Ligonier Banner., Volume 43, Number 38, Ligonier, Noble County, 10 December 1908 — Page 2

PRESIDENT TO CONGRESS

Message Read to Both Houses of National ' Assembly

LEGISLATION CALLED FOR

Financial Standing of the Nation Declared Excellent—Control of Corporations, the President Thinks, Should Be Left to the National Government—Labor Leaders Come In for Criticism—Respect for Law Vital to the Well-Being of Country,

Washington.—The message of Presiden: Roosevelt was read in both houses of congress Tuesday. In substance the document was as follows: - To the Senate and House of Representatives: The financial standing of the mation 4t the present time is excellent, &nd the financial management of the naGon's 'interests by the government dur--1 img the last seven years has shown the maost saisfactory results. But our currency system is imperfect, and it is earmesily to be hoped that ‘the currency commission will be able to propose: a thoroughly good system which will do . . ®Way with the existing defects. Dhuring the period from. July 1, 1901, to September 30, 198, there was an increase in the amount of money in-circulation of $962 981 38, The increase in the per capita during this period was $7.06. ~Within this time there were several occasions when ¥t was necessary for the treasury department to come to the relief of the money market by purchases or redemptions of United States bonds; by-increas-Ing deposits in national banks; by stimulating additional issues of national bank notes, and by facilitating importations i from abroad of gold. Our imperfect cur- - rency syvstem has made these proceedings mecessary, and they were effective until - -the mynetary disturbance in the fall of 1967 in‘nens»}}y increased the difficulty of ordinary methods of relief. By the middle of November the available working balance in the treasury had been reduced to approximately _ $5,000,000. Clearing house associations throughout. the coun_try had been obliged to resort to the - expedient of issuing clearing -house certificates, to be used as money. In this emergency it was determined to invite subscriptions for $0,000,000 Panama canal bonds, and $100,000,000 three per cent. _certificates of indebtedness autherized by the act of June 13, 1898. It was proposed to redeposit in the national banks the. ~ proceeds of these issues, and to permit their use as a basis for additional circulating notes of national banks. The moral effect of this procedure was so gr=at that it was necessary to issue only $22 531,389 of the Panama bonds and $15,43559 of the certificates of indebtedness. . Daring the period from July 1, 1901, to September 30, 1908, the balance between the net ordinary receipts and the net ordinary expenses of the government showed a surplus in the four years 1902, lE, 19, and 197, and a deficit in the ¥years 1804 1505, 198 and a fractional part of the fiscal year 1999. The net result was a surplus of $93.283 413.54. The financial operations of the government during this period. based upon these differences between receipts and expenditures, resuited in a net reduction of the interestbearing debt of the United States from BT 131040 to $397.253.990, notwithstanding " that there had been two sales of Panama ? canal bonds amounting in the aggregate ' to 46319, and an issue of three per oent. certificates of indebtedness under the act of June 13, 1898, amounting to $15.336 5. Refunding operations of the treasury -department under the act of - March 14, 199, resulted in the converson into two per cent. consols of 1930 of s£2o6 38 9 bonds bearing higher rates of interest. A decrease of $3,687,956 in the annual Interest charge resulted from | these operations. In short, during the seven years and’ thr=e months there has been a net surplus of nearly one hundred millions .of receipls over expenditures, a reduction - of the interest-bearing debt by ninety millions, in spite of the extraordinary expense of the Panama canal, and a saving of nearly nine millions on the annual imterest charge. Control of Corporations. As regards the great corporations engz2==4 in interstate business, and especiaily the railroads, I can only repeat what I have aiready again and again said ~ im my messazes to the congress. I believe that under the interstate clause of th= constitution the United States has ccmplste and paramount right to controi all agencies of interstate commerce, and I believe that.the national government zlone 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 busimess. I believe that it is worse than foliy to attempt to prohibit all combirations as is done by the Sherman anti-trust law, bécause such a law can be enforced only imperfectly and unegually, and its enforcement works almost as much hardship as good. I strongly advocate that instead of an unwise &ffort to prohibit all combinations, there shall be substituted a law which shall expressly permit combinations which are” in the interest of the public, but shall at the same time give to some eg=ncy in the national government full powar of control and super'fsion over them One of the chief featdres of this control should be securing entire pubBicity in all matters which the public . bhas 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 other wrongdoing. The railways of the country should be put completely under the interstate com- . merce commission and removed from the domain of the anti-trust law. The power of the commission should be made thoroughgoing, so that. it could exercise * complete ! supervision and control over the issue .of securitles as well as over #Ahe raising and lowering of rates. As regards rates, at least. this power should be summary. . . . Rates must be made as low as is compatible with giving proper returns to all the employes of the rail- - road, from the highest to the lowest, - and proper returns to the shareholders, ~ Bbut they must not, for instance, be te- - duced -in such fashion as to necessitate 3:" i mot the o ﬁ:ua J&%‘;.ﬁ . Telegraph and telephone companies en- ~ should act in this matter. It is to _ the interest of all of us that ~ erations of to-day. It is well to keep in . mind the Mumw L e ,‘gl!“‘, lapaet SHeTRY o ;»‘ - ‘ 5 the :fv *‘;Kﬁ’sﬁf\g’!’&gﬁ@%ﬁ’ s Wrobsiloers. S A Ree T e T 2 s ivr,.:,?_;““ By e . PR A e . R | ¥ ‘&’Ajﬁ = o S e e "‘“‘:‘.,’ e *f“*‘v‘"?a,'a“ = e

therefore to give it complete control over. the railroads and other instruments of interstate commerce .is merely a proposal to earry out to the letter one of the prime purposes, if not the prime purpose, for which the constitution was founded. It does not represent centralization. "It represents merely the acknowledgment of the patent fact that centralization has already come in business. If this irresponsible 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 control to the one sovereignty capable of exercising such power—the national government. To abandon the effort for national control means to abandon the effort for, all adequate control and yet to render like1y continual bursts of action by state legislatures, which cannot achieve the purpose 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 corporations are themselves coming to recognize the unwisdom of the violent hostility they have displayed. during the last few years to regulation and control by the national government of combinations engaged in interstate business. The truth is that we Wwho 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 a proper solution of the problem. There are, first, the big corporation men, and the extreme individualists among business men, who genuinely believe in utterly unregulated business—’that‘ is, in the reign of plutocracy; and, ' second, the men who, being blind to the economic movements of the day, believe in a movement of repression rather than of regulation of corporations, and who denounce both the power of the railroads and the exercise of the federal power which alone can really control the railroads. Those who believe in efficient national 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 contrary, they favor both, with the all-impor-tant proviso that there shall be such publicity about their workings, and such thoroughgoing' control over .them, as to insure their being in the interest, and not against the interest, of the general public. We do not object to i.he concentration of wealth and administration; but we do believe in the distribution of the 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 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 rascality, 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 lie outside the domain of all government. Some must lie outside the domain of the federal gogrnment. But there is legislation which the federal government alone can enact and which is absolutely vital in order to secure the attainment of our purpose. Many laws are needed. There should be_regulation by the national government of the great interstate corporati(‘s. including a simple method of account keeping, publicity, supefvision 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 legislation hereinafter ‘referred to should concurrently be enacted into law. 2 To accomplish this, means a certain increase in the use bf—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 over which the power ought to be exercised will not remain idle. The danger to Amerfcan democracy lies not in the least in the concentration of administrative power in 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 use. Concentrated power is palpable, visible, responsible, easily reached, quickly held to account. Democracy is in peril wherever the administration® of political power s scattered among a variety of men who work in secret, whose very names are unknown to the common people. It is not in peril from any man who derives authority from the people, who exercises it in sight of the people, and who is from time to time compelled to give an account of its exercise to the people.

Legislation for Wageworker.

There are many matters affecting labor and the status of the wageworker to which I should like to draw' your attention, but an exhaustive discussion of the problem in all its aspects is not now necessary. I |Dbelieve in a steady effort, or " perhaps 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 with brain, the laborers, the superintendents, the men who produce the market and the men who find a market for the articles produced, shall own a far greater share than at present of the wealth they produce, and be enabled to invest 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 the advantages conferred by machinery, organization. and division of labor, accompanied by an effort to bring about a larger share in the ownership by wage—workex; of railway, mill and factory. 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, _.minution of women labor, shortening of hours ¢f all mechanical labor; stock watering should be prohibited, and stock gambling so far as is possible 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 in accumulating a fortune 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 the terms upon which the great fortunes are inherited. They Trarely do good and they often do harm ‘to those who inherit them in their entirety. There should no longer be any paltering with the question of taking care of the wageworkers who, under our present industrial system, become killed, crippled, or. worn out as part of the regular ineidents of a given business. As far as concerns those who have been worn out, I call your attention to the fact that .degnlte steps toward providing old-age pensions hdave been taken in many of our private industries. These may be indefinitely extended through voluntary association and econtributory. schemes, or through the agency of savings banks, as under the MW

Urgent Need of Reform.

Our present system, or rather no sys. tem, works dreadful wrong, and i{s ot benefit to only one class of people—the lawyers. Wheff a workman is injured what he needs is not an expensive and doubtful lawsuit, but the certainty of relief through immediate administrative * action.’ No academic theory about “freedom of contract” or “constitutional liberty to contract” should be

permitted to interfere with this and similar movements. -

Pending a thoroughgolng investigation and action there is certain legislation which should be enacted at once. The law, passed at the last session of the congress ,granting compensation to certain classes of employes of the government ,should be extended to include all employes of the government and should be made more liberal in its terms. There is no good ground for the distinction made in the law between those engaged in hazardous occupations and .those not so engaged. The terms of the act providing compensation should be made more liberal than 'in the present act. A year's compensation is not adequate 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 compensation the equivalent of one or two months’ earnings. In this respect the generosity of the United States towards its employes compares most unfavorably with that of every country in Europe—even the poorest. The terms of the act are also a hardship 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 that can be construed into negligence. So 'well is this recognized that in practically all countries in the civilized world, except the United States, only a great degree of negligence acts as a bar to securing compensation. Probably in no other respect is our legislation, both state and natonal, so far behind practically the entire civilized world as in the matter of liability and compensation for accidents in industry. It is humiliating that at European international congresses on accidents the United States should be singled out as the most belated among theé nations in respect to employers’ liability legislation. This government is itself a large employer of labor ,and in its dealings with its employes it should set a standard in this country which would place it on a par with the most progressive countries in Europe. The laws of the United States in this respect and the 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 in a previous message that}mlﬂ-holidays be granted during summer to all wageworkers in government employ . I also renew my recommendation that the principle of the eight-hour day should as rapidly and as far as practicable 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 congress 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 inadéquate compared to their work. Beginning with the supreme court the judges should have their salaries doubled. 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 life that the performance of public service by them implies an exceedingly 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 in the administration of justice, and which operate with peculiar severity against persons of small means, and favor only the very criminals whom it is most desirable to punish. These long delays in the final decisions of cases make in the aggregate a crying evil; and a remedy shou:d be devised. Much of this intolerable delay is due to improper regard paid to technicalities which are a méere hinderance to justice. In some noted recent cases this over-regard for technicalities has resulted in a striking denial of justice, and ‘flagrant wrong to the body politic. Labor Leaders Criticised.

At the last election certain leaders of organized labor made a violent and sweeping attack upon the entire judiciary 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 committee on judiciary, these - same labor leaders formulated their demands, specifying the bill that contained them, refusing all compromise, 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 specifically provided that the right toscarry on business should not be construed as a property right; and in a second provision their bill made legal in a labor 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, thig bill légalized blacklisting and boycotting in every form, legalizing, for instance, those forms of the secondary boycott which the anthracite coal strike commission 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 in its crudest and most brutal form, and the destruction of one of the most essential functions of the judiicary in all civflized lands. The violence of the crusade for this legislation, and its complete failure, {llustrate two truths which it is essential our people should learn. In the first place, they ought to teach the workingman, the laborer, the wageworker, that by demanding what is improper and impossible he plays into the hands of his foes. Such 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 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 effort to get them to cast their votes in 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.

Judicial Bystem 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 liberty and justice which stand at the foundation of American institutions; for, as Burke finely said, when iliberty and justice are -separated, neither is safe. There are, however, some members of the judicial body who have lagged behind 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 lasting harm by their decisions, because they convince poor men in need of protection that the courts of the land are profoundly ignorant of and out of sympathy with 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 constructive sense. ; Fad There are certain decisions by va s courts which have been exceedingly deirimental to the rights of wage-worke This is true of all decisions that dedide that men are, by the constitution, “guar-

a dangerous occupation, or to work an undesirable or improper number of hours, or to work in unhealthy surroundings; and therefore cannot reeover damages when maimed in that occupation, and cannot be forbidden to work what the legislature decides is an excessive number 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 employers who take advantage of their grinding need. They halt or hamper the movement for securing better and more equitable 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 fo them, and punishing them for contempt of court in instances where, as a matter of.fact, they have no knowledge of any proceedings. °‘ 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 orderly and law-abiding. people of a community would be in a far stronger position for upholding the courts’ if the undoubtedly existing abuses could be provided 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 even if enacted into law I believe that the law would rightly be held unconstitutional. Moreover, the labor people are themselves now beginning to }nvoke- the use of the power of injuncion. During the last ten years, and within my own knowledge, at least fifty injunctions have been obtained by labor unions in New York city alone, most of them being to protect the union label (a “property right’’), but some being obtained for other reasons against employers.

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 restraining order issue otherwise than on notice, except where irreparable injury would otherwise result; and in such case a hearing on the merits of the order should be had within a short fixed period, and, if not then continued after hearing, it should forthwith lapse. Decisions 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 & people that there should be difficulty in convicting murderers, or in bringing to justice men who as public servants have been guilty of eorruption, or who have profited by the corruption of public servants. The result is equally unfortunate, whether due to hairsplitting technicalities in the interpretationof law by judges, to sentimentality and class consciousness on the part of juries, or to hysteria and sensationalism in 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 important part of the failure wuich has specially to do with inability. to hold to proper account men of wealth who behave badly.

The Modern Corporation, The huge wealth that has been accumulated 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 consolidation with allied undertakings, finally becomes an instrument so complex as to contain a greater number of elements that, under various judicial decisions, lend themselves to fraud and oppression than any device yet evolved in the human brain. Corporations are hecessary instruments of modern business. They have been permitted to become a menace largely because the governmental representatives of the people have worked slowly in providing for adequate control over them. Our great clusters of corporations, '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 legisla.ion 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 demagogues, the corrupt creatures who introduce blackmailing schemes to ‘strike” corporations, and all who demand extreme, and undesirably radical, measures, show themselves to be the worst enemies of the very public whose loudmouthed champions they profess to be. Real damage has been done by. the manifold and conflicting interpretations ol the interstate commerce law. Control 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 in both the states and the nation; it can neveri 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 piace of peculiar and deserved sanctity under our form of government. Respect for the law is essential to the permanence of our institutions; 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 this respect, save for the gravest reason and in 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 Stestes. All that is necessary is that the courts as a whole should exercise this power with the farsighted wisdom 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 yet break down the barriers of privilege, which is the foe of right. : . o Forest Preservation,

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 forests of this country, for they constitute the first and most' important element in the conservation of the natural resources of the country. . . . Just as 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 value to his gon, so we should leave our national dtrmaln 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 Adirondacks, 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 reckless 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 uncontrolled grazing, espectally by the great migratory bands of sheep, the unchecked wandering of which over the country means destruction to forests and el S e SR M BT e e e v i)

disaster to the small home-makers, the settlers of limited means.

Thanks to our own recklessness in 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 prevent further miSchief being done; and it would be in the highest degree reprehensible to let any consideration of temporary 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 learged many times already from what has joccurred in other places. Denudation leaves naked soill; then gullying cuts down to the bare rock; and meanwhile the rock-waste buries the bottomlands. When the soil is gone, men must go; and the process does not take long.

Plea for Inland Waterways.

Action should be begun forthwith, during the present session of the congress, for the improvement of our inland waterways—action which will result in giving us not only navigable but 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 quickest results is that of a permanent commission authorized to co-or-dinate the work of all the government departments relating to waterways, and to frame and supervise the execution of a comprehensive plan. Under such a ‘commission the actual work of construction might be entrusted to the reclamation service; or to the military engineers acting with a sufficient number of civilians to continue the work in time of war; or it might be divided between the reclamation service and the corps of engineers. Funds should be provided from current revenues if it is deemed wise—>therwise from the sale of bonds. The e¢ssential 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 department; he also points out the benefits derived from pure food legislation. The message continues: : Needs of the Secret Service.

Last year an amendment was incorporated. in the measure providing for the secret service, which provided that there should be no detail from the secret service 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 themselves 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 senator and a congressman for land frauds in Oregon. I do not believe that it is in the public interest to protect criminals in any branch of the public service, and exactly as we have again and again during 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 in 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 investigating members of the congress.

Postal Savings Banks.

I again renew my recommendation for postal savings banks, for depositing savings with the security of the government behind them. The object is to encourage thrift and economy in the wage-earner and person of moderate means. It is believed that in the aggregate vast sums of money would be brought into circulation through the instrumentality of the postal savings banks. Parcel Post. In my last annual message I commended 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 the fullest practicable. extent. ! Education. _ With the limited means hitherto provided, the. bureau of e ducation has rendered efficient service, but the congress has neglected to adequately supply the bureau with means to meet the educational growth of the country. 1 earnestly recommend that this unfortunate state of affairs as regards the national educational office be remedied by adequate appropriations: This recommendation is urged by the representatives of our common schéols and great state universities and the“leading educators, who all unite in requesting favorable consideration and action by the congress upon this subject. 3 The president points out the necessity of better organization of the various bureaus responsible for the public health, and urges the placing of all soldiers’ homes under the jurisdiction of the war department. ; 2 . Statehood. | On the question of statehood the president says: - I advocate the immediate admission of New Mexico and Arizona as states. This should be done at the present session of -the congress. The people of the two territories have made it evident by their \votes that they will riot come in as one ‘state. The only alternative is to admit them as two, and I trust that this will 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 Lakes we are now, under the very wise treaty of April 11 of this yéar, en;deavoring to come to an international ‘agreement for the preservation and sat{sfactory use of the fisheries of these waters 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 ordinances in different counties. All these political divisions work at ‘cross purposes, and in no case can they achieve protection to the fisheries, on the one hand, and justice to the localities and individuals on the other. L 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 ifl 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 feuol%. H | - Latin-American Republics. The commercial and material progress of the 20 Latin-American republicsis worthy of the 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 anly with us as a people and with our purposes towards them, but with what we ' have to exchange for their goods. Pﬁ%ﬂmﬂ ey The work on the Panama canal is being ‘done with lfg% ‘3:"193“’? and entire devotion to duty, which mak %i Tndn on the Tethmua i, trom Col. Goethals %2&: “ ““‘;‘f;f" fé&‘uﬁu‘}g% g”nﬁi f‘g %&% ?w f‘g ”‘% ‘ﬁw g~ ey '1 }'%;;4-4?‘ "’na'..sofeih;%"u ’.‘vex‘?(z:;,.‘n:' :.:;r.,«;-';zv. ghelr right to the ungrudging respect

I again recommend the extension of the ocean mail act of 1891 so that satis. factory American ocean mail lines to South America, Asia, the Philippines, and Australasia may be established. | ; Hawalil. T call particular attention to the Territory of Hawaii. The importance of those islands is apparent, and the need of improving their condition and developing their resources is urgent. The Philippines. Real progress toward self-government is being made in 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. . 5 I again recommend that American citizenship be conferred upon the people of Porto Rico. - Cuba. B In Cuba our occupancy will cease In about two months’ time; the Cubans have in orderly manner elected their own governmental authorities, and the island will be turned over to them. Our occupation on this occasion has lasted a little over two years, and Cuba has thriven and prospered under it. Our earnest hope and one desire is that the people of the island shall now govern themselves with justice, so that peace and order may be secure.

Japanese Exposition.

The Japanese government has postponed until 1917 the date of the great international exposition, the action being taken so as to insure ample time in which to prepare to make the exposition all that it should be made. The American commissioners have visited Japan and the postponement will merely give ampler opportunity for America to be represented at the exposition. Not since the first i_nternationa} exposition 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 emperor of Japan. The extraotrdinary leap to the foremost place among the nations of the world made by Japan during this 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, and in all the states of South America, the battle fleet has been received on its practice voyage around the world. The American government can not too strongly express its appreciation of the abounding and generous hospitality shown our ships in every port they visited.

The Army.

As regards the army I call attention to the fact that while our junior officers 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 td6 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 representatives to understand the great need, from the standpoint of the service and the nation, of refusing to promote respectable, 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 competition 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 employment; 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 ‘thee highest ranks of the army are those who have attained their present position wholly or in part by a process of selection. i

The scope of retiring boards should be extended so that they could consider 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 sce 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 certain age, should be_ retired—for instance, if a man should not attain field rank by the time he is 45 he should of course be placed on the retired 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 candidates’ proposed for each vacancy by ‘a board of officers from the arm of the service from which the promotion is to be made. A bjll is now before the congress having for its object to secure the promotion of officers to various grades at reasonable ages through a process of selection, by boards-of officers, of the least efficient for retirement 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 a more completely effective measure. National Guard, ¢ -

Now that the organized 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 otherwise aided more liberally than heretofore. 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 troops.

The Navy.

I approve the recommendations of the pgeneral board for the increase of the navy, calling especial attention to the need .of additional destroyers and colliers, and above all, of the four battleships. It is desirable to complete as soon as possible a squadron of eight battleships of the best existing type. j I most earnestly recommend that the general board be by law turned into a general staff. There is literally no excuse whatever for continuing the present bureau organization of the navy. The navy should be treatcd as a purely military organization, and everything should be subordinated to the one object of securing military emcienc¥. A system of promotion by merit, either by selection or by exclusion, or by both processes, should be introduced. It is out of the question, if the present principle of promotion by mere senlority is kept, to expect to get the best results from the higher officers. Our men come too old, and stay for too short a time, in the high command positions. . = Nothing better for the navy from every standpoint has ever occurred than the cruise of the battle fleet around the world. The improvement of thé 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 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 {s any other service in the world in which the average of character and efficiency in the enlisted men K o s RIS a baen s ARt i L SRR o S SR e e

THE ALASKAN’S TOTEM POLE. His Famiiy History Told in the Strangely Carved Symbol. : Scattle, Wash.—Totem poles are erected by certain of the American Indians, principally the Alaskans, be--fore their 'dwellings as symbols of family pride, veneratiQn of ancestors, or religion.” The poles are usually 40 feet high, and are carved into grotesque figures and animals one above the other, while the crest or badge of the chief by whose hguse it stands surmounts the top. d : The totem pole to the Alaskan is as dear as is the genealogy of the proudest “blue blood” of the . : civilized world, for it = 9 stands a record of the i character of his forefa- £ ther, and every carved T sign and every blended @ ¥ > color upon it has a sacred meaning. For example, ‘- . the eagle upon a totem R pole meanss that a son of & 2 M Alaska has descended e Y from a traveler, a leader, 147 | or one who migrates. X The raven is he who is ¥ 2 crafty, wise and pos- 9 sessed of great acumen; o the frog that of a philos- ol opher, a savant;- the ' /1 bear means strength, - muscle; the whale im- 4 i plies plenty of food; .the ~ 1 duck suggests placidity,a .| i : shlegmatic temperament; Ji ‘h - the seal beauty, grace, b tharm; the salmon means % n great favors, desires, am- \ bitions, and so on down 4 /i/ the line of comparison . ‘ with every living crea- 9 ture. 3 \,g,' Some years ago a party f ‘ . of Seattle exthusiasts, Y/ bent upon a voyage of A"_\ discovery, ~chartered a f{« - steamer and made a trip ¥ b= to southeastern Alaska. g% They arrived at a small {0 Indian village, but as the i population seemed to , have deserted the place, FJAIIE™ they decided it would be SMo 12 just and lawful to “take *‘L o into camp” one of the \‘iﬁ‘;‘@) totem poles that stoed Seattle’s before the Indian huts, Totem Poele. so they entered into negotiations with two old Indian women who were the only living beings about the place, and purchased, *as they supposed, one of the most pretentious looking totems in the place. The pole was removed to Seattle and was presented to the city with much speechmaking in the presence of the city “fathers” and other citizens assembled. i Seattle felt proud of its acquisit;%n and had the pole repainted so as’to bring out all its remarkable characteristics. Some weeks later two chiefs of the Indjan village arrived in Seattle and threatened -suit in the United States court for the theft of their cherished totem pole. Seattle is said to have paid $5,000 in settlement of the claim, but retained the totem pole, which now proudly stands as a landmark in one of the most progressive cities in America.

HISTORIC SPOT LITTLE KNOWN. Cairn Erected on Spot Where Miles Standish Landed. Boston.——Quihcy is noted for its many places of historic interest, but there is onée that is little known, other : 555 e\ . 4 . G : MY b K 3 O o G Y "I‘”'ﬁ;« ¥ - P B§so T, ,‘l’/ (i xf"; M ' CCTRE Y S ,‘o‘4’l‘ LY ”“ o SIS M“E':‘mhﬂ .‘ ho Pl PR ] A AL : ﬂl‘vb,ﬁ- A Y SN i ot o Ul Y 2 T Ol i ¢ X 3 L Hile i ” I% K S Nk i Xl L ) ’ 2 ;(‘ (% o AU Iyl Py » m’i"’”’i”f’ﬂl,% A S 17 . U By B ) (R VA ! Gl el i, N BV ’ ul (7 Ot O A Sl N A $L . MO e : 7”“““"\ 7 X ;df... 7 ,("‘)y‘:’);' ;,’«',*’f//{f" ”? 747 D s A 0 7 @ 1) , 2 " Miles Standish Cairn. than to historians. This is the Miles Standish cairn at Squantum: It isnot only historie, but a romantic spot. The most renowned spot at this place is Squanto rock. It is here that Miles Standish and a party from Plymouth, piloted by Squanto, the faithful friend of the white man, landed, ‘September 30, 1621. In commemoration of this event a cairn has been erected on the highest partiof a stone bridge, which on the east dips to the sea and on the west declines to “Massachusetts Hummock” and its meadows. L fa i On Monday, September 30, the cor-ner-stone was laid in the presence of a large assemblage. Charles Francis Adams, Jr., delivered an address, in which he described the voyaging of Miles Standish and his men from Plymouth, and paid a tribute to Squanto for whom Squantum was named. Comforting. : Old Gentleman (at his daughter’s wedding)—My dear, I don’'t see how I am to get along without you. : Bride—Never mind, pa. Since the cevemony was performed my husband has confessed that he hasn’t enough saved to go to housekeeping; so you may not lose me, after all—N. Y. Weeuy. ; : a 0 g _ Her Amusement. Mr. Jawback—Are you lonesome el on i < gy ISR - Mrs. Jawback—Not & bit. I have reTesic s Sl e e s L e T e L i L et e

MADE ROACHES HIS FRIENDS. Act of Artemus Ward That Had Fan : Reaching Efféct. _ George V. Kelcey, a veteran journal {st of Cleveland, remembers Artemus Ward well.” ~ ““Ward called on me,” he said the other day, “the night before ome of his panorama lectures. There were some three or four large roaches scurrying about my room, and they attracted his attention. - : “‘q am very fond of roaches’ he said. ‘Once, in my own home, I found & roach struggling in a bowl of water. I took a half walnut shell and put him in it; it made a good boat; I gave him & couple of toothpicks for oars. Next morning I saw that he had fastened 2 hair to one of the toothpicks, and had evidently been fishing. Then overcome with exhaustion, he had fallen asleep. The sight moved me. I took him out, washed him, gave him a spoonful of boiled egg, and let him go. That roach never forgot my kindmess, and now my home is full of roaches.’” . BREAKS A COLD PROMPTLY The following formula is a never failing remedy for colds: ' One ounce of Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla, one ounce Toris. Compound and one-half pint ‘of _good whiskey, mix and shake thoroughly, each time and use in doses of a tablespoonful every four hours. ° This if followed up will cure an acute cold in 24 hours. The ingredients can be gotten at any drug store.

NINETY-EIGHT FEET SHY.

[ : Al . ; R 2 e 1\ & A 0 5 -,\‘ "q‘ E 2 e VILARND W ;.‘)x\\ 5 Mr. Gouty—Thank heaven, I'm not ° a centipede. : ] Catarrh Cannot Be Cured . with LOCAL APPLICATIONS, as they cannot reash | the seat of the disease. Catarrh is a blood or consti- ] tutional disease, and in order to cure it you must take internal remedies. Hall’s Catarrh Cure is taken in- . ternally. and acts directly upon the blood and mucous | purfaces. Hall's Catarrh Cure is not a quack medil cine. It was prescribed by one of the best physicians in this country for years and is a regular prescription. It {8 composed of the best tonics known, combined with the best blood purifiers. acting directly on the mucous surfaces. The perfect combination of the two ingredients is what produces such wonderful Tesults in curing catarrh. Send for testimonials, free. - _F.J. CHENEY & CO.. Props., Toledo, O. Sold by Druggists, price 75¢. : z Take Hall's Family Pills for constipation. . ' B A New Ailment. . A South side -four-year-old was not . ' go full of mischievousness as usual. I “What is the matter, Ethel?” asked ' her mother. “Aren’t you feeling well?” | “No'm,” replied the little~miss. “I t fink there mus’ be somefing wrong : " wif my liver and baconh.”—Kausas | City Times. ; ED GEERS, “The grand old man,” he is called for he jis so honest hamil;:g . Lorses in races. He says: '“l have : SPOHN’S DISTEMPER CURE for 12 - wvears, always with best success. It is the only remedy I know to cure all forms of distemper and prevent horses in same stable having the disease.” 50c and $1 a bét-- . tle. All druggists, or manufacturers. Spohn Medical Co., Chemists, Goshen, Ind. - Is This True? : “T wouldn’t do for politics, I guess™ said the pretty girl. “T'd simply vote the way papa votes.” “In _that,” remarked ‘an observer, “you wouldn’t differ so very much from most men.” ‘ ! Important to Mothers. Examine. carefully every bottle of CASTORIA a safe and sure remedy for . Infants and children, and see that it ‘" Bears the Signature of } S - & ' In Use For Over 30 Years. } * The Kind You Have Always Bought. { A man may follow his natural bent i and yet be perfectly straight. | B e e R Lewis’ Single Binder cigar—richest, most satisfying smoke on the market. Your | dealer or Lewis’ Factory, Peora, Il | A Arnaoe Seeti el o | He's a poor expressman who is - l able to deliver the goods. B R T. T T S s 3 U Smone. ™ s o ‘ : e : : e e Y & ==X SR ) T 5,“3{ AN T . Eg;% 5 F- TORRARE =1 ‘ o \ - . e % Q women should not fail te try Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound as she did. ~ Mrs. A.G ,of 2355 Lawrence St., Denver, . writes to Mrs «] was practically an invalid for six {eﬁrs.v on account of female h:;ih underwent an operation the doctor’s advice, but in a few months I Compound and it restored me to perfect many years. y ‘woman as ‘I did with backache, bearing-dowm pi e ‘use Lydia E. _ w For w xg&" g'm'"' ham’s Ve (h?i. ‘mads ‘dispiacements, Iniis I mation, Wice: e '7;"33‘(“'4. " T g fummgwmma‘m« RTh D G’ e Sy~ 0= CTEECL s kel Siniund —