Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 38, Number 23, 6 December 1912 — Page 9

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;1 PresSdfemit lafit's Seconil Message "to ftomgrGss .IDteaOs (Fiscal tasanllair , Protest Against Reducing Expenditures For the Navy Two Battleships a Year Needed Wage Earners and Farmers, as Well as Bankers, Should Advise as to Currency SystemFilipinos Not Ready For Self Government High Office Recommended For Colonel Goethals.

with

udlcliail,

Military

and

A ITS

Sending a second message to con

gress on fiscal, Judicial, military and Insular affairs, President Taft explains that,' as the message'of Dec. 3 was confined to foreign relations and as a full discussion of all the transactions of the government requires more space than one message of reasonable length affords, "I have therefore adopted the course of sending three or four messages during the first ten days of the session so as to include reference to more Important matters that should be brought to the attention of con cress." The president finds the country in a period of successful business, with a year of bumper crops. For the last three years the government has saved much by sensible economy. He finds the crying need of the country is a proper banking and currency system and says that customs duties should be revised downward. He strongly urges congress to make the necessary appropriation for strengthening .. our foreign possessions at the earliest possible day. In recognition of his work on the Panama canal President Taft recommends the promotion of Colonel Goethals to the rank of major general. The president says reduced expenditures In the navy mean reduced military strength 'and deems that the increase should be at least two battleships a year and battle cruisers, gunboats and torpedo destroyers and submarines in proper proportion. He commends the calm, orderly way fn which the trusts are being proceeded against and says a steady, consistent course, without any radical legislation changing the present governmental policies, is going to offer a solution to the problem. The country's business first engages the president's attention. Business Conditions. The condition of the country with reference to business could hardly be better. While the four years of the administration now drawing to a close have not developed great speculative expansion or a wide field of new investment. . the recovery and progress macle from the depressing conditions following the panic of 1907 have been steady, and the improvement baa been clear, and easily traced in the statistics. The business of the country Is now on a solid basis. Credits are not unduly extended, and every: phase of the situation seems in a state of preparedness for a period of unexampled prosperity. Manufacturing concerns are running at their full capacity, and the demand for labor was never so constant and growing. The foreign trade of the country for this year will exceed $4,000,000,000, while the balance in our favor that of the excess of exports over Imports will exceed $300,000.000. " V It is a year of bumper crops. The total money value of farm products will exceed $9,500,000,000. It is a year when the bushel or unit price of agricultural products has gradually fallen, and yet the total value of the entire crop is greater by over $1,000,000,000 than we have known In our history. Condition of the Treasury. The condition of the treasury is very satisfactory. The total interest bearing debt is $903,777,770, of which $134.631,980 constitutes the Panama canal loan. The noninterest bearing debt is $378,301,284.90, Including $346,081,016 of greenbacks. We have in the treasury $150,000,000 in gold coin as a reserve against the outstanding greenbacks; and In addition we have a cash balance in the treasury as a general fund of $167,152,478.99, or an increase of $26,975,552 over the general fund last year. Receipts and Expenditures. For three years the expenditures of the government have decreased under the influence of an effort to economize. This year presents an apparent exception. The estimate by the secretary of the treasury of the ordinary receipts, exclusive of postal revenues, for the year ending June. 30, 1914. indicates that they will amount to $710,000,000. The sum of the estimates of the expenditures for that same year, exclusive of Panama canal disbursements and postal disbursements payable from postal revenues, is $732,000,000, indicating a deficit of $22,000,000. For the year ending June 30, 1913, similarly estimated receipts, were $667,000,000, while the total corresponding estimate of expenditures for that year, submitted through the secretary of the treasury to congress, amounted to $656,000,000. This shows an increase of $76,000,000 in the estimates for 1914 over the total estimates of 1913. This is due to an Increase of $25,000,000 in the estimate for rivers and harbors for the next year on projects and surveys authorized by congress; to an in- j crease under the new pension bill of $32,500,000, and to an increase in the j estimates for expenses of the navy de- j partment of $24,000,000. j Banking and Currency System. A. time when panics seem far removed is the best time for us to prepare our financial system to withstand a storm. The most crying need this country, has is a proper banking and currency system. The existing one is inadequate, and every one who has studied the question admits it It is the business of the national government to provide a medium, automatically contracting and expanding in vol-; ume, to meet the needs of trade. Our i

present system lacks the indispensable quality of elasticity. The only part of our monetary medium that has elasticity is the banknote currency. The peculiar provision of the law requiring national banks to maintain reserves to meet the call of the depositors operates to increase the money stringency when it arises rather than to expand the supply of currency and relieve it. It operates upon each bank and furnishes a motive for the withdrawal of currency from the channels of trade by each bank to save itself and offers no inducement whatever for the use of the reserve to expand the supply of currency to meet the exceptional demand. After the panic of 1907 congress realized that the present system was not adapted to the country's needs and that under it ' panics were possible that' might properly be avoided by legislative provision. Accordingly a monetary commission was appointed which made a report in February, 1912. The system which they recommend involved a National Reserve association, which was, in certain of its faculties and functions, a bank, and which was given through its governing authorities the power, by issuing circulating notes for approved commercial paper, by fixing discounts, and by other methods of transfer of currency, to expand the supply of the monetary medium where it was most needed to prevent the export or hoarding of gold and generally to exercise such supervision over the supply of money in every part of the country as to prevent a stringency and a panic. Certain it is, however, that the objections which were made in the past history of this country to a central bank as furnishing a monopoly of financial power to private individuals, would not - apply to an association whose ownership and control is so widely distributed and is divided between all the banks of the country, state and national, on the one band, and the chief executive through three

department beads and his comptroller of the currency on the other. There is no class in the community more Interested in asafe aiiasane banking and currency system, one which will prevent panics and auto matically furnish in each trade center the currency needed in the carrying on of the business at that center, than the wage earner. There is no class in the community whose experience bet ter qualifies them to make suggestions as to the sufficiency of a currency and banking system than the bankers and business men. Ought we therefore to ignore their recommendations and reject their financial judgment as to the proper method of reforming our financial system merely because of the suspicion which exists against them in the minds of many of our fellow citizens? Is it not the duty of congress to take up the plan suggested, examine it from all standpoints, give impartial consideration to the testimony of those whose experience ought to fit them to give the best -advice on the subject, and then to adopt some plan which will secure the benefits desired? A banking and currency system seems far away from the wage earner and the farmer, but the fact is that they are vitally interested in a safe system of currency which shall graduate its volume to the amount needed and which shall prevent times of artificial stringency that frighten capital, stop employment, prevent the meeting of the payroll, destroy local markets and produce penury and want. The Tariff. I have regarded It as my duty in former messages to the congress to urge the revision of the tariff upon principles of protection. It was my judgment that the customs duties ought to be revised downward, but that the reduction ought not to e below a rate which would represent the difference in the cost of production between the article in question at home and abroad, and for this and other reasons I vetoed several bills which were presented to me In the last session of this congress. Now that a new congress has been elected on a platform of a tariff for revenue only rather than a protective tariff, and is to revise the tariff on that basis, it Is needless for me to occupy the time of this congress with arguments or recommendations in favor of a protective tariff. Army Reorganization. Our small army now consists of 83,S09 men, excluding the 5.000 Philippine scouts. Leaving out of consideration the coast artillery force, whose position is fixed in our various sea coast defenses, and the present garrisons of our various insular possessions, we have today within the continental United States a mobile army of only about 35,000 men. This little force must be still further drawn upon to supply the new garrisons for the great naval base which is being established at Pearl harbor, in the Hawaiian Islands, and to protect the locks now rapidly approaching completion at Panama. The forces remaining in the United States are now scattered in nearly fifty posts, situated for a variety of historical reasons in twenty-four states. These posts contain only fractions of regiments, averaging less than 700 men each. In time Of peace it has been our historical poiicy to administer these units separately by a geo

graphical organization. In dther words, our army in time of peace has never been a united organization, but merely scattered groups of companies, battalions and regiments, and the first task in time of war has been to create out of these scattered units an army fit for effective team work and co-operation. A comprehensive plan of army reorganization was prepared by the war college division of the general staff. Under the influence of this study definite and effective steps have been taken toward army reorganization so far as such reorganization lies within the executive power. Hitherto there has been no difference of policy In the treatment t the organization of our foreign garrisons from those of troops within the United States. The difference of situation is" vital, and the foreign garrison should be prepared to defend itself at an instant's notice against a foe who may command the sea. Unlike the troops in the United States, it cannot count upon re-enforcements or recruitment. It is an outpost upon which will fall the brunt of the first attack in case of war. The historical policy of the United States of carrying its regiments during time of peace at half strength has no application to our foreign garrisons. During the past year this defect has been remedied as to the Philippines garrison. The former garrison of twelve reduced regiments has been replaced by a garrison of six regiments at full strength, giving fufly the same number of riflemen at an estimated economy in cost of maintenance of over $1,000,000 per year. This garrison is to be permanent. Its regimental units, instead of being transferred - periodically back and forth from the United States, will remain in the islands. The officers and men composing these units will, however, serve a regular tropical detail, as usual, thus involving no greater hardship upon the personnel and greatly increasing the effectiveness of the garrison. A similar policy Is proposed for the Hawaiian and Panama garrisons as fast as the barracks for them are completed. I strongly urge upon congress that the necessary appropriations for this purpose should be promptly made. It is, in my opinion, of first importance that these national outposts, upon which a successful home defense will primarily depend, should be finished and placed In effective condition at the earliest possible day. The Home Army. Simultaneously with the foregoing steps the war department has been proceeding with the reorganization of the army at home. The formerly dis

associated units are being united into a tactical organization of three divisions, each consisting of two or three brigades of infantry and, so far as practicable, a proper proportion of divisional cavalry and artillery. Of course the extent to which this reform can be carried by the executive is practically limited to a paper organization. The scattered units can be brought under a proper organization, but they will remain physically scattered until congress supplies the necessary funds for grouping them in more concentrated posts. Regular Army Reserve. One of the most important reforms accomplished during the past year has been the legislation enacted in the army appropriation bill of last summer, providing for a regular army reserve. Hitherto our national policy has assumed that at the outbreak of war our regiments would be immediately raised to full strength. But our laws have provided no means by which this .could be accomplished or by which the losses of the regiments when once sent to the front could be repaired. In this respect we have neglected the lessons learned by other nations. The new law provides that the soldier, after serving four years with colors, shall pass into a reserve for three years. At his option he may go into the reserve at the end of three years, remaining there for four years. While in the reserve he can be called and only in such case will receive a stated amount of pay for all of the period in which he has been a member of the reserve. The legislation is imperfect, in my opinion, in certain particulars, but it is a most important step In the right direction, and I earnestly hope that it will be carefully studied and perfected by congress. The National Guard. Under existing law the national guard constitutes, after the regular army, the first line of national defense. Its organization, discipline, training and equipment under recent legislation have been assimilated, as far as possible, to those of the regular army, and its practical efficiency under the effect of this training has very greatly increased. Our citizen soldiers under present conditions have reached a stage of development beyond which they cannot reasonably be asked to go without further direct assistance in the form of pay from the federal government. On the other hand, such pay from the national treasury would not be justified unless it produced a proper equivalent in additional efficiency on the part of the national guard. The organized militia today cannot be ordered outside of the limits of the United States and thus cannot lawfully be used for general military pur poses. The officers and men are ambi

tious and eager to make themselves thus available and to become an efficient national reserve of citizen soldiery. They are the only force of trained men other than the regular army upon which we can rely. The so called militia pay bill in the form agreed on between the authorities of the war department and the representatives of the national guard, in my opinion, adequately meets these conditions and offers a proper return for the pay which it is proposed to give to the national guard. I believe that its enactment into law would be a very long step toward providing this nation with a first line of citizen soldiery, upon which its main reliance must depend in case of any national emergency. Plans for the organization of the national guard into tactical divisions on the same lines as those adopted for the regular army are being formulated by the war college division of the general staff. Porto Rico. Porto Rico continues to show notable progress, both commercially and In the spread of education. Its external commerce has increased 17 per cent over the preceding year, bringing the total value up to $92,631,880, or more than five times the value of the commerce of the island in 1901. During the year 160,657 pupils were enrolled in the public schools as against 145,525 for the preceding year and as compared with 26,000 for the first year of American administration. The failure thus far to grant American citizenship continues to be the only ground of dissatisfaction. The bill conferring such citizenship has passed the bouse of representatives and is now awaiting the action of the senate. I am heartily in favor of the passage of this bill. I believe that the demand for citizenship is just and that it is amply earned by sustained loyalty on the part of the inhabitants of the island. But it should be remembered that the demand must be, and in the minds of most Porto Rieans is, entirely disassociated from any thought of statehood. : The Philippines.. . A bill is pending in congress which revolutionizes the carefully worked out scheme of government under which the Philippine Islands are now governed and which proposes to render them virtually autonomous at once and absolutely independent in eight years. Such a proposal can only be founded on the assumption that we have now discharged our trusteeship to the Filipino people and our responsibility for them to the world and that they are now prepared for self government as well as national sovereignty. A thorough and unbiased knowledge of the facts clearly shows that these assumptions are absolutely without justification. As to this I believe that there is no substantial difference of opinion among any of those who have had the responsibility of facing Philippine problems in the administration of the islands, and I believe that no one to whom the future of this people Is a responsible concern can countenance a policy fraught with the direst consequences to those on whose behalf it is ostensibly urged. In the Philippine Islands we have embarked upon an experiment unprecedented in dealing with dependent peoples. We are developing there conditions exclusively for their own welfare. We found an archipelago containing twenty-four tribes and races, speaking a great variety of languages and with a population over 80 per cent of which could neither read nor write. Through the unifying forces of a common education, of commercial and economic development and of gradual participation in local self government we are endeavoring to evolve a homogeneous people fit to determine, when the time arrives, their own destiny. We are seeking to arouse a national spirit and not, as under the older colonial theory, to suppress such a spirit. The character of the work we have been doing is keenly recognized in the orient, and our success thus far followed with not a little envy by those who, initiating the same policy, find themselves hampered by conditions grown up in earlier days and under different theories of administration. But our work is far from done. Our duty to the Filipinos is far from

, discharged. Over half a million Fili pino students are now In the Philip pine schools helping to mold the men of the future into a homogeneous people, but there still remain more than a million Filipino children of school age yet to be reached. Freed from American control the integrating forces of a common education and a common language will cease and the educational system now well started will slip back into Inefficiency and disorder. -. An enormous Increase in the commercial development of the Islands has been made since they were virtually granted full access to onr markets three years ago, with every prospect of increasing development and diversified industries. Freed from American control such development is bound to decline. " The ideal which has been kept In mind in oar political guidance of the islands has been real popular self government and not mere paper independence.I am happy to say that the Filipinos have done well enough In the places they have filled and In the discharge of the political power with

which they have been intrusted to warrant the belief that they can be educated and trained to complete self government. But the present satisfactory results are due to constant support and supervision at every step by Americans. If the task we have undertaken is higher than that assumed by other nations, its accomplishment must demand even mote patience. We must not forget that we found the Filipinos wholly untrained In government. Up to our advent all other experience sought to repress rather than encourage political power. It takes long time and much experience to ingrain political habits of steadiness and efficiency. Popular self government ultimately must rest upon common habits of thought and upon a reasonably developed public opinion. A present declaration even of future independence would retard progress by the dissension and disorder it would arouse. On our part it would be a disingenuous attempt, under the gtiise of conferring a benefit on them, to relieve ourselves .froni the heavy and difficult burden which thus far we have been bravely and consistently sustaining. It would be a disguised policy of scuttle. It would make the helpless Filipino the football of oriental politics, under the protection of a guaranty of their independence, which we would be powerless to enforce. Regulation of Water Power. There are pending before congress a large number of bills proposing to grant privileges of erecting dams for the purpose of creating water power in our navigable rivers. The pendency of these bills has brought out an Important defect in the existing general dam act That act does not, in my opinion, grant sufficient power to the 'federal government in dealing with the construction of such dams to exact protective conditions in the interest of navigation.- It does not permit the federal government, as a condition of its permit, to require that a part of the value thus created shall be applied to the further general Improvement and protection of the stream. I believe this to be one of the most important matters of internal improvement now confronting the government In my opinion constructive statesmanship requires that legislation should be enacted which will permit the development of navigation in these great rivers to go hand in hand with the utilization of this byproduct of water power, created in the course of the snuie improvement, and that the general dam act should be so amended as to make this possible. I deem it highly important that the nation should adopt a consistent and harmonious treatment of these water power projects, which will preserve for this purpose their value to the government, whose right it is to grant the permit. Any other policy is equivalent to throwing away a most valuable national asset. The Panama Canal.

During the past year the work of construction upon the canal has pro gressed most satisfactorily. About 87 per cent of the excavation work has been completed, and more than 93 per cent or the concrete for all the locks is In place. In view of the great interest which has been manifested as to some slides in the Culebra cut I am glad to say that the report of Colonel Goethals should allay any apprehension on this point. It is gratifying to note that none of the slides which occurred during this year would have interfered with the passage of the ships had the canal in fact been in operation, and when the slope pressures will have been finally adjusted and the growth of veg etation will minimize erosion in the banks of the cut the slide problem will be practically solved and an ample sta bility assured for the Culebra cut. Although the official date of the open ing has been set for Jan. 1. 1915, the canal will in fact, from present indications, be opened for shipping during the latter half of 1913. No fixed date can as yet be set, but shipping Interests will be advised as soon as assurances can be given that vessels can pass through without unnecessary delay. Recognizing the administrative problem in the management of the canal, congress in the act of Aug. 24. 1912, has made admirable provisions for executive responsibility in the control of the canal and the government of the canal zone. The problem of most efficient organization is receiving careful consideration, so that a scheme of organization and control best adapted to the conditions of the canal may be formulated and put In operation as expeditiously as possible. Acting under the authority conferred on me by congress I have by executive proclamation promulgated the following schedule of tolla for ships passing through the canal, based upon the thorough report of Emory R. Johnson, special commissioner on traffic and tolls: First. On merchant vessels carryirK passengers or cargo, XL20 per net vessel ton each 10 cable feet of actual earning capacity. Second. On vessels to ballast without passengers or cargo. 40 per cent less thaa the rate of tons for vessels with passengers or cargo. Third. Upon naval vessels other than transports, colliers, hospital ship and supply ships, fie ceats per - displacement ton. Fourth. Upon army and navy transports, colliers, hospital ship and supply snipe, fUS per net ton, the vessels to be

measured by the same rules as are em- 1 ployed in determining the net tonnage of merchant vessels. Rules for the determination of the j tonnage upon which toll charges ar: based are now in course of preparation and will be promulgated in due season. Panama Canal Treaty. The proclamation which I have issued in respect to the Panama canal tolls is in accord with the Panama canal act passed by this congress Aug. 24. 1912. We have been advised that the British government has prepared a protest against the act and its enforcement in so far as it relieves from the payment of tolls American ships engaged in the American coastwise trade on the ground that it violates British rights under the Hay-Paunce-fote treaty concerning the Panama canal. When the protest is presented it will be promptly considered and an effort made to reach a satisfactory adjustment of any differences there may be between the two governments. Promotion For Colonel Goethals. As the completion of the canal grows nearer and as the wonderful executive work of Colonel Goethals becomes more conspicuous in the eyes of the country and of the world it seems to me wise and proper to make provision by law for such reward to him as may be commensurate with the service that he has rendered to his country. I suggest that this reward take the form of an appointment of Colonel Goethals as a major general in the army of the United States and that the law authorizing such appointment be accompanied with a provision permitting his designation as chief of engineers upon the retirement of the present incumbent of that office. Navy Department. The navy of the United States is in a greater state of efficiency and Is more powerful than it has ever been before, but in the emulation which exists between different countries in respect to the increase of naval and military armaments this condition not a permanent one. In view of the many improvements and Increases by foreign governments the slightest halt on our part In respect to new construction throws us back and reduces us from a naval power of the first rank and places us among the nations of the second rank. In the past fifteen years the navy has expanded rapidly and yet far less rapidly than our country.

From now on reduced expenditures in the navy mean reduced military strength. The world's history has shown the importance of sea power both for adequate defense and for the support of important and definite policies. I bad the pleasure of attending this autumn a mobilization of the Atlantic fleet and was glad to observe and note the preparedness of the fleet for instant action. The review brought before the president and the secretary of the navy a greater and more powerful collection of vessels than had ever been gathered in American waters. The condition of the fleet and of the officers and enlisted men and of the equipment of the vessels entitled those in authority to the greatest creditI again commend to congress the giving of legislative sanction to the appointment of the naval aids to the secretary of the navy. These aids and the council of aids appointed by the secretary of the navy to assist him in the conduct of his department have proved to be of the highest utility. They have furnished an executive committee of the most skilled naval experts, wbo have co-ordinated the action of the various bureaus in the navy and by their advice have enabled the secretary to give an administration at the same time economical and most efficient. Never before hag the United States had a navy that compared in efficiency with its present one, but never before have the requirements with respect to naval warfare been higher and more exacting than now. A year ago con' gress refused to appropriate for more than one battleship. In this I think a great mistake of policy was made, and I urgently recommend that this con gress make up for the mistake of the last session by appropriations authoriz ing the construction of three battle ships, in addition to destroyers, fuel ships and the other auxiliary vessels as shown in the building program of the general board. We are confronted by a condtion in respect to the navies of the world which requires us, if we would maintain our navy as an insurance of peace, to augment our naval force by at least two battleships year and by battle cruisers, gunboats, torpedo destroyers and submarine boats in a proper proportion. We have no desire for war. We would go as far as any nation in the world to avoid war, but we are a world power. Department of Justice. This department has been very active in the enforcement of the law. It has been better organized and with a larger force than ever before in the history of the government. The prosecutions which have been successfully concluded and which are now pending xesuiy to the effectiveness of the departmental work. The prosecution of trusts under the Sherman anti-trust law has gone on without restraint or diminution, and decrees similar to those entered In the Standard Oil and the tobacco cases

have been entered in other suits, like the suits against the powder trust and the bathtub trust. I am very strongly convinced that a steady, consistent

course in this regard, with a continuing of supreme court decisions upon new phases of the trust question not already finally decided, is going to offer a solution of this much discussed and troublesome issue in a quiet, calm and judicial way without any radical legislation changing the governmental policy in regard to combinations now denounced by the Sherman anti-trust law. I have already recommended as an aid in this matter legislation which would declare unlawful certain well known phases of unfair competition in interstate trade, and I have also advocated voluntary national Incorporation for the larger Industrial enterprises, with provision for a closer supervision by the bureau of corporations or a board appointed for the purpose, so as to make more certain compliance with the anti-trust law on the one hand and to give greater security to the stockholders against possible prosecutions on the other. I believe, however, that the orderly course of litigation In the courts and the regular prosecution of trusts charged with the violation of the antitrust law is producing among business men a clearer and clearer perception of the line of distinction between business that is to be encouraged and business that is to be condemned, and that la this quiet way the question of trusts can be settled and competition retained as an economic force to secure reasonableness in prices and freedom and Independence in trade."" Reform of Court Procedure, I am glad to bring to the attention of congress the fact that the supreme court has radically altered the equity rules governing the procedure on the equity side of all federal courts, and though, as these change have not been yet put in practice so as to enable us to state from actual results what the reform will accomplish, they are of such a character that we can reasonably prophesy that they will greatly reduce the time and cost of litigation In such courts. , The court has adopted many of the shorter methods of the present English procedure, and, while it may take a little while for the profession to accustom Itself to these methods, it is certain greatly to facilitate litigation. The action of the supreme court has been so drastic and so full of appreciation of the necessity for a great reform in court procedure that I have no hesitation in following up this action with a recommendation which I foreshadowed in my message of three years ago. that the sections of the statute governing the procedure In the federal courts on the common law side should be so amended as to give to the supreme court the same right to make rules of procedure in common law as they hare since the beginning of the court exercised in equity. I do not doubt that a fall consideration of the subject will enable the court while giving effect to the substantial differences in right and remedy between the system of common law and the system of equity so to unite the two procedures into the form of one civil action and to shorten the procedure in such civil action as to furnish a model to all the state courts exercising concurrent jurisdiction with the federal courts of first instance. Under the statute now In force the common law procedure in each federal court is made to conform to the procedure in the state in which the court is held. In these days, when we should be making progress in court procedure, such a conformity statute makes the federal method too dependent upon the action of state legislatures. I can but think It a great opportunity for congress to Intrust to the highest tribunal in this country, evidently imbued with a strong spirit in favor of a reform of procedure, the power to frame a model code of procedure, which, while preserving ail that is valuable and necessary of the rights and remedies at common law and in equity, shall lessen the burden of the poor litigant to a minimum in the expedition and . cheapness with which his cause can be fought or defended through federal courts to final judgment. Workman's Compensation Act. The workman's compensation act reported by the special commission appointed by congress and the executive, which passed the senate and is now pending In the bouse, the passage of which I have in previous messages urged upon congress, I venture again to call to its attention. The opposition to it which developed In the senate, but which was overcome by a majority in that body, seemed to me to grow out rather of a misapprehension of its effect than of opposition to its principle. I say again that I think no act can have a better effect directly upon the relations between the employer and employee than this act applying to railroads and common carriers of an Interstate character, and I am sore that the passage of the act would greatly relieve the courts of the heaviest burden of litigation that they nave and would enable them to dis patch other business wUb a speed nev er before attained In courts of justice In this country. The White Hocee, Dec C, 2912.