Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1902 — PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT’S MESSAGE TO CONGRESS [ARTICLE]

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT’S MESSAGE TO CONGRESS

T» the Senate and House of Repre•tnUtives: We still continue in a period •f unbounded prosperity. This prosperity is not the creature of law, but undoubtedly the laws under which we work have been instrumental in creating the conditions which made it possible, and by unwise legislation it would be easy enough to destroy it. There will undoubtedly be periods of depression. The wave will recede; but the tide will advance. As a people we have played a large part in the world, and we are bent upon making our future even larger than the past. In particular, the events of the lari four years have definitely decided that, for woe or for weal, our place must he great among the nations. We do not shrink from the struggle before us. There ahe many problems for us to face at the aatset of the twentieth century—grave problems abroad and still graver at home; fcwt we know that we can solve them and Solve them well, provided only that we kring to the solution the qualities of head and heart which were shown by the men who, in the days of Washington, founded this government, and, in the days of Lincoln, preserved it. * No country has ever occupied a higher plane of material well-being than ours at the present moment. This well-being is due to no sadden or accidental causes, but to the play of the economic forces hi this country for over a century; to our laws, our sustained and continuous polish's; above all, to the high individual average of our citizenship. Of course, when the conditions have favored the growth sf so much that was good, they have ulso favored somewhat the growth of what was evil. It is eminently necessary that are should endeavor to cut out this evil, hat let us keep a due sense of proportion; let us not in fixing our gaze upon the lesser evil forget the greater good. The evils are real and some of them are menacing, but they are the outgrowth, not of misery or decadence, but of prosperity•f the progress of our gigantic industrial development. This industrial development must not be cheeked, but side by side with it should go such progressive regulation as will diminish the evils. We should fail in our duty if we did not try to remedy the evils, but we shall succeed only if we proceed patiently, with practical common sense as. well as resolution, separating the good from the bad and holding on the former while endeavoriug to get rid of the latter.

DEALING WITH TRUSTS. Corporations Should Be Managed Under Public Regulation. In my message to the present Cougress at its first session I discussed at length the question of the regulation of those corporations commonly doing nn interstate business, often with some tendency to monopoly, which are popularly known as trusts. The experience of the past year has emphasized, iu my opinion, the desirability of the steps 1 then proposed. A fundamental requisite of social effirfency is a high standard of individual energy afid excellence; but this is in no wiae inconsistent with power to act in combination for aims which cannot so well be achieved by the individual acting alone. A fundamental base of civilization ia the inviolability of property; but this is in no wise inconsistent with the right of society to regulate the exercise of the artificial powers which it confers open the owners of property, under the name of corporate franchises, inr such a way as to prevent- the misuse of these powers. Corporations, and especially combinations of corporations, should be managed under public regulation. Experience has shown that under our system of government the necessary supervision cannot be obtained by State action. It ■nt therefore be achieved by national action. Our aim is not to do away with corporations; on the contrary, these big aggregations are an inevitable development of modern industrialism, and the effort to destroy them would be futile unless accomplished in ways that would work the utmost mischief to the entire body politic. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be ao handled as to subserve the public good. Publicity can do no harm to the honest corporation; and we need not be orertender about sparing the dishonest corporation.

In curbing and regulating the combinations of capital which are or may become injurious to the public we must be careful not to stop the great enterprises which have legitimately reduced the cost •f production, not to abandon the plnce which our country has won in the leadership of the international industrial world, not to strike down wealth with the result of closing factories and mines, of turning the wage worker idle in the streets and leaving the farmer without a market for what he grows. Insistence upon the impossible means delay in achieving the possible, exactly as, on the other hand, the stubborn defense alike of what is good and what is bad in the existing system, the resolute effort any attempt at betterment, betrays blindness to the historic truth that wise .evolution ia the sure safeguard against revolution. Interstate Commerces No more important subject can conic before the Congress than this of the regulation of interstate business. This country cannot afford to sit supine on the plea that under our peculiar system of government we are helpless in the presence of the new conditions, and unable to grapple with them or to cut out whatever of evil has arisen in connection with them. power of the Congress to regulate interstate commerce ia an absolute and nqnaufied grant, and without limitrttfaaa other than those prescribed by the caoatitution. I believe that monopolies, unjust discriminations, which prevent or cripple Competition, fraudulent overcapitalization, and other evils in trust organizations and practices which injuriously affect interstate trade can be prevented uuier the power of the Congress to “regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States” through regulations and requirements operating directly upon such edipnerce, the instrumentalities thereof, and those engaged I, earnestly recommend this subject to the consideration of the Congress with a flow to the passage of a law reasonable in its provisions and effective in its op-

erationa, upon which the queationa can be finally adjudicated that now raise doubts as to the necessity of constitutional amendment. If it prove impossible to accomplish the purposes above set forth by such a law, tben, assuredly, we should not shrink from amending the constitution so as to secure beyond peradventurc the power sought. To Enforce Antt-Trust Law. The Congress has not heretofore made any appropriation for the better enforcement of the anti-trust law as it now stands. Very much hss been done by the department of justice in securing the enforcement of this law, but much more could be done if Congress would make a special appropriation for this purpose, to be expended under the direction of the Attorney General. One proposition advocated has been tbs reduction of the tariff as a means of reaching the evils of the trusts which fall within the category I hnve described. Not merely would this be wholly ineffective, but the diversion of our efforts in such a direction would mean the abandonment of all intelligent attempt to do away with these evils. Many of the largest corporations, many of those which should, certainly be included in any proper scheme of regulation, would not be nffected in the slightest degree by a change in the tariff, save as such change interfered with the general prosperity of the country. The question of regulation of the trusts stands apart from the question of tariff revision.

CONCERNING THE TARIFF. Fitful and Radical Changes Declared Undesirable. Stability of economic policy must always be the prime economic need of this country. This stability should not be fossilization. The country has acquiesced in the wisdom of the protective tariff principle. It is exceedingly undesirable that this system should be destroyed or that there should be violent and radical changes therein. Our past experience shows that great prosperity in this country has always come under a protective tariff; and that the country cannot prosper under fitful tariff changes, at short intervals. Moreover, if the tariff laws as a whole work well, and if business has prospered' under them and is prospering. it is better to endure for a time slight inconveniences and inequalities in some schedules than to upset business by too quick and too radical changes. It is most earnestly to be wished that we -could treat the tariff from the standpoint solely of our business needs. Unquestionably these business interests will best be served if together with fixity of principle as regards the tariff we combine a system which will permit us from time to time to make the necessary reapplication of the principle to the shifting national needs. We must take scrupulous care that the reapplication shall be made in such n way that it will not amount to a dislocation of our,system, the mere threat of which (not to speak of the performance) would produce paralysis iu the business energies of the community. The first consideration in making these changes would, of course, be to preserve the principle which underlies our whole tariff system—that is, the principle of putting American business interests at least on a full equality with interests abroad, and of always allowing a sufficient rate of duty to more than cover the difference between the labor cost here and abroad. The well-being of the wage worker, like the well-being of the tiller of the soil, should be treated as an essential in shaping our whole economic policy. There must never be any change which will jeopardize the standard of comfort, the standard of wages of the American wage worker. One way in which the readjustment sought can be reached is by reciprocity treaties. It is greatly to be desired that such treaties may be adopted. If it prove impossible to ratify the pending treaties, and if there seem to be no warrant for the endeavor to execute others, or to amend the pending treaties so that they can be ratified, then the same end—to secure reciprocity—should be met by direct legislation.

Advocates a Tariff Commission. Wherever the tariff conditions are such that a needed change cannot with advantage be made by the application of the reciprocity idea, then it can be made outright by a lowering of duties on a given product. If possible, such change should be made only after the fullest consideration by practical experts, who should approach the subject from a business standpoint, having in view both the particular interests affected and the commercial well-being of the people as a whole. The machinery for providing such careful investigation can readily be.aupplied. The executive department has already at its disposal methods of collecting facts and figures; and if the Congress desires additional consideration to that which will be given the subject by its own committees, then a commission of business experts can be appointed whose duty it should be to recommend action by the Congress after a deliberate aud scientific examination of the various schedules as they nre affected by the changed and changing conditions. The cases in which the tariff can produce a monopoly are so few as to constitute an inconsiderable factor in the qtieeto the fundamental rules of obedience to the law, of individual freedom, and of justice and fair dealing toward all. Each should remember that in addition to power it must strive after the realization of healthy, lofty, and generous ideals. Every employer, every wage-worker, must be guaranteed his liberty and his right to do as he likes with his property or his labor so long as he does not Infringe upon the rights of others. All that we have a right to ask of any man, rich or poor, whatever his creed, his occupation, hla birthplace, or hla residence, la that he shall act well and honorably by hla neighbor and by hla country. We are neither for the rich man as such nor for the poor man as such; we are for the upright man, rich or poor. So far as the constitutional powers of the national government touch these matters of general and vital moment to the nation, they ahonld be exercised In conformity with the principles above set forth. A Secretary of Commerce. It la earnestly hoped that a Secretary of Commerce may be created, with a seat in the cabinet. The rapid multiplication of questions affecting labor and capital, the growth and complexity of the organisations through which both labor and capital now find expression, the steady tendency toward the employment of capital in huge corpora-

ttons, and the wonderful strides of this country toward leadership In the International business world justify an urgent demand for the creation of such a position. CUBAN RECIPROCITY. Treaty with the Island Republic Soon to Be Submitted. I hope soon to submit to the Senate a reciprocity treaty with Cuba. On May 20 last the United States kept its promise to the Island by formally vacating Cuban soil and turning Cuba over to those whom her own people had chosen as the first officials of the new republic. Cuba lies at our doors, and whatever affects her for good or for ill affects us also. So much have our people felt this that In the Platt amendment we definitely took the ground that Cuba must hereafter have closer political regions with us than with any other power. Thus in a sense Cuba has become a part of our International political system. This makes It necessary that In return she should be given some of the benefits of becoming part of our economic system. It Is, from our own standpoint, a short-sighted and mischievous policy to fall to recognize this need. We should always fearlessly Insist upon our rights in the face of the strong, and we should with ungrudging hand do our generous duty by the weak. I urge the adoption of reciprocity with Cuba not only because It Is eminently for our own Interests to control the Cuban market and by every means to foster our supremacy In the tropical lands and waters south of us, but also because we, of the giant republic of the north, should make all our sister naOfthe American continent feel that ffWww they will permit It we desire to show ourselves disinterestedly and effectively their friend. A convention with Great Britain has been concltmed, which will be at once laid before th* Senate for ratification, providing for regfcrecal trade arrangements betweeft the Culled States, and Newfoundland on substantially the lines of the convention formerly negotiated by the Secretary of State, Mr. Blaine. I believe reciprocal trade relations will he greatly to the advantage of both countries. The Hague Tribunal. Wherever arbitration or some similar method should be employed In lieu of war to settle difficulties between civilised nations, although as yet the world has not progressed sufficiently to render It possible, or necessarily deslrtble, to Invoke arbitration In every case. The formation of the International tribunal which alts at Ths Hague la an event of good omen from which great consequences for the welfare of all mankind may flow. It Is a matter of sincere congratulation to our country that the United States and Mexico should have been the first to use the good offices of The Hague court. This tion; but of course if in any case it be found that a given rate of doty does pro-

mote a monopoly which works ill, no protectionist would object to such reduction of the duty as would equalize competition. Would Remove Tariff on Coal. In my judgment, the tariff on anthracite coal should be removed,‘and anthracite put actually, where it now is nominally, on the free list. This would have no effect at all save in crises; but in crises it might be of service to the people. Banking and Currency. Banks are the natural servants of commerce, and upon them should be placed, as far as practicable, the burden of furnishing and maintaining a circulation adequate to supply the needs of our diversified industries and of our domestic and foreign commerce; and the issue of this should be so regulated that a sufficient supply should be always available for the business interests of the country. It would be both unwise and unnecessary at this time to. attempt to reconstruct our financial system, which has been the growth of a century; but some additional legislation is, I think, desirable. It is suggested that all future legislation on the subject should be with the view of encouraging the use of such instrumentalities as will automatically supply every legitimate demand of productive industries and of commerce, not only in the amount, but in the character of circulation; and of making all kinds of money interchangeable, and, at the will of the holder, convertible into the established gold standard.

CAPITAL AND LABOR. Interest of Kach Must Hsrmonizo with Interest of the Public. How to secure fair treatment alike for labor and for capital, how fffliold In check the unscrupulous man, whether employer or employe, without weakening Individual Initiative, without hampering and cramping the industrial development of the country, la a problem fraught with great difficulties and one which It ta of the highest Importance to solve on lines of sanity and far sighted common sense as well as of devotion to the right. This la an' era qffederation and combination. Exactly aa business men And they most often work through corporations, and na It la a constant tendency es these corporations to grow burger, so It la often necessary for

.laboring men to .work la federations, and these have become Important factors of modern Industrial life. Both kinds of federation, capitalistic nnd labor, can do much good, and as a necessary corollary they can both do evil. Opposition to each kind of organization should take the form of opposition to whatever Is bad In the conduct of any given corporation or union—not of attacks upon corporations as such nor upon unions as such, for some of the most' far-reaching beneficent work for our people has been accomplished through both corporations and unions. Each must refrain from arbitrary or tyrannous Interference with the rights of others. Organized capital and organized labor alike should remember that In the long run the Interest of each must be brought into harmony with the Interest of the general public; and the conduct of each must conform was done last summer with most satisfactory results In the case of a claim at Issue between ns and our sister republic.

THE ISTHMIAN CANAL. Will Be the Greatest Engineering Feat Yet Accomplished. The Congress has wisely provided that we shall build at once an Isthmian canal, if possible at Panama. The Attorney General reports that we can undoubtedly acquire good title from the French Panama Canal Company. Negotiations are now pending with Colombia to secure her assent to our building the canal. This canal will be one of the greatest engineering feats of the twentieth century; a greater engineering feat than has yet been accomplished during the history of mankind. The work should be carried out as a continuing policy without regard to change of administration; and It should be begun under circumstances which will make It a matter of pride for all administrations to continue the policy. The canal will be of great benefit to America, and of Importance to all the world. It will be of advantage to us Industrially and also as Improving our military position. It will be of advantage to the countries of tropical America. It Is earnestly to be hoped that all of these countries will do as some of them have already done with signal success, and will Invite to their shores commerce by recognizing that stability and order are the prerequisites of successful development. A Pacific Cable. During the fall of 1901 a communication wap addressed to the Seeertary of State, asking whether permission would be granted by the President to a corporation to lay a cable from a point on the California coast to the Philippine Islnds by way of Hawaii. A statement of conditions or terms upon which such corporation would undertake to lay and operate a cable was volunteered. The Congress adjourned without taking any action, leaving the matter In exactly the same condition in which It stood when the Congress convened. Meanwhile the Commercial Pacific Cable Company had proceeded with preparations for laying Its cable. It also made application to the President for access to and use of soundings taken by the United States steamer Nero, for the purpose of discovering a practicable route for a trans-Faclflc cable. Pending consideration of this subject, It appeared Important and desirable to attach certain conditions to the permission to examine and use the soundings, If It should be granted. These conditions prescribed, among otlter things, a maximum rate for commercial messages and that the company should construct a line from the Philippine Islands to China, there being at present, as is well known, a British line from Manila to Hong Kong. The representatives of the cable company have, however, at length acceded to these conditions, and an all-American line between our Pacific coast au<l Ihe Chinese empire by way of Honolulu nnd the Philippine Islands Is thus provided for and Is expected within a few months to be ready for business. Porto Rico Is Prosperous. Of Porto Rico it is only necessary to say that the prosperity of the Island and the wlsdpm with which it has been governed have been such as to make it serve as an example of all that is best In Insular administration. PEACE IN THE PHILIPPINES. Bights of Liberty and Government Reach Limit of Advisability. On July 4 last, on the 126th anniversary of the Declaration of independence, peace and amnesty were promulgated in the Philippine Islands. Some trouble has since from time to time threatened with the Mohammedan Moros, but ’With the late insurrectionary Filipinos the war has entirely ceased. Civil government has now been Introduced. Not only does each Filipino enjoy such rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as be has never before known during the recorded history of the Islands, but the people taken as a whole now enjoy a measure of self-government greater than that granted to any other Oriental by any foreign power and greater than that enjoyed by any other Orientals under their own governments, save the Japanese nlone. We have not gone too far in granting these rights of liberty and selfgovernment; but we have certainly gone to the limit that In the Interests of the Philippine people themselves It was wise or just to go. To hurry matters, to go faster than we are now going, would'eatail calnmlty on the people of the Islands. No policy ever entered Into by the American people has vindicated Itself In more signal manner than the policy of holding the Philippines. The triumph of our’arms, above all the triumph of our laws and the principles, has come sooner than we had any right to expect. . Too much praise cannot be given to the army for what it has done In the Philippines both In warfare and from an administrative standpoint In preparing the way for civil government; and slmtlur credit belongs to the civil authorities for the way In which they have planted the seeds of self-government in the ground thus made ready for them. The courage, the unflinching endurance, the high soldierly efficiency, and the general kind-heartedness and humanity of our troops hkve been strikingly manifested. There now remain only some 15.000 troops In the Islands. All told, over 100,000 have been sent there.

Constructive Statesmanship. Taking the work of the army and the civil authorities together, it may be questioned whether anywhere else in modern times the world has seen a better example of real constructive statesmanship than our people have given In the Philippine Islands. High praise should also be given those Filipinos, In the aggregate very numerous, who have accepted the new conditions and joined with onr representatives to work with hearty good will for the welfare of the Islands. The army has been reduced to the minimum allowed by law. It la very small for the size of the nation, and most certainly should be kept at the highest point of efficiency. The senior officers are given scant chance under ordinary conditions to exercise commands commensurate with their rsak, under circumstances which would fit theta to do their duty In time of actual war. A system of maneuvering our army In bodies of some little size has been begun and should be eteadllv continued. The measures providing for the reorganisation of the militia system and for securing the highest efficiency In the national guard, which has already passed the House, should receive prompt attention and action. Nnval Maneuvers and Their Object. For the first time In our history naval maneuvers on a large scale are being held under the Immediate command of the admiral of the navy. Constantly Increasing attention la being paid to the gunnery of the navy, but It la yet far from what It should be. I earnestly urge that the Increase aahed for by the Secretary of the Navy In the appropriation for Improving the marksmanship be granted. There should be no nalt In the work of building up the navy, providing every year additional fighting craft. We are a very rich country, vast in extent of territory and great la population; a country, more-

over, which has an army diminutive Indeed when compared with that of any ofttc firstclass power. We have deliberately made ©nr own certain foreign policies which demand the possession of a first-class navy. The Isthmian Canal will greatly increase the efficiency of our navy If the navy la of sufficient size; but if we have an Inadequate navy, then the building of the canal would be merely giving a hostage to any power of superior strength. The Monroe Doctrine should be treated as the cardinal feature of American foreign policy; but It would be worse than Idle to assert It . unless we Intended to back It up, and It can be backed up only by a thoroughly good navy.

POSTAL REVENUES INCREASE. Business Activity the Cause—Progress of Free Rural Mail Delivery. The striking increase in the revenues of the postofice department shows clearly the prosperity of our people and the increasing activity of the business of the country. The receipts of the postoffice department for the fiscal year ending June 30 last amounted to $121,848,047.26, an increase of $10,216,853.87 over the preceding year, the largest Increase known in the history of the postal service. The magnitude of this increase will best appear from the fact that the entire postal receipts for the year 1860 amounted to but $8,518,067. Rural free delivery service is no longer in the experimental stage; It has become a fixed policy, |The results following Its Introduction have fully justified the Congress in the large appropriations made for Its establishment and extension. The average yearly increase in postofflee receipts In the rural districts of the country Is about 2 per cent. We are now able, by actual results, to show that where rural free deliver suits, to show that where, rural free delivery service has been established to such an extent as to enable us to make comparisons the yearly increase has been upward of 10 per cent. On Nov. 1, 1902, 11,650 rural free delivery routes had been established and were In operation, covering about one-third of the territory of the United States available for rural free delivery service. There are now awaiting the action of the department petitions and applications for the establishment of 10,748 additional routes. This shows conclusively the want which the establishment of the service has met and the need of further extending It as rapidly as possible. It Is justified both by the financial results and by the practical benefits to our rural population; It brings the men who live on the soil Into close relations with the active business' world; it keeps the farmer In dally touch with the markets; it Is a potential educational force; It enhances the value of farm property, makes farm life far pleasanter and less Isolated, and will do much to check the undesirable current from country to city.

It Is to be boped that the Congress will make liberal appropriations for the continuance of the service already established and for Its further extension. Irrigation of Arid Western Lands, Few subjects of more Importance have been taken up by the Congress In recent years than the Inauguration of the system of nationally-aided Irrigation for the arid regions of the far West. A good beginning therein has been made. Now that this policy of national Irrigation has been adopted, the need of thorough and scientific forest protection will grow more rapidly than ever throughout the public-laud States. So far as they are available for agriculture, and to whatever extent they may be reclaimed under the national irrigation law, the remaining public lauds should be held rigidly for the home builder, the settler who lives on his land, and for no one else, in their actual use the desert land law, the timber and stone law, and the commutation* clause of the homestead law have been so perverted from the Intention with which they were enacted as to permit the acquisition of large areas of the public domain for other than actual settlers and the consequent prevention of settlement. Moreover, the approaching exhaustion of the public ranges has of late; led to much discussion as to the best manner of using these public lands In .the West which are suitable chiefly or only for grazing. The sound and steady development of the West depends upon the building up of homes therein. Much of our prosperity as a-nation has been due to the operation of-the homestead law. On the other hand, we should recognize the fact that In the grazing region the man who corresponds to the homesteader may be unable to settle permanently If only allowed to use the same amount of pasture land that his brother, the homesteader, Is allowed to use of arable land. How to Beal with the ludian. Iu dealing with the Indians our aim should be their ultimate absorption Into the body of our people. But in many cases this absorption must and should be very slow. In portions of the Indian Territory the mixture of blood has gone ou nt the same time with progress In wealth and education, so that there are plenty of men with varying degrees of purity of Indian blood who are absolutely Indistinguishable In point of social, political, and ecouomlc ability from their white associates. There are other tribes which have as yet made no perceptible advance toward such equality. To try to force such tribes too fast is to prevent their going forward at all. The first and most Important step toward the absorption of the Indian Is to teach him to earn his living; yet It Is not necessarily to be assumed that In each community all Indians must become either tillers of the soil or stock-raisers. Their industries may properly be diversified, and those who show special desire or adaptability for Industrial or even commercial pursuits should be encouraged so far as practicable to follow out each his own bent Every effort should be mode to develop the Indian along the lines of natural aptitude, and to encourage the existing Native Industries peculiar to certain tribes, such as the Various kinds of basket weaving, canoe building, smith work, and blanket work. Above all, the Indian boys and girls should be given confident command of colloquial English, and should ordinarily be prepared for a vigorous struggle with the conditions under which their people live, rather than for immediate absorption Into some more highly developed community. Bcienca Brought to Farmer's Aid.

In no department of government work In recent years has there been greater success than In that of giving scientific aid to the farming population, thereby showing them how most efficiently to help themselves. There la no need of Insuring upon Its Importance, for the welfare of the farmer Is fundamentally necessary to the welfare of the republic as a whole. Iu addition to such work as quarantine against animal and vegetable plagues, and warring against them when here introduced, much efficient help has been rendered to the farmer by the introduction of new plants specially fitted for cultivation wider the peculiar iuiditlona existing In different portions of the country. The safety-appliance law, for the better protection of the lives and limbs of railway employes, which was passed In 1803, went Into full effect on Ang. 1, 1001. It has resulted In averting thousands of casualties. Experience shows, however, the necessity of additional legislation to .perfect this law. Useless Public Documents. There Is s growths tendency tb provide for the publication of masses of documents for which there Is no public demand and for the printing of which there Is no real necessity. Nothing should be printed by any of the departments unless it contains something of permanent value, and the Congress could with advantage cut down very materially on all the printing which It turn now become cuatomarv to provide. Gratifying progress has been made during the year In the extension of the merit system of mnUng appointments In the government service. It should be extended by law to the District of Columbia. It Is much to be desired that obr consular system be established by law on a basis providing for appointment sad promotion only In consequence Of proved fitness THEODORE ROOSEVELT.