Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 34, Number 30, 8 December 1908 — Page 7

THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRAM.

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ftenf suffered by employee la consequence of the custom of courts issuing temporary injunctions without notice to them and punishing them for rontempt of court in instances where, is , a matter of fact, they have no Knowledge of any proceedings. Outlide of organized labor there is a wideipread feeling that this system often works great injustice to wageworkers when th(ir efforts to better their working condition result in industrial disputes. A temporary' injunction procured ex parte may, as a matter of Tact, have all the effect of a permanent Injunction in causing disaster to the wageworkers side in such a dispute. Organized labor is chafing un3er 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 tbiding people of a community would be in a far stronger position for upholding 'the courts if the undoubtedly existing abuses could be provided igalnst.

Such proiosals as those mentioned tbovc as advocated by the extreme tabor leaders contain the vital error of lelng 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 invoke the use of the power of injunction. During the

last ten years, and within my own there j, an important part of the failknowledge, at least fifty injunctions ure wnjcn uas specially to do with have been obtained by labor unions in 1nflhnjrv to hoid to uroiier account men

New i one city aione, most ui iueiu being to protect the union label (a "property rijjht"), but some being obtained for other reasons against employers. The power of injunction is a great equitable remedy which should on no account be destroyed. But safeguards should be erected against Its abuse. I believe that some such provisions as those I advocated a year go for checking the abuse of the Issuance . of temporary Injunctions should be adopted. In substance, provision should be made that no injunction or temporary restraining order tissue otherwise than on notice, except where Irreparable injury would otherwise result, and In such case a bearing 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 j.i - . . m .3.-1..-. I : . , I , . ,3 n

, . ., it . i are certain judges. Marked ine-uiclen-every way Moreover I believe .that d the procedure should be sharply de- J J fined and the judSe required minutely and in rese t ling the proper

to stale the particulars both of his adieu and. of his reasons therefor, so that the congress can, if it desires, examine and Investigate the "same. The chief lawmakers of our country may be and often are the judges, because they are the final seat of authority.Every time they Interpret contract, property, vested rights, due process of law, liberty, they necessarily enact into law parts or a system or hoc hi philosophy, and, as such interpivtatlon' Is fundamental, they give direction. to all lawmaking. The decisions 'of the courts on economic and serial questions depend upon their economic and social philosophy, and for the peaceful progress of our people during the twentieth century we shall owe most to those judges who lu ll to a twentieth century economic and social philosophy and not to a long outgrown philosor ' - which was Itself the product of pri ..nlve economic conditions. Of course a judge's views on progressive social philosophy are entirely second in Importances to ils possession of a high and fine character, which means the possession of such elementary virtues as honesty, courage and fair ftdndedness. The Judge who owes his election to pandering to demagogic sentiments or class hatreds and prejudices and the judge who owes either his election or his apiujintnicnt to the money or the favor of a great corporation are alike unworthy to sit on the bench, are alike traitors to the people, and no profundity of legal learning or correctness of abstract conviction on questions of public policy can serve as an offset to such shortcomings. But it is also true that judges, like executives and legislators, should hold sound views on the questions of public policy which are of Vital interest to the people. . The legislators and executives are choseu to represent the people in enacting and administering the laws. The judges are not chosen to represent the. people iu this sense. Their function is to Interpret the laws. The legislators are responsible for the laws, the judges for the spirit in which they interpret and enforce the laws. We stand aloof from the reckless agitators who, would make the judges mere pliant tools of popular prejudice and passion, and we stand aloof from those equally unwise partisans of reaction and privilege who deny the proposition that, inasmuch as judges are chosen to serve the iuterests of the whole people, they should strive to find out what those interests are and. so far as they conscientiously can, should strive to give effect to popular conviction when deliberately and duly expressed by the lawmaking body. The courts are to be highly commended and stanchly upheld when they set their faces against wrongdoing or tyranny by a majority, but they are to be blamed when they fall to recognize under a government like ours the deliberate judgment of the majority as to a matter of legitimate policy when duly expressed by the legislature. Such lawfully expressed aud deliberate judgment should be given effect by the courts save in the extreme aud , exceptional cases where there has been a clear violation of a constitutional provision. Anything like frivolity or wantonness in upsetting such clearly taken governmental .action Is a grave offense against the republic. . To protest against tyranny to protect minorities from oppresBion, to nullify an act committed In a spasm of popular fury, is to reader a service to the republic. But for the courts to arrogate to themselves functiunswhieh properly belong to the legislative bodies is all wrong and in the end works mischief. The people should not be permitted to pardon evil and slipshod legislation on the theory that the court will set it right They should be taught that the right way to get rid of a bad law is to have the legislature repeal it aud not to have the courts by ingenious hair splitting nullify it. A law may be unwise and improper, but U should not for these reasons be de-

clared unconstitutional by a strained the courts. It is an offense against the interpretation, for the result of such republic to say anything which can action is to take away from the people weaken this respect save for the gravat large their sense of responsibility j est reason and in the most carefully and ultimately to destroy their capac- guarded manner. Our judges should ity for orderly self restraint and self be held in peculiar honor, and the duty government. Under such a popular j of respectful and truthful comment coverument as ours, founded on the and criticism, which should be binding

theory taac in me ions run iue win or . . . . a in m.

the peopie is supreme, ine ultimate eieciiiy uumuig wucu w safety of the nation can only rest in i them. On an average they stand training and guiding the people so that : above any other servants of the comwhat liley will shall ue right and not munity, and the greatest judges have

in devising means to defeat their will j by the technicalities of strained con struction. 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 in convicting murderers or in bring, ing to Jnstiee 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 hair split ting technicalities in the interpreta - tlon c( jaw by Judges, to sentimental ty and ciaS8 consciousness on the part or juritj 'or to hysteria and sensationallsm in the dally 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 of wealth who behave badly. The chief breakdown is in dealing with the new relations that arise from the mutualism, the interdependence, of our time. Every new social relation begets a new type of wrongdoing of sin, to use an old fashioned word and many years always elapse before society is able to turn this sin into crime which can be effectively punished at law. During the lifetime of the older men now alive the social relations have changed far more rapidly than in the preceding two centuries. The immense growth of corporations, of busi ness done by associations and the extreme strain and pressure of modern life have produced conditions which render the public confused as to who its really dangerous foes are, and among the public servants who have not only shared this confusion, but by some of their acts have increased it, attitude to be taken by the public not only toward corporations, but toward labor and toward the social questions arising out of the factory system and the enormous growth of our great cities. The huge wealth that has been accumulated by a few Individuals of recent years, in what has amounted to a social and industrial revolution, has been as regards some of these indi viduals made possible only by the 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 undertak ings, 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 necessary 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. The chief offender in any given case may be an executive, a legislature or a judge. Every executive head who ad vises violent instead of gradual action or who advocates ill considered and sweeping measures of reform, especially if they are tainted with vindlctiveness and disregard for the rights of the minority, is particularly blameworthy. The several legislatures are responsible for the fact that our laws are often prepared with slovenly haste and lack of consideration. Moreover, they are often prepared and still more frequently amended during passage at the suggestion of the very parties against whom they are afterward enforced. Our great clusters of corporations, huge trusts and fabulously wealthy multlmillionarles employ the very best lawyers they can obtain to pick flaws in these 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 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 loud mouthed champions they profess to be. A very striking illustration of the consequences of carelessness in the preparation of a statute was the employers' liability law of lOOti. In the cases arising under that law four out of six courts of first instance held it uucuuimuuiHUii, . vui ot mue jusuctTj ui iue supreme courx iieia mat its subject matter was within the province of congressional action, and four of the nine justices held it valid. It was, however, adjudged unconstitutional by a bare majority of the court five to four. It was surely a very slovenly piece of work to frame the legislation m sucn snape as to leave 1 ne question open ax aw. Real damage has been done by the manifold and conflicting interpretations of the interstate commerce law. Control over the great corporations do - j ing interstate business can be effective

only if it is vested with full power in the country of northern China was water courses have changed. Formeran administrative department, a branch one of the most fertile and beautiful ,T thej were narrow and deep, with an

or the reaerai executive, carrying out a reaerai law. it can never be ef - feetive if a divided responsibility is left in both, the states and the nation. lt can never oe enecuve u lert in the hands of the courts to be decided by lawsuits. The courts hold a place 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

-'"- .uvu reached the high level held by those few greatest patriots wnoni tne wnoie country delights to honor. But we must face the fact that there are wise and unwise judges, just as there are wise and unwise executives and leglslators. When a president or governor behaves Improperly or unwisely, the remedy is easy, for his term is short. The same is true with the legislator, although not to the same degree, for he Is one of many who belong to some given legislative body, and it is therefore less easy to fix his personal responsibility and bold him accountable therefor. With a judge who, being human, is also likely to err, but whose tenure is ror lire, mere is no similar way of holding him to responsibility. Under ordinary conditions the only forms of pressure to which he is in any way amenable are public opinion and the action of his fellow judges. It is the last which is most immediately effective and to which we should look for the reform of abuses. Any remedy applied from without is fraught with risk. It is far better from every standpoint that the remedy should come from within. In no other nation In the world do the courts wield such vast and farreachlng power as in the United States. All that is necessary Is that the courts as a whole should exercise this power with the farslghted 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 nurnoses 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. Forests. If there is any one duty which more than another we owe it to our children and our children's 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. There are, of course, two kinds of natural resources. One is the kind which can only be used as part of a process of exhaustion. This is true of mines, natural oil and gas wells and the like. The other, and of course ultimately by far the most important, includes the resources which can be improved in the process of wise use. The soil, the rivers and the forests come under this head. Any really civilized nation will so use all of these three great national assets that the nation will have their benefit iu the future. 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 son, so we should leave our national domain to our children increased in value and not worn out. There are small sections of our own country In the east and in the west, in the Adiroudacks, the White mountains and the Appalachians and in the Itocky 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 cutting of timber or to reckless and uncontrolled grazing, especially by the great migratory bands of sheep, the unchecked wandering of which over the country means destruction to forests and disaster to the small homemakers, the settlers of limited means. Shortsighted persons, or persons blinded to the future by desire to make money in every way out of the present, sometimes speak as if no great damage would be done by the reckless destruction of our forests. It is diflicult to have patience with the arguments ui ue peisuus. xuium 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 liihe can, ui leusi ior many years, undo the mischief that has already been done But we can prevent further mischief being done, and it w , , " """ , 1 - ..e.ifc.me , Ul 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. All serious students of the question are aware of the great damage that has been done in the Mediterranean countries of Europe, Asia and Africa by deforestation. The similar damage that has been done in eastern Asia is less well known. A recent investigation into conditions in north rh1n hv Mr FVnnL- X Mpvoi- nf tho, ; bureau of plant industry of the Unit- ; states department of agriculture has incdentally furnished in very striking fashion proof of the ruin that comes from reckless deforestation of mountains and of the further fact that ? the damam once done mav Drove nraetically irreparable. So important are tnese investigations that I herewith attach as an appendix to mv message ccrtam hotographs showing present conditions in China. They show in vivid fashion the appalling desolation, taking the shape of barren mountains and' gravel and sand covered plains. which Immediately follows and de- '' pends upon the deforestation of the momitninq Xot mnnv cmnri ntm spots In the entire world and was 1 heavily forested. We know this not ; only from the old Chinese records, but from the accounts given by the trav- , eler Marco Polo. He, for Instance, mentions that in visiting the provinces of Shansi and Shensi he observed many plantations of mulberry trees. Now there is hardly a single mulberry tree in either of these provinces, and the culture of the silkworm has moved farther south, to regions of atmospheric niolsttm-

1 ... -r. anvlMWilw c-lw-.tT, 1 V '

Change Brought by Deforestation. I As an illustration of the complete

change in the rivers we may take Polo's statement that a certain river, the Hun Ho, was so large and deep that merchants ascended it from the sea with heavily laden boats. Today this river is simply a broad sandy bed. witu snaiiow rapid currents wander ins hither and thither across it, absolutely unnavigable. But we do not have to depend upon written records. The dry wells aad the wells with water far below the former water mark bear testimony to the good days of , the past and the evil days of the preseut. Wherever the native vegetation ! has been allowed to remain as, for in stance, here and there around a sacred temple or Imperial burying groundthere are still huge trees and tangled jungle, fragments of the glorious ancient forests. The thick, matted forest growth formerly covered the. mountains to their summits. All natural factors favored this dense forest growth, and as long as it was permitted to exist the plains at the foot of the mountains were among the most fertile on the globe, and the whole country was a garden. Not the slightest effort was made, however, to prevent the unchecked cutting of the trees or to secure reforestation. Doubtless for many centuries the tree cutting by the inhabitants of the mountains worked but slowly In bringing about the changes that have now come to pass. Doubtless for generations the inroads were scarcely noticeable, but there came a time when the forest had shrunk sufficiently to make each year's cutting a serious matter, and from that time on the destruction proceeded with appalling ra pidity, for of course each year of de struction rendered the forest less able to recuperate, less able to resist next year's inroad. Mr. Meyer describes the ceaseless progress ,of the destruction even now, when there Is so little left to destroy. Every morning men and - SO out armed with mattock j

or ax, scale the steepest mountain ! a souree of danger to the whole counsides and cut down and grub out, root try The photographs also show the and branch, the small trees aud shrubs same rlvers after they have passed still to be found. The big trees dis- throngh the mountains, the beds havappeared centuries ago. so that now Jn? become broad and sandy because one of these is never seen save in the of the deforestation of the mountains, neighborhood of temples, where they j 0ne of the photographs shows a caraare artificially protected, and even van passlng through a valley. Forhere it takes all the watch and care of mer, wnen the mountains were forthe tree loving priests to prevent their eated it was thIckiy peopled by prosdestruction. Each family, each com- j us pt.asantg. Now the floods have munity, where there is no common ' rried destruction all over the land care exercised in the interest of all of ftnd the Taney ig a 8tony de9el.t An. them to prevent deforestation, finds its othpr photograph shows a mountain profit in the immediate use of the fuel road covered wltn the stones and which would otherwise be used by 1 rockg tuat are brought down in the some other family or some other com- ra, geason from tue mountaia3

uiuniij. xii iuv iuiui auseuie ut regulation of the matter In the Interest of the whole people each small group is inevitably pushed into a policy of destruction which cannot afford to take thought for the morrow. This Is just one of those matters which it is fatal to leave to unsupervised individual control The forests can only be pro- j tected by the state, by the nation, aud the liberty of action of individuals must be conditioned upon what the state or nation determines to be necessary for the common safety. The lesson of deforestation in China is a lesson which mankind should have learned many times already from what has occurred in other places. Denudation leaves naked soil, then gullying cuts down to the bare rock, and meanwhile the rock waste buries the bottom lands. When the soli Is gone men must go, and the process does not take long. The ruthless destruction of the forests in northern China has brought about or has aided in bringing about desolation, just as the destruction of the forests In central Asia aid in bringing ruin to the once rich central Asian cities, just as the destruction of the forests in northern Africa helped toward the ruin of a region that was a fertile granary in Roman days. Shortsighted man, whether barbaric, semicivilized or w hat he mistakenly regards as fully civilized, when he has destroyed the forests has rendered certain the ultimate destruction of the land Itself. In northern China the mountains are now such as are shown by the accompanying photographs, absolutely barren peaks. Not only have the forests been destroyed, but because of their destruc Mon tue 80il nag been wasued off the naked rock Tue terribie consequence , ig tnat ,t is imnossible now to undo , the d:image that ua3 doue. Many ! .. .,,, h:lv. t tl!,aa Wm.0 soU would again colIect or cou,d made to collect in sufficient quantity once more to support the old time forest growth. la consequence the Mongol desert is practically extending eastward over northern China. The cli mate has changed aud is still chang ing It has changed even within the last half century as the work of tree destruction has been consummated. The great masses of arboreal vegetation on the mountains formerly absorbed the heat of the sun and sent up currents of cool air which brought the moisture laden clouds lower and forced them to precipitate in rain a part of their burden of water. Now that there is no vegetation the barren mountains. scorched by the sun. send up currents of heated air which drive away instead of attracting the rain clouds and cause uit-ii uiuisiure iu ue uisseuimaied. In consequence, instead of the regular and plentiful rains which existed in these regions of China when the forests were still in evidence, the unfortunate inhabitants of the deforested lands now sec their crops wither for lack of rainfall, while the seasons grow more and more irregular, and as the air becomes drier certain crops refuse longer, to grow at alL That everything dries out faster than formerly is shown by the fact that the level of the wells all over the land has 8UDK percepuoiy, many 01 tnem naviuS becom totally dry. In addition to 1 the resulting agricultural distress, the i abundance or clear water the year a round, for the roots and humus of the forests caught the rainwater and let it escape by, slow, regular seepage. They have now. become broad, shallow stream beds In which muddy water trickles In slender currents dnrlng the dry seasons, while when it rains there are freshets, and roaring muddy torrents come tearing down, bringing disaster : and destruction - everywhere. Moreover, these floods and freshets, which diversify the general dryness,

wash away from the mountain sides and either wash a way or cover in t he

IKU xtrnue wuu uu.-u u took tens of thousands of years for

nature to form, and It is lost forever, mouth and that all its uses are interim d until the forests grow again it dependent. Prominent officers of the cannot be replaced. The sand and engineer corps have recently even gone stones from the mountain sides are so far as to assert iu print that wawashed loose and come rolling down to terways are not dependent upon the cover the arable lands, and in conse-. conservation of the forests about their quence throughout this part of China headwaters. This ositioii is opposed many formerly rich districts are now to all the recent work of the scientific tmutr wactAfi ticaIauk f nr Tiumfln nT tm rpii ns tf thp Prtvpmmpnt fiiiil to th

tlvatIon and even for pasture, lhe ttie9 nave of seriously affectedt for the streams have gradualy oeased to navigable. There is testimony that even within the memory of men now living there has leen a serious diminution of the rainfall of northeastern China. The level of the Snngari river, in northern Manchuria, has been sensibly lowered during the

last fifty years, at least partly as the leave this great work in the hands of result of the indiscriminate cutting of men who fall to grasp the essential the forests forming its watershed. Al- relations between navigation and genmost all the rivers of northern China eral development and to assimilate and have become uncontrollable and very ; use the central facts about our dangerous to the dwellers along their j streams. banks as a direct result of the destruc- j Until the work of river improvement tion of the forests. The journey from Is undertaken in a modem way it canPekln to Jehol shows in melancholy not have results that will meet the fashion how the soli has been washed needs of this modern nation. These away from whole valleys, so that they, needs' should be met without further have been converted into deserts. j dilly-dallying or delay. The plau which In northern China this disastrous ! promises the best and quickest results process has gone on so long and has is that of a permanent commission auproceeded so far that no complete thorlzed to co-ordinate the work of all remedy could be applied. There are the government departments relating certain mountains in China from to waterways and to frame and superwhich the soil is gone so utterly that ! vise the execution of a comprehensive only the slow action of the ages could plan. Under such a commission the again restore it, although of course , actual work of construction might be much could be done to prevent the j intrusted to the reclamation service or still fartiipr onstwnrrl extension of the ' to the military engineers acting with

Mongolian desert if the Chinese government would act at once. The accompanying cuts from photographs show the inconceivable desolation of the barren mountains in which certain of these rivers rise mountains, be It remembered, which formerly supported dense forests of larches ani firs now unable to produce any wtKKj an1 because of their condition which have already been deforested by human hands. Another shows a pebbly river bed in southern Manchuria where what was once a great stream has dried up owing to the deforestation in the mountains. Only some scrub wood Is left, which will disappear within a half century. Yet anotner 8bows the effect of one of the washouts, destroying an arable mountain side, these washouts being due to the removal of all vegetation, yet in this photograph the foreground shows that reforestation is still a possibility in places. What has thus happened in northern China, what has happened In central Asia, in Palestine, in north Africa, in parts of the Mediterranean countries of Europe, will surely happen in our country if we do not exercise that wise forethought which should be one of the chief marks of any people calling itself civilized. Nothing should be permitted to stand in the way of the preservation of the forests, and it is criminal to permit individuals to purchase a little gain for themselves through the destruction of forests when tliis destruction Is fatal to the well being of the whole country in the future. Inland Waterways. Action should be begun forthwith. during the present session of congress, for the improvement of our inland wa terways action which will result in giving us not only navigable but navigated rivers. We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars upon these waterways, yet the traffic on nearly all of them Is steadily declining. This condition is the direct result of the absence of any comprehensive and farseeing plan of waterway improvement. Obviously we cannot continue thus to expend the revenues of the government without return. It is poor business to spend money for inland navigation unless we get it. Inquiry into the condition of the Mississippi and its principal tributaries reveals very many instances of the utter waste caused by the methods which have hitherto obtained for the . called "improvement" of navigation. A striking instance is supplied by the "improvement" of the Ohio, which, begun in 1824, was continued under a single plan for half a century. In 1875 a new plan was adopted and followed for a quarter of a century. In 1902 still a different plan was adopted and has since been pursued at a rate which only promises a navigable river in from twenty to a hundred years longer. Such shortsighted, vacillating and futile methods are accompanied by decreasing water borne commerce and Increasing traffic congestion on land, by increasing floods and by the waste of public money. The remedy lies in abandoning the methods which have so signally failed and adopting new ones in keeping with the needs and demands of oar people. In a report on a measure Introduced at the first session of the present congress the secretary of war said. "The chief defect in the methods hitherto pursued lies in the absence of executive authority for originating comprehensive plans covering the country or natural divisions thereof." In this opinion I heartily concur. The present methods not only fail to give ns inland navigation, but they are injurious to the army as well. What Is virtually a permanent detail of the corps of engineers to civilian duty necessarily impairs the efficiency of our military establishment. The military engineers have undoubtedly done efficient work in actual construction, but they are necessarily unsuited by their training and traditions to take the broad view and to gather and transmit to the congress the commercial and industrial information and forecasts upon which waterway lmprove-

ment must always so largely rest. Furthermore, they have failed to grasp

iu irui urmtu.uui, iau m.n. j stream is a unit from its source to its general experience of mankind. A phvsician who disbelieved In vacclnation would not be the right man to hand an epidemic of smallpox, nor should we leave a doctor skeptical about the transmission f t yellow fever by the stegomyla mosquito In charge of sanitation at Havana or Panama. So with the Improvement of our rlvers. It Is no longer wise or safe to a sufficient number of civilians to continue the work In time of war, or it might le divided between the reclamation service and the corps of engineers. Funds should le provided from current 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. We should have a new type of work and a new organization for planning and directing it. The time for playing with our waterways is past. The country demands results. National Parks. I urge that all our national parks adjacent to national forests be placed completely under the control of the forest service of the agricultural department, iustead of leaving them, as they are now, under the Interior department and policed by the army. The congress should provide for superintendents with adequate corps of first class civilian scouts or rangers and, further, place the road construction under the superintendent instead of leaving it with the war department. Such a change in park management would result in economy and avoid the diflicult ies of administration which now arise from having the responsibility of care and protection divided between different departments. The need for this course Is peculiarly great in the Yellowstone park. This, like the Yosemite, is a great wonderland and should be kept as a national playground In both all wild things should be protected and the scenery kept wholly unmarred. I am happy to say that I have been able to set aside in various parts of the country small, well chosen tracts of ground to serve as sanctuaries and nurseries for wild creatures. Denatured Alcohol. I had occasion in my message of May 4, 1900, to urge the passage of some law putting alcohol used in the art8, Industries and manufactures upon the free list that is, to provide for the withdrawal free of tax of alcohol which is to be denatured for those purposes. The law of June 6, 1906, and its amendment of March-2, 1907, accomplished what was desired in that respect, and the use of denatured alcohol as intended is making a fair degree of progress and Is entitled to further encouragement and support from the congress. Pure Food. The pure food legislation has already worked a benefit difficult to overestimate. Indian Service. It has been my purpose from the bcginuing of my administration to take the Indian service completely out of the atmosphere of political activity, and there has been steady. progress toward that end. The last remaining stronghold of politics in that service was the agency system, which had seen its best days and was gradually falling to pieces from natural or purely evolutionary causes, but, like all such survivals, was decaying slowly in its later stages. It seems clear that its extinction had better be made final now, so that the ground can be cleared for larger constructive work on behalf of the Indians preparatory to their Induction into the full measure of responsible citizenship. On Nov. 1 only eighteen agencies were left on the roster. With two exceptions, where some legal questions seemed to stand temporarily In the way, these have been changed to superintendencies and their heads brought into the classified civil service. 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. It is not too much to say that this amendment has been of benefit only, and could be of benefit only, to the criminal classes. If deliberately Introduced for the purpose of diminishing the effectiveness of war against crime It could not have been better devised to this end. It forbade the practices that had been followed to a greater or less extent by the executive heads of various departments for twenty years. To these practices we owe the securing of the evidence which enabled us to drive great lotteries out of business and secure a "quarter, of a million of dollars In fines from their promoters. These practices have enabled us to discover some of the most outrageous frauds In connection with the theft of government land and government- timber by great corporations and by individuals. These practices have enabled us to get some of the evidence indispensable in order to secure the conviction of the wealthiest and most formidable criminals with whom the government has to deal,

both those operating tu violation of the anti-trust law and others. The amendment in question vas of benefit to no one excepting to these criminals, and it seriously hampers the government Sn the detection of crime and the securing of justice. Moreover. It not only affects departments outside of the treasury, but it tends to hamper the secretary of the treasury himself in the effort to utilize the employees of bis department so as to best meet the requirements of the public service. It forbids him from preventing frauds uHn the customs service, from investigating irregularities In branch mints and assay offices, and has seriously crippled him. It prevents 4he promotion of employees In the secret service, and this further discourages good effort. In its present form the restriction operates only to the advantage of the criminal, of the wrongdoer. The chief argument in favor of the provision was that th congressmen did not themselves wish to In? Investigated by secret service men. Very little f such Investigation has beu done iu the past, but It Is true that the work of the secret service agents was partly resjHMisible for the indictment and conviction f a senator aud a congressman for nnd frauds in Oregon. I do not lelieve that it is in the public interest to protect criminals in any branch of the public service, aud exactly as we have again and again durlug the past seven years prosecuted and convicted such criminals wh

were in the executive branch of the government so in ray belief we should le given ample means to prosecute them If found in the legislative branch. Hut if this is not considered desirable a sieclal exception could be made in the law prohibiting the use of the secret service force in Investigating members of the congress. It would be far better to do this than to do what actually was done and strive to prevent or at least to ha mper 'effective action against criminals by the executive branch of the government. 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. Iu fourteen states the deposits in savings banks as reported to the comptroller of the currency amount to $3,55 0,243,402. or "9S.4 per cent of the entire deposits, while In the remaining thirty-two states there are only $70,308,543, or 1.6 per cent, showing conclusively that there are many localities iu the United States where sufficient opportunity Is not given to the people to deposit their savings. The result is that money is kept in hiding and unemployed. It is believed that In the aggregate vast sums of money would be brought into circulation through the instrumentality of the postal ravings banks. While there are only 1,453 savings banks reporting to the comptroller, there are more than 61,000 postoffices, 40,000 of which are money order offices. Postal savings banks are now In operation In practically all the great civilized countries with the exception of the United States. Parcel Poet. In ray last annual message I commended the' postmaster general's recommendation for an extenslou of the parcel post on the rural routes. The establishment of a local parcel pout 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 tho fullest practicable extent. An amendment was projKsed In the senate at the last session at the suggestion of the postmaster general providing that for the purpose of ascertaining the practicability of establishing a special local parcel post system on the rural routes throughout the United States the postmaster general be authorized and directed to experiment and report to the congress the result of such experiment by establishing a special local parcel post system ou rural delivery routes in not to exceed four counties in the United States for packages of fourth class matter originating on a rural route or at the distributing postoffice for delivery by rural carriers. It . would seem only projxT that such an experiment should be tried in order to demonstrate the practicability of the proposition, especially as the postmaster general estimates that the revenue derived from the operation of such a system on all the rural routes would amount to many million doUars. , - Education. The share that the national government should take In the broad work of education has not received the attention and the care it rightly deserve. The immediate responsibility for the support end improvement of our educational systems and Institutions rests and should always rest with the people of the several states acting through their state and local governments, but the nation has an opportunity in educational work which must not be lost and a duty which should no longer be Deglected. The national bureau of education was established more than forty years ago. Its puriose la to collect and diffuse such Information "as shall aid the people of the United States In the establishment and maintenance of efficient school Systems and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country This purpose In no way conflicts with the educational work of the states, but may be made of great advantage to the states by giving them the fullest, most accurate and hence the most helpful information and suggestion regarding the best educational systems. The nation, through its broader field of activities. Its wider opportunity for obtaining information from all the states and from foreign countries. Is able to do that which not even the richest states can do and with the distinct additional advantage that the information thus obtained Is used for the immediate benefit of all our people. With the limited means hitherto provided the bureau of education has rendered efficient . service, but the congress has neglected to adequately supply the bureau with means to meet the educational growth of the country. The appropriations for the general work of the bureau, outside education iu Alaska, for the year 1909 are but $S7,500, an amount . less than they