recommended only if. the congress does not see fit to provide what In my judgment is far better, that is, for selection in promotion, and for elimination for age. Officers who fail to attain a certain rank by a cer­ tain age, should be retired--for In­ stance. if a man should not attain field rank by the time he is 45 he should of course be placed on the re­ tired list. General officers should be selected as ,at present, and one-third of the other promotions should be made by selection, the selection to be made by the president or secretary of war from a list of at least two candi­ dates proposed for each vacancy by a board of officers from the arm of the service from which the promotion Is to be made. A bill Is now before the congress having for its object to se­ cure the promotion of officers to vari­ ous grades at reasonable ages through a process of selection, by boards of of­ ficers, of the least efficient for retire­ ment with a percentage of their pay depending upon length of service. The bill, although not accomplishing all that should be done, Is a long step in the right direction; and I earnestly recommend its passage, or that of ft more completely effective measure. National Guard. Now that the organised militia, the National Guard, has been incorporated with the army as a part of the national forces, it behooves the government to do every reasonable thing in its power to perfect its efficiency. It should be assisted; in its instruction and'1 other­ wise aided more liberally than hereto­ fore. The continuous services of many well-trained regular officers will be essential in this connection. A bill is now pending before the congress creating a number of extra officers in the army, which if passed, as it ought to be; will enable more officers,to be trained as instructors of National Guard and assigned to that duty. In case of war it will be of the utmost Importance to have a large number of trained officers to use for turning raw levies Into good troopf. The Navy. I approve the recommendations of the general board for the in­ crease of the nevy, calling especial attention to the need of addi­ tional destroyers and colliers, and above all, of the four battleships. It is desir­ able to complete as soon as possible a squadron of eight battleships of the best existing type. I most earnestly recommend that the general board be by law turned into a general staff. There is literally no ex­ cuse whatever for continuing the pres­ ent bureau organization of the navy. The navy should be treated as a purely mili­ tary organization, and everything should he subordinated to the one object of se­ curing military efficiency. A system of promotion by merit, either by selec­ tion or by exclusion, or by both processes, should be Introduced. It Is out of the question. If the present principle of promotion by mere seniority Is kept, to expect to get the best result* from the higher officers. Our men co«ne too old, and stay for too short a time. In the high command positions. Nothing better for the n»*y from every standpoint has ever occurred than the cruise of the battle IV-et around the world. The Improvement of the ships ln every way has been Extraordinary, and they have gained fnr more experience in battle tactics than they would have gained if they had stayed In the Atlantic waters. The American people have cause for profound gratification, both in view of the excellent condition of the fleet as shown by this cruise, and In view of the improvement the cruise has worked In this already high condition. I do not believe that there Is any other service in the ^vorld in which the average of char-, acter and efficiency in the enlisted < men la as high as is now the case in our own. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. The White House, Tmmto*. KMpemtN*" 8. 1MB. David Price, Corydon, la., saye: .1 mm in the last st»ge of kidney trouble --lame, weak, run down to a mere skeleton. My hack was so had I oould hardly walk an* the kidney secre­ tions much disoit dered. A week after I b e g a n u s i n g Doan's Kidney Pills I could walk with­ out a cane, and as I continued my feealth gradually returned. I was so (grateful I made a public statement of my case, and now seven years havf, passed, I am still perfectly well.'* Sold by all dealers. 60c a box. Pcil ter-Milburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y. I'V A ENGLISH HUMOR. Wil'm r" She--Pooh! What is nothing. He--Well you once said you coui<4 refuse me nothing, you know.--Chife. * : B/^CK PRESCRIPTION ~m' The increased use of "Toris" fot lame back and rheumatism is catislnf considerable discussion among tlM medical fraternity. It is an almost tiff- fallible cure when mixed with oer tain other ingredients and taken prop­ erly. The following formula is effec­ tive: "To one-half pint of goof whiskey add one ounce of Tori3 Com­ pound and one ounce Syrup Sarsapsk*' rilla Compound. Take in tablespocMH- ful doses before each meal and fore retiring." Toris compound is a product of th« laboratories of the Globe Pharmaceu­ tical Co., Chicago, but it as well as t|}« other ingredients can be had from a^f good druggist i A%:"> ... V • J - » Optimist and Pessimist. Sydney Rosenfeld once wrote a eiriti* e<fy, 'entitled "The Optimist," whldft" achieved success after the production, but was a long time reaching th« stage. Manager after manager refused the manuscript, and one day Mr. Rosenfeld, whose patience was ex­ hausted, blurted out to Us sOle tUK ditor: "Of course you don't appreciate play! You don't even know the meaning of its name!" "Yes, I do," protested the im­ presario. "Well," insisted Rosenfeld, "what's the. difference between an optima* and a pessimist?" -> The manager barely hesitated: "A^l optimist is an eye doctor," he said; "a pessimist is a foot doctor."--Sun­ day Magazine. X, J.-*4. ' Vvv. 14 ; v « f-4/ A~ > ' 4 > m *»&£. Why He Remembered!" By some shuffling of the social cards the clergyman and the dog fan* cier were at the same afternoon tea, The wandering talk unexpectedly re­ solved Itself into-the question. Wh0 were the 12 sons of Jacob? Even til* cleric with the reversed collar had forgotten, but the doggy man reeled off the uniUee without error, Reuben down to Benjamin. ^ The clergyman looked surprised. "Oh, I'm hot great shakes on Serin* ture," said the man with the fox t$e> rlers, "but those are the names whijll some chap gave to a dozen pupplMV I'm willing to sell." I ? ' f t ' I I . V • - - . ^ ' ' Expert Pocket-Picking/. " , An eld lady was accosted in don street by a well-dressed and pi(r lined-looking stranger, who effusively *. ^ claimed her as a friend. "I really don't believe you remember me!" sl*S exclaimed, reproachfully, and the old Jady, never doubting that her memorjf was at fault, confessed that she could not quite recall the name. "Ah, but "I have changed It since you knew me,* ' said her interlocutor, gayly, and after " a few more lively speeches she pass^t, 1 ou, having possessed herself meaji* ^ t J j while of the old lady's purse. ^ 1 llsfi 'hii i jA Multiplicity of Fathers, r *ik*ce had been learning to «Uw( "America" at school and was trying to teach It to brother Wayne. On# niornlnsr his heard him shout-- ing: "Land where my papa died, laa#';^ where my ]papa died." ^ Ardyce interrupted: "Oh, "Pi ' Wayne, not that way. It la 'Land where our fathers died.'** Wayne's expression could not be s described as he tipped his head side- wise, and in a very surprised tone gravely asked:'* "Two '.of 'emT"-"-®#^ ^_ lineaton " J -- i i 5"-* CAUSE AND EFFECT Qoed Digestion Follows Aight :-V; Indigestion and the attendant comforts of mind and body are c«& * * tain to follow continued uae of impro^., er food. Cv ^ , Those who are still young anslt v ^ ' robust' are likely to overlook the fact th*t, as dropping water will wear a ? Btone away at last, so will the use of * heavy, greasy, rich food, finally eaagib 'i*. lost of appetite and indigestion. • i Fortunately many are thoughtful enough to study themselves and notil ||? the principle of Cause and Effect t* their daily food. A N. Y. young woa§|». an writes her experience thus: t; "Sometime ago I had a lot of trouble* from indigestion, caused by too ridh fooi. I got so I was unable to <II> ;•;> gist scarcely anything, and medicinep ^ \ n seemed useless. ' f "*A friend advised me to try Grap^ •Nuts food, praising It highly, and is - : ^ a last resort I tried It. I am thankful -v^ to say that Grape-Nuts not only re* lieved me of my trouble, but built me up and strengthened my digestive or* gans so that I can now eat anything^ , desire. But I stick to Grape-Nuts." v \Jjfr "There's a Reason." Name given by Postum Co., Battle "j% Creek, Mich. Read "The Road to We$* ,^7 ville," in pkgs. -V* 1-4 ***• *3 Ever read the above letter* A seff one api>rnri« from time to time. Tfcef •re gruvlA£* true^ of ' '3-, • "' * • '"V " • n