State of the Union Address by Jimmy Carter
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Title: State of the Union Addresses of Theodore Roosevelt
Author: Theodore Roosevelt
Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5032][Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule][This file was first posted on April 11, 2002] [Datelast updated: December 16, 2004]
Edition: 11
Language: English
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*** Start of the project gutenbergEBOOK of addresses by TheodoreRoosevelt ***
This eBook was produced by James Linden.
The addresses are separated by three asterisks:***
Dates of addresses by Theodore Roosevelt in this eBook:
December 3, 1901
December 2, 1902
December 7, 1903
December 6, 1904
December 5, 1905
December 3, 1906
December 3, 1907
December 8, 1908
***
State of the Union Address
Theodore Roosevelt
December 3, 1901
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
The Congress assembles this year under the shadowof a great calamity. On the sixth of September,President McKinley was shot by an anarchist whileattending the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, anddied in that city on the fourteenth of that month.
Of the last seven elected Presidents, he is the thirdwho has been murdered, and the bare recital of thisfact is sufficient to justify grave alarm among allloyal American citizens. Moreover, the circ*mstancesof this, the third assassination of an American President,have a peculiarly sinister significance. BothPresident Lincoln and President Garfield were killedby assassins of types unfortunately not uncommon inhistory; President Lincoln falling a victim to theterrible passions aroused by four years of civil war,and President Garfield to the revengeful vanity ofa disappointed office-seeker. President McKinleywas killed by an utterly depraved criminal belongingto that body of criminals who object to all governments,good and bad alike, who are against any form of popularliberty if it is guaranteed by even the most just andliberal laws, and who are as hostile to the uprightexponent of a free people’s sober will as tothe tyrannical and irresponsible despot.
It is not too much to say that at the time of PresidentMcKinley’s death he was the most widely lovedman in all the United States; while we have neverhad any public man of his position who has been sowholly free from the bitter animosities incident topublic life. His political opponents were thefirst to bear the heartiest and most generous tributeto the broad kindliness of nature, the sweetness andgentleness of character which so endeared him to hisclose associates. To a standard of lofty integrityin public life he united the tender affections andhome virtues which are all-important in the make-up
of national character. A gallant soldier in thegreat war for the Union, he also shone as an exampleto all our people because of his conduct in the mostsacred and intimate of home relations. There couldbe no personal hatred of him, for he never acted withaught but consideration for the welfare of others.No one could fail to respect him who knew him in publicor private life. The defenders of those murderouscriminals who seek to excuse their criminality by assertingthat it is exercised for political ends, inveigh againstwealth and irresponsible power. But for thisassassination even this base apology cannot be urged.President McKinley was a man of moderate means, aman whose stock sprang from the sturdy tillers ofthe soil, who had himself belonged among the wage-workers,who had entered the Army as a private soldier.Wealth was not struck at when the President was assassinated,but the honest toil which is content with moderategains after a lifetime of unremitting labor, largelyin the service of the public. Still less waspower struck at in the sense that power is irresponsibleor centered in the hands of any one individual.The blow was not aimed at tyranny or wealth.It was aimed at one of the strongest champions thewage-worker has ever had; at one of the most faithfulrepresentatives of the system of public rights andrepresentative government who has ever risen to publicoffice. President McKinley filled that politicaloffice for which the entire people vote, and no Presidentnot even Lincoln himself—was ever moreearnestly anxious to represent the well thought-outwishes of the people; his one anxiety in every crisiswas to keep in closest touch with the people—tofind out what they thought and to endeavor to giveexpression to their thought, after having endeavoredto guide that thought aright. He had just beenreelected to the Presidency because the majority ofour citizens, the majority of our farmers and wage-workers,believed that he had faithfully upheld their interestsfor four years. They felt themselves in closeand intimate touch with him. They felt that herepresented so well and so honorably all their idealsand aspirations that they wished him to continue foranother four years to represent them.
And this was the man at whom the assassin struck Thatthere might be nothing lacking to complete the Judas-likeinfamy of his act, he took advantage of an occasionwhen the President was meeting the people generally;and advancing as if to take the hand out-stretchedto him in kindly and brotherly fellowship, he turnedthe noble and generous confidence of the victim intoan opportunity to strike the fatal blow. Thereis no baser deed in all the annals of crime.
The shock, the grief of the country, are bitter inthe minds of all who saw the dark days, while thePresident yet hovered between life and death.At last the light was stilled in the kindly eyes andthe breath went from the lips that even in mortalagony uttered no words save of forgiveness to hismurderer, of love for his friends, and of falteringtrust in the will of the Most High. Such a death,crowning the glory of such a life, leaves us withinfinite sorrow, but with such pride in what he hadaccomplished and in his own personal character, thatwe feel the blow not as struck at him, but as struckat the Nation We mourn a good and great Presidentwho is dead; but while we mourn we are lifted up bythe splendid achievements of his life and the grandheroism with which he met his death.
When we turn from the man to the Nation, the harmdone is so great as to excite our gravest apprehensionsand to demand our wisest and most resolute action.This criminal was a professed anarchist, inflamed bythe teachings of professed anarchists, and probablyalso by the reckless utterances of those who, on thestump and in the public press, appeal to the darkand evil spirits of malice and greed, envy and sullenhatred. The wind is sowed by the men who preachsuch doctrines, and they cannot escape their shareof responsibility for the whirlwind that is reaped.This applies alike to the deliberate demagogue, tothe exploiter of sensationalism, and to the crudeand foolish visionary who, for whatever reason, apologizesfor crime or excites aimless discontent.
The blow was aimed not at this President, but at allPresidents; at every symbol of government. PresidentMcKinley was as emphatically the embodiment of thepopular will of the Nation expressed through the formsof law as a New England town meeting is in similarfashion the embodiment of the law-abiding purposeand practice of the people of the town. On noconceivable theory could the murder of the Presidentbe accepted as due to protest against “inequalitiesin the social order,” save as the murder ofall the freemen engaged in a town meeting could beaccepted as a protest against that social inequalitywhich puts a malefactor in jail. Anarchy is nomore an expression of “social discontent”than picking pockets or wife-beating.
The anarchist, and especially the anarchist in theUnited States, is merely one type of criminal, moredangerous than any other because he represents thesame depravity in a greater degree. The man whoadvocates anarchy directly or indirectly, in any shapeor fashion, or the man who apologizes for anarchistsand their deeds, makes himself morally accessory tomurder before the fact. The anarchist is a criminalwhose perverted instincts lead him to prefer confusionand chaos to the most beneficent form of social order.His protest of concern for workingmen is outrageousin its impudent falsity; for if the political institutionsof this country do not afford opportunity to everyhonest and intelligent son of toil, then the door ofhope is forever closed against him. The anarchistis everywhere not merely the enemy of system and ofprogress, but the deadly foe of liberty. If everanarchy is triumphant, its triumph will last for butone red moment, to be succeeded, for ages by the gloomynight of despotism.
For the anarchist himself, whether he preaches orpractices his doctrines, we need not have one particlemore concern than for any ordinary murderer.He is not the victim of social or political injustice.There are no wrongs to remedy in his case. Thecause of his criminality is to be found in his ownevil passions and in the evil conduct of those whourge him on, not in any failure by others or by theState to do justice to him or his. He is a malefactorand nothing else. He is in no sense, in no shapeor way, a “product of social conditions,”save as a highwayman is “produced” by thefact than an unarmed man happens to have a purse.It is a travesty upon the great and holy names ofliberty and freedom to permit them to be invoked insuch a cause. No man or body of men preachinganarchistic doctrines should be allowed at large anymore than if preaching the murder of some specifiedprivate individual. Anarchistic speeches, writings,and meetings are essentially seditious and treasonable.
I earnestly recommend to the Congress that in theexercise of its wise discretion it should take intoconsideration the coming to this country of anarchistsor persons professing principles hostile to all governmentand justifying the murder of those placed in authority.Such individuals as those who not long ago gatheredin open meeting to glorify the murder of King Humbertof Italy perpetrate a crime, and the law should ensuretheir rigorous punishment. They and those likethem should be kept out of this country; and if foundhere they should be promptly deported to the countrywhence they came; and far-reaching provision shouldbe made for the punishment of those who stay.No matter calls more urgently for the wisest thoughtof the Congress.
The Federal courts should be given jurisdiction overany man who kills or attempts to kill the Presidentor any man who by the Constitution or by law is inline of succession for the Presidency, while the punishmentfor an unsuccessful attempt should be proportionedto the enormity of the offense against our institutions.
Anarchy is a crime against the whole human race; andall mankind should band against the anarchist.His crime should be made an offense against the lawof nations, like piracy and that form of man-stealingknown as the slave trade; for it is of far blackerinfamy than either. It should be so declaredby treaties among all civilized powers. Such treatieswould give to the Federal Government the power of dealingwith the crime.
A grim commentary upon the folly of the anarchistposition was afforded by the attitude of the law towardthis very criminal who had just taken the life ofthe President. The people would have torn himlimb from limb if it had not been that the law hedefied was at once invoked in his behalf. Sofar from his deed being committed on behalf of thepeople against the Government, the Government was obligedat once to exert its full police power to save him
from instant death at the hands of the people.Moreover, his deed worked not the slightest dislocationin our governmental system, and the danger of a recurrenceof such deeds, no matter how great it might grow,would work only in the direction of strengtheningand giving harshness to the forces of order.No man will ever be restrained from becoming Presidentby any fear as to his personal safety. If therisk to the President’s life became great, itwould mean that the office would more and more cometo be filled by men of a spirit which would make themresolute and merciless in dealing with every friendof disorder. This great country will not fallinto anarchy, and if anarchists should ever becomea serious menace to its institutions, they would notmerely be stamped out, but would involve in theirown ruin every active or passive sympathizer withtheir doctrines. The American people are slowto wrath, but when their wrath is once kindled itburns like a consuming flame.During the last five years business confidence hasbeen restored, and the nation is to be congratulatedbecause of its present abounding prosperity.Such prosperity can never be created by law alone,although it is easy enough to destroy it by mischievouslaws. If the hand of the Lord is heavy upon anycountry, if flood or drought comes, human wisdom ispowerless to avert the calamity. Moreover, nolaw can guard us against the consequences of our ownfolly. The men who are idle or credulous, themen who seek gains not by genuine work with head orhand but by gambling in any form, are always a sourceof menace not only to themselves but to others.If the business world loses its head, it loses whatlegislation cannot supply. Fundamentally the welfareof each citizen, and therefore the welfare of theaggregate of citizens which makes the nation, mustrest upon individual thrift and energy, resolution,and intelligence. Nothing can take the place ofthis individual capacity; but wise legislation andhonest and intelligent administration can give itthe fullest scope, the largest opportunity to workto good effect.
The tremendous and highly complex industrial developmentwhich went on with ever accelerated rapidity duringthe latter half of the nineteenth century brings usface to face, at the beginning of the twentieth, withvery serious social problems. The old laws, andthe old customs which had almost the binding forceof law, were once quite sufficient to regulate theaccumulation and distribution of wealth. Sincethe industrial changes which have so enormously increasedthe productive power of mankind, they are no longersufficient.
The growth of cities has gone on beyond comparisonfaster than the growth of the country, and the upbuildingof the great industrial centers has meant a startlingincrease, not merely in the aggregate of wealth, butin the number of very large individual, and especiallyof very large corporate, fortunes. The creationof these great corporate fortunes has not been dueto the tariff nor to any other governmental action,but to natural causes in the business world, operatingin other countries as they operate in our own.
The process has aroused much antagonism, a great partof which is wholly without warrant. It is nottrue that as the rich have grown richer the poor havegrown poorer. On the contrary, never before hasthe average man, the wage-worker, the farmer, the smalltrader, been so well off as in this country and atthe present time. There have been abuses connectedwith the accumulation of wealth; yet it remains truethat a fortune accumulated in legitimate business canbe accumulated by the person specially benefited onlyon condition of conferring immense incidental benefitsupon others. Successful enterprise, of the typewhich benefits all mankind, can only exist if the conditionsare such as to offer great prizes as the rewards ofsuccess.
The captains of industry who have driven the railwaysystems across this continent, who have built up ourcommerce, who have developed our manufactures, haveon the whole done great good to our people. Withoutthem the material development of which we are so justlyproud could never have taken place. Moreover,we should recognize the immense importance of thismaterial development of leaving as unhampered as iscompatible with the public good the strong and forcefulmen upon whom the success of business operations inevitablyrests. The slightest study of business conditionswill satisfy anyone capable of forming a judgmentthat the personal equation is the most important factorin a business operation; that the business abilityof the man at the head of any business concern, bigor little, is usually the factor which fixes the gulfbetween striking success and hopeless failure.
An additional reason for caution in dealing with corporationsis to be found in the international commercial conditionsof to-day. The same business conditions whichhave produced the great aggregations of corporateand individual wealth have made them very potent factorsin international Commercial competition. Businessconcerns which have the largest means at their disposaland are managed by the ablest men are naturally thosewhich take the lead in the strife for commercial supremacyamong the nations of the world. America has onlyjust begun to assume that commanding position in theinternational business world which we believe willmore and more be hers. It is of the utmost importancethat this position be not jeoparded, especially ata time when the overflowing abundance of our own naturalresources and the skill, business energy, and mechanicalaptitude of our people make foreign markets essential.Under such conditions it would be most unwise to crampor to fetter the youthful strength of our Nation.
Moreover, it cannot too often be pointed out thatto strike with ignorant violence at the interestsof one set of men almost inevitably endangers theinterests of all. The fundamental rule in ournational life—the rule which underliesall others—is that, on the whole, and inthe long run, we shall go up or down together.There are exceptions; and in times of prosperity somewill prosper far more, and in times of adversity,some will suffer far more, than others; but speakinggenerally, a period of good times means that all sharemore or less in them, and in a period of hard timesall feel the stress to a greater or less degree.It surely ought not to be necessary to enter into anyproof of this statement; the memory of the lean yearswhich began in 1893 is still vivid, and we can contrastthem with the conditions in this very year which isnow closing. Disaster to great business enterprisescan never have its effects limited to the men at thetop. It spreads throughout, and while it is badfor everybody, it is worst for those farthest down.The capitalist may be shorn of his luxuries; but thewage-worker may be deprived of even bare necessities.
The mechanism of modern business is so delicate thatextreme care must be taken not to interfere with itin a spirit of rashness or ignorance. Many ofthose who have made it their vocation to denounce thegreat industrial combinations which are popularly,although with technical inaccuracy, known as “trusts,”appeal especially to hatred and fear. These areprecisely the two emotions, particularly when combinedwith ignorance, which unfit men for the exercise ofcool and steady judgment. In facing new industrialconditions, the whole history of the world shows thatlegislation will generally be both unwise and ineffectiveunless undertaken after calm inquiry and with soberself-restraint. Much of the legislation directedat the trusts would have been exceedingly mischievoushad it not also been entirely ineffective. Inaccordance with a well-known sociological law, theignorant or reckless agitator has been the really effectivefriend of the evils which he has been nominally opposing.In dealing with business interests, for the Governmentto undertake by crude and ill-considered legislationto do what may turn out to be bad, would be to incurthe risk of such far-reaching national disaster thatit would be preferable to undertake nothing at all.The men who demand the impossible or the undesirableserve as the allies of the forces with which theyare nominally at war, for they hamper those who wouldendeavor to find out in rational fashion what the wrongsreally are and to what extent and in what manner itis practicable to apply remedies.
All this is true; and yet it is also true that thereare real and grave evils, one of the chief being over-capitalizationbecause of its many baleful consequences; and a resoluteand practical effort must be made to correct theseevils.
There is a widespread conviction in the minds of theAmerican people that the great corporations knownas trusts are in certain of their features and tendencieshurtful to the general welfare. This springsfrom no spirit of envy or uncharitableness, nor lackof pride in the great industrial achievements thathave placed this country at the head of the nationsstruggling for commercial supremacy. It does notrest upon a lack of intelligent appreciation of thenecessity of meeting changing and changed conditionsof trade with new methods, nor upon ignorance of thefact that combination of capital in the effort toaccomplish great things is necessary when the world’sprogress demands that great things be done. Itis based upon sincere conviction that combinationand concentration should be, not prohibited, but supervisedand within reasonable limits controlled; and in myjudgment this conviction is right.
It is no limitation upon property rights or freedomof contract to require that when men receive fromGovernment the privilege of doing business under corporateform, which frees them from individual responsibility,and enables them to call into their enterprises thecapital of the public, they shall do so upon absolutelytruthful representations as to the value of the propertyin which the capital is to be invested. Corporationsengaged in interstate commerce should be regulatedif they are found to exercise a license working tothe public injury. It should be as much the aimof those who seek for social betterment to rid thebusiness world of crimes of cunning as to rid theentire body politic of crimes of violence. Greatcorporations exist only because they are created andsafeguarded by our institutions; and it is thereforeour right and our duty to see that they work in harmonywith these institutions.
The first essential in determining how to deal withthe great industrial combinations is knowledge ofthe facts—publicity. In the interestof the public, the Government should have the rightto inspect and examine the workings of the great corporationsengaged in interstate business. Publicity isthe only sure remedy which we can now invoke.What further remedies are needed in the way of governmentalregulation, or taxation, can only be determined afterpublicity has been obtained, by process of law, andin the course of administration. The first requisiteis knowledge, full and complete—knowledgewhich may be made public to the world.
Artificial bodies, such as corporations and jointstock or other associations, depending upon any statutorylaw for their existence or privileges, should be subjectto proper governmental supervision, and full and accurateinformation as to their operations should be madepublic regularly at reasonable intervals.
The large corporations, commonly called trusts, thoughorganized in one State, always do business in manyStates, often doing very little business in the Statewhere they are incorporated. There is utter lackof uniformity in the State laws about them; and asno State has any exclusive interest in or power overtheir acts, it has in practice proved impossible toget adequate regulation through State action.Therefore, in the interest of the whole people, theNation should, without interfering with the powerof the States in the matter itself, also assume powerof supervision and regulation over all corporationsdoing an interstate business. This is especiallytrue where the corporation derives a portion of itswealth from the existence of some monopolistic elementor tendency in its business. There would be nohardship in such supervision; banks are subject toit, and in their case it is now accepted as a simplematter of course. Indeed, it is probable thatsupervision of corporations by the National Governmentneed not go so far as is now the case with the supervisionexercised over them by so conservative a State asMassachusetts, in order to produce excellent results.
When the Constitution was adopted, at the end of theeighteenth century, no human wisdom could foretellthe sweeping changes, alike in industrial and politicalconditions, which were to take place by the beginningof the twentieth century. At that time it wasaccepted as a matter of course that the several Stateswere the proper authorities to regulate, so far aswas then necessary, the comparatively insignificantand strictly localized corporate bodies of the day.The conditions are now wholly different and whollydifferent action is called for. I believe thata law can be framed which will enable the NationalGovernment to exercise control along the lines aboveindicated; profiting by the experience gained throughthe passage and administration of the Interstate-CommerceAct. If, however, the judgment of the Congressis that it lacks the constitutional power to passsuch an act, then a constitutional amendment shouldbe submitted to confer the power.
There should be created a Cabinet officer, to be knownas Secretary of Commerce and Industries, as providedin the bill introduced at the last session of theCongress. It should be his province to deal withcommerce in its broadest sense; including among manyother things whatever concerns labor and all mattersaffecting the great business corporations and ourmerchant marine.
The course proposed is one phase of what should bea comprehensive and far-reaching scheme of constructivestatesmanship for the purpose of broadening our markets,securing our business interests on a safe basis, andmaking firm our new position in the international industrialworld; while scrupulously safeguarding the rights ofwage-worker and capitalist, of investor and privatecitizen, so as to secure equity as between man andman in this Republic.
With the sole exception of the farming interest, noone matter is of such vital moment to our whole peopleas the welfare of the wage-workers. If the farmerand the wage-worker are well off, it is absolutelycertain that all others will be well off too.It is therefore a matter for hearty congratulationthat on the whole wages are higher to-day in the UnitedStates than ever before in our history, and far higherthan in any other country. The standard of livingis also higher than ever before. Every effortof legislator and administrator should be bent tosecure the permanency of this condition of thingsand its improvement wherever possible. Not onlymust our labor be protected by the tariff, but itshould also be protected so far as it is possiblefrom the presence in this country of any laborersbrought over by contract, or of those who, coming freely,yet represent a standard of living so depressed thatthey can undersell our men in the labor market anddrag them to a lower level. I regard it as necessary,with this end in view, to re-enact immediately thelaw excluding Chinese laborers and to strengthen itwherever necessary in order to make its enforcemententirely effective.
The National Government should demand the highestquality of service from its employees; and in returnit should be a good employer. If possible legislationshould be passed, in connection with the InterstateCommerce Law, which will render effective the effortsof different States to do away with the competitionof convict contract labor in the open labor market.So far as practicable under the conditions of Governmentwork, provision should be made to render the enforcementof the eight-hour law easy and certain. In allindustries carried on directly or indirectly for theUnited States Government women and children shouldbe protected from excessive hours of labor, from nightwork, and from work under unsanitary conditions.The Government should provide in its contracts thatall work should be done under “fair” conditions,and in addition to setting a high standard shoulduphold it by proper inspection, extending if necessaryto the subcontractors. The Government shouldforbid all night work for women and children, as wellas excessive overtime. For the District of Columbiaa good factory law should be passed; and, as a powerfulindirect aid to such laws, provision should be madeto turn the inhabited alleys, the existence of whichis a reproach to our Capital city, into minor streets,where the inhabitants can live under conditions favorableto health and morals.
American wage-workers work with their heads as wellas their hands. Moreover, they take a keen pridein what they are doing; so that, independent of thereward, they wish to turn out a perfect job. Thisis the great secret of our success in competitionwith the labor of foreign countries.
The most vital problem with which this country, andfor that matter the whole civilized world, has todeal, is the problem which has for one side the bettermentof social conditions, moral and physical, in largecities, and for another side the effort to deal withthat tangle of far-reaching questions which we grouptogether when we speak of “labor.”The chief factor in the success of each man—wage-worker,farmer, and capitalist alike—must ever bethe sum total of his own individual qualities andabilities. Second only to this comes the powerof acting in combination or association with others.Very great good has been and will be accomplishedby associations or unions of wage-workers, when managedwith forethought, and when they combine insistenceupon their own rights with law-abiding respect forthe rights of others. The display of these qualitiesin such bodies is a duty to the nation no less thanto the associations themselves. Finally, theremust also in many cases be action by the Governmentin order to safeguard the rights and interests ofall. Under our Constitution there is much morescope for such action by the State and the municipalitythan by the nation. But on points such as thosetouched on above the National Government can act.
When all is said and done, the rule of brotherhoodremains as the indispensable prerequisite to successin the kind of national life for which we strive.Each man must work for himself, and unless he so worksno outside help can avail him; but each man must rememberalso that he is indeed his brother’s keeper,and that while no man who refuses to walk can be carriedwith advantage to himself or anyone else, yet thateach at times stumbles or halts, that each at timesneeds to have the helping hand outstretched to him.To be permanently effective, aid must always takethe form of helping a man to help himself; and we canall best help ourselves by joining together in thework that is of common interest to all.
Our present immigration laws are unsatisfactory.We need every honest and efficient immigrant fittedto become an American citizen, every immigrant whocomes here to stay, who brings here a strong body,a stout heart, a good head, and a resolute purposeto do his duty well in every way and to bring up hischildren as law-abiding and God-fearing members ofthe community. But there should be a comprehensivelaw enacted with the object of working a threefoldimprovement over our present system. First, weshould aim to exclude absolutely not only all personswho are known to be believers in anarchistic principlesor members of anarchistic societies, but also allpersons who are of a low moral tendency or of unsavoryreputation. This means that we should requirea more thorough system of inspection abroad and a morerigid system of examination at our immigration ports,the former being especially necessary.
The second object of a proper immigration law oughtto be to secure by a careful and not merely perfunctoryeducational test some intelligent capacity to appreciateAmerican institutions and act sanely as American citizens.This would not keep out all anarchists, for many ofthem belong to the intelligent criminal class.But it would do what is also in point, that is, tendto decrease the sum of ignorance, so potent in producingthe envy, suspicion, malignant passion, and hatredof order, out of which anarchistic sentiment inevitablysprings. Finally, all persons should be excludedwho are below a certain standard of economic fitnessto enter our industrial field as competitors with Americanlabor. There should be proper proof of personalcapacity to earn an American living and enough moneyto insure a decent start under American conditions.This would stop the influx of cheap labor, and theresulting competition which gives rise to so much ofbitterness in American industrial life; and it woulddry up the springs of the pestilential social conditionsin our great cities, where anarchistic organizationshave their greatest possibility of growth.
Both the educational and economic tests in a wiseimmigration law should be designed to protect andelevate the general body politic and social.A very close supervision should be exercised over thesteamship companies which mainly bring over the immigrants,and they should be held to a strict accountabilityfor any infraction of the law.
There is general acquiescence in our present tariffsystem as a national policy. The first requisiteto our prosperity is the continuity and stabilityof this economic policy. Nothing could be moreunwise than to disturb the business interests of thecountry by any general tariff change at this time.Doubt, apprehension, uncertainty are exactly whatwe most wish to avoid in the interest of our commercialand material well-being. Our experience in thepast has shown that sweeping revisions of the tariffare apt to produce conditions closely approachingpanic in the business world. Yet it is not onlypossible, but eminently desirable, to combine withthe stability of our economic system a supplementarysystem of reciprocal benefit and obligation with othernations. Such reciprocity is an incident andresult of the firm establishment and preservation ofour present economic policy. It was speciallyprovided for in the present tariff law.
Reciprocity must be treated as the handmaiden of protection.Our first duty is to see that the protection grantedby the tariff in every case where it is needed ismaintained, and that reciprocity be sought for sofar as it can safely be done without injury to ourhome industries. Just how far this is must bedetermined according to the individual case, rememberingalways that every application of our tariff policyto meet our shifting national needs must be conditionedupon the cardinal fact that the duties must neverbe reduced below the point that will cover the differencebetween the labor cost here and abroad. The well-beingof the wage-worker is a prime consideration of ourentire policy of economic legislation.
Subject to this proviso of the proper protection necessaryto our industrial well-being at home, the principleof reciprocity must command our hearty support.The phenomenal growth of our export trade emphasizesthe urgency of the need for wider markets and for aliberal policy in dealing with foreign nations.Whatever is merely petty and vexatious in the wayof trade restrictions should be avoided. Thecustomers to whom we dispose of our surplus productsin the long run, directly or indirectly, purchasethose surplus products by giving us something in return.Their ability to purchase our products should as faras possible be secured by so arranging our tariff asto enable us to take from them those products whichwe can use without harm to our own industries andlabor, or the use of which will be of marked benefitto us.
It is most important that we should maintain the highlevel of our present prosperity. We have nowreached the point in the development of our interestswhere we are not only able to supply our own marketsbut to produce a constantly growing surplus for whichwe must find markets abroad. To secure thesemarkets we can utilize existing duties in any casewhere they are no longer needed for the purpose ofprotection, or in any case where the article is notproduced here and the duty is no longer necessaryfor revenue, as giving us something to offer in exchangefor what we ask. The cordial relations with othernations which are so desirable will naturally be promotedby the course thus required by our own interests.
The natural line of development for a policy of reciprocitywill be in connection with those of our productionswhich no longer require all of the support once neededto establish them upon a sound basis, and with thoseothers where either because of natural or of economiccauses we are beyond the reach of successful competition.
I ask the attention of the Senate to the reciprocitytreaties laid before it by my predecessor.
The condition of the American merchant marine is suchas to call for immediate remedial action by the Congress.It is discreditable to us as a Nation that our merchantmarine should be utterly insignificant in comparisonto that of other nations which we overtop in otherforms of business. We should not longer submitto conditions under which only a trifling portionof our great commerce is carried in our own ships.To remedy this state of things would not .merely serveto build up our shipping interests, but it would alsoresult in benefit to all who are interested in thepermanent establishment of a wider market for Americanproducts, and would provide an auxiliary force forthe Navy. Ships work for their own countriesjust as railroads work for their terminal points.Shipping lines, if established to the principal countrieswith which we have dealings, would be of politicalas well as commercial benefit. From every standpointit is unwise for the United States to continue torely upon the ships of competing nations for the distributionof our goods. It should be made advantageous tocarry American goods in American-built ships.
At present American shipping is under certain greatdisadvantages when put in competition with the shippingof foreign countries. Many of the fast foreignsteamships, at a speed of fourteen knots or above,are subsidized; and all our ships, sailing vesselsand steamers alike, cargo carriers of slow speed andmail carriers of high speed, have to meet the factthat the original cost of building American ships isgreater than is the case abroad; that the wages paidAmerican officers and seamen are very much higherthan those paid the officers and seamen of foreigncompeting countries; and that the standard of livingon our ships is far superior to the standard of livingon the ships of our commercial rivals.
Our Government should take such action as will remedythese inequalities. The American merchant marineshould be restored to the ocean.
The Act of March 14, 1900, intended unequivocallyto establish gold as the standard money and to maintainat a parity therewith all forms of money medium inuse with us, has been shown to be timely and judicious.The price of our Government bonds in the world’smarket, when compared with the price of similar obligationsissued by other nations, is a flattering tribute toour public credit. This condition it is evidentlydesirable to maintain.
In many respects the National Banking Law furnishessufficient liberty for the proper exercise of thebanking function; but there seems to be need of bettersafeguards against the deranging influence of commercialcrises and financial panics. Moreover, the currencyof the country should be made responsive to the demandsof our domestic trade and commerce.
The collections from duties on imports and internaltaxes continue to exceed the ordinary expendituresof the Government, thanks mainly to the reduced armyexpenditures. The utmost care should be takennot to reduce the revenues so that there will be anypossibility of a deficit; but, after providing againstany such contingency, means should be adopted whichwill bring the revenues more nearly within the limitof our actual needs. In his report to the Congressthe Secretary of the Treasury considers all thesequestions at length, and I ask your attention to thereport and recommendations.
I call special attention to the need of strict economyin expenditures. The fact that our national needsforbid us to be nigg*rdly in providing whatever isactually necessary to our well-being, should make usdoubly careful to husband our national resources,as each of us husbands his private resources, by scrupulousavoidance of anything like wasteful or reckless expenditure.Only by avoidance of spending money on what is needlessor unjustifiable can we legitimately keep our incometo the point required to meet our needs that are genuine.
In 1887 a measure was enacted for the regulation ofinterstate railways, commonly known as the InterstateCommerce Act. The cardinal provisions of thatact were that railway rates should be just and reasonableand that all shippers, localities, and commoditiesshould be accorded equal treatment. A commissionwas created and endowed with what were supposed tobe the necessary powers to execute the provisionsof this act. That law was largely an experiment.Experience has shown the wisdom of its purposes, buthas also shown, possibly that some of its requirementsare wrong, certainly that the means devised for theenforcement of its provisions are defective. Thosewho complain of the management of the railways allegethat established rates are not maintained; that rebatesand similar devices are habitually resorted to; thatthese preferences are usually in favor of the largeshipper; that they drive out of business the smallercompetitor; that while many rates are too low, manyothers are excessive; and that gross preferences aremade, affecting both localities and commodities.Upon the other hand, the railways assert that thelaw by its very terms tends to produce many of theseillegal practices by depriving carriers of that rightof concerted action which they claim is necessary toestablish and maintain non-discriminating rates.
The act should be amended. The railway is a publicservant. Its rates should be just to and opento all shippers alike. The Government shouldsee to it that within its jurisdiction this is so andshould provide a speedy, inexpensive, and effectiveremedy to that end. At the same time it mustnot be forgotten that our railways are the arteriesthrough which the commercial lifeblood of this Nationflows. Nothing could be more foolish than theenactment of legislation which would unnecessarilyinterfere with the development and operation of thesecommercial agencies. The subject is one of greatimportance and calls for the earnest attention ofthe Congress.
The Department of Agriculture during the past fifteenyears has steadily broadened its work on economiclines, and has accomplished results of real valuein upbuilding domestic and foreign trade. It hasgone into new fields until it is now in touch withall sections of our country and with two of the islandgroups that have lately come under our jurisdiction,whose people must look to agriculture as a livelihood.It is searching the world for grains, grasses, fruits,and vegetables specially fitted for introduction intolocalities in the several States and Territories wherethey may add materially to our resources. Byscientific attention to soil survey and possible newcrops, to breeding of new varieties of plants, to experimentalshipments, to animal industry and applied chemistry,very practical aid has been given our farming andstock-growing interests. The products of thefarm have taken an unprecedented place in our exporttrade during the year that has just closed.
Public opinion throughout the United States has movedsteadily toward a just appreciation of the value offorests, whether planted or of natural growth.The great part played by them in the creation andmaintenance of the national wealth is now more fullyrealized than ever before.
Wise forest protection does not mean the withdrawalof forest resources, whether of wood, water, or grass,from contributing their full share to the welfareof the people, but, on the contrary, gives the assuranceof larger and more certain supplies. The fundamentalidea of forestry is the perpetuation of forests byuse. Forest protection is not an end of itself;it is a means to increase and sustain the resourcesof our country and the industries which depend uponthem. The preservation of our forests is an imperativebusiness necessity. We have come to see clearlythat whatever destroys the forest, except to makeway for agriculture, threatens our well being.
The practical usefulness of the national forest reservesto the mining, grazing, irrigation, and other interestsof the regions in which the reserves lie has led toa widespread demand by the people of the West fortheir protection and extension. The forest reserveswill inevitably be of still greater use in the futurethan in the past. Additions should be made tothem whenever practicable, and their usefulness shouldbe increased by a thoroughly business-like management.
At present the protection of the forest reserves restswith the General Land Office, the mapping and descriptionof their timber with the United States GeologicalSurvey, and the preparation of plans for their conservativeuse with the Bureau of Forestry, which is also chargedwith the general advancement of practical forestryin the United States. These various functionsshould be united in the Bureau of Forestry, to whichthey properly belong. The present diffusion ofresponsibility is bad from every standpoint. Itprevents that effective co-operation between the Governmentand the men who utilize the resources of the reserves,without which the interests of both must suffer.The scientific bureaus generally should be put underthe Department of Agriculture. The Presidentshould have by law the power of transferring landsfor use as forest reserves to the Department of Agriculture.He already has such power in the case of lands neededby the Departments of War and the Navy.
The wise administration of the forest reserves willbe not less helpful to the interests which dependon water than to those which depend on wood and grass.The water supply itself depends upon the forest.In the arid region it is water, not land, which measuresproduction. The western half of the United Stateswould sustain a population greater than that of ourwhole country to-day if the waters that now run towaste were saved and used for irrigation. Theforest and water problems are perhaps the most vitalinternal questions of the United States.
Certain of the forest reserves should also be madepreserves for the wild forest creatures. Allof the reserves should be better protected from fires.Many of them need special protection because of thegreat injury done by live stock, above all by sheep.The increase in deer, elk, and other animals in theYellowstone Park shows what may be expected when othermountain forests are properly protected by law andproperly guarded. Some of these areas have beenso denuded of surface vegetation by overgrazing thatthe ground breeding birds, including grouse and quail,and many mammals, including deer, have been exterminatedor driven away. At the same time the water-storingcapacity of the surface has been decreased or destroyed,thus promoting floods in times of rain and diminishingthe flow of streams between rains.
In cases where natural conditions have been restoredfor a few years, vegetation has again carpeted theground, birds and deer are coming back, and hundredsof persons, especially from the immediate neighborhood,come each summer to enjoy the privilege of camping.Some at least of the forest reserves should affordperpetual protection to the native fauna and flora,safe havens of refuge to our rapidly diminishing wildanimals of the larger kinds, and free camping groundsfor the ever-increasing numbers of men and women whohave learned to find rest, health, and recreationin the splendid forests and flower-clad meadows ofour mountains. The forest reserves should be setapart forever for the use and benefit of our peopleas a whole and not sacrificed to the shortsightedgreed of a few.
The forests are natural reservoirs. By restrainingthe streams in flood and replenishing them in droughtthey make possible the use of waters otherwise wasted.They prevent the soil from washing, and so protectthe storage reservoirs from filling up with silt.Forest conservation is therefore an essential conditionof water conservation.
The forests alone cannot, however, fully regulateand conserve the waters of the arid region. Greatstorage works are necessary to equalize the flow ofstreams and to save the flood waters. Their constructionhas been conclusively shown to be an undertaking toovast for private effort. Nor can it be best accomplishedby the individual States acting alone. Far-reachinginterstate problems are involved; and the resourcesof single States would often be inadequate. Itis properly a national function, at least in someof its features. It is as right for the NationalGovernment to make the streams and rivers of the aridregion useful by engineering works for water storageas to make useful the rivers and harbors of the humidregion by engineering works of another kind.The storing of the floods in reservoirs at the headwatersof our rivers is but an enlargement of our presentpolicy of river control, under which levees are builton the lower reaches of the same streams.
The Government should construct and maintain thesereservoirs as it does other public works. Wheretheir purpose is to regulate the flow of streams,the water should be turned freely into the channelsin the dry season to take the same course under thesame laws as the natural flow.
The reclamation of the unsettled arid public landspresents a different problem. Here it is notenough to regulate the flow of streams. The objectof the Government is to dispose of the land to settlerswho will build homes upon it. To accomplish thisobject water must be brought within their reach.
The pioneer settlers on the arid public domain chosetheir homes along streams from which they could themselvesdivert the water to reclaim their holdings. Suchopportunities are practically gone. There remain,however, vast areas of public land which can be madeavailable for homestead settlement, but only by reservoirsand main-line canals impracticable for private enterprise.These irrigation works should be built by the NationalGovernment. The lands reclaimed by them shouldbe reserved by the Government for actual settlers,and the cost of construction should so far as possiblebe repaid by the land reclaimed. The distributionof the water, the division of the streams among irrigators,should be left to the settlers themselves in conformitywith State laws and without interference with thoselaws or with vested fights. The policy of theNational Government should be to aid irrigation inthe several States and Territories in such manner aswill enable the people in the local communities tohelp themselves, and as will stimulate needed reformsin the State laws and regulations governing irrigation.
The reclamation and settlement of the arid lands willenrich every portion of our country, just as the settlementof the Ohio and Mississippi valleys brought prosperityto the Atlantic States. The increased demandfor manufactured articles will stimulate industrialproduction, while wider home markets and the tradeof Asia will consume the larger food supplies andeffectually prevent Western competition with Easternagriculture. Indeed, the products of irrigationwill be consumed chiefly in upbuilding local centersof mining and other industries, which would otherwisenot come into existence at all. Our people asa whole will profit, for successful home-making isbut another name for the upbuilding of the nation.
The necessary foundation has already been laid forthe inauguration of the policy just described.It would be unwise to begin by doing too much, fora great deal will doubtless be learned, both as towhat can and what cannot be safely attempted, by theearly efforts, which must of necessity be partly experimentalin character. At the very beginning the Governmentshould make clear, beyond shadow of doubt, its intentionto pursue this policy on lines of the broadest publicinterest. No reservoir or canal should ever be
built to satisfy selfish personal or local interests;but only in accordance with the advice of trainedexperts, after long investigation has shown the localitywhere all the conditions combine to make the workmost needed and fraught with the greatest usefulnessto the community as a whole. There should be noextravagance, and the believers in the need of irrigationwill most benefit their cause by seeing to it thatit is free from the least taint of excessive or recklessexpenditure of the public moneys.Whatever the nation does for the extension of irrigationshould harmonize with, and tend to improve, the conditionof those now living on irrigated land. We arenot at the starting point of this development.Over two hundred millions of private capital has alreadybeen expended in the construction of irrigation works,and many million acres of arid land reclaimed.A high degree of enterprise and ability has been shownin the work itself; but as much cannot be said inreference to the laws relating thereto. The securityand value of the homes created depend largely on thestability of titles to water; but the majority ofthese rest on the uncertain foundation of court decisionsrendered in ordinary suits at law. With a fewcreditable exceptions, the arid States have failedto provide for the certain and just division of streamsin times of scarcity. Lax and uncertain lawshave made it possible to establish rights to waterin excess of actual uses or necessities, and manystreams have already passed into private ownership,or a control equivalent to ownership.
Whoever controls a stream practically controls theland it renders productive, and the doctrine of privateownership of water apart from land cannot prevailwithout causing enduring wrong. The recognitionof such ownership, which has been permitted to growup in the arid regions, should give way to a moreenlightened and larger recognition of the rights ofthe public in the control and disposal of the publicwater supplies. Laws founded upon conditions obtainingin humid regions, where water is too abundant to justifyhoarding it, have no proper application in a dry country.
In the arid States the only right to water which shouldbe recognized is that of use. In irrigation thisright should attach to the land reclaimed and be inseparabletherefrom. Granting perpetual water rights toothers than users, without compensation to the public,is open to all the objections which apply to givingaway perpetual franchises to the public utilitiesof cities. A few of the Western States have alreadyrecognized this, and have incorporated in their constitutionsthe doctrine of perpetual State ownership of water.
The benefits which have followed the unaided developmentof the past justify the nation’s aid and co-operationin the more difficult and important work yet to beaccomplished. Laws so vitally affecting homesas those which control the water supply will only beeffective when they have the sanction of the irrigators;reforms can only be final and satisfactory when theycome through the enlightenment of the people mostconcerned. The larger development which nationalaid insures should, however, awaken in every aridState the determination to make its irrigation systemequal in justice and effectiveness that of any countryin the civilized world. Nothing could be moreunwise than for isolated communities to continue tolearn everything experimentally, instead of profitingby what is already known elsewhere. We are dealingwith a new and momentous question, in the pregnantyears while institutions are forming, and what wedo will affect not only the present but future generations.
Our aim should be not simply to reclaim the largestarea of land and provide homes for the largest numberof people, but to create for this new industry thebest possible social and industrial conditions; andthis requires that we not only understand the existingsituation, but avail ourselves of the best experienceof the time in the solution of its problems.A careful study should be made, both by the Nationand the States, of the irrigation laws and conditionshere and abroad. Ultimately it will probablybe necessary for the Nation to co-operate with theseveral arid States in proportion as these States bytheir legislation and administration show themselvesfit to receive it.
In Hawaii our aim must be to develop the Territoryon the traditional American lines. We do notwish a region of large estates tilled by cheap labor;we wish a healthy American community of men who themselvestill the farms they own. All our legislation forthe islands should be shaped with this end in view;the well-being of the average home-maker must affordthe true test of the healthy development of the islands.The land policy should as nearly as possible be modeledon our homestead system.
It is a pleasure to say that it is hardly more necessaryto report as to Puerto Rico than as to any State orTerritory within our continental limits. Theisland is thriving as never before, and it is beingadministered efficiently and honestly. Its peopleare now enjoying liberty and order under the protectionof the United States, and upon this fact we congratulatethem and ourselves. Their material welfare mustbe as carefully and jealously considered as the welfareof any other portion of our country. We havegiven them the great gift of free access for theirproducts to the markets of the United States.I ask the attention of the Congress to the need oflegislation concerning the public lands of PuertoRico.
In Cuba such progress has been made toward puttingthe independent government of the island upon a firmfooting that before the present session of the Congresscloses this will be an accomplished fact. Cubawill then start as her own mistress; and to the beautifulQueen of the Antilles, as she unfolds this new pageof her destiny, we extend our heartiest greetingsand good wishes. Elsewhere I have discussed thequestion of reciprocity. In the case of Cuba,however, there are weighty reasons of morality andof national interest why the policy should be heldto have a peculiar application, and I most earnestlyask your attention to the wisdom, indeed to the vitalneed, of providing for a substantial reduction inthe tariff duties on Cuban imports into the UnitedStates. Cuba has in her constitution affirmedwhat we desired: that she should stand, in internationalmatters, in closer and more friendly relations withus than with any other power; and we are bound byevery consideration of honor and expediency to passcommercial measures in the interest of her materialwell-being.
In the Philippines our problem is larger. Theyare very rich tropical islands, inhabited by manyvarying tribes, representing widely different stagesof progress toward civilization. Our earnest effortis to help these people upward along the stony anddifficult path that leads to self-government.We hope to make our administration of the islandshonorable to our Nation by making it of the highestbenefit to the Filipinos themselves; and as an earnestof what we intend to do, we point to what we havedone. Already a greater measure of material prosperityand of governmental honesty and efficiency has beenattained in the Philippines than ever before in theirhistory.
It is no light task for a nation to achieve the temperamentalqualities without which the institutions of free governmentare but an empty mockery. Our people are nowsuccessfully governing themselves, because for morethan a thousand years they have been slowly fittingthemselves, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously,toward this end. What has taken us thirty generationsto achieve, we cannot expect to have another raceaccomplish out of hand, especially when large portionsof that race start very far behind the point whichour ancestors had reached even thirty generationsago. In dealing with the Philippine people wemust show both patience and strength, forbearanceand steadfast resolution. Our aim is high.We do not desire to do for the islanders merely whathas elsewhere been done for tropic peoples by eventhe best foreign governments. We hope to do forthem what has never before been done for any peopleof the tropics—to make them fit for self-governmentafter the fashion of the really free nations.
History may safely be challenged to show a singleinstance in which a masterful race such as ours, havingbeen forced by the exigencies of war to take possessionof an alien land, has behaved to its inhabitants withthe disinterested zeal for their progress that ourpeople have shown in the Philippines. To leavethe islands at this time would mean that they wouldfall into a welter of murderous anarchy. Suchdesertion of duty on our part would be a crime againsthumanity. The character of Governor Taft andof his associates and subordinates is a proof, ifsuch be needed, of the sincerity of our effort to givethe islanders a constantly increasing measure of self-government,exactly as fast as they show themselves fit to exerciseit. Since the civil government was establishednot an appointment has been made in the islands withany reference to considerations of political influence,or to aught else Save the fitness of the man and theneeds of the service.
In our anxiety for the welfare and progress of thePhilippines, may be that here and there we have gonetoo rapidly in giving them local self-government.It is on this side that our error, if any, has beencommitted. No competent observer, sincerely desirousof finding out the facts and influenced only by adesire for the welfare of the natives, can assertthat we have not gone far enough. We have goneto the very verge of safety in hastening the process.To have taken a single step farther or faster in advancewould have been folly and weakness, and might wellhave been crime. We are extremely anxious thatthe natives shall show the power of governing themselves.We are anxious, first for their sakes, and next, becauseit relieves us of a great burden. There neednot be the slightest fear of our not continuing togive them all the liberty for which they are fit.
The only fear is test in our overanxiety we give thema degree of independence for which they are unfit,thereby inviting reaction and disaster. As fastas there is any reasonable hope that in a given districtthe people can govern themselves, self-government hasbeen given in that district. There is not a localityfitted for self-government which has not receivedit. But it may well be that in certain casesit will have to be withdrawn because the inhabitantsshow themselves unfit to exercise it; such instanceshave already occurred. In other words, thereis not the slightest chance of our failing to showa sufficiently humanitarian spirit. The dangercomes in the opposite direction.
There are still troubles ahead in the islands.The insurrection has become an affair of local bandittiand marauders, who deserve no higher regard than thebrigands of portions of the Old World. Encouragement,direct or indirect, to these insurrectors stands onthe same footing as encouragement to hostile Indiansin the days when we still had Indian wars. Exactlyas our aim is to give to the Indian who remains peacefulthe fullest and amplest consideration, but to haveit understood that we will show no weakness if hegoes on the warpath, so we must make it evident, unlesswe are false to our own traditions and to the demandsof civilization and humanity, that while we will doeverything in our power for the Filipino who is peaceful,we will take the sternest measures with the Filipinowho follows the path of the insurrecto and the ladrone.
The heartiest praise is due to large numbers of thenatives of the islands for their steadfast loyalty.The Macabebes have been conspicuous for their courageand devotion to the flag. I recommend that theSecretary of War be empowered to take some systematicaction in the way of aiding those of these men whoare crippled in the service and the families of thosewho are killed.
The time has come when there should be additionallegislation for the Philippines. Nothing bettercan be done for the islands than to introduce industrialenterprises. Nothing would benefit them so muchas throwing them open to industrial development.The connection between idleness and mischief is proverbial,and the opportunity to do remunerative work is oneof the surest preventatives of war. Of courseno business man will go into the Philippines unlessit is to his interest to do so; and it is immenselyto the interest of the islands that he should go in.It is therefore necessary that the Congress shouldpass laws by which the resources of the islands canbe developed; so that franchises (for limited termsof years) can be granted to companies doing businessin them, and every encouragement be given to the incomingof business men of every kind.
Not to permit this is to do a wrong to the Philippines.The franchises must be granted and the business permittedonly under regulations which will guarantee the islandsagainst any kind of improper exploitation. Butthe vast natural wealth of the islands must be developed,and the capital willing to develop it must be giventhe opportunity. The field must be thrown opento individual enterprise, which has been the realfactor in the development of every region over whichour flag has flown. It is urgently necessaryto enact suitable laws dealing with general transportation,mining, banking, currency, homesteads, and the useand ownership of the lands and timber. These lawswill give free play to industrial enterprise; andthe commercial development which will surely followwill accord to the people of the islands the bestproofs of the sincerity of our desire to aid them.
I call your attention most earnestly to the cryingneed of a cable to Hawaii and the Philippines, tobe continued from the Philippines to points in Asia.We should not defer a day longer than necessary theconstruction of such a cable. It is demanded notmerely for commercial but for political and militaryconsiderations.
Either the Congress should immediately provide forthe construction of a Government cable, or else anarrangement should be made by which like advantagesto those accruing from a Government cable may be securedto the Government by contract with a private cablecompany.
No single great material work which remains to beundertaken on this continent is of such consequenceto the American people as the building of a canalacross the Isthmus connecting North and South America.Its importance to the Nation is by no means limitedmerely to its material effects upon our business prosperity;and yet with view to these effects alone it wouldbe to the last degree important for us immediatelyto begin it. While its beneficial effects wouldperhaps be most marked upon the Pacific Coast andthe Gulf and South Atlantic States, it would alsogreatly benefit other sections. It is emphaticallya work which it is for the interest of the entire countryto begin and complete as soon as possible; it is oneof those great works which only a great nation canundertake with prospects of success, and which whendone are not only permanent assets in the nation’smaterial interests, but standing monuments to its constructiveability.
I am glad to be able to announce to you that our negotiationson this subject with Great Britain, conducted on bothsides in a spirit of friendliness and mutual goodwill and respect, have resulted in my being able tolay before the Senate a treaty which if ratified willenable us to begin preparations for an Isthmian canalat any time, and which guarantees to this Nation everyright that it has ever asked in connection with thecanal. In this treaty, the old Clayton-Bulwertreaty, so long recognized as inadequate to supplythe base for the construction and maintenance of anecessarily American ship canal, is abrogated.It specifically provides that the United States aloneshall do the work of building and assume the responsibilityof safeguarding the canal and shall regulate its neutraluse by all nations on terms of equality without theguaranty or interference of any outside nation fromany quarter. The signed treaty will at once belaid before the Senate, and if approved the Congresscan then proceed to give effect to the advantagesit secures us by providing for the building of thecanal.
The true end of every great and free people shouldbe self-respecting peace; and this Nation most earnestlydesires sincere and cordial friendship with all others.Over the entire world, of recent years, wars betweenthe great civilized powers have become less and lessfrequent. Wars with barbarous or semi-barbarouspeoples come in an entirely different category, beingmerely a most regrettable but necessary internationalpolice duty which must be performed for the sake ofthe welfare of mankind. Peace can only be keptwith certainty where both sides wish to keep it; butmore and more the civilized peoples are realizingthe wicked folly of war and are attaining that conditionof just and intelligent regard for the rights of otherswhich will in the end, as we hope and believe, makeworld-wide peace possible. The peace conferenceat The Hague gave definite expression to this hopeand belief and marked a stride toward their attainment.
This same peace conference acquiesced in our statementof the Monroe Doctrine as compatible with the purposesand aims of the conference.
The Monroe Doctrine should be the cardinal featureof the foreign policy of all the nations of the twoAmericas, as it is of the United States. Justseventy-eight years have passed since President Monroein his Annual Message announced that “The Americancontinents are henceforth not to be considered assubjects for future colonization by any European power.”In other words, the Monroe Doctrine is a declarationthat there must be no territorial aggrandizement byany non-American power at the expense of any Americanpower on American soil. It is in no wise intendedas hostile to any nation in the Old World. Stillless is it intended to give cover to any aggressionby one New World power at the expense of any other.It is simply a step, and a long step, toward assuringthe universal peace of the world by securing the possibilityof permanent peace on this hemisphere.
During the past century other influences have establishedthe permanence and independence of the smaller statesof Europe. Through the Monroe Doctrine we hopeto be able to safeguard like independence and securelike permanence for the lesser among the New Worldnations.
This doctrine has nothing to do with the commercialrelations of any American power, save that it in truthallows each of them to form such as it desires.In other words, it is really a guaranty of the commercialindependence of the Americas. We do not ask underthis doctrine for any exclusive commercial dealingswith any other American state. We do not guaranteeany state against punishment if it misconducts itself,provided that punishment does not take the form ofthe acquisition of territory by any non-American power.
Our attitude in Cuba is a sufficient guaranty of ourown good faith. We have not the slightest desireto secure any territory at the expense of any of ourneighbors. We wish to work with them hand in hand,so that all of us may be uplifted together, and werejoice over the good fortune of any of them, we gladlyhail their material prosperity and political stability,and are concerned and alarmed if any of them fallinto industrial or political chaos. We do notwish to see any Old World military power grow up onthis continent, or to be compelled to become a militarypower ourselves. The peoples of the Americas canprosper best if left to work out their own salvationin their own way.
The work of upbuilding the Navy must be steadily continued.No one point of our policy, foreign or domestic, ismore important than this to the honor and materialwelfare, and above all to the peace, of our nationin the future. Whether we desire it or not, wemust henceforth recognize that we have internationalduties no less than international rights. Evenif our flag were hauled down in the Philippines andPuerto Rico, even if we decided not to build the IsthmianCanal, we should need a thoroughly trained Navy ofadequate size, or else be prepared definitely andfor all time to abandon the idea that our nation isamong those whose sons go down to the sea in ships.Unless our commerce is always to be carried in foreignbottoms, we must have war craft to protect it.
Inasmuch, however, as the American people have nothought of abandoning the path upon which they haveentered, and especially in view of the fact that thebuilding of the Isthmian Canal is fast becoming oneof the matters which the whole people are united indemanding, it is imperative that our Navy should beput and kept in the highest state of efficiency, andshould be made to answer to our growing needs.So far from being in any way a provocation to war,an adequate and highly trained navy is the best guarantyagainst war, the cheapest and most effective peaceinsurance. The cost of building and maintainingsuch a navy represents the very lightest premium forinsuring peace which this nation can possibly pay.
Probably no other great nation in the world is soanxious for peace as we are. There is not a singlecivilized power which has anything whatever to fearfrom aggressiveness on our part. All we want ispeace; and toward this end we wish to be able to securethe same respect for our rights from others whichwe are eager and anxious to extend to their rightsin return, to insure fair treatment to us commercially,and to guarantee the safety of the American people.
Our people intend to abide by the Monroe Doctrineand to insist upon it as the one sure means of securingthe peace of the Western Hemisphere. The Navyoffers us the only means of making our insistence uponthe Monroe Doctrine anything but a subject of derisionto whatever nation chooses to disregard it. Wedesire the peace which comes as of right to the justman armed; not the peace granted on terms of ignominyto the craven and the weakling.
It is not possible to improvise a navy after war breaksout. The ships must be built and the men trainedlong in advance. Some auxiliary vessels can beturned into makeshifts which will do in default ofany better for the minor work, and a proportion ofraw men can be mixed with the highly trained, theirshortcomings being made good by the skill of theirfellows; but the efficient fighting force of the Navywhen pitted against an equal opponent will be foundalmost exclusively in the war ships that have beenregularly built and in the officers and men who throughyears of faithful performance of sea duty have beentrained to handle their formidable but complex anddelicate weapons with the highest efficiency.In the late war with Spain the ships that dealt thedecisive blows at Manila and Santiago had been launchedfrom two to fourteen years, and they were able todo as they did because the men in the conning towers,the gun turrets, and the engine-rooms had throughlong years of practice at sea learned how to do theirduty.
Our present Navy was begun in 1882. At that periodour Navy consisted of a collection of antiquated woodenships, already almost as out of place against modernwar vessels as the galleys of Alcibiades and Hamilcar—certainlyas the ships of Tromp and Blake. Nor at that timedid we have men fit to handle a modern man-of-war.Under the wise legislation of the Congress and thesuccessful administration of a succession of patrioticSecretaries of the Navy, belonging to both politicalparties, the work of upbuilding the Navy went on, andships equal to any in the world of their kind werecontinually added; and what was even more important,these ships were exercised at sea singly and in squadronsuntil the men aboard them were able to get the bestpossible service out of them. The result was seenin the short war with Spain, which was decided withsuch rapidity because of the infinitely greater preparednessof our Navy than of the Spanish Navy.
While awarding the fullest honor to the men who actuallycommanded and manned the ships which destroyed theSpanish sea forces in the Philippines and in Cuba,we must not forget that an equal meed of praise belongsto those without whom neither blow could have beenstruck. The Congressmen who voted years in advancethe money to lay down the ships, to build the guns,to buy the armor-plate; the Department officials andthe business men and wage-workers who furnished whatthe Congress had authorized; the Secretaries of theNavy who asked for and expended the appropriations;and finally the officers who, in fair weather andfoul, on actual sea service, trained and disciplinedthe crews of the ships when there was no war in sight—allare entitled to a full share in the glory of Manilaand Santiago, and the respect accorded by every trueAmerican to those who wrought such signal triumphfor our country. It was forethought and preparationwhich secured us the overwhelming triumph of 1898.If we fail to show forethought and preparation now,there may come a time when disaster will befall usinstead of triumph; and should this time come, thefault will rest primarily, not upon those whom theaccident of events puts in supreme command at themoment, but upon those who have failed to preparein advance.
There should be no cessation in the work of completingour Navy. So far ingenuity has been wholly unableto devise a substitute for the great war craft whosehammering guns beat out the mastery of the high seas.It is unsafe and unwise not to provide this year forseveral additional Battle ships and heavy armoredcruisers, with auxiliary and lighter craft in proportion;for the exact numbers and character I refer you tothe report of the Secretary of the Navy. But thereis something we need even more than additional ships,and this is additional officers and men. To providebattle ships and cruisers and then lay them up, withthe expectation of leaving them unmanned until theyare needed in actual war, would be worse than folly;it would be a crime against the Nation.
To send any war ship against a competent enemy unlessthose aboard it have been trained by years of actualsea service, including incessant gunnery practice,would be to invite not merely disaster, but the bitterestshame and humiliation. Four thousand additionalseamen and one thousand additional marines shouldbe provided; and an increase in the officers shouldbe provided by making a large addition to the classesat Annapolis. There is one small matter whichshould be mentioned in connection with Annapolis.The pretentious and unmeaning title of “navalcadet” should be abolished; the title of “midshipman,”full of historic association, should be restored.
Even in time of peace a war ship should be used untilit wears out, for only so can it be kept fit to respondto any emergency. The officers and men alikeshould be kept as much as possible on blue water, forit is there only they can learn their duties as theyshould be learned. The big vessels should bemanoeuvred in squadrons containing not merely battleships, but the necessary proportion of cruisers andscouts. The torpedo boats should be handled bythe younger officers in such manner as will best fitthe latter to take responsibility and meet the emergenciesof actual warfare.
Every detail ashore which can be performed by a civilianshould be so performed, the officer being kept forhis special duty in the sea service. Above all,gunnery practice should be unceasing. It is importantto have our Navy of adequate size, but it is even moreimportant that ship for ship it should equal in efficiencyany navy in the world. This is possible onlywith highly drilled crews and officers, and this inturn imperatively demands continuous and progressiveinstruction in target practice, ship handling, squadrontactics, and general discipline. Our ships mustbe assembled in squadrons actively cruising away fromharbors and never long at anchor. The resultingwear upon engines and hulls must be endured; a battleship worn out in long training of officers and menis well paid for by the results, while, on the otherhand, no matter in how excellent condition, it isuseless if the crew be not expert.
We now have seventeen battle ships appropriated for,of which nine are completed and have been commissionedfor actual service. The remaining eight willbe ready in from two to four years, but it will takeat least that time to recruit and train the men tofight them. It is of vast concern that we havetrained crews ready for the vessels by the time theyare commissioned. Good ships and good guns aresimply good weapons, and the best weapons are uselesssave in the hands of men who know how to fight withthem. The men must be trained and drilled undera thorough and well-planned system of progressive instruction,while the recruiting must be carried on with stillgreater vigor. Every effort must be made to exaltthe main function of the officer—the commandof men. The leading graduates of the Naval Academyshould be assigned to the combatant branches, theline and marines.
Many of the essentials of success are already recognizedby the General Board, which, as the central officeof a growing staff, is moving steadily toward a properwar efficiency and a proper efficiency of the wholeNavy, under the Secretary. This General Board,by fostering the creation of a general staff, is providingfor the official and then the general recognitionof our altered conditions as a Nation and of the truemeaning of a great war fleet, which meaning is, first,the best men, and, second, the best ships.
Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt,vol. 9, p.6667
The Naval Militia forces are State organizations,and are trained for coast service, and in event ofwar they will constitute the inner line of defense.They should receive hearty encouragement from the GeneralGovernment.
But in addition we should at once provide for a NationalNaval Reserve, organized and trained under the directionof the Navy Department, and subject to the call ofthe Chief Executive whenever war becomes imminent.It should be a real auxiliary to the naval seagoingpeace establishment, and offer material to be drawnon at once for manning our ships in time of war.It should be composed of graduates of the Naval Academy,graduates of the Naval Militia, officers and crewsof coast-line steamers, longshore schooners, fishingvessels, and steam yachts, together with the coastpopulation about such centers as lifesaving stationsand light-houses.
The American people must either build and maintainan adequate navy or else make up their minds definitelyto accept a secondary position in international affairs,not merely in political, but in commercial, matters.It has been well said that there is no surer way ofcourting national disaster than to be “opulent,aggressive, and unarmed.”
It is not necessary to increase our Army beyond itspresent size at this time. But it is necessaryto keep it at the highest point of efficiency.The individual units who as officers and enlisted mencompose this Army, are, we have good reason to believe,at least as efficient as those of any other army inthe entire world. It is our duty to see thattheir training is of a kind to insure the highestpossible expression of power to these units when actingin combination.
The conditions of modern war are such as to make aninfinitely heavier demand than ever before upon theindividual character and capacity of the officer andthe enlisted man, and to make it far more difficultfor men to act together with effect. At presentthe fighting must be done in extended order, whichmeans that each man must act for himself and at thesame time act in combination with others with whomhe is no longer in the old-fashioned elbow-to-elbowtouch. Under such conditions a few men of thehighest excellence are worth more than many men withoutthe special skill which is only found as the resultof special training applied to men of exceptionalphysique and morale. But nowadays the most valuablefighting man and the most difficult to perfect isthe rifleman who is also a skillful and daring rider.
The proportion of our cavalry regiments has wiselybeen increased. The American cavalryman, trainedto manoeuvre and fight with equal facility on footand on horseback, is the best type of soldier for generalpurposes now to be found in the world. The idealcavalryman of the present day is a man who can fighton foot as effectively as the best infantryman, andwho is in addition unsurpassed in the care and managementof his horse and in his ability to fight on horseback.
A general staff should be created. As for thepresent staff and supply departments, they shouldbe filled by details from the line, the men so detailedreturning after a while to their line duties.It is very undesirable to have the senior grades ofthe Army composed of men who have come to fill thepositions by the mere fact of seniority. A systemshould be adopted by which there shall be an eliminationgrade by grade of those who seem unfit to render thebest service in the next grade. Justice to theveterans of the Civil War who are still in the Armywould seem to require that in the matter of retirementsthey be given by law the same privileges accordedto their comrades in the Navy.
The process of elimination of the least fit shouldbe conducted in a manner that would render it practicallyimpossible to apply political or social pressure onbehalf of any candidate, so that each man may be judgedpurely on his own merits. Pressure for the promotionof civil officials for political reasons is bad enough,but it is tenfold worse where applied on behalf ofofficers of the Army or Navy. Every promotionand every detail under the War Department must be madesolely with regard to the good of the service andto the capacity and merit of the man himself.No pressure, political, social, or personal, of anykind, will be permitted to exercise the least effectin any question of promotion or detail; and if thereis reason to believe that such pressure is exercisedat the instigation of the officer concerned, it willbe held to militate against him. In our Army wecannot afford to have rewards or duties distributedsave on the simple ground that those who by theirown merits are entitled to the rewards get them, andthat those who are peculiarly fit to do the dutiesare chosen to perform them.
Every effort should be made to bring the Army to aconstantly increasing state of efficiency. Whenon actual service no work save that directly in theline of such service should be required. The paperwork in the Army, as in the Navy, should be greatlyreduced. What is needed is proved power of commandand capacity to work well in the field. Constantcare is necessary to prevent dry rot in the transportationand commissary departments.
Our Army is so small and so much scattered that itis very difficult to give the higher officers (aswell as the lower officers and the enlisted men) achance to practice manoeuvres in mass and on a comparativelylarge scale. In time of need no amount of individualexcellence would avail against the paralysis whichwould follow inability to work as a coherent whole,under skillful and daring leadership. The Congressshould provide means whereby it will be possible tohave field exercises by at least a division of regulars,and if possible also a division of national guardsmen,once a year. These exercises might take the formof field manoeuvres; or, if on the Gulf Coast or thePacific or Atlantic Seaboard, or in the region of theGreat Lakes, the army corps when assembled could bemarched from some inland point to some point on thewater, there embarked, disembarked after a coupleof days’ journey at some other point, and againmarched inland. Only by actual handling and providingfor men in masses while they are marching, camping,embarking, and disembarking, will it be possible totrain the higher officers to perform their duties welland smoothly.
A great debt is owing from the public to the men ofthe Army and Navy. They should be so treatedas to enable them to reach the highest point of efficiency,so that they may be able to respond instantly to anydemand made upon them to sustain the interests of theNation and the honor of the flag. The individualAmerican enlisted man is probably on the whole a moreformidable fighting man than the regular of any otherarmy. Every consideration should be shown him,and in return the highest standard of usefulness shouldbe exacted from him. It is well worth while forthe Congress to consider whether the pay of enlistedmen upon second and subsequent enlistments should notbe increased to correspond with the increased valueof the veteran soldier.
Much good has already come from the act reorganizingthe Army, passed early in the present year. Thethree prime reforms, all of them of literally inestimablevalue, are, first, the substitution of four-year detailsfrom the line for permanent appointments in the so-calledstaff divisions; second, the establishment of a corpsof artillery with a chief at the head; third, theestablishment of a maximum and minimum limit for theArmy. It would be difficult to overestimate theimprovement in the efficiency of our Army which thesethree reforms are making, and have in part alreadyeffected.
The reorganization provided for by the act has beensubstantially accomplished. The improved conditionsin the Philippines have enabled the War Departmentmaterially to reduce the military charge upon ourrevenue and to arrange the number of soldiers so asto bring this number much nearer to the minimum thanto the maximum limit established by law. Thereis, however, need of supplementary legislation.Thorough military education must be provided, and
in addition to the regulars the advantages of thiseducation should be given to the officers of the NationalGuard and others in civil life who desire intelligentlyto fit themselves for possible military duty.The officers should be given the chance to perfectthemselves by study in the higher branches of thisart. At West Point the education should be ofthe kind most apt to turn out men who are good inactual field service; too much stress should not belaid on mathematics, nor should proficiency thereinbe held to establish the right of entry to a corpsd’elite. The typical American officer ofthe best kind need not be a good mathematician; buthe must be able to master himself, to control others,and to show boldness and fertility of resource inevery emergency.Action should be taken in reference to the militiaand to the raising of volunteer forces. Our militialaw is obsolete and worthless. The organizationand armament of the National Guard of the several States,which are treated as militia in the appropriationsby the Congress, should be made identical with thoseprovided for the regular forces. The obligationsand duties of the Guard in time of war should be carefullydefined, and a system established by law under whichthe method of procedure of raising volunteer forcesshould be prescribed in advance. It is utterlyimpossible in the excitement and haste of impendingwar to do this satisfactorily if the arrangements havenot been made long beforehand. Provision shouldbe made for utilizing in the first volunteer organizationscalled out the training of those citizens who havealready had experience under arms, and especially forthe selection in advance of the officers of any forcewhich may be raised; for careful selection of thekind necessary is impossible after the outbreak ofwar.
That the Army is not at all a mere instrument of destructionhas been shown during the last three years. Inthe Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico it has proveditself a great constructive force, a most potent implementfor the upbuilding of a peaceful civilization.
No other citizens deserve so well of the Republicas the veterans, the survivors of those who savedthe Union. They did the one deed which if leftundone would have meant that all else in our historywent for nothing. But for their steadfast prowessin the greatest crisis of our history, all our annalswould be meaningless, and our great experiment inpopular freedom and self-government a gloomy failure.Moreover, they not only left us a united Nation, butthey left us also as a heritage the memory of themighty deeds by which the Nation was kept united.We are now indeed one Nation, one in fact as wellas in name; we are united in our devotion to the flagwhich is the symbol of national greatness and unity;and the very completeness of our union enables usall, in every part of the country, to glory in thevalor shown alike by the sons of the North and thesons of the South in the times that tried men’ssouls.
The men who in the last three years have done so wellin the East and the West Indies and on the mainlandof Asia have shown that this remembrance is not lost.In any serious crisis the United States must relyfor the great mass of its fighting men upon the volunteersoldiery who do not make a permanent profession ofthe military career; and whenever such a crisis arisesthe deathless memories of the Civil War will giveto Americans the lift of lofty purpose which comesto those whose fathers have stood valiantly in theforefront of the battle.
The merit system of making appointments is in itsessence as democratic and American as the common schoolsystem itself. It simply means that in clericaland other positions where the duties are entirelynon-political, all applicants should have a fair fieldand no favor, each standing on his merits as he isable to show them by practical test. Writtencompetitive examinations offer the only available meansin many cases for applying this system. In othercases, as where laborers are employed, a system ofregistration undoubtedly can be widely extended.There are, of course, places where the written competitiveexamination cannot be applied, and others where itoffers by no means an ideal solution, but where underexisting political conditions it is, though an imperfectmeans, yet the best present means of getting satisfactoryresults.
Wherever the conditions have permitted the applicationof the merit system in its fullest and widest sense,the gain to the Government has been immense.The navy-yards and postal service illustrate, probablybetter than any other branches of the Government, thegreat gain in economy, efficiency, and honesty dueto the enforcement of this principle.
I recommend the passage of a law which will extendthe classified service to the District of Columbia,or will at least enable the President thus to extendit. In my judgment all laws providing for thetemporary employment of clerks should hereafter containa provision that they be selected under the CivilService Law.
It is important to have this system obtain at home,but it is even more important to have it applied rigidlyin our insular possessions. Not an office shouldbe filled in the Philippines or Puerto Rico with anyregard to the man’s partisan affiliations orservices, with any regard to the political, social,or personal influence which he may have at his command;in short, heed should be paid to absolutely nothingsave the man’s own character and capacity andthe needs of the service.
The administration of these islands should be as whollyfree from the suspicion of partisan politics as theadministration of the Army and Navy. All thatwe ask from the public servant in the Philippines orPuerto Rico is that he reflect honor on his countryby the way in which he makes that country’srule a benefit to the peoples who have come underit. This is all that we should ask, and we cannotafford to be content with less.
The merit system is simply one method of securinghonest and efficient administration of the Government;and in the long run the sole justification of anytype of government lies in its proving itself bothhonest and efficient.
The consular service is now organized under the provisionsof a law passed in 1856, which is entirely inadequateto existing conditions. The interest shown byso many commercial bodies throughout the country inthe reorganization of the service is heartily commendedto your attention. Several bills providing fora new consular service have in recent years been submittedto the Congress. They are based upon the justprinciple that appointments to the service should bemade only after a practical test of the applicant’sfitness, that promotions should be governed by trustworthiness,adaptability, and zeal in the performance of duty,and that the tenure of office should be unaffectedby partisan considerations.
The guardianship and fostering of our rapidly expandingforeign commerce, the protection of American citizensresorting to foreign countries in lawful pursuit oftheir affairs, and the maintenance of the dignityof the nation abroad, combine to make it essentialthat our consuls should be men of character, knowledgeand enterprise. It is true that the service isnow, in the main, efficient, but a standard of excellencecannot be permanently maintained until the principlesset forth in the bills heretofore submitted to theCongress on this subject are enacted into law.
In my judgment the time has arrived when we shoulddefinitely make up our minds to recognize the Indianas an individual and not as a member of a tribe.The General Allotment Act is a mighty pulverizing engineto break up the tribal mass. It acts directlyupon the family and the individual. Under itsprovisions some sixty thousand Indians have alreadybecome citizens of the United States. We shouldnow break up the tribal funds, doing for them whatallotment does for the tribal lands; that is, theyshould be divided into individual holdings. Therewill be a transition period during which the fundswill in many cases have to be held in trust.This is the case also with the lands. A stopshould be put upon the indiscriminate permission toIndians to lease their allotments. The effortshould be steadily to make the Indian work like anyother man on his own ground. The marriage lawsof the Indians should be made the same as those ofthe whites.
In the schools the education should be elementaryand largely industrial. The need of higher educationamong the Indians is very, very limited. On thereservations care should be taken to try to suit theteaching to the needs of the particular Indian.There is no use in attempting to induce agriculturein a country suited only for cattle raising, wherethe Indian should be made a stock grower. Theration system, which is merely the corral and thereservation system, is highly detrimental to the Indians.
It promotes beggary, perpetuates pauperism, and stiflesindustry. It is an effectual barrier to progress.It must continue to a greater or less degree as longas tribes are herded on reservations and have everythingin common. The Indian should be treated as anindividual—like the white man. Duringthe change of treatment inevitable hardships will occur;every effort should be made to minimize these hardships;but we should not because of them hesitate to makethe change. There should be a continuous reductionin the number of agencies.In dealing with the aboriginal races few things aremore important than to preserve them from the terriblephysical and moral degradation resulting from theliquor traffic. We are doing all we can to saveour own Indian tribes from this evil. Whereverby international agreement this same end can be attainedas regards races where we do not possess exclusivecontrol, every effort should be made to bring it about.
I bespeak the most cordial support from the Congressand the people for the St. Louis Exposition to commemoratethe One Hundredth Anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase.This purchase was the greatest instance of expansionin our history. It definitely decided that wewere to become a great continental republic, by farthe foremost power in the Western Hemisphere.It is one of three or four great landmarks in ourhistory—the great turning points in ourdevelopment. It is eminently fitting that allour people should join with heartiest good will incommemorating it, and the citizens of St. Louis, ofMissouri, of all the adjacent region, are entitledto every aid in making the celebration a noteworthyevent in our annals. We earnestly hope that foreignnations will appreciate the deep interest our countrytakes in this Exposition, and our view of its importancefrom every standpoint, and that they will participatein securing its success. The National Governmentshould be represented by a full and complete set ofexhibits.
The people of Charleston, with great energy and civicspirit, are carrying on an Exposition which will continuethroughout most of the present session of the Congress.I heartily commend this Exposition to the good willof the people. It deserves all the encouragementthat can be given it. The managers of the CharlestonExposition have requested the Cabinet officers toplace thereat the Government exhibits which have beenat Buffalo, promising to pay the necessary expenses.I have taken the responsibility of directing thatthis be done, for I feel that it is due to Charlestonto help her in her praiseworthy effort. In myopinion the management should not be required to payall these expenses. I earnestly recommend thatthe Congress appropriate at once the small sum necessaryfor this purpose.
The Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo has just closed.Both from the industrial and the artistic standpointthis Exposition has been in a high degree creditableand useful, not merely to Buffalo but to the UnitedStates. The terrible tragedy of the President’sassassination interfered materially with its beinga financial success. The Exposition was peculiarlyin harmony with the trend of our public policy, becauseit represented an effort to bring into closer touchall the peoples of the Western Hemisphere, and givethem an increasing sense of unity. Such an effortwas a genuine service to the entire American public.
The advancement of the highest interests of nationalscience and learning and the custody of objects ofart and of the valuable results of scientific expeditionsconducted by the United States have been committedto the Smithsonian Institution. In furtheranceof its declared purpose—for the “increaseand diffusion of knowledge among men”—theCongress has from time to time given it other importantfunctions. Such trusts have been executed by theInstitution with notable fidelity. There shouldbe no halt in the work of the Institution, in accordancewith the plans which its Secretary has presented,for the preservation of the vanishing races of greatNorth American animals in the National ZoologicalPark. The urgent needs of the National Museumare recommended to the favorable consideration ofthe Congress.
Perhaps the most characteristic educational movementof the past fifty years is that which has createdthe modern public library and developed it into broadand active service. There are now over five thousandpublic libraries in the United States, the productof this period. In addition to accumulating material,they are also striving by organization, by improvementin method, and by co-operation, to give greater efficiencyto the material they hold, to make it more widelyuseful, and by avoidance of unnecessary duplicationin process to reduce the cost of its administration.
In these efforts they naturally look for assistanceto the Federal library, which, though still the Libraryof Congress, and so entitled, is the one nationallibrary of the United States. Already the largestsingle collection of books on the Western Hemisphere,and certain to increase more rapidly than any otherthrough purchase, exchange, and the operation of thecopyright law, this library has a unique opportunityto render to the libraries of this country—toAmerican scholarship—service of the highestimportance. It is housed in a building whichis the largest and most magnificent yet erected forlibrary uses. Resources are now being providedwhich will develop the collection properly, equipit with the apparatus and service necessary to itseffective use, render its bibliographic work widelyavailable, and enable it to become, not merely a centerof research, but the chief factor in great co-operativeefforts for the diffusion of knowledge and the advancementof learning.
For the sake of good administration, sound economy,and the advancement of science, the Census Officeas now constituted should be made a permanent Governmentbureau. This would insure better, cheaper, andmore satisfactory work, in the interest not only ofour business but of statistic, economic, and socialscience.
The remarkable growth of the postal service is shownin the fact that its revenues have doubled and itsexpenditures have nearly doubled within twelve years.Its progressive development compels constantly increasingoutlay, but in this period of business energy and prosperityits receipts grow so much faster than its expensesthat the annual deficit has been steadily reducedfrom $11,411,779 in 1897 to $3,923,727 in 1901.Among recent postal advances the success of ruralfree delivery wherever established has been so marked,and actual experience has made its benefits so plain,that the demand for its extension is general and urgent.
It is just that the great agricultural populationshould share in the improvement of the service.The number of rural routes now in operation is 6,009,practically all established within three years, andthere are 6,000 applications awaiting action.It is expected that the number in operation at theclose of the current fiscal year will reach 8,600.The mail will then be daily carried to the doors of5,700,000 of our people who have heretofore been dependentupon distant offices, and one-third of all that portionof the country which is adapted to it will be coveredby this kind of service.
The full measure of postal progress which might berealized has long been hampered and obstructed bythe heavy burden imposed on the Government throughthe intrenched and well-understood abuses which havegrown up in connection with second-class mail matter.The extent of this burden appears when it is statedthat while the second-class matter makes nearly three-fifthsof the weight of all the mail, it paid for the lastfiscal year only $4,294,445 of the aggregate postalrevenue of $111,631,193. If the pound rate ofpostage, which produces the large loss thus entailed,and which was fixed by the Congress with the purposeof encouraging the dissemination of public information,were limited to the legitimate newspapers and periodicalsactually contemplated by the law, no just exceptioncould be taken. That expense would be the recognizedand accepted cost of a liberal public policy deliberatelyadopted for a justifiable end. But much of thematter which enjoys the privileged rate is whollyoutside of the intent of the law, and has securedadmission only through an evasion of its requirementsor through lax construction. The proportion ofsuch wrongly included matter is estimated by postalexperts to be one-half of the whole volume of second-classmail. If it be only one-third or one-quarter,the magnitude of the burden is apparent. The Post-OfficeDepartment has now undertaken to remove the abusesso far as is possible by a stricter application ofthe law; and it should be sustained in its effort.
Owing to the rapid growth of our power and our interestson the Pacific, whatever happens in China must beof the keenest national concern to us.
The general terms of the settlement of the questionsgrowing out of the antiforeign uprisings in Chinaof 1900, having been formulated in a joint note addressedto China by the representatives of the injured powersin December last, were promptly accepted by the ChineseGovernment. After protracted conferences the plenipotentiariesof the several powers were able to sign a final protocolwith the Chinese plenipotentiaries on the 7th of lastSeptember, setting forth the measures taken by Chinain compliance with the demands of the joint note,and expressing their satisfaction therewith. Itwill be laid before the Congress, with a report ofthe plenipotentiary on behalf of the United States,Mr. William Woodville Rockhill, to whom high praiseis due for the tact, good judgment, and energy he hasdisplayed in performing an exceptionally difficultand delicate task.
The agreement reached disposes in a manner satisfactoryto the powers of the various grounds of complaint,and will contribute materially to better future relationsbetween China and the powers. Reparation hasbeen made by China for the murder of foreigners duringthe uprising and punishment has been inflicted onthe officials, however high in rank, recognized asresponsible for or having participated in the outbreak.Official examinations have been forbidden for a periodof five years in all cities in which foreigners havebeen murdered or cruelly treated, and edicts havebeen issued making all officials directly responsiblefor the future safety of foreigners and for the suppressionof violence against them.
Provisions have been made for insuring the futuresafety of the foreign representatives in Peking bysetting aside for their exclusive use a quarter ofthe city which the powers can make defensible and inwhich they can if necessary maintain permanent militaryguards; by dismantling the military works betweenthe capital and the sea; and by allowing the temporarymaintenance of foreign military posts along this line.An edict has been issued by the Emperor of China prohibitingfor two years the importation of arms and ammunitioninto China. China has agreed to pay adequateindemnities to the states, societies, and individualsfor the losses sustained by them and for the expensesof the military expeditions sent by the various powersto protect life and restore order.
Under the provisions of the joint note of December,1900, China has agreed to revise the treaties of commerceand navigation and to take such other steps for thepurpose of facilitating foreign trade as the foreignpowers may decide to be needed.
The Chinese Government has agreed to participate financiallyin the work of bettering the water approaches to Shanghaiand to Tientsin, the centers of foreign trade in centraland northern China, and an international conservancyboard, in which the Chinese Government is largelyrepresented, has been provided for the improvementof the Shanghai River and the control of its navigation.In the same line of commercial advantages a revisionof the present tariff on imports has been assentedto for the purpose of substituting specific for advalorem duties, and an expert has been sent abroadon the part of the United States to assist in thiswork. A list of articles to remain free of duty,including flour, cereals, and rice, gold and silvercoin and bullion, has also been agreed upon in thesettlement.
During these troubles our Government has unswervinglyadvocated moderation, and has materially aided inbringing about an adjustment which tends to enhancethe welfare of China and to lead to a more beneficialintercourse between the Empire and the modern world;while in the critical period of revolt and massacrewe did our full share in safe-guarding life and property,restoring order, and vindicating the national interestand honor. It behooves us to continue in thesepaths, doing what lies in our power to foster feelingsof good will, and leaving no effort untried to workout the great policy of full and fair intercoursebetween China and the nations, on a footing of equalrights and advantages to all. We advocate the“open door” with all that it implies;not merely the procurement of enlarged commercialopportunities on the coasts, but access to the interiorby the waterways with which China has been so extraordinarilyfavored. Only by bringing the people of Chinainto peaceful and friendly community of trade withall the peoples of the earth can the work now auspiciouslybegun be carried to fruition. In the attainmentof this purpose we necessarily claim parity of treatment,under the conventions, throughout the Empire for ourtrade and our citizens with those of all other powers.
We view with lively interest and keen hopes of beneficialresults the proceedings of the Pan-American Congress,convoked at the invitation of Mexico, and now sittingat the Mexican capital. The delegates of theUnited States are under the most liberal instructionsto cooperate with their colleagues in all matterspromising advantage to the great family of Americancommonwealths, as well in their relations among themselvesas in their domestic advancement and in their intercoursewith the world at large.
My predecessor communicated to the Congress the factthat the Weil and La Abra awards against Mexico havebeen adjudged by the highest courts of our countryto have been obtained through fraud and perjury onthe part of the claimants, and that in accordancewith the acts of the Congress the money remainingin the hands of the Secretary of State on these awardshas been returned to Mexico. A considerable portionof the money received from Mexico on these awardshad been paid by this Government to the claimantsbefore the decision of the courts was rendered.My judgment is that the Congress should return to Mexicoan amount equal to the sums thus already paid to theclaimants.
The death of Queen Victoria caused the people of theUnited States deep and heartfelt sorrow, to whichthe Government gave full expression. When PresidentMcKinley died, our Nation in turn received from everyquarter of the British Empire expressions of griefand sympathy no less sincere. The death of theEmpress Dowager Frederick of Germany also arousedthe genuine sympathy of the American people; and thissympathy was cordially reciprocated by Germany whenthe President was assassinated. Indeed, fromevery quarter of the civilized world we received,at the time of the President’s death, assurancesof such grief and regard as to touch the hearts ofour people. In the midst of our affliction wereverently thank the Almighty that we are at peacewith the nations of mankind; and we firmly intend thatour policy shall be such as to continue unbroken theseinternational relations of mutual respect and goodwill.
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State of the Union Address
Theodore Roosevelt
December 2, 1902
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
We still continue in a period of unbounded prosperity.This prosperity is not the creature of law, but undoubtedlythe laws under which we work have been instrumentalin creating the conditions which made it possible,and by unwise legislation it would be easy enough todestroy it. There will undoubtedly be periodsof depression. The wave will recede; but thetide will advance. This Nation is seated on acontinent flanked by two great oceans. It iscomposed of men the descendants of pioneers, or, ina sense, pioneers themselves; of men winnowed out fromamong the nations of the Old World by the energy, boldness,and love of adventure found in their own eager hearts.Such a Nation, so placed, will surely wrest successfrom fortune.
As a people we have played a large part in the world,and we are bent upon making our future even largerthan the past. In particular, the events of thelast four years have definitely decided that, for woeor for weal, our place must be great among the nations.We may either fall greatly or succeed greatly; butwe can not avoid the endeavor from which either greatfailure or great success must come. Even if wewould, we can not play a small part. If we shouldtry, all that would follow would be that we shouldplay a large part ignobly and shamefully.
But our people, the sons of the men of the Civil War,the sons of the men who had iron in their blood, rejoicein the present and face the future high of heart andresolute of will. Ours is not the creed of theweakling and the coward; ours is the gospel of hopeand of triumphant endeavor. We do not shrinkfrom the struggle before us. There are many problemsfor us to face at the outset of the twentieth century—graveproblems abroad and still graver at home; but we knowthat we can solve them and solve them well, providedonly that we bring to the solution the qualities ofhead and heart which were shown by the men who, inthe days of Washington, rounded this Government, and,in the days of Lincoln, preserved it.
No country has ever occupied a higher plane of materialwell-being than ours at the present moment. Thiswell-being is due to no sudden or accidental causes,but to the play of the economic forces in this countryfor over a century; to our laws, our sustained andcontinuous policies; above all, to the high individualaverage of our citizenship. Great fortunes havebeen won by those who have taken the lead in thisphenomenal industrial development, and most of thesefortunes have been won not by doing evil, but as anincident to action which has benefited the communityas a whole. Never before has material well-beingbeen so widely diffused among our people. Greatfortunes have been accumulated, and yet in the aggregatethese fortunes are small Indeed when compared to thewealth of the people as a whole. The plain peopleare better off than they have ever been before.The insurance companies, which are practically mutualbenefit societies—especially helpful tomen of moderate means—represent accumulationsof capital which are among the largest in this country.There are more deposits in the savings banks, moreowners of farms, more well-paid wage-workers in thiscountry now than ever before in our history.Of course, when the conditions have favored the growthof so much that was good, they have also favored somewhatthe growth of what was evil. It is eminently necessarythat we should endeavor to cut out this evil, butlet us keep a due sense of proportion; let us notin fixing our gaze upon the lesser evil forget thegreater good. The evils are real and some of themare menacing, but they are the outgrowth, not of miseryor decadence, but of prosperity—of theprogress of our gigantic industrial development.This industrial development must not be checked, butside by side with it should go such progressive regulationas will diminish the evils. We should fail inour duty if we did not try to remedy the evils, butwe shall succeed only if we proceed patiently, withpractical common sense as well as resolution, separatingthe good from the bad and holding on to the formerwhile endeavoring to get rid of the latter.
In my Message to the present Congress at its firstsession I discussed at length the question of theregulation of those big corporations commonly doingan interstate business, often with some tendency tomonopoly, which are popularly known as trusts.The experience of the past year has emphasized, inmy opinion, the desirability of the steps I then proposed.A fundamental requisite of social efficiency is a highstandard of individual energy and excellence; but thisis in no wise inconsistent with power to act in combinationfor aims which can not so well be achieved by theindividual acting alone. A fundamental base ofcivilization is the inviolability of property; butthis is in no wise inconsistent with the right ofsociety to regulate the exercise of the artificialpowers which it confers upon the owners of property,
under the name of corporate franchises, in such away as to prevent the misuse of these powers.Corporations, and especially combinations of corporations,should be managed under public regulation. Experiencehas shown that under our system of government thenecessary supervision can not be obtained by Stateaction. It must therefore be achieved by nationalaction. Our aim is not to do away with corporations;on the contrary, these big aggregations are an inevitabledevelopment of modern industrialism, and the effortto destroy them would be futile unless accomplishedin ways that would work the utmost mischief to theentire body politic. We can do nothing of goodin the way of regulating and supervising these corporationsuntil we fix clearly in our minds that we are notattacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do awaywith any evil in them. We are not hostile to them;we are merely determined that they shall be so handledas to subserve the public good. We draw the lineagainst misconduct, not against wealth. The capitalistwho, alone or in conjunction with his fellows, performssome great industrial feat by which he wins moneyis a welldoer, not a wrongdoer, provided only he worksin proper and legitimate lines. We wish to favorsuch a man when he does well. We wish to superviseand control his actions only to prevent him from doingill. Publicity can do no harm to the honest corporation;and we need not be over tender about sparing the dishonestcorporation. In curbing and regulating the combinationsof capital which are, or may become, injurious to thepublic we must be careful not to stop the great enterpriseswhich have legitimately reduced the cost of production,not to abandon the place which our country has wonin the leadership of the international industrialworld, not to strike down wealth with the result ofclosing factories and mines, of turning the wage-workeridle in the streets and leaving the farmer withouta market for what he grows. Insistence upon theimpossible means delay in achieving the possible, exactlyas, on the other hand, the stubborn defense alikeof what is good and what is bad in the existing system,the resolute effort to obstruct any attempt at betterment,betrays blindness to the historic truth that wiseevolution is the sure safeguard against revolution.No more important subject can come before the Congressthan this of the regulation of interstate business.This country can not afford to sit supine on the pleathat under our peculiar system of government we arehelpless in the presence of the new conditions, andunable to grapple with them or to cut out whateverof evil has arisen in connection with them. Thepower of the Congress to regulate interstate commerceis an absolute and unqualified grant, and withoutlimitations other than those prescribed by the Constitution.The Congress has constitutional authority to makeall laws necessary and proper for executing this power,and I am satisfied that this power has not been exhaustedby any legislation now on the statute books.It is evident, therefore, that evils restrictive ofcommercial freedom and entailing restraint upon nationalcommerce fall within the regulative power of the Congress,and that a wise and reasonable law would be a necessaryand proper exercise of Congressional authority tothe end that such evils should be eradicated.
I believe that monopolies, unjust discriminations,which prevent or cripple competition, fraudulent overcapitalization,and other evils in trust organizations and practiceswhich injuriously affect interstate trade can be preventedunder the power of the Congress to “regulatecommerce with foreign nations and among the severalStates” through regulations and requirementsoperating directly upon such commerce, the instrumentalitiesthereof, and those engaged therein.
I earnestly recommend this subject to the considerationof the Congress with a view to the passage of a lawreasonable in its provisions and effective in itsoperations, upon which the questions can be finallyadjudicated that now raise doubts as to the necessityof constitutional amendment. If it prove impossibleto accomplish the purposes above set forth by sucha law, then, assuredly, we should not shrink fromamending the Constitution so as to secure beyond peradventurethe power sought.
The Congress has not heretofore made any appropriationfor the better enforcement of the antitrust law asit now stands. Very much has been done by theDepartment of Justice in securing the enforcement ofthis law, but much more could be done if the Congresswould make a special appropriation for this purpose,to be expended under the direction of the Attorney-General.
One proposition advocated has been the reduction ofthe tariff as a means of reaching the evils of thetrusts which fall within the category I have described.Not merely would this be wholly ineffective, but thediversion of our efforts in such a direction wouldmean the abandonment of all intelligent attempt todo away with these evils. Many of the largestcorporations, many of those which should certainlybe included in any proper scheme of regulation, wouldnot be affected in the slightest degree by a changein the tariff, save as such change interfered withthe general prosperity of the country. The onlyrelation of the tariff to big corporations as a wholeis that the tariff makes manufactures profitable,and the tariff remedy proposed would be in effectsimply to make manufactures unprofitable. To removethe tariff as a punitive measure directed against trustswould inevitably result in ruin to the weaker competitorswho are struggling against them. Our aim shouldbe not by unwise tariff changes to give foreign productsthe advantage over domestic products, but by properregulation to give domestic competition a fair chance;and this end can not be reached by any tariff changeswhich would affect unfavorably all domestic competitors,good and bad alike. The question of regulationof the trusts stands apart from the question of tariffrevision.
Stability of economic policy must always be the primeeconomic need of this country. This stabilityshould not be fossilization. The country hasacquiesced in the wisdom of the protective-tariff principle.It is exceedingly undesirable that this system shouldbe destroyed or that there should be violent and radicalchanges therein. Our past experience shows thatgreat prosperity in this country has always come undera protective tariff; and that the country can not prosperunder 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 inconveniencesand inequalities in some schedules than to upset businessby too quick and too radical changes. It is mostearnestly to be wished that we could treat the tarifffrom the standpoint solely of our business needs.It is, perhaps, too much to hope that partisanshipmay be entirely excluded from consideration of thesubject, but at least it can be made secondary tothe business interests of the country—thatis, to the interests of our people as a whole.Unquestionably these business interests will bestbe served if together with fixity of principle asregards the tariff we combine a system which will permitus from time to time to make the necessary reapplicationof the principle to the shifting national needs.We must take scrupulous care that the reapplicationshall be made in such a way that it will not amountto a dislocation of our system, the mere threat ofwhich (not to speak of the performance) would produceparalysis in the business energies of the community.The first consideration in making these changes would,of course, be to preserve the principle which underliesour whole tariff system—that is, the principleof putting American business interests at least ona full equality with interests abroad, and of alwaysallowing a sufficient rate of duty to more than coverthe difference between the labor cost here and abroad.The well-being of the wage-worker, like the well-beingof the tiller of the soil, should be treated as anessential in shaping our whole economic policy.There must never be any change which will jeopardizethe standard of comfort, the standard of wages ofthe American wage-worker.
One way in which the readjustment sought can be reachedis by reciprocity treaties. It is greatly tobe desired that such treaties may be adopted.They can be used to widen our markets and to give agreater field for the activities of our producers onthe one hand, and on the other hand to secure in practicalshape the lowering of duties when they are no longerneeded for protection among our own people, or whenthe minimum of damage done may be disregarded for thesake of the maximum of good accomplished. Ifit prove impossible to ratify the pending treaties,and if there seem to be no warrant for the endeavorto execute others, or to amend the pending treatiesso that they can be ratified, then the same end—tosecure reciprocity—should be met by directlegislation.
Wherever the tariff conditions are such that a neededchange can not with advantage be made by the applicationof the reciprocity idea, then it can be made outrightby a lowering of duties on a given product. Ifpossible, such change should be made only after thefullest consideration by practical experts, who shouldapproach the subject from a business standpoint, havingin view both the particular interests affected andthe commercial well-being of the people as a whole.The machinery for providing such careful investigationcan readily be supplied. The executive departmenthas already at its disposal methods of collectingfacts and figures; and if the Congress desires additionalconsideration to that which will be given the subjectby its own committees, then a commission of businessexperts can be appointed whose duty it should be torecommend action by the Congress after a deliberateand scientific examination of the various schedulesas they are affected by the changed and changing conditions.The unhurried and unbiased report of this commissionwould show what changes should be made in the variousschedules, and how far these changes could go withoutalso changing the great prosperity which this countryis now enjoying, or upsetting its fixed economic policy.
The cases in which the tariff can produce a monopolyare so few as to constitute an inconsiderable factorin the question; but of course if in any case it befound that a given rate of duty does promote a monopolywhich works ill, no protectionist would object to suchreduction of the duty as would equalize competition.
In my judgment, the tariff on anthracite coal shouldbe removed, and anthracite put actually, where itnow is nominally, on the free list. This wouldhave no effect at all save in crises; but in crisesit might be of service to the people.
Interest rates are a potent factor in business activity,and in order that these rates may be equalized tomeet the varying needs of the seasons and of widelyseparated communities, and to prevent the recurrenceof financial stringencies which injuriously affectlegitimate business, it is necessary that there shouldbe an element of elasticity in our monetary system.Banks are the natural servants of commerce, and uponthem should be placed, as far as practicable, theburden of furnishing and maintaining a circulationadequate to supply the needs of our diversified industriesand of our domestic and foreign commerce; and theissue of this should be so regulated that a sufficientsupply should be always available for the businessinterests of the country.
It would be both unwise and unnecessary at this timeto attempt to reconstruct our financial system, whichhas been the growth of a century; but some additionallegislation is, I think, desirable. The mereoutline of any plan sufficiently comprehensive to meetthese requirements would transgress the appropriatelimits of this communication. It is suggested,however, that all future legislation on the subjectshould be with the view of encouraging the use of suchinstrumentalities as will automatically supply everylegitimate demand of productive industries and ofcommerce, not only in the amount, but in the characterof circulation; and of making all kinds of money interchangeable,and, at the will of the holder, convertible into theestablished gold standard.
I again call your attention to the need of passinga proper immigration law, covering the points outlinedin my Message to you at the first session of the presentCongress; substantially such a bill has already passedthe House.
How to secure fair treatment alike for labor and forcapital, how to hold in check the unscrupulous man,whether employer or employee, without weakening individualinitiative, without hampering and cramping the industrialdevelopment of the country, is a problem fraught withgreat difficulties and one which it is of the highestimportance to solve on lines of sanity and far-sightedcommon sense as well as of devotion to the right.This is an era of federation and combination.Exactly as business men find they must often work throughcorporations, and as it is a constant tendency ofthese corporations to grow larger, so it is oftennecessary for laboring men to work in federations,and these have become important factors of modernindustrial life. Both kinds of federation, capitalisticand labor, can do much good, and as a necessary corollarythey can both do evil. Opposition to each kindof organization should take the form of oppositionto whatever is bad in the conduct of any given corporationor union—not of attacks upon corporationsas such nor upon unions as such; for some of the mostfar-reaching beneficent work for our people has beenaccomplished through both corporations and unions.Each must refrain from arbitrary or tyrannous interferencewith the rights of others. Organized capitaland organized labor alike should remember that in thelong run the interest of each must be brought intoharmony with the interest of the general public; andthe conduct of each must conform to the fundamentalrules of obedience to the law, of individual freedom,and of justice and fair dealing toward all. Eachshould remember that in addition to power it muststrive after the realization of healthy, lofty, andgenerous ideals. Every employer, every wage-worker,must be guaranteed his liberty and his right to doas he likes with his property or his labor so longas he does not infringe upon the rights of others.It is of the highest importance that employer andemployee alike should endeavor to appreciate eachthe viewpoint of the other and the sure disaster thatwill come upon both in the long run if either growsto take as habitual an attitude of sour hostilityand distrust toward the other. Few people deservebetter of the country than those representatives bothof capital and labor—and there are manysuch—who work continually to bring abouta good understanding of this kind, based upon wisdomand upon broad and kindly sympathy between employersand employed. Above all, we need to remember thatany kind of class animosity in the political worldis, if possible, even more wicked, even more destructiveto national welfare, than sectional, race, or religiousanimosity. We can get good government only upon
condition that we keep true to the principles uponwhich this Nation was founded, and judge each mannot as a part of a class, but upon his individualmerits. All that we have a right to ask of anyman, rich or poor, whatever his creed, his occupation,his birthplace, or his residence, is that he shallact well and honorably by his neighbor and by, hiscountry. We are neither for the rich man as suchnor for the poor man as such; we are for the uprightman, rich or poor. So far as the constitutionalpowers of the National Government touch these mattersof general and vital moment to the Nation, they shouldbe exercised in conformity with the principles aboveset forth.It is earnestly hoped that a secretary of commercemay be created, with a seat in the Cabinet. Therapid multiplication of questions affecting laborand capital, the growth and complexity of the organizationsthrough which both labor and capital now find expression,the steady tendency toward the employment of capitalin huge corporations, and the wonderful strides ofthis country toward leadership in the internationalbusiness world justify an urgent demand for the creationof such a position. Substantially all the leadingcommercial bodies in this country have united in requestingits creation. It is desirable that some suchmeasure as that which has already passed the Senatebe enacted into law. The creation of such a departmentwould in itself be an advance toward dealing withand exercising supervision over the whole subjectof the great corporations doing an interstate business;and with this end in view, the Congress should endowthe department with large powers, which could be increasedas experience might show the need.
I hope soon to submit to the Senate a reciprocitytreaty with Cuba. On May 20 last the United Stateskept its promise to the island by formally vacatingCuban soil and turning Cuba over to those whom herown people had chosen as the first officials of thenew Republic.
Cuba lies at our doors, and whatever affects her forgood or for ill affects us also. So much haveour people felt this that in the Platt amendment wedefinitely took the ground that Cuba must hereafterhave closer political relations with us than withany other power. Thus in a sense Cuba has becomea part of our international political system.This makes it necessary that in return she should begiven some of the benefits of becoming part of oureconomic system. It is, from our own standpoint,a short-sighted and mischievous policy to fail to recognizethis need. Moreover, it is unworthy of a mightyand generous nation, itself the greatest and mostsuccessful republic in history, to refuse to stretchout a helping hand to a young and weak sister republicjust entering upon its career of independence.We should always fearlessly insist upon our rightsin the face of the strong, and we should with ungrudginghand do our generous duty by the weak. I urge
the adoption of reciprocity with Cuba not only becauseit is eminently for our own interests to control theCuban market and by every means to foster our supremacyin the tropical lands and waters south of us, but alsobecause we, of the giant republic of the north, shouldmake all our sister nations of the American Continentfeel that whenever they will permit it we desire toshow ourselves disinterestedly and effectively theirfriend.A convention with Great Britain has been concluded,which will be at once laid before the Senate for ratification,providing for reciprocal trade arrangements betweenthe United States and Newfoundland on substantiallythe lines of the convention formerly negotiated bythe Secretary of State, Mr. Blaine. I believereciprocal trade relations will be greatly to theadvantage of both countries.
As civilization grows warfare becomes less and lessthe normal condition of foreign relations. Thelast century has seen a marked diminution of warsbetween civilized powers; wars with uncivilized powersare largely mere matters of international police duty,essential for the welfare of the world. Whereverpossible, arbitration or some similar method shouldbe employed in lieu of war to settle difficultiesbetween civilized nations, although as yet the worldhas not progressed sufficiently to render it possible,or necessarily desirable, to invoke arbitration inevery case. The formation of the internationaltribunal which sits at The Hague is an event of goodomen from which great consequences for the welfareof all mankind may flow. It is far better, wherepossible, to invoke such a permanent tribunal thanto create special arbitrators for a given purpose.
It is a matter of sincere congratulation to our countrythat the United States and Mexico should have beenthe first to use the good offices of The Hague Court.This was done last summer with most satisfactory resultsin the case of a claim at issue between us and oursister Republic. It is earnestly to be hopedthat this first case will serve as a precedent forothers, in which not only the United States but foreignnations may take advantage of the machinery alreadyin existence at The Hague.
I commend to the favorable consideration of the Congressthe Hawaiian fire claims, which were the subject ofcareful investigation during the last session.
The Congress has wisely provided that we shall buildat once an isthmian canal, if possible at Panama.The Attorney-General reports that we can undoubtedlyacquire good title from the French Panama Canal Company.Negotiations are now pending with Colombia to secureher assent to our building the canal. This canalwill be one of the greatest engineering feats of thetwentieth century; a greater engineering feat thanhas yet been accomplished during the history of mankind.The work should be carried out as a continuing policywithout regard to change of Administration; and itshould be begun under circ*mstances which will makeit a matter of pride for all Administrations to continuethe policy.
The canal will be of great benefit to America, andof importance to all the world. It will be ofadvantage to us industrially and also as improvingour military position. It will be of advantageto the countries of tropical America. It is earnestlyto be hoped that all of these countries will do assome of them have already done with signal success,and will invite to their shores commerce and improvetheir material conditions by recognizing that stabilityand order are the prerequisites of successful development.No independent nation in America need have the slightestfear of aggression from the United States. Itbehoves each one to maintain order within its own bordersand to discharge its just obligations to foreigners.When this is done, they can rest assured that, bethey strong or weak, they have nothing to dread fromoutside interference. More and more the increasinginterdependence and complexity of international politicaland economic relations render it incumbent on allcivilized and orderly powers to insist on the properpolicing of the world.
During the fall of 1901 a communication was addressedto the Secretary of State, asking whether permissionwould be granted by the President to a corporationto lay a cable from a point on the California coastto the Philippine Islands by way of Hawaii. Astatement of conditions or terms upon which such corporationwould undertake to lay and operate a cable was volunteered.
Inasmuch as the Congress was shortly to convene, andPacific-cable legislation had been the subject ofconsideration by the Congress for several years, itseemed to me wise to defer action upon the applicationuntil the Congress had first an opportunity to act.The Congress adjourned without taking any action,leaving the matter in exactly the same condition inwhich it stood when the Congress convened.
Meanwhile it appears that the Commercial Pacific CableCompany had promptly proceeded with preparations forlaying its cable. It also made application tothe President for access to and use of soundings takenby the U. S. S. Nero, for the purpose of discoveringa practicable route for a trans-Pacific cable, thecompany urging that with access to these soundingsit could complete its cable much sooner than if itwere required to take soundings upon its own account.Pending consideration of this subject, it appearedimportant and desirable to attach certain conditionsto the permission to examine and use the soundings,if it should be granted.
In consequence of this solicitation of the cable company,certain conditions were formulated, upon which thePresident was willing to allow access to these soundingsand to consent to the landing and laying of the cable,subject to any alterations or additions thereto imposedby the Congress. This was deemed proper, especiallyas it was clear that a cable connection of some kindwith China, a foreign country, was a part of the company’splan. This course was, moreover, in accordancewith a line of precedents, including President Grant’saction in the case of the first French cable, explainedto the Congress in his Annual Message of December,1875, and the instance occurring in 1879 of the secondFrench cable from Brest to St. Pierre, with a branchto Cape Cod.
These conditions prescribed, among other things, amaximum rate for commercial messages and that thecompany should construct a line from the PhilippineIslands to China, there being at present, as is wellknown, a British line from Manila to Hongkong.
The representatives of the cable company kept theseconditions long under consideration, continuing, inthe meantime, to prepare for laying the cable.They have, however, at length acceded to them, andan all-American line between our Pacific coast andthe Chinese Empire, by way of Honolulu and the PhilippineIslands, is thus provided for, and is expected withina few months to be ready for business.
Among the conditions is one reserving the power ofthe Congress to modify or repeal any or all of them.A copy of the conditions is herewith transmitted.
Of Porto Rico it is only necessary to say that theprosperity of the island and the wisdom with whichit has been governed have been such as to make itserve as an example of all that is best in insularadministration.
On July 4 last, on the one hundred and twenty-sixthanniversary of the declaration of our independence,peace and amnesty were promulgated in the PhilippineIslands. Some trouble has since from time to timethreatened with the Mohammedan Moros, but with thelate insurrectionary Filipinos the war has entirelyceased. Civil government has now been introduced.Not only does each Filipino enjoy such rights to life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as he has neverbefore known during the recorded history of the islands,but the people taken as a whole now enjoy a measureof self-government greater than that granted to anyother Orientals by any foreign power and greater thanthat enjoyed by any other Orientals under their owngovernments, save the Japanese alone. We havenot gone too far in granting these rights of libertyand self-government; but we have certainly gone tothe limit that in the interests of the Philippinepeople themselves it was wise or just to go.To hurry matters, to go faster than we are now going,would entail calamity on the people of the islands.No policy ever entered into by the American peoplehas vindicated itself in more signal manner than thepolicy of holding the Philippines. The triumphof our arms, above all the triumph of our laws andprinciples, has come sooner than we had any rightto expect. Too much praise can not be given tothe Army for what it has done in the Philippines bothin warfare and from an administrative standpoint inpreparing the way for civil government; and similarcredit belongs to the civil authorities for the wayin which they have planted the seeds of self-governmentin the ground thus made ready for them. The courage,the unflinching endurance, the high soldierly efficiency;and the general kind-heartedness and humanity of ourtroops have been strikingly manifested. Therenow remain only some fifteen thousand troops in the
islands. All told, over one hundred thousand havebeen sent there. Of course, there have been individualinstances of wrongdoing among them. They warredunder fearful difficulties of climate and surroundings;and under the strain of the terrible provocationswhich they continually received from their foes, occasionalinstances of cruel retaliation occurred. Everyeffort has been made to prevent such cruelties, andfinally these efforts have been completely successful.Every effort has also been made to detect and punishthe wrongdoers. After making all allowance forthese misdeeds, it remains true that few indeed havebeen the instances in which war has been waged bya civilized power against semicivilized or barbarousforces where there has been so little wrongdoing bythe victors as in the Philippine Islands. On theother hand, the amount of difficult, important, andbeneficent work which has been done is well-nigh incalculable.Taking the work of the Army and the civil authoritiestogether, it may be questioned whether anywhere elsein modern times the world has seen a better exampleof real constructive statesmanship than our peoplehave given in the Philippine Islands. High praiseshould also be given those Filipinos, in the aggregatevery numerous, who have accepted the new conditionsand joined with our representatives to work with heartygood will for the welfare of the islands.
The Army has been reduced to the minimum allowed bylaw. It is very small for the size of the Nation,and most certainly should be kept at the highest pointof efficiency. The senior officers are given scantchance under ordinary conditions to exercise commandscommensurate with their rank, under circ*mstanceswhich would fit them to do their duty in time of actualwar. A system of maneuvering our Army in bodiesof some little size has been begun and should be steadilycontinued. Without such maneuvers it is follyto expect that in the event of hostilities with anyserious foe even a small army corps could be handledto advantage. Both our officers and enlisted menare such that we can take hearty pride in them.No better material can be found. But they mustbe thoroughly trained, both as individuals and in themass. The marksmanship of the men must receivespecial attention. In the circ*mstances of modernwarfare the man must act far more on his own individualresponsibility than ever before, and the high individualefficiency of the unit is of the utmost importance.Formerly this unit was the regiment; it is now notthe regiment, not even the troop or company; it isthe individual soldier. Every effort must be madeto develop every workmanlike and soldierly qualityin both the officer and the enlisted man.
I urgently call your attention to the need of passinga bill providing for a general staff and for the reorganizationof the supply departments on the lines of the billproposed by the Secretary of War last year. Whenthe young officers enter the Army from West Point theyprobably stand above their compeers in any other militaryservice. Every effort should be made, by training,by reward of merit, by scrutiny into their careersand capacity, to keep them of the same high relativeexcellence throughout their careers.
The measure providing for the reorganization of themilitia system and for securing the highest efficiencyin the National Guard, which has already passed theHouse, should receive prompt attention and action.It is of great importance that the relation of theNational Guard to the militia and volunteer forcesof the United States should be defined, and that inplace of our present obsolete laws a practical andefficient system should be adopted.
Provision should be made to enable the Secretary ofWar to keep cavalry and artillery horses, worn-outin long performance of duty. Such horses fetchbut a trifle when sold; and rather than turn them outto the misery awaiting them when thus disposed of,it would be better to employ them at light work aroundthe posts, and when necessary to put them painlesslyto death.
For the first time in our history naval maneuverson a large scale are being held under the immediatecommand of the Admiral of the Navy. Constantlyincreasing attention is being paid to the gunnery ofthe Navy, but it is yet far from what it should be.I earnestly urge that the increase asked for by theSecretary of the Navy in the appropriation for improvingthe markmanship be granted. In battle the onlyshots that count are the shots that hit. It isnecessary to provide ample funds for practice withthe great guns in time of peace. These fundsmust provide not only for the purchase of projectiles,but for allowances for prizes to encourage the guncrews, and especially the gun pointers, and for perfectingan intelligent system under which alone it is possibleto get good practice.
There should be no halt in the work of building upthe Navy, providing every year additional fightingcraft. We are a very rich country, vast in extentof territory and great in population; a country, moreover,which has an Army diminutive indeed when compared withthat of any other first-class power. We havedeliberately made our own certain foreign policieswhich demand the possession of a first-class navy.The isthmian canal will greatly increase the efficiencyof our Navy if the Navy is of sufficient size; butif we have an inadequate navy, then the building ofthe canal would be merely giving a hostage to any powerof superior strength. The Monroe Doctrine shouldbe treated as the cardinal feature of American foreignpolicy; but it would be worse than idle to assertit unless we intended to back it up, and it can bebacked up only by a thoroughly good navy. A goodnavy is not a provocative of war. It is the surestguaranty of peace.
Each individual unit of our Navy should be the mostefficient of its kind as regards both material andpersonnel that is to be found in the world. Icall your special attention to the need of providingfor the manning of the ships. Serious troublethreatens us if we can not do better than we are nowdoing as regards securing the services of a sufficientnumber of the highest type of sailormen, of sea mechanics.
The veteran seamen of our war ships are of as higha type as can be found in any navy which rides thewaters of the world; they are unsurpassed in daring,in resolution, in readiness, in thorough knowledgeof their profession. They deserve every considerationthat can be shown them. But there are not enoughof them. It is no more possible to improvisea crew than it is possible to improvise a war ship.To build the finest ship, with the deadliest battery,and to send it afloat with a raw crew, no matter howbrave they were individually, would be to insure disasterif a foe of average capacity were encountered.Neither ships nor men can be improvised when war hasbegun.We need a thousand additional officers in order toproperly man the ships now provided for and underconstruction. The classes at the Naval Schoolat Annapolis should be greatly enlarged. At thesame time that we thus add the officers where we needthem, we should facilitate the retirement of thoseat the head of the list whose usefulness has becomeimpaired. Promotion must be fostered if the serviceis to be kept efficient.
The lamentable scarcity of officers, and the largenumber of recruits and of unskilled men necessarilyput aboard the new vessels as they have been commissioned,has thrown upon our officers, and especially on thelieutenants and junior grades, unusual labor and fatigueand has gravely strained their powers of endurance.Nor is there sign of any immediate let-up in thisstrain. It must continue for some time longer,until more officers are graduated from Annapolis, anduntil the recruits become trained and skillful intheir duties. In these difficulties incidentupon the development of our war fleet the conductof all our officers has been creditable to the service,and the lieutenants and junior grades in particularhave displayed an ability and a steadfast cheerfulnesswhich entitles them to the ungrudging thanks of allwho realize the disheartening trials and fatigues towhich they are of necessity subjected.
There is not a cloud on the horizon at present.There seems not the slightest chance of trouble witha foreign power. We most earnestly hope thatthis state of things may continue; and the way to insureits continuance is to provide for a thoroughly efficientnavy. The refusal to maintain such a navy wouldinvite trouble, and if trouble came would insure disaster.Fatuous self-complacency or vanity, or short-sightednessin refusing to prepare for danger, is both foolishand wicked in such a nation as ours; and past experiencehas shown that such fatuity in refusing to recognizeor prepare for any crisis in advance is usually succeededby a mad panic of hysterical fear once the crisishas actually arrived.
The striking increase in the revenues of the Post-OfficeDepartment shows clearly the prosperity of our peopleand the increasing activity of the business of thecountry.
The receipts of the Post-Office Department for thefiscal 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 postalservice. The magnitude of this increase will bestappear from the fact that the entire postal receiptsfor the year 1860 amounted to but $8,518,067.
Rural free-delivery service is no longer in the experimentalstage; it has become a fixed policy. The resultsfollowing its introduction have fully justified theCongress in the large appropriations made for itsestablishment and extension. The average yearlyincrease in post-office receipts in the rural districtsof the country is about two per cent. We arenow able, by actual results, to show that where ruralfree-delivery service has been established to suchan extent as to enable us to make comparisons theyearly increase has been upward of ten per cent.
On November 1, 1902, 11,650 rural free-delivery routeshad been established and were in operation, coveringabout one-third of the territory of the United Statesavailable for rural free-delivery service. Thereare now awaiting the action of the Department petitionsand applications for the establishment of 10,748 additionalroutes. This shows conclusively the want whichthe establishment of the service has met and the needof further extending it as rapidly as possible.It is justified both by the financial results andby the practical benefits to our rural population;it brings the men who live on the soil into closerelations with the active business world; it keepsthe farmer in daily touch with the markets; it isa potential educational force; it enhances the valueof farm property, makes farm life far pleasanter andless isolated, and will do much to check the undesirablecurrent from country to city.
It is to be hoped that the Congress will make liberalappropriations for the continuance of the servicealready established and for its further extension.
Few subjects of more importance have been taken upby the Congress in recent years than the inaugurationof the system of nationally-aided irrigation for thearid regions of the far West. A good beginningtherein has been made. Now that this policy ofnational irrigation has been adopted, the need ofthorough and scientific forest protection will growmore rapidly than ever throughout the public-land States.
Legislation should be provided for the protectionof the game, and the wild creatures generally, onthe forest reserves. The senseless slaughterof game, which can by judicious protection be permanentlypreserved on our national reserves for the people asa whole, should be stopped at once. It is, forinstance, a serious count against our national goodsense to permit the present practice of butcheringoff such a stately and beautiful creature as the elkfor its antlers or tusks.
So far as they are available for agriculture, andto whatever extent they may be reclaimed under thenational irrigation law, the remaining public landsshould be held rigidly for the home builder, the settlerwho lives on his land, and for no one else. Intheir actual use the desert-land law, the timber andstone law, and the commutation clause of the homesteadlaw have been so perverted from the intention with
which they were enacted as to permit the acquisitionof large areas of the public domain for other thanactual settlers and the consequent prevention of settlement.Moreover, the approaching exhaustion of the publicranges has of late led to much discussion as to thebest manner of using these public lands in the Westwhich are suitable chiefly or only for grazing.The sound and steady development of the West dependsupon the building up of homes therein. Much ofour prosperity as a nation has been due to the operationof the homestead law. On the other hand, we shouldrecognize the fact that in the grazing region the manwho corresponds to the homesteader may be unable tosettle permanently if only allowed to use the sameamount of pasture land that his brother, the homesteader,is allowed to use of arable land. One hundredand sixty acres of fairly rich and well-watered soil,or a much smaller amount of irrigated land, may keepa family in plenty, whereas no one could get a livingfrom one hundred and sixty acres of dry pasture landcapable of supporting at the outside only one headof cattle to every ten acres. In the past greattracts of the public domain have been fenced in bypersons having no title thereto, in direct defianceof the law forbidding the maintenance or constructionof any such unlawful inclosure of public land.For various reasons there has been little interferencewith such inclosures in the past, but ample noticehas now been given the trespassers, and all the resourcesat the command of the Government will hereafter beused to put a stop to such trespassing.In view of the capital importance of these matters,I commend them to the earnest consideration of theCongress, and if the Congress finds difficulty indealing with them from lack of thorough knowledge ofthe subject, I recommend that provision be made fora commission of experts specially to investigate andreport upon the complicated questions involved.
I especially urge upon the Congress the need of wiselegislation for Alaska. It is not to our creditas a nation that Alaska, which has been ours for thirty-fiveyears, should still have as poor a system Of lawsas is the case. No country has a more valuablepossession—in mineral wealth, in fisheries,furs, forests, and also in land available for certainkinds of farming and stockgrowing. It is a territoryof great size and varied resources, well fitted tosupport a large permanent population. Alaskaneeds a good land law and such provisions for homesteadsand pre-emptions as will encourage permanent settlement.We should shape legislation with a view not to theexploiting and abandoning of the territory, but tothe building up of homes therein. The land lawsshould be liberal in type, so as to hold out inducementsto the actual settler whom we most desire to see takepossession of the country. The forests of Alaskashould be protected, and, as a secondary but stillimportant matter, the game also, and at the same time
it is imperative that the settlers should be allowedto cut timber, under proper regulations, for theirown use. Laws should be enacted to protect theAlaskan salmon fisheries against the greed which woulddestroy them. They should be preserved as a permanentindustry and food supply. Their management andcontrol should be turned over to the Commission ofFish and Fisheries. Alaska should have a Delegatein the Congress. It would be well if a Congressionalcommittee could visit Alaska and investigate its needson the ground.In dealing with the Indians our aim should be theirultimate absorption into the body of our people.But in many cases this absorption must and shouldbe very slow. In portions of the Indian Territorythe mixture of blood has gone on at the same timewith progress in wealth and education, so that thereare plenty of men with varying degrees of purity ofIndian blood who are absolutely indistinguishable inpoint of social, political, and economic ability fromtheir white associates. There are other tribeswhich have as yet made no perceptible advance towardsuch equality. To try to force such tribes toofast is to prevent their going forward at all.Moreover, the tribes live under widely different conditions.Where a tribe has made considerable advance and liveson fertile farming soil it is possible to allot themembers lands in severalty much as is the case withwhite settlers. There are other tribes wheresuch a course is not desirable. On the arid prairielands the effort should be to induce the Indians tolead pastoral rather than agricultural lives, andto permit them to settle in villages rather than toforce them into isolation.
The large Indian schools situated remote from anyIndian reservation do a special and peculiar workof great importance. But, excellent though theseare, an immense amount of additional work must be doneon the reservations themselves among the old, andabove all among the young, Indians.
The first and most important step toward the absorptionof the Indian is to teach him to earn his living;yet it is not necessarily to be assumed that in eachcommunity all Indians must become either tillers ofthe soil or stock raisers. Their industries mayproperly be diversified, and those who show specialdesire or adaptability for industrial or even commercialpursuits should be encouraged so far as practicableto follow out each his own bent.
Every effort should be made to develop the Indianalong the lines of natural aptitude, and to encouragethe existing native industries peculiar to certaintribes, such as the various kinds of basket weaving,canoe building, smith work, and blanket work.Above all, the Indian boys and girls should be givenconfident command of colloquial English, and shouldordinarily be prepared for a vigorous struggle withthe conditions under which their people live, ratherthan for immediate absorption into some more highlydeveloped community.
The officials who represent the Government in dealingwith the Indians work under hard conditions, and alsounder conditions which render it easy to do wrongand very difficult to detect wrong. Consequentlythey should be amply paid on the one hand, and onthe other hand a particularly high standard of conductshould be demanded from them, and where misconductcan be proved the punishment should be exemplary.
In no department of governmental work in recent yearshas there been greater success than in that of givingscientific aid to the farming population, therebyshowing them how most efficiently to help themselves.There is no need of insisting upon its importance,for the welfare of the farmer is fundamentally necessaryto the welfare of the Republic as a whole. Inaddition to such work as quarantine against animaland vegetable plagues, and warring against them whenhere introduced, much efficient help has been renderedto the farmer by the introduction of new plants speciallyfitted for cultivation under the peculiar conditionsexisting in different portions of the country.New cereals have been established in the semi-aridWest. For instance, the practicability of producingthe best types of macaroni wheats in regions of anannual rainfall of only ten inches or thereabouts hasbeen conclusively demonstrated. Through the introductionof new rices in Louisiana and Texas the productionof rice in this country has been made to about equalthe home demand. In the South-west the possibilityof regrassing overstocked range lands has been demonstrated;in the North many new forage crops have been introduced,while in the East it has been shown that some of ourchoicest fruits can be stored and shipped in sucha way as to find a profitable market abroad.
I again recommend to the favorable consideration ofthe Congress the plans of the Smithsonian Institutionfor making the Museum under its charge worthy of theNation, and for preserving at the National Capitalnot only records of the vanishing races of men butof the animals of this continent which, like the buffalo,will soon become extinct unless specimens from whichtheir representatives may be renewed are sought intheir native regions and maintained there in safety.
The District of Columbia is the only part of our territoryin which the National Government exercises local ormunicipal functions, and where in consequence theGovernment has a free hand in reference to certaintypes of social and economic legislation which mustbe essentially local or municipal in their character.The Government should see to it, for instance, thatthe hygienic and sanitary legislation affecting Washingtonis of a high character. The evils of slum dwellings,whether in the shape of crowded and congested tenement-housedistricts or of the back-alley type, should neverbe permitted to grow up in Washington. The cityshould be a model in every respect for all the cities
of the country. The charitable and correctionalsystems of the District should receive considerationat the hands of the Congress to the end that theymay embody the results of the most advanced thoughtin these fields. Moreover, while Washington isnot a great industrial city, there is some industrialismhere, and our labor legislation, while it would notbe important in itself, might be made a model forthe rest of the Nation. We should pass, for instance,a wise employer’s-liability act for the Districtof Columbia, and we need such an act in our navy-yards.Railroad companies in the District ought to be requiredby law to block their frogs.The safety-appliance law, for the better protectionof the lives and limbs of railway employees, whichwas passed in 1893, went into full effect on August1, 1901. It has resulted in averting thousandsof casualties. Experience shows, however, thenecessity of additional legislation to perfect thislaw. A bill to provide for this passed the Senateat the last session. It is to be hoped that somesuch measure may now be enacted into law.
There is a growing tendency to provide for the publicationof masses of documents for which there is no publicdemand and for the printing of which there is no realnecessity. Large numbers of volumes are turnedout by the Government printing presses for which thereis no justification. Nothing should be printedby any of the Departments unless it contains somethingof permanent value, and the Congress could with advantagecut down very materially on all the printing whichit has now become customary to provide. The excessivecost of Government printing is a strong argument againstthe position of those who are inclined on abstractgrounds to advocate the Government’s doing anywork which can with propriety be left in private hands.
Gratifying progress has been made during the yearin the extension of the merit system of making appointmentsin the Government service. It should be extendedby law to the District of Columbia. It is muchto be desired that our consular system be establishedby law on a basis providing for appointment and promotiononly in consequence of proved fitness.
Through a wise provision of the Congress at its lastsession the White House, which had become disfiguredby incongruous additions and changes, has now beenrestored to what it was planned to be by Washington.In making the restorations the utmost care has beenexercised to come as near as possible to the earlyplans and to supplement these plans by a careful studyof such buildings as that of the University of Virginia,which was built by Jefferson. The White Houseis the property of the Nation, and so far as is compatiblewith living therein it should be kept as it originallywas, for the same reasons that we keep Mount Vernonas it originally was. The stately simplicityof its architecture is an expression of the characterof the period in which it was built, and is in accordwith the purposes it was designed to serve. Itis a good thing to preserve such buildings as historicmonuments which keep alive our sense of continuitywith the Nation’s past.
The reports of the several Executive Departments aresubmitted to the Congress with this communication.
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State of the Union Address
Theodore Roosevelt
December 7, 1903
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
The country is to be congratulated on the amount ofsubstantial achievement which has marked the pastyear both as regards our foreign and as regards ourdomestic policy.
With a nation as with a man the most important thingsare those of the household, and therefore the countryis especially to be congratulated on what has beenaccomplished in the direction of providing for theexercise of supervision over the great corporationsand combinations of corporations engaged in interstatecommerce. The Congress has created the Departmentof Commerce and Labor, including the Bureau of Corporations,with for the first time authority to secure properpublicity of such proceedings of these great corporationsas the public has the right to know. It has providedfor the expediting of suits for the enforcement ofthe Federal anti-trust law; and by another law ithas secured equal treatment to all producers in thetransportation of their goods, thus taking a longstride forward in making effective the work of theInterstate Commerce Commission.
The establishment of the Department of Commerce andLabor, with the Bureau of Corporations thereunder,marks a real advance in the direction of doing allthat is possible for the solution of the questionsvitally affecting capitalists and wage-workers.The act creating Department was approved on February14, 1903, and two days later the head of the Departmentwas nominated and confirmed by the Senate. Sincethen the work of organization has been pushed as rapidlyas the initial appropriations permitted, and with dueregard to thoroughness and the broad purposes whichthe Department is designed to serve. After thetransfer of the various bureaus and branches to theDepartment at the beginning of the current fiscal year,as provided for in the act, the personnel comprised1,289 employees in Washington and 8,836 in the countryat large. The scope of the Department’sduty and authority embraces the commercial and industrialinterests of the Nation. It is not designed torestrict or control the fullest liberty of legitimatebusiness action, but to secure exact and authenticinformation which will aid the Executive in enforcingexisting laws, and which will enable the Congressto enact additional legislation, if any should befound necessary, in order to prevent the few fromobtaining privileges at the expense of diminished opportunitiesfor the many.
The preliminary work of the Bureau of Corporationsin the Department has shown the wisdom of its creation.Publicity in corporate affairs will tend to do awaywith ignorance, and will afford facts upon which intelligentaction may be taken. Systematic, intelligent investigationis already developing facts the knowledge of whichis essential to a right understanding of the needsand duties of the business world. The corporationwhich is honestly and fairly organized, whose managersin the conduct of its business recognize their obligationto deal squarely with their stockholders, their competitors,and the public, has nothing to fear from such supervision.The purpose of this Bureau is not to embarrass orassail legitimate business, but to aid in bringingabout a better industrial condition—a conditionunder which there shall be obedience to law and recognitionof public obligation by all corporations, great orsmall. The Department of Commerce and Labor willbe not only the clearing house for information regardingthe business transactions of the Nation, but the executivearm of the Government to aid in strengthening ourdomestic and foreign markets, in perfecting our transportationfacilities, in building up our merchant marine, inpreventing the entrance of undesirable immigrants,in improving commercial and industrial conditions,and in bringing together on common ground those necessarypartners in industrial progress—capitaland labor. Commerce between the nations is steadilygrowing in volume, and the tendency of the times istoward closer trade relations. Constant watchfulnessis needed to secure to Americans the chance to participateto the best advantage in foreign trade; and we mayconfidently expect that the new Department will justifythe expectation of its creators by the exercise ofthis watchfulness, as well as by the businesslikeadministration of such laws relating to our internalaffairs as are intrusted to its care.
In enacting the laws above enumerated the Congressproceeded on sane and conservative lines. Nothingrevolutionary was attempted; but a common-sense andsuccessful effort was made in the direction of seeingthat corporations are so handled as to subserve thepublic good. The legislation was moderate.It was characterized throughout by the idea that wewere not attacking corporations, but endeavoring toprovide for doing away with any evil in them; thatwe drew the line against misconduct, not against wealth;gladly recognizing the great good done by the capitalistwho alone, or in conjunction with his fellows, doeshis work along proper and legitimate lines. Thepurpose of the legislation, which purpose will undoubtedlybe fulfilled, was to favor such a man when he doeswell, and to supervise his action only to preventhim from doing ill. Publicity can do no harm tothe honest corporation. The only corporationthat has cause to dread it is the corporation whichshrinks from the light, and about the welfare of suchcorporations we need not be oversensitive. Thework of the Department of Commerce and Labor has beenconditioned upon this theory, of securing fair treatmentalike for labor and for capital.
The consistent policy of the National Government,so far as it has the power, is to hold in check theunscrupulous man, whether employer or employee; butto refuse to weaken individual initiative or to hamperor cramp the industrial development of the country.We recognize that this is an era of federation andcombination, in which great capitalistic corporationsand labor unions have become factors of tremendousimportance in all industrial centers. Hearty recognitionis given the far-reaching, beneficent work which hasbeen accomplished through both corporations and unions,and the line as between different corporations, asbetween different unions, is drawn as it is betweendifferent individuals; that is, it is drawn on conduct,the effort being to treat both organized capital andorganized labor alike; asking nothing save that theinterest of each shall be brought into harmony withthe interest of the general public, and that the conductof each shall conform to the fundamental rules ofobedience to law, of individual freedom, and of justiceand fair dealing towards all. Whenever eithercorporation, labor union, or individual disregardsthe law or acts in a spirit of arbitrary and tyrannousinterference with the rights of others, whether corporationsor individuals, then where the Federal Governmenthas jurisdiction, it will see to it that the misconductis stopped, paying not the slightest heed to the positionor power of the corporation, the union or the individual,but only to one vital fact—that is, thequestion whether or not the conduct of the individualor aggregate of individuals is in accordance with thelaw of the land. Every man must be guaranteedhis liberty and his right to do as he likes with hisproperty or his labor, so long as he does not infringethe rights of others. No man is above the lawand no man is below it; nor do we ask any man’spermission when we require him to obey it. Obedienceto the law is demanded as a right; not asked as afavor.
We have cause as a nation to be thankful for the stepsthat have been so successfully taken to put theseprinciples into effect. The progress has beenby evolution, not by revolution. Nothing radicalhas been done; the action has been both moderate andresolute. Therefore the work will stand.There shall be no backward step. If in the workingof the laws it proves desirable that they shall atany point be expanded or amplified, the amendmentcan be made as its desirability is shown. Meanwhilethey are being administered with judgment, but withinsistence upon obedience to them, and their need hasbeen emphasized in signal fashion by the events ofthe past year.
From all sources, exclusive of the postal service,the receipts of the Government for the last fiscalyear aggregated $560,396,674. The expendituresfor the same period were $506,099,007, the surplusfor the fiscal year being $54,297,667. The indicationsare that the surplus for the present fiscal year willbe very small, if indeed there be any surplus.From July to November the receipts from customs were,approximately, nine million dollars less than the receiptsfrom the same source for a corresponding portion oflast year. Should this decrease continue at thesame ratio throughout the fiscal year, the surpluswould be reduced by, approximately, thirty milliondollars. Should the revenue from customs suffermuch further decrease during the fiscal year, thesurplus would vanish. A large surplus is certainlyundesirable. Two years ago the war taxes weretaken off with the express intention of equalizingthe governmental receipts and expenditures, and thoughthe first year thereafter still showed a surplus,it now seems likely that a substantial equality ofrevenue and expenditure will be attained. Suchbeing the case it is of great moment both to exercisecare and economy in appropriations, and to scan sharplyany change in our fiscal revenue system which may reduceour income. The need of strict economy in ourexpenditures is emphasized by the fact that we cannot afford to be parsimonious in providing for whatis essential to our national well-being. Carefuleconomy wherever possible will alone prevent our incomefrom falling below the point required in order tomeet our genuine needs.
The integrity of our currency is beyond question,and under present conditions it would be unwise andunnecessary to attempt a reconstruction of our entiremonetary system. The same liberty should be grantedthe Secretary of the Treasury to deposit customs receiptsas is granted him in the deposit of receipts fromother sources. In my Message of December 2, 1902,I called attention to certain needs of the financialsituation, and I again ask the consideration of theCongress for these questions.
During the last session of the Congress at the suggestionof a joint note from the Republic of Mexico and theImperial Government of China, and in harmony withan act of the Congress appropriating $25,000 to paythe expenses thereof, a commission was appointed toconfer with the principal European countries in thehope that some plan might be devised whereby a fixedrate of exchange could be assured between the gold-standardcountries and the silver-standard countries. Thiscommission has filed its preliminary report, whichhas been made public. I deem it important thatthe commission be continued, and that a sum of moneybe appropriated sufficient to pay the expenses of itsfurther labors.
A majority of our people desire that steps be takenin the interests of American shipping, so that wemay once more resume our former position in the oceancarrying trade. But hitherto the differences ofopinion as to the proper method of reaching this endhave been so wide that it has proved impossible tosecure the adoption of any particular scheme.Having in view these facts, I recommend that the Congressdirect the Secretary of the Navy, the Postmaster-General,and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, associatedwith such a representation from the Senate and Houseof Representatives as the Congress in its wisdom maydesignate, to serve as a commission for the purposeof investigating and reporting to the Congress atit* next session what legislation is desirable ornecessary for the development of the American merchantmarine and American commerce, and incidentally of anational ocean mail service of adequate auxiliarynaval crusiers and naval reserves. While sucha measure is desirable in any event, it is especiallydesirable at this time, in view of the fact that ourpresent governmental contract for ocean mail withthe American Line will expire in 1905. Our oceanmail act was passed in 1891. In 1895 our 20-knottransatlantic mail line was equal to any foreign line.Since then the Germans have put on 23-knot, steamers,and the British have contracted for 24-knot steamers.Our service should equal the best. If it doesnot, the commercial public will abandon it. Ifwe are to stay in the business it ought to be witha full understanding of the advantages to the countryon one hand, and on the other with exact knowledgeof the cost and proper methods of carrying it on.Moreover, lines of cargo ships are of even more importancethan fast mail lines; save so far as the latter canbe depended upon to furnish swift auxiliary cruisersin time of war. The establishment of new linesof cargo ships to South America, to Asia, and elsewherewould be much in the interest of our commercial expansion.
We can not have too much immigration of the rightkind, and we should have none at all of the wrongkind. The need is to devise some system by whichundesirable immigrants shall be kept out entirely,while desirable immigrants are properly distributedthroughout the country. At present some districtswhich need immigrants have none; and in others, wherethe population is already congested, immigrants comein such numbers as to depress the conditions of lifefor those already there. During the last twoyears the immigration service at New York has beengreatly improved, and the corruption and inefficiencywhich formerly obtained there have been eradicated.This service has just been investigated by a committeeof New York citizens of high standing, Messrs. ArthurV. Briesen, Lee K. Frankel, Eugene A. Philbin, ThomasW. Hynes, and Ralph Trautman. Their report dealswith the whole situation at length, and concludeswith certain recommendations for administrative andlegislative action. It is now receiving the attentionof the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
The special investigation of the subject of naturalizationunder the direction of the Attorney-General, and theconsequent prosecutions reveal a condition of affairscalling for the immediate attention of the Congress.Forgeries and perjuries of shameless and flagrantcharacter have been perpetrated, not only in the densecenters of population, but throughout the country;and it is established beyond doubt that very manyso-called citizens of the United States have no titlewhatever to that right, and are asserting and enjoyingthe benefits of the same through the grossest frauds.It is never to be forgotten that citizenship is, toquote the words recently used by the Supreme Courtof the United States, an “inestimable heritage,”whether it proceeds from birth within the countryor is obtained by naturalization; and we poison thesources of our national character and strength atthe fountain, if the privilege is claimed and exercisedwithout right, and by means of fraud and corruption.The body politic can not be sound and healthy if manyof its constituent members claim their standing throughthe prostitution of the high right and calling ofcitizenship. It should mean something to becomea citizen of the United States; and in the processno loophole whatever should be left open to fraud.
The methods by which these frauds—now underfull investigation with a view to meting out punishmentand providing adequate remedies—are perpetrated,include many variations of procedure by which falsecertificates of citizenship are forged in their entirety;or genuine certificates fraudulently or collusivelyobtained in blank are filled in by the criminal conspirators;or certificates are obtained on fraudulent statementsas to the time of arrival and residence in this country;or imposition and substitution of another party forthe real petitioner occur in court; or certificatesare made the subject of barter and sale and transferredfrom the rightful holder to those not entitled tothem; or certificates are forged by erasure of theoriginal names and the insertion of the names of otherpersons not entitled to the same.
It is not necessary for me to refer here at largeto the causes leading to this state of affairs.The desire for naturalization is heartily to be commendedwhere it springs from a sincere and permanent intentionto become citizens, and a real appreciation of theprivilege. But it is a source of untold eviland trouble where it is traceable to selfish and dishonestmotives, such as the effort by artificial and impropermeans, in wholesale fashion to create voters who areready-made tools of corrupt politicians, or the desireto evade certain labor laws creating discriminationsagainst alien labor. All good citizens, whethernaturalized or native born, are equally interestedin protecting our citizenship against fraud in anyform, and, on the other hand, in affording every facilityfor naturalization to those who in good faith desireto share alike our privileges and our responsibilities.
The Federal grand jury lately in session in New YorkCity dealt with this subject and made a presentmentwhich states the situation briefly and forcibly andcontains important suggestions for the considerationof the Congress. This presentment is includedas an appendix to the report of the Attorney-General.
In my last annual Message, in connection with thesubject of the due regulation of combinations of capitalwhich are or may become injurious to the public, Irecommend a special appropriation for the better enforcementof the antitrust law as it now stands, to be extendedunder the direction of the Attorney-General.Accordingly (by the legislative, executive, and judicialappropriation act of February 25, 1903, 32 Stat.,854, 904), the Congress appropriated, for the purposeof enforcing the various Federal trust and interstate-commercelaws, the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, tobe expended under the direction of the Attorney-Generalin the employment of special counsel and agents inthe Department of Justice to conduct proceedings andprosecutions under said laws in the courts of the UnitedStates. I now recommend, as a matter of the utmostimportance and urgency, the extension of the purposesof this appropriation, so that it may be available,under the direction of the Attorney-General, and untilused, for the due enforcement of the laws of the UnitedStates in general and especially of the civil andcriminal laws relating to public lands and the lawsrelating to postal crimes and offenses and the subjectof naturalization. Recent investigations haveshown a deplorable state of affairs in these threematters of vital concern. By various frauds andby forgeries and perjuries, thousands of acres of thepublic domain, embracing lands of different characterand extending through various sections of the country,have been dishonestly acquired. It is hardlynecessary to urge the importance of recovering thesedishonest acquisitions, stolen from the people, andof promptly and duly punishing the offenders.I speak in another part of this Message of the widespreadcrimes by which the sacred right of citizenship isfalsely asserted and that “inestimable heritage”perverted to base ends. By similar means—thatis, through frauds, forgeries, and perjuries, andby shameless briberies—the laws relatingto the proper conduct of the public service in generaland to the due administration of the Post-Office Departmenthave been notoriously violated, and many indictmentshave been found, and the consequent prosecutions arein course of hearing or on the eve thereof. Forthe reasons thus indicated, and so that the Governmentmay be prepared to enforce promptly and with the greatesteffect the due penalties for such violations of law,and to this end may be furnished with sufficient instrumentalitiesand competent legal assistance for the investigationsand trials which will be necessary at many differentpoints of the country, I urge upon the Congress thenecessity of making the said appropriation availablefor immediate use for all such purposes, to be expendedunder the direction of the Attorney-General.
Steps have been taken by the State Department lookingto the making of bribery an extraditable offense withforeign powers. The need of more effective treatiescovering this crime is manifest. The exposuresand prosecutions of official corruption in St. Louis,Mo., and other cities and States have resulted ina number of givers and takers of bribes becoming fugitivesin foreign lands. Bribery has not been includedin extradition treaties heretofore, as the necessityfor it has not arisen. While there may have beenas much official corruption in former years, therehas been more developed and brought to light in theimmediate past than in the preceding century of ourcountry’s history. It should be the policyof the United States to leave no place on earth wherea corrupt man fleeing from this country can rest inpeace. There is no reason why bribery shouldnot be included in all treaties as extraditable.The recent amended treaty with Mexico, whereby thiscrime was put in the list of extraditable offenses,has established a salutary precedent in this regard.Under this treaty the State Department has asked,and Mexico has granted, the extradition of one ofthe St. Louis bribe givers.
There can be no crime more serious than bribery.Other offenses violate one law while corruption strikesat the foundation of all law. Under our formof Government all authority is vested in the peopleand by them delegated to those who represent themin official capacity. There can be no offenseheavier than that of him in whom such a sacred trusthas been reposed, who sells it for his own gain andenrichment; and no less heavy is the offense of thebribe giver. He is worse than the thief, forthe thief robs the individual, while the corrupt officialplunders an entire city or State. He is as wickedas the murderer, for the murderer may only take onelife against the law, while the corrupt official andthe man who corrupts the official alike aim at theassassination of the commonwealth itself. Governmentof the people, by the people, for the people willperish from the face of the earth if bribery is tolerated.The givers and takers of bribes stand on an evil pre-eminenceof infamy. The exposure and punishment of publiccorruption is an honor to a nation, not a disgrace.The shame lies in toleration, not in correction.No city or State, still less the Nation, can be injuredby the enforcement of law. As long as public plundererswhen detected can find a haven of refuge in any foreignland and avoid punishment, just so long encouragementis given them to continue their practices. Ifwe fail to do all that in us lies to stamp out corruptionwe can not escape our share of responsibility for theguilt. The first requisite of successful self-governmentis unflinching enforcement of the law and the cuttingout of corruption.
For several years past the rapid development of Alaskaand the establishment of growing American interestsin regions theretofore unsurveyed and imperfectlyknown brought into prominence the urgent necessityof a practical demarcation of the boundaries betweenthe jurisdictions of the United States and Great Britain.Although the treaty of 1825 between Great Britainand Russia, the provisions of which were copied inthe treaty of 1867, whereby Russia conveyed Alaskato the United States, was positive as to the control,first by Russia and later by the United States, ofa strip of territory along the continental mainlandfrom the western shore of Portland Canal to MountSt. Elias, following and surrounding the indentationsof the coast and including the islands to the westward,its description of the landward margin of the stripwas indefinite, resting on the supposed existenceof a continuous ridge or range of mountains skirtingthe coast, as figured in the charts of the early navigators.It had at no time been possible for either party ininterest to lay down, under the authority of the treaty,a line so obviously exact according to its provisionsas to command the assent of the other. For nearlythree-fourths of a century the absence of tangiblelocal interests demanding the exercise of positivejurisdiction on either side of the border left thequestion dormant. In 1878 questions of revenueadministration on the Stikine River led to the establishmentof a provisional demarcation, crossing the channelbetween two high peaks on either side about twenty-fourmiles above the river mouth. In 1899 similar questionsgrowing out of the extraordinary development of mininginterests in the region about the head of Lynn Canalbrought about a temporary modus vivendi, by whicha convenient separation was made at the watershed dividesof the White and Chilkoot passes and to the northof Klukwan, on the Klehini River. These partialand tentative adjustments could not, in the very natureof things, be satisfactory or lasting. A permanentdisposition of the matter became imperative.
After unavailing attempts to reach an understandingthrough a Joint High Commission, followed by prolongednegotiations, conducted in an amicable spirit, a conventionbetween the United States and Great Britain was signed,January 24, 1903, providing for an examination ofthe subject by a mixed tribunal of six members, threeon a side, with a view to its final disposition.Ratifications were exchanged on March 3 last, whereuponthe two Governments appointed their respective members.Those on behalf of the United States were Elihu Root,Secretary of War, Henry Cabot Lodge, a Senator ofthe United States, and George Turner, an ex-Senatorof the United States, while Great Britain named theRight Honourable Lord Alverstone, Lord Chief Justiceof England, Sir Louis Amable Jette, K. C. M. G., retiredjudge of the Supreme Court of Quebec, and A. B. Aylesworth,K. C., of Toronto. This Tribunal met in London
on September 3, under the Presidency of Lord Alverstone.The proceedings were expeditious, and marked by afriendly and conscientious spirit. The respectivecases, counter cases, and arguments presented theissues clearly and fully. On the 20th of Octobera majority of the Tribunal reached and signed an agreementon all the questions submitted by the terms of theConvention. By this award the right of the UnitedStates to the control of a continuous strip or borderof the mainland shore, skirting all the tide-waterinlets and sinuosities of the coast, is confirmed;the entrance to Portland Canal (concerning which legitimatedoubt appeared) is defined as passing by Tongass Inletand to the northwestward of Wales and Pearse islands;a line is drawn from the head of Portland Canal tothe fifty-sixth degree of north latitude; and theinterior border line of the strip is fixed by linesconnecting certain mountain summits lying betweenPortland Canal and Mount St. Elias, and running alongthe crest of the divide separating the coast slopefrom the inland watershed at the only part of thefrontier where the drainage ridge approaches the coastwithin the distance of ten marine leagues stipulatedby the treaty as the extreme width of the strip aroundthe heads of Lynn Canal and its branches.While the line so traced follows the provisional demarcationof 1878 at the crossing of the Stikine River, andthat of 1899 at the summits of the White and Chilkootpasses, it runs much farther inland from the Klehinithan the temporary line of the later modus vivendi,and leaves the entire mining district of the PorcupineRiver and Glacier Creek within the jurisdiction ofthe United States.
The result is satisfactory in every way. It isof great material advantage to our people in the FarNorthwest. It has removed from the field of discussionand possible danger a question liable to become moreacutely accentuated with each passing year. Finally,it has furnished a signal proof of the fairness andgood will with which two friendly nations can approachand determine issues involving national sovereigntyand by their nature incapable of submission to a thirdpower for adjudication.
The award is self-executing on the vital points.To make it effective as regards the others it onlyremains for the two Governments to appoint, each onits own behalf, one or more scientific experts, whoshall, with all convenient speed, proceed togetherto lay down the boundary line in accordance with thedecision of the majority of the Tribunal. I recommendthat the Congress make adequate provision for theappointment, compensation, and expenses of the membersto serve on this joint boundary commission on thepart of the United States.
It will be remembered that during the second sessionof the last Congress Great Britain, Germany, and Italyformed an alliance for the purpose of blockading theports of Venezuela and using such other means of pressureas would secure a settlement of claims due, as theyalleged, to certain of their subjects. Their employmentof force for the collection of these claims was terminatedby an agreement brought about through the officesof the diplomatic representatives of the United Statesat Caracas and the Government at Washington, therebyending a situation which was bound to cause increasingfriction, and which jeoparded the peace of the continent.Under this agreement Venezuela agreed to set aparta certain percentage of the customs receipts of twoof her ports to be applied to the payment of whateverobligations might be ascertained by mixed commissionsappointed for that purpose to be due from her, notonly to the three powers already mentioned, whoseproceedings against her had resulted in a state ofwar, but also to the United States, France, Spain,Belgium, the Netherland Sweden and Norway, and Mexico,who had not employed force for the collection of theclaims alleged to be due to certain of their citizens.
A demand was then made by the so-called blockadingpowers that the sums ascertained to be due to theircitizens by such mixed commissions should be accordedpayment in full before anything was paid upon theclaims of any of the so-called peace powers. Venezuela,on the other hand, insisted that all her creditorsshould be paid upon a basis of exact equality.During the efforts to adjust this dispute it was suggestedby the powers in interest that it should be referredto me for decision, but I was clearly of the opinionthat a far wiser course would be to submit the questionto the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.It seemed to me to offer an admirable opportunity toadvance the practice of the peaceful settlement ofdisputes between nations and to secure for the HagueTribunal a memorable increase of its practical importance.The nations interested in the controversy were sonumerous and in many instances so powerful as to makeit evident that beneficent results would follow fromtheir appearance at the same time before the bar ofthat august tribunal of peace.
Our hopes in that regard have been realized.Russia and Austria are represented in the personsof the learned and distinguished jurists who composethe Tribunal, while Great Britain, Germany, France,Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden andNorway, Mexico, the United States, and Venezuela arerepresented by their respective agents and counsel.Such an imposing concourse of nations presenting theirarguments to and invoking the decision of that highcourt of international justice and international peacecan hardly fail to secure a like submission of manyfuture controversies. The nations now appearingthere will find it far easier to appear there a secondtime, while no nation can imagine its just pride willbe lessened by following the example now presented.This triumph of the principle of international arbitrationis a subject of warm congratulation and offers a happyaugury for the peace of the world.
There seems good ground for the belief that therehas been a real growth among the civilized nationsof a sentiment which will permit a gradual substitutionof other methods than the method of war in the settlementof disputes. It is not pretended that as yet weare near a position in which it will be possible whollyto prevent war, or that a just regard for nationalinterest and honor will in all cases permit of thesettlement of international disputes by arbitration;but by a mixture of prudence and firmness with wisdomwe think it is possible to do away with much of theprovocation and excuse for war, and at least in manycases to substitute some other and more rational methodfor the settlement of disputes. The Hague Courtoffers so good an example of what can be done in thedirection of such settlement that it should be encouragedin every way.
Further steps should be taken. In President McKinley’sannual Message of December 5, 1898, he made the followingrecommendation:
“The experiences of the last year bring forciblyhome to us a sense of the burdens and the waste ofwar. We desire in common with most civilizednations, to reduce to the lowest possible point thedamage sustained in time of war by peaceable tradeand commerce. It is true we may suffer in suchcases less than other communities, but all nationsare damaged more or less by the state of uneasinessand apprehension into which an outbreak of hostilitiesthrows the entire commercial world. It shouldbe our object, therefore, to minimize, so far as practicable,this inevitable loss and disturbance. This purposecan probably best be accomplished by an internationalagreement to regard all private property at sea asexempt from capture or destruction by the forces ofbelligerent powers. The United States Governmenthas for many years advocated this humane and beneficentprinciple, and is now in a position to recommend itto other powers without the imputation of selfishmotives. I therefore suggest for your considerationthat the Executive be authorized to correspond withthe governments of the principal maritime powers witha view of incorporating into the permanent law ofcivilized nations the principle of the exemption ofall private property at sea, not contraband of war,from capture or destruction by belligerent powers.”
I cordially renew this recommendation.
The Supreme Court, speaking on December 11. 1899,through Peckham, J., said:
“It is, we think, historically accurate to saythat this Government has always been, in its views,among the most advanced of the governments of theworld in favor of mitigating, as to all non-combatants,the hardships and horrors of war. To accomplishthat object it has always advocated those rules whichwould in most cases do away with the right to capturethe private property of an enemy on the high seas.”
I advocate this as a matter of humanity and morals.It is anachronistic when private property is respectedon land that it should not be respected at sea.Moreover, it should be borne in mind that shippingrepresents, internationally speaking, a much more generalizedspecies of private property than is the case withordinary property on land—that is, propertyfound at sea is much less apt than is the case withproperty found on land really to belong to any onenation. Under the modern system of corporateownership the flag of a vessel often differs fromthe flag which would mark the nationality of the realownership and money control of the vessel; and thecargo may belong to individuals of yet a differentnationality. Much American capital is now investedin foreign ships; and among foreign nations it oftenhappens that the capital of one is largely investedin the shipping of another. Furthermore, as apractical matter, it may be mentioned that while commercedestroying may cause serious loss and great annoyance,it can never be more than a subsidiary factor in bringingto terms a resolute foe. This is now well recognizedby all of our naval experts. The fighting ship,not the commerce destroyer, is the vessel whose featsadd renown to a nation’s history, and establishher place among the great powers of the world.
Last year the Interparliamentary Union for InternationalArbitration met at Vienna, six hundred members ofthe different legislatures of civilized countriesattending. It was provided that the next meetingshould be in 1904 at St. Louis, subject to our Congressextending an invitation. Like the Hague Tribunal,this Interparliamentary Union is one of the forcestending towards peace among the nations of the earth,and it is entitled to our support. I trust theinvitation can be extended.
Early in July, having received intelligence, whichhappily turned out to be erroneous, of the assassinationof our vice-consul at Beirut, I dispatched a smallsquadron to that port for such service as might befound necessary on arrival. Although the attempton the life of our vice-consul had not been successful,yet the outrage was symptomatic of a state of excitementand disorder which demanded immediate attention.The arrival of the vessels had the happiest result.A feeling of security at once took the place of theformer alarm and disquiet; our officers were cordiallywelcomed by the consular body and the leading merchants,and ordinary business resumed its activity. TheGovernment of the Sultan gave a considerate hearingto the representations of our minister; the officialwho was regarded as responsible for the disturbedcondition of affairs was removed. Our relationswith the Turkish Government remain friendly; our claimsrounded on inequitable treatment of some of our schoolsand missions appear to be in process of amicable adjustment.
The signing of a new commercial treaty with China,which took place at Shanghai on the 8th of October,is a cause for satisfaction. This act, the resultof long discussion and negotiation, places our commercialrelations with the great Oriental Empire on a moresatisfactory footing than they have ever heretoforeenjoyed. It provides not only for the ordinaryrights and privileges of diplomatic and consular officers,but also for an important extension of our commerceby increased facility of access to Chinese ports,and for the relief of trade by the removal of someof the obstacles which have embarrassed it in the past.The Chinese Government engages, on fair and equitableconditions, which will probably be accepted by theprincipal commercial nations, to abandon the levyof “liken” and other transit dues throughoutthe Empire, and to introduce other desirable administrativereforms. Larger facilities are to be given toour citizens who desire to carry on mining enterprisesin China. We have secured for our missionariesa valuable privilege, the recognition of their rightto rent and lease in perpetuity such property as theirreligious societies may need in all parts of the Empire.And, what was an indispensable condition for the advanceand development of our commerce in Manchuria, China,by treaty with us, has opened to foreign commercethe cities of Mukden, the capital of the provinceof Manchuria, and An-tung, an important port on theYalu River, on the road to Korea. The full measureof development which our commerce may rightfully expectcan hardly be looked for until the settlement of thepresent abnormal state of things in the Empire; butthe foundation for such development has at last beenlaid.
I call your attention to the reduced cost in maintainingthe consular service for the fiscal year ending June30, 1903, as shown in the annual report of the Auditorfor the State and other Departments, as compared withthe year previous. For the year under considerationthe excess of expenditures over receipts on accountof the consular service amounted to $26,125.12, asagainst $96,972.50 for the year ending June 30, 1902,and $147,040.16 for the year ending June 30, 1901.This is the best showing in this respect for the consularservice for the past fourteen years, and the reductionin the cost of the service to the Government has beenmade in spite of the fact that the expenditures forthe year in question were more than $20,000 greaterthan for the previous year.
The rural free-delivery service has been steadilyextended. The attention of the Congress is askedto the question of the compensation of the lettercarriers and clerks engaged in the postal service,especially on the new rural free-delivery routes.More routes have been installed since the first ofJuly last than in any like period in the Department’shistory. While a due regard to economy must bekept in mind in the establishment of new routes, yet
the extension of the rural free-delivery system mustbe continued, for reasons of sound public policy.No governmental movement of recent years has resultedin greater immediate benefit to the people of thecountry districts. Rural free delivery, takenin connection with the telephone, the bicycle, andthe trolley, accomplishes much toward lessening theisolation of farm life and making it brighter andmore attractive. In the immediate past the lackof just such facilities as these has driven many ofthe more active and restless young men and women fromthe farms to the cities; for they rebelled at lonelinessand lack of mental companionship. It is unhealthyand undesirable for the cities to grow at the expenseof the country; and rural free delivery is not onlya good thing in itself, but is good because it isone of the causes which check this unwholesome tendencytowards the urban concentration of our populationat the expense of the country districts. It isfor the same reason that we sympathize with and approveof the policy of building good roads. The movementfor good roads is one fraught with the greatest benefitto the country districts.I trust that the Congress will continue to favor inall proper ways the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.This Exposition commemorates the Louisiana purchase,which was the first great step in the expansion whichmade us a continental nation. The expedition ofLewis and Clark across the continent followed thereon,and marked the beginning of the process of explorationand colonization which thrust our national boundariesto the Pacific. The acquisition of the Oregoncountry, including the present States of Oregon andWashington, was a fact of immense importance in ourhistory; first giving us our place on the Pacificseaboard, and making ready the way for our ascendencyin the commerce of the greatest of the oceans.The centennial of our establishment upon the westerncoast by the expedition of Lewis and Clark is to becelebrated at Portland, Oregon, by an exposition inthe summer of 1905, and this event should receiverecognition and support from the National Government.
I call your special attention to the Territory ofAlaska. The country is developing rapidly, andit has an assured future. The mineral wealthis great and has as yet hardly been tapped. Thefisheries, if wisely handled and kept under nationalcontrol, will be a business as permanent as any other,and of the utmost importance to the people. Theforests if properly guarded will form another greatsource of wealth. Portions of Alaska are fittedfor farming and stock raising, although the methodsmust be adapted to the peculiar conditions of the country.Alaska is situated in the far north; but so are Norwayand Sweden and Finland; and Alaska can prosper andplay its part in the New World just as those nationshave prospered and played their parts in the Old World.Proper land laws should be enacted; and the survey
of the public lands immediately begun. Coal-landlaws should be provided whereby the coal-land entrymanmay make his location and secure patent under methodskindred to those now prescribed for homestead and mineralentrymen. Salmon hatcheries, exclusively underGovernment control, should be established. Thecable should be extended from Sitka westward.Wagon roads and trails should be built, and the buildingof railroads promoted in all legitimate ways.Light-houses should be built along the coast.Attention should be paid to the needs of the AlaskaIndians; provision should be made for an officer, withdeputies, to study their needs, relieve their immediatewants, and help them adapt themselves to the new conditions.The commission appointed to investigate, during theseason of 1903, the condition and needs of the Alaskansalmon fisheries, has finished its work in the field,and is preparing a detailed report thereon. Apreliminary report reciting the measures immediatelyrequired for the protection and preservation of thesalmon industry has already been submitted to theSecretary of Commerce and Labor for his attention andfor the needed action.
I recommend that an appropriation be made for buildinglight-houses in Hawaii, and taking possession of thosealready built. The Territory should be reimbursedfor whatever amounts it has already expended for light-houses.The governor should be empowered to suspend or removeany official appointed by him, without submittingthe matter to the legislature.
Of our insular possessions the Philippines and PortoRico it is gratifying to say that their steady progresshas been such as to make it unnecessary to spend muchtime in discussing them. Yet the Congress shouldever keep in mind that a peculiar obligation restsupon us to further in every way the welfare of thesecommunities. The Philippines should be knit closerto us by tariff arrangements. It would, of course,be impossible suddenly to raise the people of the islandsto the high pitch of industrial prosperity and ofgovernmental efficiency to which they will in theend by degrees attain; and the caution and moderationshown in developing them have been among the main reasonswhy this development has hitherto gone on so smoothly.Scrupulous care has been taken in the choice of governmentalagents, and the entire elimination of partisan politicsfrom the public service. The condition of theislanders is in material things far better than everbefore, while their governmental, intellectual, andmoral advance has kept pace with their material advance.No one people ever benefited another people more thanwe have benefited the Filipinos by taking possessionof the islands.
The cash receipts of the General Land Office for thelast fiscal year were $11,024,743.65, an increaseof $4,762,816.47 over the preceding year. Ofthis sum, approximately, $8,461,493 will go to thecredit of the fund for the reclamation of arid land,making the total of this fund, up to the 30th of June,1903, approximately, $16,191,836.
A gratifying disposition has been evinced by thosehaving unlawful inclosures of public land to removetheir fences. Nearly two million acres so inclosedhave been thrown open on demand. In but comparativelyfew cases has it been necessary to go into court toaccomplish this purpose. This work will be vigorouslyprosecuted until all unlawful inclosures have beenremoved.
Experience has shown that in the western States themselves,as well as in the rest of the country, there is widespreadconviction that certain of the public-land laws andthe resulting administrative practice no longer meetthe present needs. The character and uses of theremaining public lands differ widely from those ofthe public lands which Congress had especially inview when these laws were passed. The rapidlyincreasing rate of disposal of the public lands isnot followed by a corresponding increase in home building.There is a tendency to mass in large holdings publiclands, especially timber and grazing lands, and therebyto retard settlement. I renew and emphasize myrecommendation of last year that so far as they areavailable for agriculture in its broadest sense, andto whatever extent they may be reclaimed under thenational irrigation law, the remaining public landsshould be held rigidly for the home builder. Theattention of the Congress is especially directed tothe timber and stone law, the desert-land law, andthe commutation clause of the homestead law, whichin their operation have in many respects conflictedwith wise public-land policy. The discussionsin the Congress and elsewhere have made it evidentthat there is a wide divergence of opinions betweenthose holding opposite views on these subjects; andthat the opposing sides have strong and convincedrepresentatives of weight both within and withoutthe Congress; the differences being not only as tomatters of opinion but as to matters of fact.In order that definite information may be availablefor the use of the Congress, I have appointed a commissioncomposed of W. A. Richards, Commissioner of the GeneralLand Office; Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the Bureau ofForestry of the Department of Agriculture, and F.H. Newell, Chief Hydrographer of the Geological Survey,to report at the earliest practicable moment uponthe condition, operation, and effect of the presentland laws and on the use, condition, disposal, andsettlement of the public lands. The commissionwill report especially what changes in organization,laws, regulations, and practice affecting the publiclands are needed to effect the largest practicabledisposition of the public lands to actual settlerswho will build permanent homes upon them, and to securein permanence the fullest and most effective use ofthe resources of the public lands; and it will makesuch other reports and recommendations as its studyof these questions may suggest. The commissionis to report immediately upon those points concerningwhich its judgment is clear; on any point upon whichit has doubt it will take the time necessary to makeinvestigation and reach a final judgment.
The work of reclamation of the arid lands of the Westis progressing steadily and satisfactorily under theterms of the law setting aside the proceeds from thedisposal of public lands. The corps of engineersknown as the Reclamation Service, which is conductingthe surveys and examinations, has been thoroughlyorganized, especial pains being taken to secure underthe civil-service rules a body of skilled, experienced,and efficient men. Surveys and examinations areprogressing throughout the arid States and Territories,plans for reclaiming works being prepared and passedupon by boards of engineers before approval by theSecretary of the Interior. In Arizona and Nevada,in localities where such work is pre-eminently needed,construction has already been begun. In otherparts of the arid West various projects are well advancedtowards the drawing up of contracts, these being delayedin part by necessities of reaching agreements or understandingas regards rights of way or acquisition of real estate.Most of the works contemplated for construction areof national importance, involving interstate questionsor the securing of stable, self-supporting communitiesin the midst of vast tracts of vacant land. TheNation as a whole is of course the gainer by the creationof these homes, adding as they do to the wealth andstability of the country, and furnishing a home marketfor the products of the East and South. The reclamationlaw, while perhaps not ideal, appears at present toanswer the larger needs for which it is designed.Further legislation is not recommended until the necessitiesof change are more apparent.
The study of the opportunities of reclamation of thevast extent of arid land shows that whether this reclamationis done by individuals, corporations, or the State,the sources of water supply must be effectively protectedand the reservoirs guarded by the preservation ofthe forests at the headwaters of the streams.The engineers making the preliminary examinationscontinually emphasize this need and urge that theremaining public lands at the headwaters of the importantstreams of the West be reserved to insure permanencyof water supply for irrigation. Much progressin forestry has been made during the past year.The necessity for perpetuating our forest resources,whether in public or private hands, is recognizednow as never before. The demand for forest reserveshas become insistent in the West, because the Westmust use the water, wood, and summer range which onlysuch reserves can supply. Progressive lumbermenare striving, through forestry, to give their businesspermanence. Other great business interests areawakening to the need of forest preservation as abusiness matter. The Government’s forestwork should receive from the Congress hearty support,and especially support adequate for the protectionof the forest reserves against fire. The forest-reservepolicy of the Government has passed beyond the experimentalstage and has reached a condition where scientificmethods are essential to its successful prosecution.The administrative features of forest reserves areat present unsatisfactory, being divided between threeBureaus of two Departments. It is therefore recommendedthat all matters pertaining to forest reserves, exceptthose involving or pertaining to land titles, be consolidatedin the Bureau of Forestry of the Department of Agriculture.
The cotton-growing States have recently been invadedby a weevil that has done much damage and threatensthe entire cotton industry. I suggest to theCongress the prompt enactment of such remedial legislationas its judgment may approve.
In granting patents to foreigners the proper coursefor this country to follow is to give the same advantagesto foreigners here that the countries in which theseforeigners dwell extend in return to our citizens;that is, to extend the benefits of our patent lawson inventions and the like where in return the articleswould be patentable in the foreign countries concerned—wherean American could get a corresponding patent in suchcountries.
The Indian agents should not be dependent for theirappointment or tenure of office upon considerationsof partisan politics; the practice of appointing,when possible, ex-army officers or bonded superintendentsto the vacancies that occur is working well. Attentionis invited to the widespread illiteracy due to lackof public schools in the Indian Territory. Promptheed should be paid to the need of education for thechildren in this Territory.
In my last annual Message the attention of the Congresswas called to the necessity of enlarging the safety-appliancelaw, and it is gratifying to note that this law wasamended in important respects. With the increasingrailway mileage of the country, the greater numberof men employed, and the use of larger and heavierequipment, the urgency for renewed effort to preventthe loss of life and limb upon the railroads of thecountry, particularly to employees, is apparent.For the inspection of water craft and the Life-SavingService upon the water the Congress has built up anelaborate body of protective legislation and a thoroughmethod of inspection and is annually spending largesums of money. It is encouraging to observe thatthe Congress is alive to the interests of those whoare employed upon our wonderful arteries of commerce—therailroads—who so safely transport millionsof passengers and billions of tons of freight.The Federal inspection, of safety appliances, forwhich the Congress is now making appropriations, isa service analogous to that which the Government hasupheld for generations in regard to vessels, and itis believed will prove of great practical benefit,both to railroad employees and the traveling public.As the greater part of commerce is interstate andexclusively under the control of the Congress the neededsafety and uniformity must be secured by nationallegislation.
No other class of our citizens deserves so well ofthe Nation as those to whom the Nation owes its verybeing, the veterans of the civil war. Specialattention is asked to the excellent work of the PensionBureau in expediting and disposing of pension claims.During the fiscal year ending July 1, 1903, the Bureausettled 251,982 claims, an average of 825 claims foreach working day of the year. The number of settlementssince July 1, 1903, has been in excess of last year’saverage, approaching 1,000 claims for each workingday, and it is believed that the work of the Bureauwill be current at the close of the present fiscalyear.
During the year ended June 30 last 25,566 personswere appointed through competitive examinations underthe civil-service rules. This was 12,672 morethan during the preceding year, and 40 per cent ofthose who passed the examinations. This abnormalgrowth was largely occasioned by the extension ofclassification to the rural free-delivery serviceand the appointment last year of over 9,000 ruralcarriers. A revision of the civil-service rulestook effect on April 15 last, which has greatly improvedtheir operation. The completion of the reformof the civil service is recognized by good citizenseverywhere as a matter of the highest public importance,and the success of the merit system largely dependsupon the effectiveness of the rules and the machineryprovided for their enforcement. A very gratifyingspirit of friendly co-operation exists in all theDepartments of the Government in the enforcement anduniform observance of both the letter and spirit ofthe civil-service act. Executive orders of July3, 1902; March 26, 1903, and July 8, 1903, requirethat appointments of all unclassified laborers, bothin the Departments at Washington and in the fieldservice, shall be made with the assistance of the UnitedStates Civil Service Commission, under a system ofregistration to test the relative fitness of applicantsfor appointment or employment. This system iscompetitive, and is open to all citizens of the UnitedStates qualified in respect to age, physical ability,moral character, industry, and adaptability for manuallabor; except that in case of veterans of the CivilWar the element of age is omitted. This systemof appointment is distinct from the classified serviceand does not classify positions of mere laborer underthe civil-service act and rules. Regulationsin aid thereof have been put in operation in severalof the Departments and are being gradually extendedin other parts of the service. The results havebeen very satisfactory, as extravagance has been checkedby decreasing the number of unnecessary positions andby increasing the efficiency of the employees remaining.
The Congress, as the result of a thorough investigationof the charities and reformatory institutions in theDistrict of Columbia, by a joint select committeeof the two Houses which made its report in March,1898, created in the act approved June 6, 1900, a boardof charities for the District of Columbia, to consistof five residents of the District, appointed by thePresident of the United States, by and with the adviceand consent of the Senate, each for a term of threeyears, to serve without compensation. PresidentMcKinley appointed five men who had been active andprominent in the public charities in Washington, allof whom upon taking office July 1, 1900, resigned fromthe different charities with which they had been connected.The members of the board have been reappointed insuccessive years. The board serves under theCommissioners of the District of Columbia. The
board gave its first year to a careful and impartialstudy of the special problems before it, and has continuedthat study every year in the light of the best practicein public charities elsewhere. Its recommendationsin its annual reports to the Congress through theCommissioners of the District of Columbia “forthe economical and efficient administration of thecharities and reformatories of the District of Columbia,”as required by the act creating it, have been basedupon the principles commended by the joint select committeeof the Congress in its report of March, 1898, andapproved by the best administrators of public charities,and make for the desired systematization and improvementof the affairs under its supervision. They areworthy of favorable consideration by the Congress.The effect of the laws providing a General Staff forthe Army and for the more effective use of the NationalGuard has been excellent. Great improvement hasbeen made in the efficiency of our Army in recentyears. Such schools as those erected at Fort Leavenworthand Fort Riley and the institution of fall maneuverwork accomplish satisfactory results. The goodeffect of these maneuvers upon the National Guard ismarked, and ample appropriation should be made to enablethe guardsmen of the several States to share in thebenefit. The Government should as soon as possiblesecure suitable permanent camp sites for militarymaneuvers in the various sections of the country.The service thereby rendered not only to the RegularArmy, but to the National Guard of the several States,will be so great as to repay many times over the relativelysmall expense. We should not rest satisfied withwhat has been done, however. The only peoplewho are contented with a system of promotion by mereseniority are those who are contented with the triumphof mediocrity over excellence. On the other hand,a system which encouraged the exercise of social orpolitical favoritism in promotions would be even worse.But it would surely be easy to devise a method ofpromotion from grade to grade in which the opinionof the higher officers of the service upon the candidatesshould be decisive upon the standing and promotionof the latter. Just such a system now obtainsat West Point. The quality of each year’swork determines the standing of that year’sclass, the man being dropped or graduated into thenext class in the relative position which his militarysuperiors decide to be warranted by his merit.In other words, ability, energy, fidelity, and allother similar qualities determine the rank of a manyear after year in West Point, and his standing inthe Army when he graduates from West Point; but fromthat time on, all effort to find which man is bestor worst, and reward or punish him accordingly, isabandoned; no brilliancy, no amount of hard work, noeagerness in the performance of duty, can advancehim, and no slackness or indifference that falls shortof a court-martial offense can retard him. Untilthis system is changed we can not hope that our officerswill be of as high grade as we have a right to expect,considering the material upon which we draw.Moreover, when a man renders such service as CaptainPershing rendered last spring in the Moro campaign,it ought to be possible to reward him without at oncejumping him to the grade of brigadier-general.
Shortly after the enunciation of that famous principleof American foreign policy now known as the “MonroeDoctrine,” President Monroe, in a special Messageto Congress on January 30, 1824, spoke as follows:“The Navy is the arm from which our Governmentwill always derive most aid in support of our rights.Every power engaged in war will know the strengthof our naval power, the number of our ships of eachclass, their condition, and the promptitude with whichwe may bring them into service, and will pay due considerationto that argument.”
I heartily congratulate the Congress upon the steadyprogress in building up the American Navy. Wecan not afford a let-up in this great work. Tostand still means to go back. There should beno cessation in adding to the effective units of thefighting strength of the fleet. Meanwhile theNavy Department and the officers of the Navy are doingwell their part by providing constant service at seaunder conditions akin to those of actual warfare.Our officers and enlisted men are learning to handlethe battleships, cruisers, and torpedo boats withhigh efficiency in fleet and squadron formations, andthe standard of marksmanship is being steadily raised.The best work ashore is indispensable, but the highestduty of a naval officer is to exercise command atsea.
The establishment of a naval base in the Philippinesought not to be longer postponed. Such a baseis desirable in time of peace; in time of war it wouldbe indispensable, and its lack would be ruinous.Without it our fleet would be helpless. Our navalexperts are agreed that Subig Bay is the proper placefor the purpose. The national interests requirethat the work of fortification and development of anaval station at Subig Bay be begun at an early date;for under the best conditions it is a work which willconsume much time.
It is eminently desirable, however, that there shouldbe provided a naval general staff on lines similarto those of the General Staff lately created for theArmy. Within the Navy Department itself the needsof the service have brought about a system under whichthe duties of a general staff are partially performed;for the Bureau of Navigation has under its directionthe War College, the Office of Naval Intelligence,and the Board of Inspection, and has been in closetouch with the General Board of the Navy. Butthough under the excellent officers at their head,these boards and bureaus do good work, they have notthe authority of a general staff, and have not sufficientscope to insure a proper readiness for emergencies.We need the establishment by law of a body of trainedofficers, who shall exercise a systematic controlof the military affairs of the Navy, and be authorizedadvisers of the Secretary concerning it.
By the act of June 28, 1902, the Congress authorizedthe President to enter into treaty with Colombia forthe building of the canal across the Isthmus of Panama;it being provided that in the event of failure tosecure such treaty after the lapse of a reasonabletime, recourse should be had to building a canal throughNicaragua. It has not been necessary to considerthis alternative, as I am enabled to lay before theSenate a treaty providing for the building of the canalacross the Isthmus of Panama. This was the routewhich commended itself to the deliberate judgmentof the Congress, and we can now acquire by treatythe right to construct the canal over this route.The question now, therefore, is not by which routethe isthmian canal shall be built, for that questionhas been definitely and irrevocably decided. Thequestion is simply whether or not we shall have anisthmian canal.
When the Congress directed that we should take thePanama route under treaty with Colombia, the essenceof the condition, of course, referred not to the Governmentwhich controlled that route, but to the route itself;to the territory across which the route lay, not tothe name which for the moment the territory bore onthe map. The purpose of the law was to authorizethe President to make a treaty with the power in actualcontrol of the Isthmus of Panama. This purposehas been fulfilled.
In the year 1846 this Government entered into a treatywith New Granada, the predecessor upon the Isthmusof the Republic of Colombia and of the present Republicof Panama, by which treaty it was provided that theGovernment and citizens of the United States shouldalways have free and open right of way or transitacross the Isthmus of Panama by any modes of communicationthat might be constructed, while in turn our Governmentguaranteed the perfect neutrality of the above-mentionedIsthmus with the view that the free transit from theone to the other sea might not be interrupted or embarrassed.The treaty vested in the United States a substantialproperty right carved out of the rights of sovereigntyand property which New Granada then had and possessedover the said territory. The name of New Granadahas passed away and its territory has been divided.Its successor, the Government of Colombia, has ceasedto own any property in the Isthmus. A new Republic,that of Panama, which was at one time a sovereignstate, and at another time a mere department of thesuccessive confederations known as New Granada andColumbia, has now succeeded to the rights which firstone and then the other formerly exercised over theIsthmus. But as long as the Isthmus endures,the mere geographical fact of its existence, and thepeculiar interest therein which is required by ourposition, perpetuate the solemn contract which bindsthe holders of the territory to respect our rightto freedom of transit across it, and binds us in returnto safeguard for the Isthmus and the world the exerciseof that inestimable privilege. The true interpretationof the obligations upon which the United States enteredin this treaty of 1846 has been given repeatedly inthe utterances of Presidents and Secretaries of State.Secretary Cuss in 1858 officially stated the positionof this Government as follows:
“The progress of events has rendered the interoceanicroute across the narrow portion of Central Americavastly important to the commercial world, and especiallyto the United States, whose possessions extend alongthe Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and demand the speediestand easiest modes of communication. While therights of sovereignty of the states occupying thisregion should always be respected, we shall expectthat these rights be exercised in a spirit befittingthe occasion and the wants and circ*mstances thathave arisen. Sovereignty has its duties as wellas its rights, and none of these local governments,even if administered with more regard to the just demandsof other nations than they have been, would be permitted,in a spirit of Eastern isolation, to close the gatesof intercourse on the great highways of the world,and justify the act by the pretension that these avenuesof trade and travel belong to them and that they chooseto shut them, or, what is almost equivalent, to encumberthem with such unjust relations as would prevent theirgeneral use.”
Seven years later, in 1865, Mr. Seward in differentcommunications took the following position:
“The United States have taken and will takeno interest in any question of internal revolutionin the State of Panama, or any State of the UnitedStates of Colombia, but will maintain a perfect neutralityin connection with such domestic altercations.The United States will, nevertheless, hold themselvesready to protect the transit trade across the Isthmusagainst invasion of either domestic or foreign disturbersof the peace of the State of Panama. Neither thetext nor the spirit of the stipulation in that articleby which the United States engages to preserve theneutrality of the Isthmus of Panama, imposes an obligationon this Government to comply with the requisition ofthe President of the United States of Colombia fora force to protect the Isthmus of Panama from a bodyof insurgents of that country. The purpose ofthe stipulation was to guarantee the Isthmus againstseizure or invasion by a foreign power only.”
Attorney-General Speed, under date of November 7,1865, advised Secretary Seward as follows:
“From this treaty it can not be supposed thatNew Granada invited the United States to become aparty to the intestine troubles of that Government,nor did the United States become bound to take sidesin the domestic broils of New Granada. The UnitedStates did guarantee New Granada in the sovereigntyand property over the territory. This was asagainst other and foreign governments.”
For four hundred years, ever since shortly after thediscovery of this hemisphere, the canal across theIsthmus has been planned. For two score yearsit has been worked at. When made it is to lastfor the ages. It is to alter the geography ofa continent and the trade routes of the world.We have shown by every treaty we have negotiated orattempted to negotiate with the peoples in controlof the Isthmus and with foreign nations in referencethereto our consistent good faith in observing ourobligations; on the one hand to the peoples of theIsthmus, and on the other hand to the civilized worldwhose commercial rights we are safeguarding and guaranteeingby our action. We have done our duty to othersin letter and in spirit, and we have shown the utmostforbearance in exacting our own rights.
Last spring, under the act above referred to, a treatyconcluded between the representatives of the Republicof Colombia and of our Government was ratified bythe Senate. This treaty was entered into at theurgent solicitation of the people of Colombia and aftera body of experts appointed by our Government especiallyto go into the matter of the routes across the Isthmushad pronounced unanimously in favor of the Panamaroute. In drawing up this treaty every concessionwas made to the people and to the Government of Colombia.We were more than just in dealing with them.Our generosity was such as to make it a serious questionwhether we had not gone too far in their interest atthe expense of our own; for in our scrupulous desireto pay all possible heed, not merely to the real buteven to the fancied rights of our weaker neighbor,who already owed so much to our protection and forbearance,we yielded in all possible ways to her desires in drawingup the treaty. Nevertheless the Government ofColombia not merely repudiated the treaty, but repudiatedit in such manner as to make it evident by the timethe Colombian Congress adjourned that not the scantiesthope remained of ever getting a satisfactory treatyfrom them. The Government of Colombia made thetreaty, and yet when the Colombian Congress was calledto ratify it the vote against ratification was unanimous.It does not appear that the Government made any realeffort to secure ratification.
Immediately after the adjournment of the Congressa revolution broke out in Panama. The peopleof Panama had long been discontented with the Republicof Colombia, and they had been kept quiet only by theprospect of the conclusion of the treaty, which wasto them a matter of vital concern. When it becameevident that the treaty was hopelessly lost, the peopleof Panama rose literally as one man. Not a shotwas fired by a single man on the Isthmus in the interestof the Colombian Government. Not a life was lostin the accomplishment of the revolution. TheColombian troops stationed on the Isthmus, who hadlong been unpaid, made common cause with the peopleof Panama, and with astonishing unanimity the new
Republic was started. The duty of the UnitedStates in the premises was clear. In strict accordancewith the principles laid down by Secretaries Cassand Seward in the official documents above quoted,the United States gave notice that it would permitthe landing of no expeditionary force, the arrivalof which would mean chaos and destruction along theline of the railroad and of the proposed Canal, andan interruption of transit as an inevitable consequence.The de facto Government of Panama was recognized inthe following telegram to Mr. Ehrman:“The people of Panama have, by apparently unanimousmovement, dissolved their political connection withthe Republic of Colombia and resumed their independence.When you are satisfied that a de facto government,republican in form and without substantial oppositionfrom its own people, has been established in the Stateof Panama, you will enter into relations with it asthe responsible government of the territory and lookto it for all due action to protect the persons andproperty of citizens of the United States and to keepopen the isthmian transit, in accordance with theobligations of existing treaties governing the relationsof the United States to that Territory.”
The Government of Colombia was notified of our actionby the following telegram to Mr. Beaupre:
“The people of Panama having, by an apparentlyunanimous movement, dissolved their political connectionwith the Republic of Colombia and resumed their independence,and having adopted a Government of their own, republicanin form, with which the Government of the United Statesof America has entered into relations, the Presidentof the United States, in accordance with the tiesof friendship which have so long and so happily existedbetween the respective nations, most earnestly commendsto the Governments of Colombia and of Panama the peacefuland equitable settlement of all questions at issuebetween them. He holds that he is bound not merelyby treaty obligations, but by the interests of civilization,to see that the peaceful traffic of the world acrossthe Isthmus of Panama shall not longer be disturbedby a constant succession of unnecessary and wastefulcivil wars.”
When these events happened, fifty-seven years hadelapsed since the United States had entered into itstreaty with New Granada. During that time theGovernments of New Granada and of its successor, Colombia,have been in a constant state of flux. The followingis a partial list of the disturbances on the Isthmusof Panama during the period in question as reportedto us by our consuls. It is not possible to givea complete list, and some of the reports that speakof “revolutions” must mean unsuccessfulrevolutions. May 22, 1850.—Outbreak;two Americans killed. War vessel demanded toquell outbreak. October, 1850.—Revolutionaryplot to bring about independence of the Isthmus.July 22, 1851.—Revolution in four southern
provinces. November 14, 1851.—Outbreakat Chagres. Man-of-war requested for Chagres.June 27, 1853.—Insurrection at Bogota,and consequent disturbance on Isthmus. War vesseldemanded. May 23, 1854—Political disturbances;war vessel requested. June 28, 1854.—Attemptedrevolution. October 24, 1854.—Independenceof Isthmus demanded by provincial legislature.April, 1856.—Riot, and massacre of Americans.May 4, 1856.—Riot. May 18, 1856.—Riot.June 3, 1856.—Riot. October 2, 1856.—Conflictbetween two native parties. United States forceslanded. December 18, 1858.—Attemptedsecession of Panama. April, 1859.—Riots.September, 1860.—Outbreak. October4, 1860.—Landing of United States forcesin consequence. May 23, 1861.—Interventionof the United States forces required by intendente.October 2, 1861.—Insurrection and civilwar. April 4, 1862.—Measures to preventrebels crossing Isthmus. June 13, 1862.—Mosquera’stroops refused admittance to Panama. March, 1865.—Revolution,and United States troops landed. August, 1865.—Riots;unsuccessful attempt to invade Panama. March,1866.—Unsuccessful revolution. April,1867.—Attempt to overthrow Government.August, 1867.—Attempt at revolution.July 5, 1868.—Revolution; provisional governmentinaugurated. August 29, 1868.—Revolution;provisional government overthrown. April, 1871.—Revolution;followed apparently by counter revolution. April,1873.—Revolution and civil war which lastedto October, 1875. August, 1876.—Civilwar which lasted until April, 1877. July, 1878.—Rebellion.December, 1878.—Revolt. April, 1879.—Revolution.June, 1879.—Revolution. March, 1883.—Riot.May, 1883.—Riot. June, 1884.—Revolutionaryattempt. December, 1884.—Revolutionaryattempt. January, 1885.—Revolutionarydisturbances. March, 1885.—Revolution.April, 1887.—Disturbance on Panama Railroad.November, 1887.—Disturbance on line ofcanal. January, 1889.—Riot. January,1895.—Revolution which lasted until April.March, 1895.—Incendiary attempt. October,1899.—Revolution. February, 1900, toJuly, 1900.—Revolution. January, 1901—Revolution.July, 1901.—Revolutionary disturbances.September, 1901.—City of Colon taken byrebels. March, 1902.—Revolutionarydisturbances. July, 1902.—Revolution.The above is only a partial list of the revolutions,rebellions, insurrections, riots, and other outbreaksthat have occurred during the period in question;yet they number 53 for the 57 years. It willbe noted that one of them lasted for nearly three yearsbefore it was quelled; another for nearly a year.In short, the experience of over half a century hasshown Colombia to be utterly incapable of keepingorder on the Isthmus. Only the active interferenceof the United States has enabled her to preserve somuch as a semblance of sovereignty. Had it notbeen for the exercise by the United States of thepolice power in her interest, her connection with theIsthmus would have been sundered long ago. In1856, in 1860, in 1873, in 1885, in 1901, and againin 1902, sailors and marines from United States warships were forced to land in order to patrol the Isthmus,to protect life and property, and to see that thetransit across the Isthmus was kept open. In1861, in 1862, in 1885, and in 1900, the ColombianGovernment asked that the United States Governmentwould land troops to protect its interests and maintainorder on the Isthmus. Perhaps the most extraordinaryrequest is that which has just been received and whichruns as follows:“Knowing that revolution has already commencedin Panama [an eminent Colombian] says that if theGovernment of the United States will land troops topreserve Colombian sovereignty, and the transit, ifrequested by Colombian charge d’affaires, thisGovernment will declare martial law; and, by virtueof vested constitutional authority, when public orderis disturbed, will approve by decree ratification ofthe canal treaty as signed; or, if the Governmentof the United States prefers, will call extra sessionof the Congress—with new and friendly members—nextMay to approve the treaty. [An eminent Colombian] hasthe perfect confidence of vice-president, he says,and if it became necessary will go to the Isthmusor send representatives there to adjust matters alongabove lines to the satisfaction of the people there.”
This dispatch is noteworthy from two standpoints.Its offer of immediately guaranteeing the treaty tous is in sharp contrast with the positive and contemptuousrefusal of the Congress which has just closed itssessions to consider favorably such a treaty; it showsthat the Government which made the treaty really hadabsolute control over the situation, but did not chooseto exercise this control. The dispatch furthercalls on us to restore order and secure Colombian supremacyin the Isthmus from which the Colombian Governmenthas just by its action decided to bar us by preventingthe construction of the canal.
The control, in the interest of the commerce and trafficof the whole civilized world, of the means of undisturbedtransit across the Isthmus of Panama has become oftranscendent importance to the United States.We have repeatedly exercised this control by interveningin the course of domestic dissension, and by protectingthe territory from foreign invasion. In 1853Mr. Everett assured the Peruvian minister that weshould not hesitate to maintain the neutrality of theIsthmus in the case of war between Peru and Colombia.In 1864 Colombia, which has always been vigilant toavail itself of its privileges conferred by the treaty,expressed its expectation that in the event of warbetween Peru and Spain the United States would carryinto effect the guaranty of neutrality. Therehave been few administrations of the State Departmentin which this treaty has not, either by the one sideor the other, been used as a basis of more or less
important demands. It was said by Mr. Fish in1871 that the Department of State had reason to believethat an attack upon Colombian sovereignty on the Isthmushad, on several occasions, been averted by warningfrom this Government. In 1886, when Colombiawas under the menace of hostilities from Italy in theCerruti case, Mr. Bayard expressed the serious concernthat the United States could not but feel, that aEuropean power should resort to force against a sisterrepublic of this hemisphere, as to the sovereign anduninterrupted use of a part of whose territory we areguarantors under the solemn faith of a treaty.The above recital of facts establishes beyond question:First, that the United States has for over half acentury patiently and in good faith carried out itsobligations under the treaty of 1846; second, thatwhen for the first time it became possible for Colombiato do anything in requital of the services thus repeatedlyrendered to it for fifty-seven years by the UnitedStates, the Colombian Government peremptorily andoffensively refused thus to do its part, even thoughto do so would have been to its advantage and immeasurablyto the advantage of the State of Panama, at that timeunder its jurisdiction; third, that throughout thisperiod revolutions, riots, and factional disturbancesof every kind have occurred one after the other inalmost uninterrupted succession, some of them lastingfor months and even for years, while the central governmentwas unable to put them down or to make peace withthe rebels; fourth, that these disturbances insteadof showing any sign of abating have tended to growmore numerous and more serious in the immediate past;fifth, that the control of Colombia over the Isthmusof Panama could not be maintained without the armedintervention and assistance of the United States.In other words, the Government of Colombia, thoughwholly unable to maintain order on the Isthmus, hasnevertheless declined to ratify a treaty the conclusionof which opened the only chance to secure its ownstability and to guarantee permanent peace on, andthe construction of a canal across, the Isthmus.
Under such circ*mstances the Government of the UnitedStates would have been guilty of folly and weakness,amounting in their sum to a crime against the Nation,had it acted otherwise than it did when the revolutionof November 3 last took place in Panama. Thisgreat enterprise of building the interoceanic canalcan not be held up to gratify the whims, or out ofrespect to the governmental impotence, or to the evenmore sinister and evil political peculiarities, ofpeople who, though they dwell afar off, yet, againstthe wish of the actual dwellers on the Isthmus, assertan unreal supremacy over the territory. The possessionof a territory fraught with such peculiar capacitiesas the Isthmus in question carries with it obligationsto mankind. The course of events has shown thatthis canal can not be built by private enterprise,or by any other nation than our own; therefore it mustbe built by the United States.
Every effort has been made by the Government of theUnited States to persuade Colombia to follow a coursewhich was essentially not only to our interests andto the interests of the world, but to the interestsof Colombia itself. These efforts have failed;and Colombia, by her persistence in repulsing theadvances that have been made, has forced us, for thesake of our own honor, and of the interest and well-being,not merely of our own people, but of the people ofthe Isthmus of Panama and the people of the civilizedcountries of the world, to take decisive steps tobring to an end a condition of affairs which had becomeintolerable. The new Republic of Panama immediatelyoffered to negotiate a treaty with us. This treatyI herewith submit. By it our interests are bettersafeguarded than in the treaty with Colombia whichwas ratified by the Senate at its last session.It is better in its terms than the treaties offeredto us by the Republics of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.At last the right to begin this great undertaking ismade available. Panama has done her part.All that remains is for the American Congress to doits part, and forthwith this Republic will enter uponthe execution of a project colossal in its size andof well-nigh incalculable possibilities for the goodof this country and the nations of mankind.
By the provisions of the treaty the United Statesguarantees and will maintain the independence of theRepublic of Panama. There is granted to the UnitedStates in perpetuity the use, occupation, and controlof a strip ten miles wide and extending three nauticalmiles into the sea at either terminal, with all landslying outside of the zone necessary for the constructionof the canal or for its auxiliary works, and withthe islands in the Bay of Panama. The cities ofPanama and Colon are not embraced in the canal zone,but the United States assumes their sanitation and,in case of need, the maintenance of order therein;the United States enjoys within the granted limitsall the rights, power, and authority which it wouldpossess were it the sovereign of the territory tothe exclusion of the exercise of sovereign rights bythe Republic. All railway and canal propertyrights belonging to Panama and needed for the canalpass to the United States, including any propertyof the respective companies in the cities of Panamaand Colon; the works, property, and personnel of thecanal and railways are exempted from taxation as wellin the cities of Panama and Colon as in the canalzone and its dependencies. Free immigration ofthe personnel and importation of supplies for theconstruction and operation of the canal are granted.Provision is made for the use of military force andthe building of fortifications by the United Statesfor the protection of the transit. In other details,particularly as to the acquisition of the interestsof the New Panama Canal Company and the Panama Railwayby the United States and the condemnation of privateproperty for the uses of the canal, the stipulationsof the Hay-Herran treaty are closely followed, whilethe compensation to be given for these enlarged grantsremains the same, being ten millions of dollars payableon exchange of ratifications; and, beginning nineyears from that date, an annual payment of $250,000during the life of the convention.
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State of the Union Address
Theodore Roosevelt
December 6, 1904
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
The Nation continues to enjoy noteworthy prosperity.Such prosperity is of course primarily due to thehigh individual average of our citizenship, takentogether with our great natural resources; but animportant factor therein is the working of our long-continuedgovernmental policies. The people have emphaticallyexpressed their approval of the principles underlyingthese policies, and their desire that these principlesbe kept substantially unchanged, although of courseapplied in a progressive spirit to meet changing conditions.
The enlargement of scope of the functions of the NationalGovernment required by our development as a nationinvolves, of course, increase of expense; and theperiod of prosperity through which the country ispassing justifies expenditures for permanent improvementsfar greater than would be wise in hard times.Battle ships and forts, public buildings, and improvedwaterways are investments which should be made whenwe have the money; but abundant revenues and a largesurplus always invite extravagance, and constant careshould be taken to guard against unnecessary increaseof the ordinary expenses of government. The costof doing Government business should be regulated withthe same rigid scrutiny as the cost of doing a privatebusiness.
In the vast and complicated mechanism of our moderncivilized life the dominant note is the note of industrialism;and the relations of capital and labor, and especiallyof organized capital and organized labor, to eachother and to the public at large come second in importanceonly to the intimate questions of family life.Our peculiar form of government, with its sharp divisionof authority between the Nation and the several States,has been on the whole far more advantageous to ourdevelopment than a more strongly centralized government.But it is undoubtedly responsible for much of thedifficulty of meeting with adequate legislation thenew problems presented by the total change in industrialconditions on this continent during the last halfcentury. In actual practice it has proved exceedinglydifficult, and in many cases impossible, to get unanimityof wise action among the various States on these subjects.From the very nature of the case this is especiallytrue of the laws affecting the employment of capitalin huge masses.
With regard to labor the problem is no less important,but it is simpler. As long as the States retainthe primary control of the police power the circ*mstancesmust be altogether extreme which require interferenceby the Federal authorities, whether in the way ofsafeguarding the rights of labor or in the way of seeingthat wrong is not done by unruly persons who shieldthemselves behind the name of labor. If thereis resistance to the Federal courts, interference with
the mails, or interstate commerce, or molestation ofFederal property, or if the State authorities in somecrisis which they are unable to face call for help,then the Federal Government may interfere; but thoughsuch interference may be caused by a condition of thingsarising out of trouble connected with some questionof labor, the interference itself simply takes theform of restoring order without regard to the questionswhich have caused the breach of order—forto keep order is a primary duty and in a time of disorderand violence all other questions sink into abeyanceuntil order has been restored. In the Districtof Columbia and in the Territories the Federal lawcovers the entire field of government; but the laborquestion is only acute in populous centers of commerce,manufactures, or mining. Nevertheless, both inthe enactment and in the enforcement of law the FederalGovernment within its restricted sphere should setan example to the State governments, especially ina matter so vital as this affecting labor. I believethat under modern industrial conditions it is oftennecessary, and even where not necessary it is yetoften wise, that there should be organization of laborin order better to secure the rights of the individualwage-worker. All encouragement should be givento any such organization so long as it is conductedwith a due and decent regard for the rights of others.There are in this country some labor unions whichhave habitually, and other labor unions which haveoften, been among the most effective agents in workingfor good citizenship and for uplifting the conditionof those whose welfare should be closest to our hearts.But when any labor union seeks improper ends, or seeksto achieve proper ends by improper means, all goodcitizens and more especially all honorable publicservants must oppose the wrongdoing as resolutelyas they would oppose the wrongdoing of any great corporation.Of course any violence, brutality, or corruption, shouldnot for one moment be tolerated. Wage-workershave an entire right to organize and by all peacefuland honorable means to endeavor to persuade theirfellows to join with them in organizations. Theyhave a legal right, which, according to circ*mstances,may or may not be a moral right, to refuse to workin company with men who decline to join their organizations.They have under no circ*mstances the right to commitviolence upon these, whether capitalists or wage-workers,who refuse to support their organizations, or whoside with those with whom they are at odds; for mobrule is intolerable in any form.The wage-workers are peculiarly entitled to the protectionand the encouragement of the law. From the verynature of their occupation railroad men, for instance,are liable to be maimed in doing the legitimate workof their profession, unless the railroad companiesare required by law to make ample provision for theirsafety. The Administration has been zealous inenforcing the existing law for this purpose.That law should be amended and strengthened. Whereverthe National Government has power there should bea stringent employer’s liability law, whichshould apply to the Government itself where the Governmentis an employer of labor.
In my Message to the Fifty-seventh Congress, at itssecond session, I urged the passage of an employer’sliability law for the District of Columbia. Inow renew that recommendation, and further recommendthat the Congress appoint a commission to make a comprehensivestudy of employer’s liability with the viewof extending the provisions of a great and constitutionallaw to all employments within the scope of Federalpower.
The Government has recognized heroism upon the water,and bestows medals of honor upon those persons whoby extreme and heroic daring have endangered theirlives in saving, or endeavoring to save, lives fromthe perils of the sea in the waters over which theUnited States has jurisdiction, or upon an Americanvessel. This recognition should be extended tocover cases of conspicuous bravery and self-sacrificein the saving of life in private employments underthe jurisdiction of the United States, and particularlyin the land commerce of the Nation.
The ever-increasing casualty list upon our railroadsis a matter of grave public concern, and urgentlycalls for action by the Congress. In the matterof speed and comfort of railway travel our railroadsgive at least as good service as those of any othernation, and there is no reason why this service shouldnot also be as safe as human ingenuity can make it.Many of our leading roads have been foremost in theadoption of the most approved safeguards for the protectionof travelers and employees, yet the list of clearlyavoidable accidents continues unduly large. Thepassage of a law requiring the adoption of a block-signalsystem has been proposed to the Congress. I earnestlyconcur in that recommendation, and would also pointout to the Congress the urgent need of legislationin the interest of the public safety limiting thehours of labor for railroad employees in train serviceupon railroads engaged in interstate commerce, andproviding that only trained and experienced personsbe employed in positions of responsibility connectedwith the operation of trains. Of course nothingcan ever prevent accidents caused by human weaknessor misconduct; and there should be drastic punishmentfor any railroad employee, whether officer or man,who by issuance of wrong orders or by disobedienceof orders causes disaster. The law of 1901, requiringinterstate railroads to make monthly reports of allaccidents to passengers and employees on duty, shouldalso be amended so as to empower the Government tomake a personal investigation, through proper officers,of all accidents involving loss of life which seemto require investigation, with a requirement thatthe results of such investigation be made public.
The safety-appliance law, as amended by the act ofMarch 2, 1903, has proved beneficial to railway employees,and in order that its provisions may be properly carriedout, the force of inspectors provided for by appropriationshould be largely increased. This service isanalogous to the Steamboat-Inspection Service, anddeals with even more important interests. Ithas passed the experimental stage and demonstratedits utility, and should receive generous recognitionby the Congress.
There is no objection to employees of the Governmentforming or belonging to unions; but the Governmentcan neither discriminate for nor discriminate againstnonunion men who are in its employment, or who seekto be employed under it. Moreover, it is a verygrave impropriety for Government employees to bandthemselves together for the purpose of extorting improperlyhigh salaries from the Government. Especiallyis this true of those within the classified service.The letter carriers, both municipal and rural, areas a whole an excellent body of public servants.They should be amply paid. But their payment mustbe obtained by arguing their claims fairly and honorablybefore the Congress, and not by banding together forthe defeat of those Congressmen who refuse to givepromises which they can not in conscience give.The Administration has already taken steps to preventand punish abuses of this nature; but it will be wisefor the Congress to supplement this action by legislation.
Much can be done by the Government in labor mattersmerely by giving publicity to certain conditions.The Bureau of Labor has done excellent work of thiskind in many different directions. I shall shortlylay before you in a special message the full reportof the investigation of the Bureau of Labor into theColorado mining strike, as this was a strike in whichcertain very evil forces, which are more or less atwork everywhere under the conditions of modern industrialism,became startlingly prominent. It is greatly tobe wished that the Department of Commerce and Labor,through the Labor Bureau, should compile and arrangefor the Congress a list of the labor laws of the variousStates, and should be given the means to investigateand report to the Congress upon the labor conditionsin the manufacturing and mining regions throughoutthe country, both as to wages, as to hours of labor,as to the labor of women and children, and as to theeffect in the various labor centers of immigrationfrom abroad. In this investigation especial attentionshould be paid to the conditions of child labor andchild-labor legislation in the several States.Such an investigation must necessarily take into accountmany of the problems with which this question of childlabor is connected. These problems can be actuallymet, in most cases, only by the States themselves;but the lack of proper legislation in one State insuch a matter as child labor often renders it excessivelydifficult to establish protective restriction uponthe work in another State having the same industries,so that the worst tends to drag down the better.For this reason, it would be well for the Nation atleast to endeavor to secure comprehensive informationas to the conditions of labor of children in the differentStates. Such investigation and publication bythe National Government would tend toward the securingof approximately uniform legislation of the propercharacter among the several States.
When we come to deal with great corporations the needfor the Government to act directly is far greaterthan in the case of labor, because great corporationscan become such only by engaging in interstate commerce,and interstate commerce is peculiarly the field ofthe General Government. It is an absurdity toexpect to eliminate the abuses in great corporationsby State action. It is difficult to be patientwith an argument that such matters should be left tothe States because more than one State pursues thepolicy of creating on easy terms corporations whichare never operated within that State at all, but inother States whose laws they ignore. The NationalGovernment alone can deal adequately with these greatcorporations. To try to deal with them in anintemperate, destructive, or demagogic spirit would,in all probability, mean that nothing whatever wouldbe accomplished, and, with absolute certainty, thatif anything were accomplished it would be of a harmfulnature. The American people need to continue toshow the very qualities that they have shown—thatis, moderation, good sense, the earnest desire toavoid doing any damage, and yet the quiet determinationto proceed, step by step, without halt and withouthurry, in eliminating or at least in minimizing whateverof mischief or evil there is to interstate commercein the conduct of great corporations. They areacting in no spirit of hostility to wealth, eitherindividual or corporate. They are not againstthe rich man any more than against the poor man.On the contrary, they are friendly alike toward richman and toward poor man, provided only that each actsin a spirit of justice and decency toward his fellows.Great corporations are necessary, and only men ofgreat and singular mental power can manage such corporationssuccessfully, and such men must have great rewards.But these corporations should be managed with due regardto the interest of the public as a whole. Wherethis can be done under the present laws it must bedone. Where these laws come short others shouldbe enacted to supplement them.
Yet we must never forget the determining factor inevery kind of work, of head or hand, must be the man’sown good sense, courage, and kindliness. Moreimportant than any legislation is the gradual growthof a feeling of responsibility and forbearance amongcapitalists, and wage-workers alike; a feeling ofrespect on the part of each man for the rights ofothers; a feeling of broad community of interest, notmerely of capitalists among themselves, and of wage-workersamong themselves, but of capitalists and wage-workersin their relations to each other, and of both in theirrelations to their fellows who with them make up thebody politic. There are many captains of industry,many labor leaders, who realize this. A recentspeech by the president of one of our great railroadsystems to the employees of that system contains soundcommon sense. It rims in part as follows:
“It is my belief we can better serve each other,better understand the man as well as his business,when meeting face to face, exchanging views, and realizingfrom personal contact we serve but one interest, thatof our mutual prosperity.
“Serious misunderstandings can not occur wherepersonal good will exists and opportunity for personalexplanation is present.
“In my early business life I had experiencewith men of affairs of a character to make me desireto avoid creating a like feeling of resentment tomyself and the interests in my charge, should fortuneever place me in authority, and I am solicitous ofa measure of confidence on the part of the publicand our employees that I shall hope may be warrantedby the fairness and good fellowship I intend shallprevail in our relationship.
“But do not feel I am disposed to grant unreasonablerequests, spend the money of our company unnecessarilyor without value received, nor expect the days ofmistakes are disappearing, or that cause for complaintwill not continually occur; simply to correct suchabuses as may be discovered, to better conditionsas fast as reasonably may be expected, constantlystriving, with varying success, for that improvementwe all desire, to convince you there is a force atwork in the right direction, all the time making progress—isthe disposition with which I have come among you,asking your good will and encouragement.
“The day has gone by when a corporation canbe handled successfully in defiance of the publicwill, even though that will be unreasonable and wrong.A public may be led, but not driven, and I prefer togo with it and shape or modify, in a measure, itsopinion, rather than be swept from my bearings, withloss to myself and the interests in my charge.
“Violent prejudice exists towards corporateactivity and capital today, much of it founded inreason, more in apprehension, and a large measureis due to the personal traits of arbitrary, unreasonable,incompetent, and offensive men in positions of authority.The accomplishment of results by indirection, theendeavor to thwart the intention, if not the expressedletter of the law (the will of the people), a disregardof the rights of others, a disposition to withholdwhat is due, to force by main strength or inactivitya result not justified, depending upon the weaknessof the claimant and his indisposition to become involvedin litigation, has created a sentiment harmful in theextreme and a disposition to consider anything fairthat gives gain to the individual at the expense ofthe company.
“If corporations are to continue to do the world’swork, as they are best fitted to, these qualitiesin their representatives that have resulted in thepresent prejudice against them must be relegated tothe background. The corporations must come outinto the open and see and be seen. They musttake the public into their confidence and ask for whatthey want, and no more, and be prepared to explainsatisfactorily what advantage will accrue to the publicif they are given their desires; for they are permittedto exist not that they may make money solely, butthat they may effectively serve those from whom theyderive their power.
“Publicity, and not secrecy, will win hereafter,and laws be construed by their intent and not by theirletter, otherwise public utilities will be owned andoperated by the public which created them, even thoughthe service be less efficient and the result less satisfactoryfrom a financial standpoint.”
The Bureau of Corporations has made careful preliminaryinvestigation of many important corporations.It will make a special report on the beef industry.
The policy of the Bureau is to accomplish the purposesof its creation by co-operation, not antagonism; bymaking constructive legislation, not destructive prosecution,the immediate object of its inquiries; by conservativeinvestigation of law and fact, and by refusal to issueincomplete and hence necessarily inaccurate reports.Its policy being thus one of open inquiry into, andnot attack upon, business, the Bureau has been ableto gain not only the confidence, but, better still,the cooperation of men engaged in legitimate business.
The Bureau offers to the Congress the means of gettingat the cost of production of our various great staplesof commerce.
Of necessity the careful investigation of specialcorporations will afford the Commissioner knowledgeof certain business facts, the publication of whichmight be an improper infringement of private rights.The method of making public the results of these investigationsaffords, under the law, a means for the protectionof private rights. The Congress will have allfacts except such as would give to another corporationinformation which would injure the legitimate businessof a competitor and destroy the incentive for individualsuperiority and thrift.
The Bureau has also made exhaustive examinations intothe legal condition under which corporate businessis carried on in the various States; into all judicialdecisions on the subject; and into the various systemsof corporate taxation in use. I call special attentionto the report of the chief of the Bureau; and I earnestlyask that the Congress carefully consider the reportand recommendations of the Commissioner on this subject.
The business of insurance vitally affects the greatmass of the people of the United States and is nationaland not local in its application. It involvesa multitude of transactions among the people of thedifferent States and between American companies andforeign governments. I urge that the Congresscarefully consider whether the power of the Bureauof Corporations can not constitutionally be extendedto cover interstate transactions in insurance.
Above all else, we must strive to keep the highwaysof commerce open to all on equal terms; and to dothis it is necessary to put a complete stop to allrebates. Whether the shipper or the railroad isto blame makes no difference; the rebate must be stopped,the abuses of the private car and private terminal-trackand side-track systems must be stopped, and the legislationof the Fifty-eighth Congress which declares it tobe unlawful for any person or corporation to offer,grant, give, solicit, accept, or receive any rebate,concession, or discrimination in respect of the transportationof any property in interstate or foreign commercewhereby such property shall by any device whateverbe transported at a less rate than that named in thetariffs published by the carrier must be enforced.For some time after the enactment of the Act to RegulateCommerce it remained a mooted question whether thatact conferred upon the Interstate Commerce Commissionthe power, after it had found a challenged rate tobe unreasonable, to declare what thereafter should,prima facie, be the reasonable maximum rate for thetransportation in dispute. The Supreme Courtfinally resolved that question in the negative, sothat as the law now stands the Commission simply possessthe bare power to denounce a particular rate as unreasonable.While I am of the opinion that at present it wouldbe undesirable, if it were not impracticable, finallyto clothe the Commission with general authority tofix railroad rates, I do believe that, as a fair securityto shippers, the Commission should be vested withthe power, where a given rate has been challengedand after full hearing found to be unreasonable, todecide, subject to judicial review, what shall bea reasonable rate to take its place; the ruling ofthe Commission to take effect immediately, and to obtainunless and until it is reversed by the court of review.The Government must in increasing degree superviseand regulate the workings of the railways engagedin interstate commerce; and such increased supervisionis the only alternative to an increase of the presentevils on the one hand or a still more radical policyon the other. In my judgment the most importantlegislative act now needed as regards the regulationof corporations is this act to confer on the InterstateCommerce Commission the power to revise rates andregulations, the revised rate to at once go into effect,and stay in effect unless and until the court of reviewreverses it.
Steamship companies engaged in interstate commerceand protected in our coastwise trade should be heldto a strict observance of the interstate commerceact.
In pursuing the set plan to make the city of Washingtonan example to other American municipalities severalpoints should be kept in mind by the legislators.In the first place, the people of this country shouldclearly understand that no amount of industrial prosperity,and above all no leadership in international industrialcompetition, can in any way atone for the sappingof the vitality of those who are usually spoken ofas the working classes. The farmers, the mechanics,the skilled and unskilled laborers, the small shopkeepers, make up the bulk of the population of anycountry; and upon their well-being, generation aftergeneration, the well-being of the country and the racedepends. Rapid development in wealth and industrialleadership is a good thing, but only if it goes handin hand with improvement, and not deterioration, physicaland moral. The over-crowding of cities and thedraining of country districts are unhealthy and evendangerous symptoms in our modern life. We shouldnot permit overcrowding in cities. In certainEuropean cities it is provided by law that the populationof towns shall not be allowed to exceed a very limiteddensity for a given area, so that the increase indensity must be continually pushed back into a broadzone around the center of the town, this zone havinggreat avenues or parks within it. The death-ratestatistics show a terrible increase in mortality,and especially in infant mortality, in overcrowdedtenements. The poorest families in tenement houseslive in one room, and it appears that in these one-roomtenements the average death rate for a number of givencities at home and abroad is about twice what it isin a two-room tenement, four times what it is in athree-room tenement, and eight times what it is ina tenement consisting of four rooms or over.These figures vary somewhat for different cities,but they approximate in each city those given above;and in all cases the increase of mortality, and especiallyof infant mortality, with the decrease in the numberof rooms used by the family and with the consequentovercrowding is startling. The slum exacts aheavy total of death from those who dwell therein;and this is the case not merely in the great crowdedslums of high buildings in New York and Chicago, butin the alley slums of Washington. In Washingtonpeople can not afford to ignore the harm that thiscauses. No Christian and civilized communitycan afford to show a happy-go-lucky lack of concernfor the youth of to-day; for, if so, the communitywill have to pay a terrible penalty of financial burdenand social degradation in the to-morrow. Thereshould be severe child-labor and factory-inspectionlaws. It is very desirable that married womenshould not work in factories. The prime dutyof the man is to work, to be the breadwinner; theprime duty of the woman is to be the mother, the housewife.All questions of tariff and finance sink into utterinsignificance when compared with the tremendous,
the vital importance of trying to shape conditionsso that these two duties of the man and of the womancan be fulfilled under reasonably favorable circ*mstances.If a race does not have plenty of children, or ifthe children do not grow up, or if when they growup they are unhealthy in body and stunted or viciousin mind, then that race is decadent, and no heapingup of wealth, no splendor of momentary material prosperity,can avail in any degree as offsets. The Congresshas the same power of legislation for the Districtof Columbia which the State legislatures have forthe various States. The problems incident toour highly complex modern industrial civilization,with its manifold and perplexing tendencies both forgood and for evil, are far less sharply accentuatedin the city of Washington than in most other cities.For this very reason it is easier to deal with thevarious phases of these problems in Washington, andthe District of Columbia government should be a modelfor the other municipal governments of the Nation,in all such matters as supervision of the housing ofthe poor, the creation of small parks in the districtsinhabited by the poor, in laws affecting labor, inlaws providing for the taking care of the children,in truant laws, and in providing schools.In the vital matter of taking care of children, muchadvantage could be gained by a careful study of whathas been accomplished in such States as Illinois andColorado by the juvenile courts. The work of thejuvenile court is really a work of character building.It is now generally recognized that young boys andyoung girls who go wrong should not be treated ascriminals, not even necessarily as needing reformation,but rather as needing to have their characters formed,and for this end to have them tested and developedby a system of probation. Much admirable workhas been done in many of our Commonwealths by earnestmen and women who have made a special study of theneeds of those classes of children which furnish thegreatest number of juvenile offenders, and thereforethe greatest number of adult offenders; and by theiraid, and by profiting by the experiences of the differentStates and cities in these matters, it would be easyto provide a good code for the District of Columbia.
Several considerations suggest the need for a systematicinvestigation into and improvement of housing conditionsin Washington. The hidden residential alleysare breeding grounds of vice and disease, and shouldbe opened into minor streets. For a number ofyears influential citizens have joined with the DistrictCommissioners in the vain endeavor to secure lawspermitting the condemnation of insanitary dwellings.The local death rates, especially from preventablediseases, are so unduly high as to suggest that theexceptional wholesomeness of Washington’s bettersections is offset by bad conditions in her poorerneighborhoods. A special “Commission onHousing and Health Conditions in the National Capital”
would not only bring about the reformation of existingevils, but would also formulate an appropriate buildingcode to protect the city from mammoth brick tenementsand other evils which threaten to develop here asthey have in other cities. That the Nation’sCapital should be made a model for other municipalitiesis an ideal which appeals to all patriotic citizenseverywhere, and such a special Commission might mapout and organize the city’s future developmentin lines of civic social service, just as Major L’Enfantand the recent Park Commission planned the arrangementof her streets and parks.It is mortifying to remember that Washington has nocompulsory school attendance law and that carefulinquiries indicate the habitual absence from schoolof some twenty per cent of all children between theages of eight and fourteen. It must be evidentto all who consider the problems of neglected childlife or the benefits of compulsory education in othercities that one of the most urgent needs of the NationalCapital is a law requiring the school attendance ofall children, this law to be enforced by attendanceagents directed by the board of education.
Public play grounds are necessary means for the developmentof wholesome citizenship in modern cities. Itis important that the work inaugurated here throughvoluntary efforts should be taken up and extendedthrough Congressional appropriation of funds sufficientto equip and maintain numerous convenient small playgrounds upon land which can be secured without purchaseor rental. It is also desirable that small vacantplaces be purchased and reserved as small-park playgrounds in densely settled sections of the city whichnow have no public open spaces and are destined soonto be built up solidly. All these needs shouldbe met immediately. To meet them would entailexpenses; but a corresponding saving could be madeby stopping the building of streets and levellingof ground for purposes largely speculative in outlyingparts of the city.
There are certain offenders, whose criminality takesthe shape of brutality and cruelty towards the weak,who need a special type of punishment. The wife-beater,for example, is inadequately punished by imprisonment;for imprisonment may often mean nothing to him, whileit may cause hunger and want to the wife and childrenwho have been the victims of his brutality. Probablysome form of corporal punishment would be the mostadequate way of meeting this kind of crime.
The Department of Agriculture has grown into an educationalinstitution with a faculty of two thousand specialistsmaking research into all the sciences of production.The Congress appropriates, directly and indirectly,six millions of dollars annually to carry on this work.It reaches every State and Territory in the Unionand the islands of the sea lately come under our flag.Co-operation is had with the State experiment stations,and with many other institutions and individuals.The world is carefully searched for new varieties ofgrains, fruits, grasses, vegetables, trees, and shrubs,suitable to various localities in our country; andmarked benefit to our producers has resulted.
The activities of our age in lines of research havereached the tillers of the soil and inspired themwith ambition to know more of the principles thatgovern the forces of nature with which they have todeal. Nearly half of the people of this countrydevote their energies to growing things from the soil.Until a recent date little has been done to preparethese millions for their life work. In most linesof human activity college-trained men are the leaders.The farmer had no opportunity for special traininguntil the Congress made provision for it forty yearsago. During these years progress has been madeand teachers have been prepared. Over five thousandstudents are in attendance at our State agriculturalcolleges. The Federal Government expends tenmillions of dollars annually toward this educationand for research in Washington and in the severalStates and Territories. The Department of Agriculturehas given facilities for post-graduate work to fivehundred young men during the last seven years, preparingthem for advance lines of work in the Department andin the State institutions.
The facts concerning meteorology and its relationsto plant and animal life are being systematicallyinquired into. Temperature and moisture are controllingfactors in all agricultural operations. The seasonsof the cyclones of the Caribbean Sea and their pathsare being forecasted with increasing accuracy.The cold winds that come from the north are anticipatedand their times and intensity told to farmers, gardeners,and fruiterers in all southern localities.
We sell two hundred and fifty million dollars’worth of animals and animal products to foreign countriesevery year, in addition to supplying our own peoplemore cheaply and abundantly than any other nationis able to provide for its people. Successfulmanufacturing depends primarily on cheap food, whichaccounts to a considerable extent for our growth inthis direction. The Department of Agriculture,by careful inspection of meats, guards the health ofour people and gives clean bills of health to deservingexports; it is prepared to deal promptly with importeddiseases of animals, and maintain the excellence ofour flocks and herds in this respect. There shouldbe an annual census of the live stock of the Nation.
We sell abroad about six hundred million dollars’worth of plants and their products every year.Strenuous efforts are being made to import from foreigncountries such grains as are suitable to our varyinglocalities. Seven years ago we bought three-fourthsof our rice; by helping the rice growers on the Gulfcoast to secure seeds from the Orient suited to theirconditions, and by giving them adequate protection,they now supply home demand and export to the islandsof the Caribbean Sea and to other rice-growing countries.Wheat and other grains have been imported from light-rainfallcountries to our lands in the West and Southwest that
have not grown crops because of light precipitation,resulting in an extensive addition to our croppingarea and our home-making territory that can not beirrigated. Ten million bushels of first-classmacaroni wheat were grown from these experimentalimportations last year. Fruits suitable to oursoils and climates are being imported from all thecountries of the Old World—the fig fromTurkey, the almond from Spain, the date from Algeria,the mango from India. We are helping our fruitgrowers to get their crops into European markets bystudying methods of preservation through refrigeration,packing, and handling, which have been quite successful.We are helping our hop growers by importing varietiesthat ripen earlier and later than the kinds they havebeen raising, thereby lengthening the harvesting season.The cotton crop of the country is threatened withroot rot, the bollworm, and the boll weevil. Ourpathologists will find immune varieties that will resistthe root disease, and the bollworm can be dealt with,but the boll weevil is a serious menace to the cottoncrop. It is a Central American insect that hasbecome acclimated in Texas and has done great damage.A scientist of the Department of Agriculture has foundthe weevil at home in Guatemala being kept in checkby an ant, which has been brought to our cotton fieldsfor observation. It is hoped that it may servea good purpose.The soils of the country are getting attention fromthe farmer’s standpoint, and interesting resultsare following. We have duplicates of the soilsthat grow the wrapper tobacco in Sumatra and the fillertobacco in Cuba. It will be only a question oftime when the large amounts paid to these countrieswill be paid to our own people. The reclamationof alkali lands is progressing, to give object lessonsto our people in methods by which worthless landsmay be made productive.
The insect friends and enemies of the farmer are gettingattention. The enemy of the San Jose scale wasfound near the Great Wall of China, and is now cleaningup all our orchards. The fig-fertilizing insectimported from Turkey has helped to establish an industryin California that amounts to from fifty to one hundredtons of dried figs annually, and is extending overthe Pacific coast. A parasitic fly from SouthAfrica is keeping in subjection the black scale, theworst pest of the orange and lemon industry in California.
Careful preliminary work is being done towards producingour own silk. The mulberry is being distributedin large numbers, eggs are being imported and distributed,improved reels were imported from Europe last year,and two expert reelers were brought to Washington toreel the crop of cocoons and teach the art to ourown people.
The crop-reporting system of the Department of Agricultureis being brought closer to accuracy every year.It has two hundred and fifty thousand reporters selectedfrom people in eight vocations in life. It hasarrangements with most European countries for interchangeof estimates, so that our people may know as nearlyas possible with what they must compete.
During the two and a half years that have elapsedsince the passage of the reclamation act rapid progresshas been made in the surveys and examinations of theopportunities for reclamation in the thirteen Statesand three Territories of the arid West. Constructionhas already been begun on the largest and most importantof the irrigation works, and plans are being completedfor works which will utilize the funds now available.The operations are being carried on by the ReclamationService, a corps of engineers selected through competitivecivil-service examinations. This corps includesexperienced consulting and constructing engineersas well as various experts in mechanical and legalmatters, and is composed largely of men who have spentmost of their lives in practical affairs connectedwith irrigation. The larger problems have beensolved and it now remains to execute with care, economy,and thoroughness the work which has been laid out.All important details are being carefully consideredby boards of consulting engineers, selected for theirthorough knowledge and practical experience.Each project is taken up on the ground by competentmen and viewed from the standpoint of the creationof prosperous homes, and of promptly refunding tothe Treasury the cost of construction. The reclamationact has been found to be remarkably complete and effective,and so broad in its provisions that a wide range ofundertakings has been possible under it. At thesame time, economy is guaranteed by the fact thatthe funds must ultimately be returned to be used overagain.
It is the cardinal principle of the forest-reservepolicy of this Administration that the reserves arefor use. Whatever interferes with the use oftheir resources is to be avoided by every possiblemeans. But these resources must be used in sucha way as to make them permanent.
The forest policy of the Government is just now asubject of vivid public interest throughout the Westand to the people of the United States in general.The forest reserves themselves are of extreme valueto the present as well as to the future welfare ofall the western public-land States. They powerfullyaffect the use and disposal of the public lands.They are of special importance because they preservethe water supply and the supply of timber for domesticpurposes, and so promote settlement under the reclamationact. Indeed, they are essential to the welfareof every one of the great interests of the West.
Forest reserves are created for two principal purposes.The first is to preserve the water supply. Thisis their most important use. The principal usersof the water thus preserved are irrigation ranchersand settlers, cities and towns to whom their municipalwater supplies are of the very first importance, usersand furnishers of water power, and the users of waterfor domestic, manufacturing, mining, and other purposes.All these are directly dependent upon the forest reserves.
The second reason for which forest reserves are createdis to preserve the timber supply for various classesof wood users. Among the more important of theseare settlers under the reclamation act and other acts,for whom a cheap and accessible supply of timber fordomestic uses is absolutely necessary; miners andprospectors, who are in serious danger of losing theirtimber supply by fire or through export by lumbercompanies when timber lands adjacent to their minespass into private ownership; lumbermen, transportationcompanies, builders, and commercial interests in general.
Although the wisdom of creating forest reserves isnearly everywhere heartily recognized, yet in a fewlocalities there has been misunderstanding and complaint.The following statement is therefore desirable:
The forest reserve policy can be successful only whenit has the full support of the people of the West.It can not safely, and should not in any case, beimposed upon them against their will. But neithercan we accept the views of those whose only interestin the forest is temporary; who are anxious to reapwhat they have not sown and then move away, leavingdesolation behind them. On the contrary, it iseverywhere and always the interest of the permanentsettler and the permanent business man, the man witha stake in the country, which must be considered andwhich must decide.
The making of forest reserves within railroad andwagon-road land-grant limits will hereafter, as forthe past three years, be so managed as to preventthe issue, under the act of June 4, 1897, of base forexchange or lieu selection (usually called scrip).In all cases where forest reserves within areas coveredby land grants appear to be essential to the prosperityof settlers, miners, or others, the Government landswithin such proposed forest reserves will, as in therecent past, be withdrawn from sale or entry pendingthe completion of such negotiations with the ownersof the land grants as will prevent the creation ofso-called scrip.
It was formerly the custom to make forest reserveswithout first getting definite and detailed informationas to the character of land and timber within theirboundaries. This method of action often resultedin badly chosen boundaries and consequent injusticeto settlers and others. Therefore this Administrationadopted the present method of first withdrawing theland from disposal, followed by careful examinationon the ground and the preparation of detailed mapsand descriptions, before any forest reserve is created.
I have repeatedly called attention to the confusionwhich exists in Government forest matters becausethe work is scattered among three independent organizations.The United States is the only one of the great nationsin which the forest work of the Government is notconcentrated under one department, in consonance withthe plainest dictates of good administration and commonsense. The present arrangement is bad from everypoint of view. Merely to mention it is to provethat it should be terminated at once. As I haverepeatedly recommended, all the forest work of theGovernment should be concentrated in the Departmentof Agriculture, where the larger part of that workis already done, where practically all of the trainedforesters of the Government are employed, where chieflyin Washington there is comprehensive first-class knowledgeof the problems of the reserves acquired on the ground,where all problems relating to growth from the soilare already gathered, and where all the sciences auxiliaryto forestry are at hand for prompt and effective co-operation.These reasons are decisive in themselves, but it shouldbe added that the great organizations of citizens whoseinterests are affected by the forest-reserves, suchas the National Live Stock Association, the NationalWool Growers’ Association, the American MiningCongress, the national Irrigation Congress, and theNational Board of Trade, have uniformly, emphatically,and most of them repeatedly, expressed themselvesin favor of placing all Government forest work inthe Department of Agriculture because of the peculiaradaptation of that Department for it. It is true,also, that the forest services of nearly all the greatnations of the world are under the respective departmentsof agriculture, while in but two of the smaller nationsand in one colony are they under the department ofthe interior. This is the result of long andvaried experience and it agrees fully with the requirementsof good administration in our own case.
The creation of a forest service in the Departmentof Agriculture will have for its important results:
First. A better handling of all forest work;because it will be under a single head, and becausethe vast and indispensable experience of the Departmentin all matters pertaining to the forest reserves, toforestry in general, and to other forms of productionfrom the soil, will be easily and rapidly accessible.
Second. The reserves themselves, being handledfrom the point of view of the man in the field, insteadof the man in the office, will be more easily andmore widely useful to the people of the West than hasbeen the case hitherto.
Third. Within a comparatively short time thereserves will become self-supporting. This isimportant, because continually and rapidly increasingappropriations will be necessary for the proper careof this exceedingly important interest of the Nation,and they can and should he offset by returns fromthe National forests. Under similar circ*mstancesthe forest possessions of other great nations forman important source of revenue to their governments.
Every administrative officer concerned is convincedof the necessity for the proposed consolidation offorest work in the Department of Agriculture, andI myself have urged it more than once in former messages.Again I commend it to the early and favorable considerationof the Congress. The interests of the Nation atlarge and of the West in particular have sufferedgreatly because of the delay.
I call the attention of the Congress again to thereport and recommendation of the Commission on thePublic Lands forwarded by me to the second sessionof the present Congress. The Commission has prosecutedits investigations actively during the past season,and a second report is now in an advanced stage ofpreparation.
In connection with the work of the forest reservesI desire again to urge upon the Congress the importanceof authorizing the President to set aside certainportions of these reserves or other public lands asgame refuges for the preservation of the bison, thewapiti, and other large beasts once so abundant inour woods and mountains and on our great plains, andnow tending toward extinction. Every support shouldbe given to the authorities of the Yellowstone Parkin their successful efforts at preserving the largecreatures therein; and at very little expense portionsof the public domain in other regions which are whollyunsuited to agricultural settlement could be similarlyutilized. We owe it to future generations tokeep alive the noble and beautiful creatures whichby their presence add such distinctive character tothe American wilderness. The limits of the YellowstonePark should be extended southwards. The Canyonof the Colorado should be made a national park; andthe national-park system should include the Yosemiteand as many as possible of the groves of giant treesin California.
The veterans of the Civil War have a claim upon theNation such as no other body of our citizens possess.The Pension Bureau has never in its history been managedin a more satisfactory manner than is now the case.
The progress of the Indians toward civilization, thoughnot rapid, is perhaps all that could be hoped forin view of the circ*mstances. Within the pastyear many tribes have shown, in a degree greater thanever before, an appreciation of the necessity of work.This changed attitude is in part due to the policyrecently pursued of reducing the amount of subsistenceto the Indians, and thus forcing them, through sheernecessity, to work for a livelihood. The policy,though severe, is a useful one, but it is to be exercisedonly with judgment and with a full understanding ofthe conditions which exist in each community for whichit is intended. On or near the Indian reservationsthere is usually very little demand for labor, andif the Indians are to earn their living and when workcan not be furnished from outside (which is alwayspreferable), then it must be furnished by the Government.Practical instruction of this kind would in a few yearsresult in the forming of habits of regular industry,which would render the Indian a producer and wouldeffect a great reduction in the cost of his maintenance.
It is commonly declared that the slow advance of theIndians is due to the unsatisfactory character ofthe men appointed to take immediate charge of them,and to some extent this is true. While the standardof the employees in the Indian Service shows greatimprovement over that of bygone years, and while actualcorruption or flagrant dishonesty is now the rareexception, it is nevertheless the fact that the salariespaid Indian agents are not large enough to attractthe best men to that field of work. To achievesatisfactory results the official in charge of anIndian tribe should possess the high qualificationswhich are required in the manager of a large business,but only in exceptional cases is it possible to securemen of such a type for these positions. Muchbetter service, however, might be obtained from thosenow holding the places were it practicable to getout of them the best that is in them, and this shouldbe done by bringing them constantly into closer touchwith their superior officers. An agent who hasbeen content to draw his salary, giving in returnthe least possible equivalent in effort and service,may, by proper treatment, by suggestion and encouragement,or persistent urging, be stimulated to greater effortand induced to take a more active personal interestin his work.
Under existing conditions an Indian agent in the distantWest may be wholly out of touch with the office ofthe Indian Bureau. He may very well feel thatno one takes a personal interest in him or his efforts.Certain routine duties in the way of reports and accountsare required of him, but there is no one with whomhe may intelligently consult on matters vital to hiswork, except after long delay. Such a man wouldbe greatly encouraged and aided by personal contactwith some one whose interest in Indian affairs andwhose authority in the Indian Bureau were greaterthan his own, and such contact would be certain toarouse and constantly increase the interest he takesin his work.
The distance which separates the agents—theworkers in the field—from the Indian Officein Washington is a chief obstacle to Indian progress.Whatever shall more closely unite these two branchesof the Indian Service, and shall enable them to co-operatemore heartily and more effectively, will be for theincreased efficiency of the work and the bettermentof the race for whose improvement the Indian Bureauwas established. The appointment of a field assistantto the Commissioner of Indian Affairs would be certainto insure this good end. Such an official, ifpossessed of the requisite energy and deep interestin the work, would be a most efficient factor in bringinginto closer relationship and a more direct union ofeffort the Bureau in Washington and its agents inthe field; and with the co-operation of its branchesthus secured the Indian Bureau would, in measure fullerthan ever before, lift up the savage toward that self-helpand self-reliance which constitute the man.
In 1907 there will be held at Hampton Roads the tricentennialcelebration of the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia,with which the history of what has now become theUnited States really begins. I commend this toyour favorable consideration. It is an event ofprime historic significance, in which all the peopleof the United States should feel, and should show,great and general interest.
In the Post-Office Department the service has increasedin efficiency, and conditions as to revenue and expenditurecontinue satisfactory. The increase of revenueduring the year was $9,358,181.10, or 6.9 per cent,the total receipts amounting to $143,382,624.34.The expenditures were $152,362,116.70, an increaseof about 9 per cent over the previous year, beingthus $8,979,492.36 in excess of the current revenue.Included in these expenditures was a total appropriationof $152,956,637.35 for the continuation and extensionof the rural free-delivery service, which was an increaseof $4,902,237.35 over the amount expended for thispurpose in the preceding fiscal year. Large asthis expenditure has been the beneficent results attainedin extending the free distribution of mails to theresidents of rural districts have justified the wisdomof the outlay. Statistics brought down to the1st of October, 1904, show that on that date therewere 27,138 rural routes established, serving approximately12,000,000 of people in rural districts remote frompost-offices, and that there were pending at thattime 3,859 petitions for the establishment of new ruralroutes. Unquestionably some part of the generalincrease in receipts is due to the increased postalfacilities which the rural service has afforded.The revenues have also been aided greatly by amendmentsin the classification of mail matter, and the curtailmentof abuses of the second-class mailing privilege.The average increase in the volume of mail matterfor the period beginning with 1902 and ending June,1905 (that portion for 1905 being estimated), is 40.47per cent, as compared with 25.46 per cent for theperiod immediately preceding, and 15.92 for the four-yearperiod immediately preceding that.
Our consular system needs improvement. Salariesshould be substituted for fees, and the proper classification,grading, and transfer of consular officers shouldbe provided. I am not prepared to say that acompetitive system of examinations for appointmentwould work well; but by law it should be providedthat consuls should be familiar, according to placesfor which they apply, with the French, German, or Spanishlanguages, and should possess acquaintance with theresources of the United States.
The collection of objects of art contemplated in section5586 of the Revised Statutes should be designatedand established as a National Gallery of Art; andthe Smithsonian Institution should be authorized toaccept any additions to said collection that may bereceived by gift, bequest, or devise.
It is desirable to enact a proper National quarantinelaw. It is most undesirable that a State shouldon its own initiative enforce quarantine regulationswhich are in effect a restriction upon interstateand international commerce. The question shouldproperly be assumed by the Government alone.The Surgeon-General of the National Public Healthand Marine-Hospital Service has repeatedly and convincinglyset forth the need for such legislation.
I call your attention to the great extravagance inprinting and binding Government publications, andespecially to the fact that altogether too many ofthese publications are printed. There is a constanttendency to increase their number and their volume.It is an understatement to say that no appreciableharm would be caused by, and substantial benefit wouldaccrue from, decreasing the amount of printing nowdone by at least one-half. Probably the greatmajority of the Government reports and the like nowprinted are never read at all, and furthermore theprinting of much of the material contained in manyof the remaining ones serves no useful purpose whatever.
The attention of the Congress should be especiallygiven to the currency question, and that the standingcommittees on the matter in the two Houses chargedwith the duty, take up the matter of our currencyand see whether it is not possible to secure an agreementin the business world for bettering the system; thecommittees should consider the question of the retirementof the greenbacks and the problem of securing in ourcurrency such elasticity as is consistent with safety.Every silver dollar should be made by law redeemablein gold at the option of the holder.
I especially commend to your immediate attention theencouragement of our merchant marine by appropriatelegislation.
The growing importance of the Orient as a field forAmerican exports drew from my predecessor, PresidentMcKinley, an urgent request for its special considerationby the Congress. In his message of 1898 he stated:
“In this relation, as showing the peculiar volumeand value of our trade with China and the peculiarlyfavorable conditions which exist for their expansionin the normal course of trade, I refer to the communicationaddressed to the Speaker of the House of Representativesby the Secretary of the Treasury on the 14th of lastJune, with its accompanying letter of the Secretaryof State, recommending an appropriation for a commissionto study the industrial and commercial conditionsin the Chinese Empire and to report as to the opportunitiesfor and the obstacles to the enlargement of marketsin China for the raw products and manufactures ofthe United States. Action was not taken thereonduring the last session. I cordially urge thatthe recommendation receive at your hands the considerationwhich its importance and timeliness merit.”
In his annual message of 1889 he again called attentionto this recommendation, quoting it, and stated further:
“I now renew this recommendation, as the importanceof the subject has steadily grown since it was firstsubmitted to you, and no time should be lost in studyingfor ourselves the resources of this great field forAmerican trade and enterprise.”
The importance of securing proper information anddata with a view to the enlargement of our trade withAsia is undiminished. Our consular representativesin China have strongly urged a place for permanentdisplay of American products in some prominent tradecenter of that Empire, under Government control andmanagement, as an effective means of advancing ourexport trade therein. I call the attention ofthe Congress to the desirability of carrying out thesesuggestions.
In dealing with the questions of immigration and naturalizationit is indispensable to keep certain facts ever beforethe minds of those who share in enacting the laws.First and foremost, let us remember that the questionof being a good American has nothing whatever to dowith a man’s birthplace any more than it hasto do with his creed. In every generation fromthe time this Government was founded men of foreignbirth have stood in the very foremost rank of goodcitizenship, and that not merely in one but in everyfield of American activity; while to try to draw adistinction between the man whose parents came to thiscountry and the man whose ancestors came to it severalgenerations back is a mere absurdity. Good Americanismis a matter of heart, of conscience, of lofty aspiration,of sound common sense, but not of birthplace or ofcreed. The medal of honor, the highest prize tobe won by those who serve in the Army and the Navyof the United States decorates men born here, andit also decorates men born in Great Britain and Ireland,in Germany, in Scandinavia, in France, and doubtlessin other countries also. In the field of statesmanship,in the field of business, in the field of philanthropicendeavor, it is equally true that among the men ofwhom we are most proud as Americans no distinctionwhatever can be drawn between those who themselvesor whose parents came over in sailing ship or steamerfrom across the water and those whose ancestors steppedashore into the wooded wilderness at Plymouth or atthe mouth of the Hudson, the Delaware, or the Jamesnearly three centuries ago. No fellow-citizenof ours is entitled to any peculiar regard becauseof the way in which he worships his Maker, or becauseof the birthplace of himself or his parents, nor shouldhe be in any way discriminated against therefor.Each must stand on his worth as a man and each isentitled to be judged solely thereby.
There is no danger of having too many immigrants ofthe right kind. It makes no difference from whatcountry they come. If they are sound in bodyand in mind, and, above all, if they are of good character,so that we can rest assured that their children andgrandchildren will be worthy fellow-citizens of ourchildren and grandchildren, then we should welcomethem with cordial hospitality.
But the citizenship of this country should not bedebased. It is vital that we should keep highthe standard of well-being among our wage-workers,and therefore we should not admit masses of men whosestandards of living and whose personal customs andhabits are such that they tend to lower the levelof the American wage-worker; and above all we shouldnot admit any man of an unworthy type, any man concerningwhom we can say that he will himself be a bad citizen,or that his children and grandchildren will detractfrom instead of adding to the sum of the good citizenshipof the country. Similarly we should take thegreatest care about naturalization. Fraudulentnaturalization, the naturalization of improper persons,is a curse to our Government; and it is the affairof every honest voter, wherever born, to see that nofraudulent voting is allowed, that no fraud in connectionwith naturalization is permitted.
In the past year the cases of false, fraudulent, andimproper naturalization of aliens coming to the attentionof the executive branches of the Government have increasedto an alarming degree. Extensive sales of forgedcertificates of naturalization have been discovered,as well as many cases of naturalization secured byperjury and fraud; and in addition, instances haveaccumulated showing that many courts issue certificatesof naturalization carelessly and upon insufficientevidence.
Under the Constitution it is in the power of the Congress“to establish a uniform rule of naturalization,”and numerous laws have from time to time been enactedfor that purpose, which have been supplemented in afew States by State laws having special application.The Federal statutes permit naturalization by anycourt of record in the United States having common-lawjurisdiction and a seal and clerk, except the policecourt of the District of Columbia, and nearly all thesecourts exercise this important function. It resultsthat where so many courts of such varying grades havejurisdiction, there is lack of uniformity in the rulesapplied in conferring naturalization. Some courtsare strict and others lax. An alien who may securenaturalization in one place might be denied it inanother, and the intent of the constitutional provisionis in fact defeated. Furthermore, the certificatesof naturalization issued by the courts differ widelyin wording and appearance, and when they are broughtinto use in foreign countries, are frequently subjectto suspicion.
There should be a comprehensive revision of the naturalizationlaws. The courts having power to naturalize shouldbe definitely named by national authority; the testimonyupon which naturalization may be conferred shouldbe definitely prescribed; publication of impendingnaturalization applications should be required in advanceof their hearing in court; the form and wording ofall certificates issued should be uniform throughoutthe country, and the courts should be required tomake returns to the Secretary of State at stated periodsof all naturalizations conferred.
Not only are the laws relating to naturalization nowdefective, but those relating to citizenship of theUnited States ought also to be made the subject ofscientific inquiry with a view to probable furtherlegislation. By what acts expatriation may beassumed to have been accomplished, how long an Americancitizen may reside abroad and receive the protectionof our passport, whether any degree of protectionshould be extended to one who has made the declarationof intention to become a citizen of the United Statesbut has not secured naturalization, are questionsof serious import, involving personal rights and oftenproducing friction between this Government and foreigngovernments. Yet upon these question our lawsare silent. I recommend that an examination bemade into the subjects of citizenship, expatriation,and protection of Americans abroad, with a view toappropriate legislation.
The power of the Government to protect the integrityof the elections of its own officials is inherentand has been recognized and affirmed by repeated declarationsof the Supreme Court. There is no enemy of freegovernment more dangerous and none so insidious asthe corruption of the electorate. No one defendsor excuses corruption, and it would seem to followthat none would oppose vigorous measures to eradicateit. I recommend the enactment of a law directedagainst bribery and corruption in Federal elections.The details of such a law may be safely left to thewise discretion of the Congress, but it should go asfar as under the Constitution it is possible to go,and should include severe penalties against him whogives or receives a bribe intended to influence hisact or opinion as an elector; and provisions for thepublication not only of the expenditures for nominationsand elections of all candidates but also of all contributionsreceived and expenditures made by political committees.
No subject is better worthy the attention of the Congressthan that portion of the report of the Attorney-Generaldealing with the long delays and the great obstructionto justice experienced in the cases of Beavers, Greenand Gaynor, and Benson. Were these isolated andspecial cases, I should not call your attention tothem; but the difficulties encountered as regardsthese men who have been indicted for criminal practicesare not exceptional; they are precisely similar inkind to what occurs again and again in the case ofcriminals who have sufficient means to enable themto take advantage of a system of procedure which hasgrown up in the Federal courts and which amounts ineffect to making the law easy of enforcement againstthe man who has no money, and difficult of enforcement,even to the point of sometimes securing immunity,as regards the man who has money. In criminalcases the writ of the United States should run throughoutit* borders. The wheels of justice should notbe clogged, as they have been clogged in the casesabove mentioned, where it has proved absolutely impossible
to bring the accused to the place appointed by theConstitution for his trial. Of recent years therehas been grave and increasing complaint of the difficultyof bringing to justice those criminals whose criminality,instead of being against one person in the Republic,is against all persons in the Republic, because itis against the Republic itself. Under any circ*mstanceand from the very nature of the case it is often exceedinglydifficult to secure proper punishment of those whohave been guilty of wrongdoing against the Government.By the time the offender can be brought into courtthe popular wrath against him has generally subsided;and there is in most instances very slight dangerindeed of any prejudice existing in the minds of thejury against him. At present the interests ofthe innocent man are amply safeguarded; but the interestsof the Government, that is, the interests of honestadministration, that is the interests of the people,are not recognized as they should be. No subjectbetter warrants the attention of the Congress.Indeed, no subject better warrants the attention ofthe bench and the bar throughout the United States.Alaska, like all our Territorial acquisitions, hasproved resourceful beyond the expectations of thosewho made the purchase. It has become the homeof many hardy, industrious, and thrifty American citizens.Towns of a permanent character have been built.The extent of its wealth in minerals, timber, fisheries,and agriculture, while great, is probably not comprehendedyet in any just measure by our people. We doknow, however, that from a very small beginning itsproducts have grown until they are a steady and materialcontribution to the wealth of the nation. Owingto the immensity of Alaska and its location in thefar north, it is a difficult matter to provide manythings essential to its growth and to the happinessand comfort of its people by private enterprise alone.It should, therefore, receive reasonable aid from theGovernment. The Government has already done excellentwork for Alaska in laying cables and building telegraphlines. This work has been done in the most economicaland efficient way by the Signal Corps of the Army.
In some respects it has outgrown its present laws,while in others those laws have been found to be inadequate.In order to obtain information upon which I couldrely I caused an official of the Department of Justice,in whose judgment I have confidence, to visit Alaskaduring the past summer for the purpose of ascertaininghow government is administered there and what legislationis actually needed at present. A statement ofthe conditions found to exist, together with somerecommendations and the reasons therefor, in whichI strongly concur, will be found in the annual reportof the Attorney-General. In some instances Ifeel that the legislation suggested is so imperativelyneeded that I am moved briefly to emphasize the Attorney-General’sproposals.
Under the Code of Alaska as it now stands many purelyadministrative powers and duties, including by farthe most important, devolve upon the district judgesor upon the clerks of the district court acting underthe direction of the judges, while the governor, uponwhom these powers and duties should logically fall,has nothing specific to do except to make annual reports,issue Thanksgiving Day proclamations, and appointIndian policemen and notaries public. I believeit essential to good government in Alaska, and thereforerecommend, that the Congress divest the district judgesand the clerks of their courts of the administrativeor executive functions that they now exercise andcast them upon the governor. This would not bean innovation; it would simply conform the governmentof Alaska to fundamental principles, making the governorshipa real instead of a merely nominal office, and leavingthe judges free to give their entire attention to theirjudicial duties and at the same time removing themfrom a great deal of the strife that now embarrassesthe judicial office in Alaska.
I also recommend that the salaries of the districtjudges and district attorneys in Alaska be increasedso as to make them equal to those received by correspondingofficers in the United States after deducting thedifference in the cost of living; that the districtattorneys should be prohibited from engaging in privatepractice; that United States commissioners be appointedby the governor of the Territory instead of by thedistrict judges, and that a fixed salary be providedfor them to take the place of the discredited “feesystem,” which should be abolished in all offices;that a mounted constabulary be created to police theterritory outside the limits of incorporated towns—avast section now wholly without police protection;and that some provision be made to at least lessenthe oppressive delays and costs that now attend theprosecution of appeals from the district court ofAlaska. There should be a division of the existingjudicial districts, and an increase in the numberof judges.
Alaska should have a Delegate in the Congress.Where possible, the Congress should aid in the constructionof needed wagon roads. Additional light-housesshould be provided. In my judgment, it is especiallyimportant to aid in such manner as seems just and feasiblein the construction of a trunk line of railway to connectthe Gulf of Alaska with the Yukon River through Americanterritory. This would be most beneficial to thedevelopment of the resources of the Territory, andto the comfort and welfare of its people.
Salmon hatcheries should be established in many differentstreams, so as to secure the preservation of thisvaluable food fish. Salmon fisheries and canneriesshould be prohibited on certain of the rivers wherethe mass of those Indians dwell who live almost exclusivelyon fish.
The Alaskan natives are kindly, intelligent, anxiousto learn, and willing to work. Those who havecome under the influence of civilization, even fora limited period, have proved their capability ofbecoming self-supporting, self-respecting citizens,and ask only for the just enforcement of law and intelligentinstruction and supervision. Others, living inmore remote regions, primitive, simple hunters andfisher folk, who know only the life of the woods andthe waters, are daily being confronted with twentieth-centurycivilization with all of its complexities. Theircountry is being overrun by strangers, the game slaughteredand driven away, the streams depleted of fish, andhitherto unknown and fatal diseases brought to them,all of which combine to produce a state of abjectpoverty and want which must result in their extinction.Action in their interest is demanded by every considerationof justice and humanity.
The needs of these people are:
The abolition of the present fee system, whereby thenative is degraded, imposed upon, and taught the injusticeof law.
The establishment of hospitals at central points,so that contagious diseases that are brought to themcontinually by incoming whites may be localized andnot allowed to become epidemic, to spread death anddestitution over great areas.
The development of the educational system in the formof practical training in such industries as will assurethe Indians self-support under the changed conditionsin which they will have to live.
The duties of the office of the governor should beextended to include the supervision of Indian affairs,with necessary assistants in different districts.He should be provided with the means and the powerto protect and advise the native people, to furnishmedical treatment in time of epidemics, and to extendmaterial relief in periods of famine and extreme destitution.
The Alaskan natives should be given the right to acquire,hold, and dispose of property upon the same conditionsas given other inhabitants; and the privilege of citizenshipshould be given to such as may be able to meet certaindefinite requirements. In Hawaii Congress shouldgive the governor power to remove all the officialsappointed under him. The harbor of Honolulu shouldbe dredged. The Marine-Hospital Service shouldbe empowered to study leprosy in the islands.I ask special consideration for the report and recommendationof the governor of Porto Rico.
In treating of our foreign policy and of the attitudethat this great Nation should assume in the worldat large, it is absolutely necessary to consider theArmy and the Navy, and the Congress, through whichthe thought of the Nation finds its expression, shouldkeep ever vividly in mind the fundamental fact thatit is impossible to treat our foreign policy, whetherthis policy takes shape in the effort to secure justicefor others or justice for ourselves, save as conditioned
upon the attitude we are willing to take toward ourArmy, and especially toward our Navy. It is notmerely unwise, it is contemptible, for a nation, asfor an individual, to use high-sounding language toproclaim its purposes, or to take positions whichare ridiculous if unsupported by potential force,and then to refuse to provide this force. If thereis no intention of providing and of keeping the forcenecessary to back up a strong attitude, then it isfar better not to assume such an attitude.The steady aim of this Nation, as of all enlightenednations, should be to strive to bring ever nearerthe day when there shall prevail throughout the worldthe peace of justice. There are kinds of peacewhich are highly undesirable, which are in the longrun as destructive as any war. Tyrants and oppressorshave many times made a wilderness and called it peace.Many times peoples who were slothful or timid or shortsighted,who had been enervated by ease or by luxury, or misledby false teachings, have shrunk in unmanly fashionfrom doing duty that was stern and that needed self-sacrifice,and have sought to hide from their own minds theirshortcomings, their ignoble motives, by calling themlove of peace. The peace of tyrannous terror,the peace of craven weakness, the peace of injustice,all these should be shunned as we shun unrighteouswar. The goal to set before us as a nation, thegoal which should be set before all mankind, is theattainment of the peace of justice, of the peace whichcomes when each nation is not merely safe-guardedin its own rights, but scrupulously recognizes andperforms its duty toward others. Generally peacetells for righteousness; but if there is conflictbetween the two, then our fealty is due-first to thecause of righteousness. Unrighteous wars arecommon, and unrighteous peace is rare; but both shouldbe shunned. The right of freedom and the responsibilityfor the exercise of that right can not be divorced.One of our great poets has well and finely said thatfreedom is not a gift that tarries long in the handsof cowards. Neither does it tarry long in thehands of those too slothful, too dishonest, or toounintelligent to exercise it. The eternal vigilancewhich is the price of liberty must be exercised, sometimesto guard against outside foes; although of coursefar more often to guard against our own selfish orthoughtless shortcomings.
If these self-evident truths are kept before us, andonly if they are so kept before us, we shall havea clear idea of what our foreign policy in its largeraspects should be. It is our duty to rememberthat a nation has no more right to do injustice toanother nation, strong or weak, than an individualhas to do injustice to another individual; that thesame moral law applies in one case as in the other.But we must also remember that it is as much the dutyof the Nation to guard its own rights and its owninterests as it is the duty of the individual so to
do. Within the Nation the individual has now delegatedthis right to the State, that is, to the representativeof all the individuals, and it is a maxim of the lawthat for every wrong there is a remedy. But ininternational law we have not advanced by any meansas far as we have advanced in municipal law.There is as yet no judicial way of enforcing a rightin international law. When one nation wrongsanother or wrongs many others, there is no tribunalbefore which the wrongdoer can be brought. Eitherit is necessary supinely to acquiesce in the wrong,and thus put a premium upon brutality and aggression,or else it is necessary for the aggrieved nation valiantlyto stand up for its rights. Until some methodis devised by which there shall be a degree of internationalcontrol over offending nations, it would be a wickedthing for the most civilized powers, for those withmost sense of international obligations and with keenestand most generous appreciation of the difference betweenright and wrong, to disarm. If the great civilizednations of the present day should completely disarm,the result would mean an immediate recrudescence ofbarbarism in one form or another. Under any circ*mstancesa sufficient armament would have to be kept up toserve the purposes of international police; and untilinternational cohesion and the sense of internationalduties and rights are far more advanced than at present,a nation desirous both of securing respect for itselfand of doing good to others must have a force adequatefor the work which it feels is allotted to it as itspart of the general world duty. Therefore it followsthat a self-respecting, just, and far-seeing nationshould on the one hand endeavor by every means toaid in the development of the various movements whichtend to provide substitutes for war, which tend torender nations in their actions toward one another,and indeed toward their own peoples, more responsiveto the general sentiment of humane and civilized mankind;and on the other hand that it should keep prepared,while scrupulously avoiding wrongdoing itself, to repelany wrong, and in exceptional cases to take actionwhich in a more advanced stage of international relationswould come under the head of the exercise of the internationalpolice. A great free people owes it to itselfand to all mankind not to sink into helplessness beforethe powers of evil.We are in every way endeavoring to help on, with cordialgood will, every movement which will tend to bringus into more friendly relations with the rest of mankind.In pursuance of this policy I shall shortly lay beforethe Senate treaties of arbitration with all powerswhich are willing to enter into these treaties withus. It is not possible at this period of theworld’s development to agree to arbitrate allmatters, but there are many matters of possible differencebetween us and other nations which can be thus arbitrated.Furthermore, at the request of the InterparliamentaryUnion, an eminent body composed of practical statesmenfrom all countries, I have asked the Powers to joinwith this Government in a second Hague conference,at which it is hoped that the work already so happilybegun at The Hague may be carried some steps furthertoward completion. This carries out the desireexpressed by the first Hague conference itself.
It is not true that the United States feels any landhunger or entertains any projects as regards the othernations of the Western Hemisphere save such as arefor their welfare. All that this country desiresis to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly,and prosperous. Any country whose people conductthemselves well can count upon our hearty friendship.If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonableefficiency and decency in social and political matters,if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it needfear no interference from the United States.Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which resultsin a general loosening of the ties of civilized society,may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require interventionby some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemispherethe adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrinemay force the United States, however reluctantly,in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence,to the exercise of an international police power.If every country washed by the Caribbean Sea wouldshow the progress in stable and just civilizationwhich with the aid of the Platt amendment Cuba hasshown since our troops left the island, and which somany of the republics in both Americas are constantlyand brilliantly showing, all question of interferenceby this Nation with their affairs would be at an end.Our interests and those of our southern neighbors arein reality identical. They have great naturalriches, and if within their borders the reign of lawand justice obtains, prosperity is sure to come tothem. While they thus obey the primary laws ofcivilized society they may rest assured that theywill be treated by us in a spirit of cordial and helpfulsympathy. We would interfere with them only inthe last resort, and then only if it became evidentthat their inability or unwillingness to do justiceat home and abroad had violated the rights of theUnited States or had invited foreign aggression tothe detriment of the entire body of American nations.It is a mere truism to say that every nation, whetherin America or anywhere else, which desires to maintainits freedom, its independence, must ultimately realizethat the right of such independence can not be separatedfrom the responsibility of making good use of it.
In asserting the Monroe Doctrine, in taking such stepsas we have taken in regard to Cuba, Venezuela, andPanama, and in endeavoring to circ*mscribe the theaterof war in the Far East, and to secure the open doorin China, we have acted in our own interest as wellas in the interest of humanity at large. Thereare, however, cases in which, while our own interestsare not greatly involved, strong appeal is made toour sympathies. Ordinarily it is very much wiserand more useful for us to concern ourselves with strivingfor our own moral and material betterment here athome than to concern ourselves with trying to betterthe condition of things in other nations. We have
plenty of sins of our own to war against, and underordinary circ*mstances we can do more for the generaluplifting of humanity by striving with heart and soulto put a stop to civic corruption, to brutal lawlessnessand violent race prejudices here at home than by passingresolutions about wrongdoing elsewhere. Neverthelessthere are occasional crimes committed on so vast ascale and of such peculiar horror as to make us doubtwhether it is not our manifest duty to endeavor atleast to show our disapproval of the deed and oursympathy with those who have suffered by it. Thecases must be extreme in which such a course is justifiable.There must be no effort made to remove the mote fromour brother’s eye if we refuse to remove thebeam from our own. But in extreme cases actionmay be justifiable and proper. What form theaction shall take must depend upon the circ*mstancesof the case; that is, upon the degree of the atrocityand upon our power to remedy it. The cases inwhich we could interfere by force of arms as we interferedto put a stop to intolerable conditions in Cuba arenecessarily very few. Yet it is not to be expectedthat a people like ours, which in spite of certainvery obvious shortcomings, nevertheless as a wholeshows by its consistent practice its belief in theprinciples of civil and religious liberty and of orderlyfreedom, a people among whom even the worst crime,like the crime of lynching, is never more than sporadic,so that individuals and not classes are molested intheir fundamental rights—it is inevitablethat such a nation should desire eagerly to give expressionto its horror on an occasion like that of the massacreof the Jews in Kishenef, or when it witnesses suchsystematic and long-extended cruelty and oppressionas the cruelty and oppression of which the Armenianshave been the victims, and which have won for themthe indignant pity of the civilized world.Even where it is not possible to secure in other nationsthe observance of the principles which we accept asaxiomatic, it is necessary for us firmly to insistupon the rights of our own citizens without regardto their creed or race; without regard to whetherthey were born here or born abroad. It has provedvery difficult to secure from Russia the right forour Jewish fellow-citizens to receive passports andtravel through Russian territory. Such conductis not only unjust and irritating toward us, but itis difficult to see its wisdom from Russia’sstandpoint. No conceivable good is accomplishedby it. If an American Jew or an American Christianmisbehaves himself in Russia he can at once be drivenout; but the ordinary American Jew, like the ordinaryAmerican Christian, would behave just about as he behaveshere, that is, behave as any good citizen ought tobehave; and where this is the case it is a wrong againstwhich we are entitled to protest to refuse him hispassport without regard to his conduct and character,merely on racial and religious grounds. In Turkeyour difficulties arise less from the way in whichour citizens are sometimes treated than from the indignationinevitably excited in seeing such fearful misruleas has been witnessed both in Armenia and Macedonia.
The strong arm of the Government in enforcing respectfor its just rights in international matters is theNavy of the United States. I most earnestly recommendthat there be no halt in the work of upbuilding theAmerican Navy. There is no more patriotic dutybefore us a people than to keep the Navy adequateto the needs of this country’s position.We have undertaken to build the Isthmian Canal.We have undertaken to secure for ourselves our justshare in the trade of the Orient. We have undertakento protect our citizens from proper treatment in foreignlands. We continue steadily to insist on theapplication of the Monroe Doctrine to the Western Hemisphere.Unless our attitude in these and all similar mattersis to be a mere boastful sham we can not afford toabandon our naval programme. Our voice is nowpotent for peace, and is so potent because we are notafraid of war. But our protestations upon behalfof peace would neither receive nor deserve the slightestattention if we were impotent to make them good.
The war which now unfortunately rages in the far Easthas emphasized in striking fashion the new possibilitiesof naval warfare. The lessons taught are bothstrategic and tactical, and are political as well asmilitary. The experiences of the war have shownin conclusive fashion that while sea-going and sea-keepingtorpedo destroyers are indispensable, and fast lightlyarmed and armored cruisers very useful, yet that themain reliance, the main standby, in any navy worthythe name must be the great battle ships, heavily armoredand heavily gunned. Not a Russian or Japanesebattle ship has been sunk by a torpedo boat, or bygunfire, while among the less protected ships, cruiserafter cruiser has been destroyed whenever the hostilesquadrons have gotten within range of one another’sweapons. There will always be a large field ofusefulness for cruisers, especially of the more formidabletype. We need to increase the number of torpedo-boatdestroyers, paying less heed to their having a knotor two extra speed than to their capacity to keepthe seas for weeks, and, if necessary, for monthsat a time. It is wise to build submarine torpedoboats, as under certain circ*mstances they might bevery useful. But most of all we need to continuebuilding our fleet of battle ships, or ships so powerfullyarmed that they can inflict the maximum of damage uponour opponents, and so well protected that they cansuffer a severe hammering in return without fatalimpairment of their ability to fight and maneuver.Of course ample means must be provided for enablingthe personnel of the Navy to be brought to the highestpoint of efficiency. Our great fighting shipsand torpedo boats must be ceaselessly trained andmaneuvered in squadrons. The officers and mencan only learn their trade thoroughly by ceaselesspractice on the high seas. In the event of warit would be far better to have no ships at all thanto have ships of a poor and ineffective type, or ships
which, however good, were yet manned by untrainedand unskillful crews. The best officers and menin a poor ship could do nothing against fairly goodopponents; and on the other hand a modern war shipis useless unless the officers and men aboard herhave become adepts in their duties. The marksmanshipin our Navy has improved in an extraordinary degreeduring the last three years, and on the whole thetypes of our battleships are improving; but much remainsto be done. Sooner or later we shall have toprovide for some method by which there will be promotionsfor merit as well as for seniority, or else retirementall those who after a certain age have not advancedbeyond a certain grade; while no effort must be sparedto make the service attractive to the enlisted menin order that they may be kept as long as possiblein it. Reservation public schools should be providedwherever there are navy-yards.Within the last three years the United States hasset an example in disarmament where disarmament wasproper. By law our Army is fixed at a maximumof one hundred thousand and a minimum of sixty thousandmen. When there was insurrection in the Philippineswe kept the Army at the maximum. Peace came inthe Philippines, and now our Army has been reducedto the minimum at which it is possible to keep it withdue regard to its efficiency. The guns now mountedrequire twenty-eight thousand men, if the coast fortificationsare to be adequately manned. Relatively to theNation, it is not now so large as the police forceof New York or Chicago relatively to the populationof either city. We need more officers; thereare not enough to perform the regular army work.It is very important that the officers of the Armyshould be accustomed to handle their men in masses,as it is also important that the National Guard ofthe several States should be accustomed to actualfield maneuvering, especially in connection with theregulars. For this reason we are to be congratulatedupon the success of the field maneuvers at Manassaslast fall, maneuvers in which a larger number of Regularsand National Guard took part than was ever before assembledtogether in time of peace. No other civilizednation has, relatively to its population, such a diminutiveArmy as ours; and while the Army is so small we arenot to be excused if we fail to keep it at a very highgrade of proficiency. It must be incessantly practiced;the standard for the enlisted men should be kept veryhigh, while at the same time the service should bemade as attractive as possible; and the standard forthe officers should be kept even higher—which,as regards the upper ranks, can best be done by introducingsome system of selection and rejection into the promotions.We should be able, in the event of some sudden emergency,to put into the field one first-class army corps,which should be, as a whole, at least the equal ofany body of troops of like number belonging to anyother nation.
Great progress has been made in protecting our coastsby adequate fortifications with sufficient guns.We should, however, pay much more heed than at presentto the development of an extensive system of floatingmines for use in all our more important harbors.These mines have been proved to be a most formidablesafeguard against hostile fleets.
I earnestly call the attention of the Congress tothe need of amending the existing law relating tothe award of Congressional medals of honor in theNavy so as to provide that they may be awarded to commissionedofficers and warrant officers as well as to enlistedmen. These justly prized medals are given inthe Army alike to the officers and the enlisted men,and it is most unjust that the commissioned officersand warrant officers of the Navy should not in thisrespect have the same rights as their brethren inthe Army and as the enlisted men of the Navy.
In the Philippine Islands there has been during thepast year a continuation of the steady progress whichhas obtained ever since our troops definitely gotthe upper hand of the insurgents. The Philippinepeople, or, to speak more accurately, the many tribes,and even races, sundered from one another more orless sharply, who go to make up the people of thePhilippine Islands, contain many elements of good,and some elements which we have a right to hope standfor progress. At present they are utterly incapableof existing in independence at all or of buildingup a civilization of their own. I firmly believethat we can help them to rise higher and higher inthe scale of civilization and of capacity for self-government,and I most earnestly hope that in the end they willbe able to stand, if not entirely alone, yet in somesuch relation to the United States as Cuba now stands.This end is not yet in sight, and it may be indefinitelypostponed if our people are foolish enough to turnthe attention of the Filipinos away from the problemsof achieving moral and material prosperity, of workingfor a stable, orderly, and just government, and towardfoolish and dangerous intrigues for a complete independencefor which they are as yet totally unfit.
On the other hand our people must keep steadily beforetheir minds the fact that the justification for ourstay in the Philippines must ultimately rest chieflyupon the good we are able to do in the islands.I do not overlook the fact that in the developmentof our interests in the Pacific Ocean and along itscoasts, the Philippines have played and will playan important part; and that our interests have beenserved in more than one way by the possession of theislands. But our chief reason for continuingto hold them must be that we ought in good faith totry to do our share of the world’s work, andthis particular piece of work has been imposed uponus by the results of the war with Spain. Theproblem presented to us in the Philippine Islands isakin to, but not exactly like, the problems presented
to the other great civilized powers which have possessionsin the Orient. There are points of resemblancein our work to the work which is being done by theBritish in India and Egypt, by the French in Algiers,by the Dutch in Java, by the Russians in Turkestan,by the Japanese in Formosa; but more distinctly thanany of these powers we are endeavoring to develop thenatives themselves so that they shall take an ever-increasingshare in their own government, and as far as is prudentwe are already admitting their representatives toa governmental equality with our own. There arecommissioners, judges, and governors in the islandswho are Filipinos and who have exactly the same sharein the government of the islands as have their colleagueswho are Americans, while in the lower ranks, of course,the great majority of the public servants are Filipinos.Within two years we shall be trying the experimentof an elective lower house in the Philippine legislature.It may be that the Filipinos will misuse this legislature,and they certainly will misuse it if they are misledby foolish persons here at home into starting an agitationfor their own independence or into any factious orimproper action. In such case they will do themselvesno good and will stop for the time being all furthereffort to advance them and give them a greater sharein their own government. But if they act withwisdom and self-restraint, if they show that theyare capable of electing a legislature which in itsturn is capable of taking a sane and efficient partin the actual work of government, they can rest assuredthat a full and increasing measure of recognitionwill be given them. Above all they should rememberthat their prime needs are moral and industrial, notpolitical. It is a good thing to try the experimentof giving them a legislature; but it is a far betterthing to give them schools, good roads, railroadswhich will enable them to get their products to market,honest courts, an honest and efficient constabulary,and all that tends to produce order, peace, fair dealingas between man and man, and habits of intelligent industryand thrift. If they are safeguarded against oppression,and if their real wants, material and spiritual, arestudied intelligently and in a spirit of friendlysympathy, much more good will be done them than byany effort to give them political power, though thiseffort may in its own proper time and place be properenough.Meanwhile our own people should remember that thereis need for the highest standard of conduct amongthe Americans sent to the Philippine Islands, notonly among the public servants but among the privateindividuals who go to them. It is because I feelthis so deeply that in the administration of theseislands I have positively refused to permit any discriminationwhatsoever for political reasons and have insistedthat in choosing the public servants considerationshould be paid solely to the worth of the men chosen
and to the needs of the islands. There is nohigher body of men in our public service than we havein the Philippine Islands under Governor Wright andhis associates. So far as possible these menshould be given a free hand, and their suggestionsshould receive the hearty backing both of the Executiveand of the Congress. There is need of a vigilantand disinterested support of our public servants inthe Philippines by good citizens here in the UnitedStates. Unfortunately hitherto those of our peoplehere at home who have specially claimed to be thechampions of the Filipinos have in reality been theirworst enemies. This will continue to be the caseas long as they strive to make the Filipinos independent,and stop all industrial development of the islandsby crying out against the laws which would bring iton the ground that capitalists must not “exploit”the islands. Such proceedings are not only unwise,but are most harmful to the Filipinos, who do notneed independence at all, but who do need good laws,good public servants, and the industrial developmentthat can only come if the investment, of Americanand foreign capital in the islands is favored in alllegitimate ways.Every measure taken concerning the islands shouldbe taken primarily with a view to their advantage.We should certainly give them lower tariff rates ontheir exports to the United States; if this is notdone it will be a wrong to extend our shipping lawsto them. I earnestly hope for the immediate enactmentinto law of the legislation now pending to encourageAmerican capital to seek investment in the islandsin railroads, in factories, in plantations, and inlumbering and mining.
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State of the Union Address
Theodore Roosevelt
December 5, 1905
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
The people of this country continue to enjoy greatprosperity. Undoubtedly there will be ebb andflow in such prosperity, and this ebb and flow willbe felt more or less by all members of the community,both by the deserving and the undeserving. Againstthe wrath of the Lord the wisdom of man cannot avail;in time of flood or drought human ingenuity can butpartially repair the disaster. A general failureof crops would hurt all of us. Again, if thefolly of man mars the general well-being, then thosewho are innocent of the folly will have to pay partof the penalty incurred by those who are guilty ofthe folly. A panic brought on by the speculativefolly of part of the business community would hurtthe whole business community. But such stoppageof welfare, though it might be severe, would not belasting. In the long run the one vital factorin the permanent prosperity of the country is thehigh individual character of the average American worker,the average American citizen, no matter whether hiswork be mental or manual, whether he be farmer orwage-worker, business man or professional man.
In our industrial and social system the interestsof all men are so closely intertwined that in theimmense majority of cases a straight-dealing man whoby his efficiency, by his ingenuity and industry,benefits himself must also benefit others. Normallythe man of great productive capacity who becomes richby guiding the labor of many other men does so byenabling them to produce more than they could producewithout his guidance; and both he and they share inthe benefit, which comes also to the public at large.The superficial fact that the sharing may be unequalmust never blind us to the underlying fact that thereis this sharing, and that the benefit comes in somedegree to each man concerned. Normally the wage-worker,the man of small means, and the average consumer,as well as the average producer, are all alike helpedby making conditions such that the man of exceptionalbusiness ability receives an exceptional reward forhis ability. Something can be done by legislationto help the general prosperity; but no such help ofa permanently beneficial character can be given tothe less able and less fortunate, save as the resultsof a policy which shall inure to the advantage ofall industrious and efficient people who act decently;and this is only another way of saying that any benefitwhich comes to the less able and less fortunate mustof necessity come even more to the more able and morefortunate. If, therefore, the less fortunateman is moved by envy of his more fortunate brotherto strike at the conditions under which they haveboth, though unequally, prospered, the result willassuredly be that while danger may come to the onestruck at, it will visit with an even heavier loadthe one who strikes the blow. Taken as a wholewe must all go up or down together.
Yet, while not merely admitting, but insisting uponthis, it is also true that where there is no governmentalrestraint or supervision some of the exceptional menuse their energies not in ways that are for the commongood, but in ways which tell against this common good.The fortunes amassed through corporate organizationare now so large, and vest such power in those thatwield them, as to make it a matter of necessity togive to the sovereign—that is, to the Government,which represents the people as a whole—someeffective power of supervision over their corporateuse. In order to insure a healthy social andindustrial life, every big corporation should be heldresponsible by, and be accountable to, some sovereignstrong enough to control its conduct. I am inno sense hostile to corporations. This is an ageof combination, and any effort to prevent all combinationwill be not only useless, but in the end vicious,because of the contempt for law which the failureto enforce law inevitably produces. We should,moreover, recognize in cordial and ample fashion theimmense good effected by corporate agencies in a countrysuch as ours, and the wealth of intellect, energy,and fidelity devoted to their service, and thereforenormally to the service of the public, by their officersand directors. The corporation has come to stay,just as the trade union has come to stay. Eachcan do and has done great good. Each should befavored so long as it does good. But each shouldbe sharply checked where it acts against law and justice.
So long as the finances of the Nation are kept uponan honest basis no other question of internal economywith which the Congress has the power to deal beginsto approach in importance the matter of endeavoringto secure proper industrial conditions under whichthe individuals—and especially the greatcorporations—doing an interstate businessare to act. The makers of our National Constitutionprovided especially that the regulation of interstatecommerce should come within the sphere of the GeneralGovernment. The arguments in favor of their takingthis stand were even then overwhelming. But theyare far stronger today, in view of the enormous developmentof great business agencies, usually corporate in form.Experience has shown conclusively that it is uselessto try to get any adequate regulation and supervisionof these great corporations by State action. Suchregulation and supervision can only be effectivelyexercised by a sovereign whose jurisdiction is coextensivewith the field of work of the corporations—thatis, by the National Government. I believe thatthis regulation and supervision can be obtained bythe enactment of law by the Congress. If thisproves impossible, it will certainly be necessaryultimately to confer in fullest form such power uponthe National Government by a proper amendment of theConstitution. It would obviously be unwise toendeavor to secure such an amendment until it is certainthat the result cannot be obtained under the Constitutionas it now is. The laws of the Congress and ofthe several States hitherto, as passed upon by thecourts, have resulted more often in showing that theStates have no power in the matter than that the NationalGovernment has power; so that there at present existsa very unfortunate condition of things, under whichthese great corporations doing an interstate businessoccupy the position of subjects without a sovereign,neither any State Government nor the National Governmenthaving effective control over them. Our steadyaim should be by legislation, cautiously and carefullyundertaken, but resolutely persevered in, to assertthe sovereignty of the National Government by affirmativeaction.
This is only in form an innovation. In substanceit is merely a restoration; for from the earliesttime such regulation of industrial activities hasbeen recognized in the action of the lawmaking bodies;and all that I propose is to meet the changed conditionsin such manner as will prevent the Commonwealth abdicatingthe power it has always possessed not only in thiscountry, but also in England before and since thiscountry became a separate Nation.
It has been a misfortune that the National laws onthis subject have hitherto been of a negative or prohibitiverather than an affirmative kind, and still more thatthey have in part sought to prohibit what could notbe effectively prohibited, and have in part in theirprohibitions confounded what should be allowed andwhat should not be allowed. It is generally uselessto try to prohibit all restraint on competition, whetherthis restraint be reasonable or unreasonable; andwhere it is not useless it is generally hurtful.Events have shown that it is not possible adequatelyto secure the enforcement of any law of this kindby incessant appeal to the courts. The Departmentof Justice has for the last four years devoted moreattention to the enforcement of the anti-trust legislationthan to anything else. Much has been accomplished,particularly marked has been the moral effect of theprosecutions; but it is increasingly evident that therewill be a very insufficient beneficial result in theway of economic change. The successful prosecutionof one device to evade the law immediately developsanother device to accomplish the same purpose.What is needed is not sweeping prohibition of everyarrangement, good or bad, which may tend to restrictcompetition, but such adequate supervision and regulationas will prevent any restriction of competition frombeing to the detriment of the public—aswell as such supervision and regulation as will preventother abuses in no way connected with restriction ofcompetition. Of these abuses, perhaps the chief,although by no means the only one, is overcapitalization—generallyitself the result of dishonest promotion—becauseof the myriad evils it brings in its train; for suchovercapitalization often means an inflation that invitesbusiness panic; it always conceals the true relationof the profit earned to the capital actually invested,and it creates a burden of interest payments whichis a fertile cause of improper reduction in or limitationof wages; it damages the small investor, discouragesthrift, and encourages gambling and speculation; whileperhaps worst of all is the trickiness and dishonestywhich it implies—for harm to morals isworse than any possible harm to material interests,and the debauchery of politics and business by greatdishonest corporations is far worse than any actualmaterial evil they do the public. Until the NationalGovernment obtains, in some manner which the wisdomof the Congress may suggest, proper control over thebig corporations engaged in interstate commerce—thatis, over the great majority of the big corporations—itwill be impossible to deal adequately with these evils.
I am well aware of the difficulties of the legislationthat I am suggesting, and of the need of temperateand cautious action in securing it. I shouldemphatically protest against improperly radical orhasty action. The first thing to do is to dealwith the great corporations engaged in the businessof interstate transportation. As I said in mymessage of December 6 last, the immediate and mostpressing need, so far as legislation is concerned,is the enactment into law of some scheme to secureto the agents of the Government such supervision andregulation of the rates charged by the railroads ofthe country engaged in interstate traffic as shallsummarily and effectively prevent the imposition ofunjust or unreasonable rates. It must includeputting a complete stop to rebates in every shape andform. This power to regulate rates, like allsimilar powers over the business world, should beexercised with moderation, caution, and self-restraint;but it should exist, so that it can be effectivelyexercised when the need arises.
The first consideration to be kept in mind is thatthe power should be affirmative and should be givento some administrative body created by the Congress.If given to the present Interstate Commerce Commission,or to a reorganized Interstate Commerce Commission,such commission should be made unequivocally administrative.I do not believe in the Government interfering withprivate business more than is necessary. I donot believe in the Government undertaking any workwhich can with propriety be left in private hands.But neither do I believe in the Government flinchingfrom overseeing any work when it becomes evident thatabuses are sure to obtain therein unless there is governmentalsupervision. It is not my province to indicatethe exact terms of the law which should be enacted;but I call the attention of the Congress to certainexisting conditions with which it is desirable to deal,In my judgment the most important provision whichsuch law should contain is that conferring upon somecompetent administrative body the power to decide,upon the case being brought before it, whether a givenrate prescribed by a railroad is reasonable and just,and if it is found to be unreasonable and unjust,then, after full investigation of the complaint, toprescribe the limit of rate beyond which it shall notbe lawful to go—the maximum reasonablerate, as it is commonly called—this decisionto go into effect within a reasonable time and toobtain from thence onward, subject to review by thecourts. It sometimes happens at present not thata rate is too high but that a favored shipper is giventoo low a rate. In such case the commission wouldhave the right to fix this already established minimumrate as the maximum; and it would need only one ortwo such decisions by the commission to cure railroadcompanies of the practice of giving improper minimumrates. I call your attention to the fact thatmy proposal is not to give the commission power to
initiate or originate rates generally, but to regulatea rate already fixed or originated by the roads, uponcomplaint and after investigation. A heavy penaltyshould be exacted from any corporation which failsto respect an order of the commission. I regardthis power to establish a maximum rate as being essentialto any scheme of real reform in the matter of railwayregulation. The first necessity is to secure it;and unless it is granted to the commission there islittle use in touching the subject at all.Illegal transactions often occur under the forms oflaw. It has often occurred that a shipper hasbeen told by a traffic officer to buy a large quantityof some commodity and then after it has been boughtan open reduction is made in the rate to take effectimmediately, the arrangement resulting to the profitof one shipper and the one railroad and to the damageof all their competitors; for it must not be forgottenthat the big shippers are at least as much to blameas any railroad in the matter of rebates. Thelaw should make it clear so that nobody can fail tounderstand that any kind of commission paid on freightshipments, whether in this form or in the form of fictitiousdamages, or of a concession, a free pass, reduced passengerrate, or payment of brokerage, is illegal. Itis worth while considering whether it would not bewise to confer on the Government the right of civilaction against the beneficiary of a rebate for at leasttwice the value of the rebate; this would help stopwhat is really blackmail. Elevator allowancesshould be stopped, for they have now grown to suchan extent that they are demoralizing and are usedas rebates.
The best possible regulation of rates would, of course,be that regulation secured by an honest agreementamong the railroads themselves to carry out the law.Such a general agreement would, for instance, at onceput a stop to the efforts of any one big shipper orbig railroad to discriminate against or secure advantagesover some rival; and such agreement would make therailroads themselves agents for enforcing the law.The power vested in the Government to put a stop toagreements to the detriment of the public should, inmy judgment, be accompanied by power to permit, underspecified conditions and careful supervision, agreementsclearly in the interest of the public. But, inmy judgment, the necessity for giving this furtherpower is by no means as great as the necessity forgiving the commission or administrative body the otherpowers I have enumerated above; and it may well beinadvisable to attempt to vest this particular powerin the commission or other administrative body untilit already possesses and is exercising what I regardas by far the most important of all the powers I recommend—asindeed the vitally important power—thatto fix a given maximum rate, which rate, after thelapse of a reasonable time, goes into full effect,subject to review by the courts.
All private-car lines, industrial roads, refrigeratorcharges, and the like should be expressly put underthe supervision of the Interstate Commerce Commissionor some similar body so far as rates, and agreementspractically affecting rates, are concerned. Theprivate car owners and the owners of industrial railroadsare entitled to a fair and reasonable compensationon their investment, but neither private cars norindustrial railroads nor spur tracks should be utilizedas devices for securing preferential rates. Arebate in icing charges, or in mileage, or in a divisionof the rate for refrigerating charges is just as perniciousas a rebate in any other way. No lower rate shouldapply on goods imported than actually obtains on domesticgoods from the American seaboard to destination exceptin cases where water competition is the controllinginfluence. There should be publicity of the accountsof common carriers; no common carrier engaged in interstatebusiness should keep any books or memoranda other thanthose reported pursuant to law or regulation, andthese books or memoranda should be open to the inspectionof the Government. Only in this way can violationsor evasions of the law be surely detected. A systemof examination of railroad accounts should be providedsimilar to that now conducted into the National banksby the bank examiners; a few first-class railroadaccountants, if they had proper direction and properauthority to inspect books and papers, could accomplishmuch in preventing willful violations of the law.It would not be necessary for them to examine intothe accounts of any railroad unless for good reasonsthey were directed to do so by the Interstate CommerceCommission. It is greatly to be desired that someway might be found by which an agreement as to transportationwithin a State intended to operate as a fraud uponthe Federal interstate commerce laws could be broughtunder the jurisdiction of the Federal authorities.At present it occurs that large shipments of interstatetraffic are controlled by concessions on purely Statebusiness, which of course amounts to an evasion ofthe law. The commission should have power to enforcefair treatment by the great trunk lines of lateraland branch lines.
I urge upon the Congress the need of providing forexpeditious action by the Interstate Commerce Commissionin all these matters, whether in regulating ratesfor transportation or for storing or for handlingproperty or commodities in transit. The historyof the cases litigated under the present commerceact shows that its efficacy has been to a great degreedestroyed by the weapon of delay, almost the mostformidable weapon in the hands of those whose purposeit is to violate the law.
Let me most earnestly say that these recommendationsare not made in any spirit of hostility to the railroads.On ethical grounds, on grounds of right, such hostilitywould be intolerable; and on grounds of mere Nationalself-interest we must remember that such hostilitywould tell against the welfare not merely of some fewrich men, but of a multitude of small investors, amultitude of railway employes, wage workers, and mostseverely against the interest of the public as a whole.I believe that on the whole our railroads have donewell and not ill; but the railroad men who wish todo well should not be exposed to competition withthose who have no such desire, and the only way tosecure this end is to give to some Government tribunalthe power to see that justice is done by the unwillingexactly as it is gladly done by the willing.Moreover, if some Government body is given increasedpower the effect will be to furnish authoritativeanswer on behalf of the railroad whenever irrationalclamor against it is raised, or whenever charges madeagainst it are disproved. I ask this legislationnot only in the interest of the public but in theinterest of the honest railroad man and the honestshipper alike, for it is they who are chiefly jeopardedby the practices of their dishonest competitors.This legislation should be enacted in a spirit asremote as possible from hysteria and rancor.If we of the American body politic are true to thetraditions we have inherited we shall always scornany effort to make us hate any man because he is rich,just as much as we should scorn any effort to makeus look down upon or treat contemptuously any manbecause he is poor. We judge a man by his conduct—thatis, by his character—and not by his wealthor intellect. If he makes his fortune honestly,there is no just cause of quarrel with him. Indeed,we have nothing but the kindliest feelings of admirationfor the successful business man who behaves decently,whether he has made his success by building or managinga railroad or by shipping goods over that railroad.The big railroad men and big shippers are simply Americansof the ordinary type who have developed to an extraordinarydegree certain great business qualities. Theyare neither better nor worse than their fellow-citizensof smaller means. They are merely more able incertain lines and therefore exposed to certain peculiarlystrong temptations. These temptations have notsprung newly into being; the exceptionally successfulamong mankind have always been exposed to them; butthey have grown amazingly in power as a result ofthe extraordinary development of industrialism alongnew lines, and under these new conditions, which thelaw-makers of old could not foresee and thereforecould not provide against, they have become so seriousand menacing as to demand entirely new remedies.It is in the interest of the best type of railroadman and the best type of shipper no less than of thepublic that there should be Governmental supervision
and regulation of these great business operations,for the same reason that it is in the interest ofthe corporation which wishes to treat its employesaright that there should be an effective Employers’Liability act, or an effective system of factory lawsto prevent the abuse of women and children. Allsuch legislation frees the corporation that wishesto do well from being driven into doing ill, in orderto compete with its rival, which prefers to do ill.We desire to set up a moral standard. There canbe no delusion more fatal to the Nation than the delusionthat the standard of profits, of business prosperity,is sufficient in judging any business or politicalquestion—from rate legislation to municipalgovernment. Business success, whether for theindividual or for the Nation, is a good thing onlyso far as it is accompanied by and develops a highstandard of conduct—honor, integrity, civiccourage. The kind of business prosperity thatblunts the standard of honor, that puts an inordinatevalue on mere wealth, that makes a man ruthless andconscienceless in trade, and weak and cowardly in citizenship,is not a good thing at all, but a very bad thing forthe Nation. This Government stands for manhoodfirst and for business only as an adjunct of manhood.The question of transportation lies at the root ofall industrial success, and the revolution in transportationwhich has taken place during the last half centuryhas been the most important factor in the growth ofthe new industrial conditions. Most emphaticallywe do not wish to see the man of great talents refusedthe reward for his talents. Still less do wewish to see him penalized but we do desire to seethe system of railroad transportation so handled thatthe strong man shall be given no advantage over theweak man. We wish to insure as fair treatmentfor the small town as for the big city; for the smallshipper as for the big shipper. In the old daysthe highway of commerce, whether by water or by aroad on land, was open to all; it belonged to thepublic and the traffic along it was free. At presentthe railway is this highway, and we must do our bestto see that it is kept open to all on equal terms.Unlike the old highway it is a very difficult andcomplex thing to manage, and it is far better thatit should be managed by private individuals than bythe Government. But it can only be so managedon condition that justice is done the public.It is because, in my judgment, public ownership ofrailroads is highly undesirable and would probablyin this country entail far-reaching disaster, butI wish to see such supervision and regulation of themin the interest of the public as will make it evidentthat there is no need for public ownership. Theopponents of Government regulation dwell upon thedifficulties to be encountered and the intricate andinvolved nature of the problem. Their contentionis true. It is a complicated and delicate problem,and all kinds of difficulties are sure to arise in
connection with any plan of solution, while no planwill bring all the benefits hoped for by its moreoptimistic adherents. Moreover, under any healthyplan, the benefits will develop gradually and notrapidly. Finally, we must clearly understand thatthe public servants who are to do this peculiarlyresponsible and delicate work must themselves be ofthe highest type both as regards integrity and efficiency.They must be well paid, for otherwise able men cannotin the long run be secured; and they must possessa lofty probity which will revolt as quickly at thethought of pandering to any gust of popular prejudiceagainst rich men as at the thought of anything evenremotely resembling subserviency to rich men.But while I fully admit the difficulties in the way,I do not for a moment admit that these difficultieswarrant us in stopping in our effort to secure a wiseand just system. They should have no other effectthan to spur us on to the exercise of the resolution,the even-handed justice, and the fertility of resource,which we like to think of as typically American, andwhich will in the end achieve good results in thisas in other fields of activity. The task is agreat one and underlies the task of dealing with thewhole industrial problem. But the fact that itis a great problem does not warrant us in shrinkingfrom the attempt to solve it. At present we facesuch utter lack of supervision, such freedom fromthe restraints of law, that excellent men have oftenbeen literally forced into doing what they deploredbecause otherwise they were left at the mercy of unscrupulouscompetitors. To rail at and assail the men whohave done as they best could under such conditionsaccomplishes little. What we need to do is todevelop an orderly system, and such a system can onlycome through the gradually increased exercise of theright of efficient Government control.In my annual message to the Fifty-eighth Congress,at its third session, I called attention to the necessityfor legislation requiring the use of block signalsupon railroads engaged in interstate commerce.The number of serious collisions upon unblocked roadsthat have occurred within the past year adds forceto the recommendation then made. The Congressshould provide, by appropriate legislation, for theintroduction of block signals upon all railroads engagedin interstate commerce at the earliest practicabledate, as a measure of increased safety to the travelingpublic.
Through decisions of the Supreme Court of the UnitedStates and the lower Federal courts in cases broughtbefore them for adjudication the safety appliancelaw has been materially strengthened, and the Governmenthas been enabled to secure its effective enforcementin almost all cases, with the result that the conditionof railroad equipment throughout the country is muchimproved and railroad employes perform their dutiesunder safer conditions than heretofore. The Government’smost effective aid in arriving at this result has beenits inspection service, and that these improved conditionsare not more general is due to the insufficient numberof inspectors employed. The inspection servicehas fully demonstrated its usefulness, and in appropriatingfor its maintenance the Congress should make provisionfor an increase in the number of inspectors.
The excessive hours of labor to which railroad employesin train service are in many cases subjected is alsoa matter which may well engage the serious attentionof the Congress. The strain, both mental andphysical, upon those who are engaged in the movementand operation of railroad trains under modern conditionsis perhaps greater than that which exists in any otherindustry, and if there are any reasons for limitingby law the hours of labor in any employment, they certainlyapply with peculiar force to the employment of thoseupon whose vigilance and alertness in the performanceof their duties the safety of all who travel by raildepends.
In my annual message to the Fifty-seventh Congress,at its second session, I recommended the passage ofan employers’ liability law for the Districtof Columbia and in our navy yards. I renewed thatrecommendation in my message to the Fifty-eighth Congress,at its second session, and further suggested the appointmentof a commission to make a comprehensive study of employers’liability, with a view to the enactment of a wiseand Constitutional law covering the subject, applicableto all industries within the scope of the Federal power.I hope that such a law will be prepared and enactedas speedily as possible.
The National Government has, as a rule, but littleoccasion to deal with the formidable group of problemsconnected more or less directly with what is knownas the labor question, for in the great majority ofcases these problems must be dealt with by the Stateand municipal authorities, and not by the NationalGovernment. The National Government has controlof the District of Columbia, however, and it shouldsee to it that the City of Washington is made a modelcity in all respects, both as regards parks, publicplaygrounds, proper regulation of the system of housing,so as to do away with the evils of alley tenements,a proper system of education, a proper system of dealingwith truancy and juvenile offenders, a proper handlingof the charitable work of the District. Moreover,there should be proper factory laws to prevent allabuses in the employment of women and children inthe District. These will be useful chiefly asobject lessons, but even this limited amount of usefulnesswould be of real National value.
There has been demand for depriving courts of thepower to issue injunctions in labor disputes.Such special limitation of the equity powers of ourcourts would be most unwise. It is true that somejudges have misused this power; but this does notjustify a denial of the power any more than an improperexercise of the power to call a strike by a laborleader would justify the denial of the right to strike.The remedy is to regulate the procedure by requiringthe judge to give due notice to the adverse partiesbefore granting the writ, the hearing to be ex parteif the adverse party does not appear at the time andplace ordered. What is due notice must dependupon the facts of the case; it should not be usedas a pretext to permit violation of law or the jeopardizingof life or property. Of course, this would notauthorize the issuing of a restraining order or injunctionin any case in which it is not already authorizedby existing law.
I renew the recommendation I made in my last annualmessage for an investigation by the Department ofCommerce and Labor of general labor conditions, especialattention to be paid to the conditions of child laborand child-labor legislation in the several States.Such an investigation should take into account thevarious problems with which the question of childlabor is connected. It is true that these problemscan be actually met in most cases only by the Statesthemselves, but it would be well for the Nation toendeavor to secure and publish comprehensive informationas to the conditions of the labor of children in thedifferent States, so as to spur up those that arebehindhand and to secure approximately uniform legislationof a high character among the several States.In such a Republic as ours the one thing that we cannotafford to neglect is the problem of turning out decentcitizens. The future of the Nation depends uponthe citizenship of the generations to come; the childrenof today are those who tomorrow will shape the destinyof our land, and we cannot afford to neglect them.The Legislature of Colorado has recommended that theNational Government provide some general measure forthe protection from abuse of children and dumb animalsthroughout the United States. I lay the matterbefore you for what I trust will be your favorableconsideration.
The Department of Commerce and Labor should also makea thorough investigation of the conditions of womenin industry. Over five million American womenare now engaged in gainful occupations; yet there isan almost complete dearth of data upon which to baseany trustworthy conclusions as regards a subject asimportant as it is vast and complicated. Thereis need of full knowledge on which to base actionlooking toward State and municipal legislation forthe protection of working women. The introductionof women into industry is working change and disturbancein the domestic and social life of the Nation.The decrease in marriage, and especially in the birthrate, has been coincident with it. We must faceaccomplished facts, and the adjustment of factoryconditions must be made, but surely it can be madewith less friction and less harmful effects on familylife than is now the case. This whole matterin reality forms one of the greatest sociologicalphenomena of our time; it is a social question of thefirst importance, of far greater importance than anymerely political or economic question can be, andto solve it we need ample data, gathered in a saneand scientific spirit in the course of an exhaustiveinvestigation.
In any great labor disturbance not only are employerand employe interested, but a third party—thegeneral public. Every considerable labor difficultyin which interstate commerce is involved should beinvestigated by the Government and the facts officiallyreported to the public.
The question of securing a healthy, self-respecting,and mutually sympathetic attitude as between employerand employe, capitalist and wage-worker, is a difficultone. All phases of the labor problem prove difficultwhen approached. But the underlying principles,the root principles, in accordance with which theproblem must be solved are entirely simple. Wecan get justice and right dealing only if we put asof paramount importance the principle of treating aman on his worth as a man rather than with referenceto his social position, his occupation or the classto which he belongs. There are selfish and brutalmen in all ranks of life. If they are capitaliststheir selfishness and brutality may take the formof hard indifference to suffering, greedy disregardof every moral restraint which interferes with theaccumulation of wealth, and cold-blooded exploitationof the weak; or, if they are laborers, the form oflaziness, of sullen envy of the more fortunate, andof willingness to perform deeds of murderous violence.Such conduct is just as reprehensible in one case asin the other, and all honest and farseeing men shouldjoin in warring against it wherever it becomes manifest.Individual capitalist and individual wage-worker,corporation and union, are alike entitled to the protectionof the law, and must alike obey the law. Moreover,in addition to mere obedience to the law, each man,if he be really a good citizen, must show broad sympathyfor his neighbor and genuine desire to look at anyquestion arising between them from the standpointof that neighbor no less than from his own, and tothis end it is essential that capitalist and wage-workershould consult freely one with the other, should eachstrive to bring closer the day when both shall realizethat they are properly partners and not enemies.To approach the questions which inevitably arise betweenthem solely from the standpoint which treats eachside in the mass as the enemy of the other side inthe mass is both wicked and foolish. In the pastthe most direful among the influences which have broughtabout the downfall of republics has ever been thegrowth of the class spirit, the growth of the spiritwhich tends to make a man subordinate the welfareof the public as a whole to the welfare of the particularclass to which he belongs, the substitution of loyaltyto a class for loyalty to the Nation. This inevitablybrings about a tendency to treat each man not on hismerits as an individual, but on his position as belongingto a certain class in the community. If sucha spirit grows up in this Republic it will ultimatelyprove fatal to us, as in the past it has proved fatalto every community in which it has become dominant.Unless we continue to keep a quick and lively senseof the great fundamental truth that our concern iswith the individual worth of the individual man, thisGovernment cannot permanently hold the place whichit has achieved among the nations. The vital
lines of cleavage among our people do not correspond,and indeed run at right angles to, the lines of cleavagewhich divide occupation from occupation, which dividewage-workers from capitalists, farmers from bankers,men of small means from men of large means, men wholive in the towns from men who live in the country;for the vital line of cleavage is the line which dividesthe honest man who tries to do well by his neighborfrom the dishonest man who does ill by his neighbor.In other words, the standard we should establish isthe standard of conduct, not the standard of occupation,of means, or of social position. It is the man’smoral quality, his attitude toward the great questionswhich concern all humanity, his cleanliness of life,his power to do his duty toward himself and towardothers, which really count; and if we substitute forthe standard of personal judgment which treats eachman according to his merits, another standard in accordancewith which all men of one class are favored and allmen of another class discriminated against, we shalldo irreparable damage to the body politic. Ibelieve that our people are too sane, too self-respecting,too fit for self-government, ever to adopt such anattitude. This Government is not and never shallbe government by a plutocracy. This Governmentis not and never shall be government by a mob.It shall continue to be in the future what it hasbeen in the past, a Government based on the theorythat each man, rich or poor, is to be treated simplyand solely on his worth as a man, that all his personaland property rights are to be safeguarded, and thathe is neither to wrong others nor to suffer wrongfrom others.The noblest of all forms of government is self-government;but it is also the most difficult. We who possessthis priceless boon, and who desire to hand it onto our children and our children’s children,should ever bear in mind the thought so finely expressedby Burke: “Men are qualified for civilliberty in exact proportion to their disposition toput moral chains upon their own appetites; in proportionas they are disposed to listen to the counsels of thewise and good in preference to the flattery of knaves.Society cannot exist unless a controlling power uponwill and appetite be placed somewhere, and the lessof it there be within the more there must be without.It is ordained in the eternal constitution of thingsthat men of intemperate minds cannot be free.Their passions forge their fetters.”
The great insurance companies afford striking examplesof corporations whose business has extended so farbeyond the jurisdiction of the States which createdthem as to preclude strict enforcement of supervisionand regulation by the parent States. In my lastannual message I recommended “that the Congresscarefully consider whether the power of the Bureauof Corporations cannot constitutionally be extendedto cover interstate transactions in insurance.”
Recent events have emphasized the importance of anearly and exhaustive consideration of this question,to see whether it is not possible to furnish bettersafeguards than the several States have been able tofurnish against corruption of the flagrant kind whichhas been exposed. It has been only too clearlyshown that certain of the men at the head of theselarge corporations take but small note of the ethicaldistinction between honesty and dishonesty; they drawthe line only this side of what may be called law-honesty,the kind of honesty necessary in order to avoid fallinginto the clutches of the law. Of course the onlycomplete remedy for this condition must be found inan aroused public conscience, a higher sense of ethicalconduct in the community at large, and especiallyamong business men and in the great profession ofthe law, and in the growth of a spirit which condemnsall dishonesty, whether in rich man or in poor man,whether it takes the shape of bribery or of blackmail.But much can be done by legislation which is not onlydrastic but practical. There is need of a farstricter and more uniform regulation of the vast insuranceinterests of this country. The United Statesshould in this respect follow the policy of othernations by providing adequate national supervisionof commercial interests which are clearly nationalin character. My predecessors have repeatedlyrecognized that the foreign business of these companiesis an important part of our foreign commercial relations.During the administrations of Presidents Cleveland,Harrison, and McKinley the State Department exercisedits influence, through diplomatic channels, to preventunjust discrimination by foreign countries againstAmerican insurance companies. These negotiationsillustrated the propriety of the Congress recognizingthe National character of insurance, for in the absenceof Federal legislation the State Department couldonly give expression to the wishes of the authoritiesof the several States, whose policy was ineffectivethrough want of uniformity.
I repeat my previous recommendation that the Congressshould also consider whether the Federal Governmenthas any power or owes any duty with respect to domestictransactions in insurance of an interstate character.That State supervision has proved inadequate is generallyconceded. The burden upon insurance companies,and therefore their policy holders, of conflictingregulations of many States, is unquestioned, whilebut little effective check is imposed upon any ableand unscrupulous man who desires to exploit the companyin his own interest at the expense of the policy holdersand of the public. The inability of a State toregulate effectively insurance corporations createdunder the laws of other States and transacting thelarger part of their business elsewhere is also clear.As a remedy for this evil of conflicting, ineffective,and yet burdensome regulations there has been formany years a widespread demand for Federal supervision.
The Congress has already recognized that interstateinsurance may be a proper subject for Federal legislation,for in creating the Bureau of Corporations it authorizedit to publish and supply useful information concerninginterstate corporations, “including corporationsengaged in insurance.” It is obvious thatif the compilation of statistics be the limit of theFederal power it is wholly ineffective to regulatethis form of commercial intercourse between the States,and as the insurance business has outgrown in magnitudethe possibility of adequate State supervision, theCongress should carefully consider whether furtherlegislation can be bad. What is said above applieswith equal force to fraternal and benevolent organizationswhich contract for life insurance.There is more need of stability than of the attemptto attain an ideal perfection in the methods of raisingrevenue; and the shock and strain to the businessworld certain to attend any serious change in thesemethods render such change inadvisable unless for gravereason. It is not possible to lay down any generalrule by which to determine the moment when the reasonsfor will outweigh the reasons against such a change.Much must depend, not merely on the needs, but on thedesires, of the people as a whole; for needs and desiresare not necessarily identical. Of course, nochange can be made on lines beneficial to, or desiredby, one section or one State only. There mustbe something like a general agreement among the citizensof the several States, as represented in the Congress,that the change is needed and desired in the interestof the people, as a whole; and there should then bea sincere, intelligent, and disinterested effort tomake it in such shape as will combine, so far as possible,the maximum of good to the people at large with theminimum of necessary disregard for the special interestsof localities or classes. But in time of peacethe revenue must on the average, taking a series ofyears together, equal the expenditures or else therevenues must be increased. Last year there wasa deficit. Unless our expenditures can be keptwithin the revenues then our revenue laws must bereadjusted. It is as yet too early to attemptto outline what shape such a readjustment should take,for it is as yet too early to say whether there willbe need for it. It should be considered whetherit is not desirable that the tariff laws should providefor applying as against or in favor of any other nationmaximum and minimum tariff rates established by theCongress, so as to secure a certain reciprocity oftreatment between other nations and ourselves.Having in view even larger considerations of policythan those of a purely economic nature, it would,in my judgment, be well to endeavor to bring aboutcloser commercial connections with the other peoplesof this continent. I am happy to be able to announceto you that Russia now treats us on the most-favored-nationbasis.
I earnestly recommend to Congress the need of economyand to this end of a rigid scrutiny of appropriations.As examples merely, I call your attention to one ortwo specific matters. All unnecessary officesshould be abolished. The Commissioner of the GeneralLand Office recommends the abolishment of the officeof Receiver of Public Moneys for the United StatesLand Office. This will effect a saving of abouta quarter of a million dollars a year. As thebusiness of the Nation grows, it is inevitable thatthere should be from time to time a legitimate increasein the number of officials, and this fact rendersit all the more important that when offices becomeunnecessary they should be abolished. In thepublic printing also a large saving of public moneycan be made. There is a constantly growing tendencyto publish masses of unimportant information.It is probably not unfair to say that many tens ofthousands of volumes are published at which no humanbeing ever looks and for which there is no real demandwhatever.
Yet, in speaking of economy, I must in no wise beunderstood as advocating the false economy which isin the end the worst extravagance. To cut downon the navy, for instance, would be a crime againstthe Nation. To fail to push forward all work onthe Panama Canal would be as great a folly.
In my message of December 2, 1902, to the CongressI said:
“Interest rates are a potent factor in businessactivity, and in order that these rates may be equalizedto meet the varying needs of the seasons and of widelyseparated communities, and to prevent the recurrenceof financial stringencies, which injuriously affectlegitimate business, it is necessary that there shouldbe an element of elasticity in our monetary system.Banks are the natural servants of commerce, and, uponthem should be placed, as far as practicable, theburden of furnishing and maintaining a circulationadequate to supply the needs of our diversified industriesand of our domestic and foreign commerce; and theissue of this should be so regulated that a sufficientsupply should be always available for the businessinterests of the country.”
Every consideration of prudence demands the additionof the element of elasticity to our currency system.The evil does not consist in an inadequate volumeof money, but in the rigidity of this volume, whichdoes not respond as it should to the varying needsof communities and of seasons. Inflation mustbe avoided; but some provision should be made thatwill insure a larger volume of money during the Falland Winter months than in the less active seasonsof the year; so that the currency will contract againstspeculation, and will expand for the needs of legitimatebusiness. At present the Treasury Department isat irregularly recurring intervals obliged, in theinterest of the business world—that is,in the interests of the American public—totry to avert financial crises by providing a remedywhich should be provided by Congressional action.
At various times I have instituted investigationsinto the organization and conduct of the businessof the executive departments. While none of theseinquiries have yet progressed far enough to warrantfinal conclusions, they have already confirmed andemphasized the general impression that the organizationof the departments is often faulty in principle andwasteful in results, while many of their business methodsare antiquated and inefficient. There is everyreason why our executive governmental machinery shouldbe at least as well planned, economical, and efficientas the best machinery of the great business organizations,which at present is not the case. To make it sois a task of complex detail and essentially executivein its nature; probably no legislative body, no matterhow wise and able, could undertake it with reasonableprospect of success. I recommend that the Congressconsider this subject with a view to provide by legislationfor the transfer, distribution, consolidation, andassignment of duties and executive organizations orparts of organizations, and for the changes in businessmethods, within or between the several departments,that will best promote the economy, efficiency, andhigh character of the Government work.
In my last annual message I said:
“The power of the Government to protect theintegrity of the elections of its own officials isinherent and has been recognized and affirmed by repeateddeclarations of the Supreme Court. There is noenemy of free government more dangerous and none soinsidious as the corruption of the electorate.No one defends or excuses corruption, and it wouldseem to follow that none would oppose vigorous measuresto eradicate it. I recommend the enactment ofa law directed against bribery and corruption in Federalelections. The details of such a law may be safelyleft to the wise discretion of the Congress, but itshould go as far as under the Constitution it is possibleto go, and should include severe penalties againsthim who gives or receives a bribe intended to influencehis act or opinion as an elector; and provisions forthe publication not only of the expenditures for nominationsand elections of all candidates, but also of all contributionsreceived and expenditures made by political committees.”
I desire to repeat this recommendation. In politicalcampaigns in a country as large and populous as oursit is inevitable that there should be much expenseof an entirely legitimate kind. This, of course,means that many contributions, and some of them oflarge size, must be made, and, as a matter of fact,in any big political contest such contributions arealways made to both sides. It is entirely properboth to give and receive them, unless there is animproper motive connected with either gift or reception.If they are extorted by any kind of pressure or promise,express or implied, direct or indirect, in the wayof favor or immunity, then the giving or receiving
becomes not only improper but criminal. It willundoubtedly be difficult, as a matter of practicaldetail, to shape an act which shall guard with reasonablecertainty against such misconduct; but if it is possibleto secure by law the full and verified publicationin detail of all the sums contributed to and expendedby the candidates or committees of any political parties,the result cannot but be wholesome. All contributionsby corporations to any political committee or for anypolitical purpose should be forbidden by law; directorsshould not be permitted to use stockholders’money for such purposes; and, moreover, a prohibitionof this kind would be, as far as it went, an effectivemethod of stopping the evils aimed at in corrupt practicesacts. Not only should both the National and theseveral State Legislatures forbid any officer of acorporation from using the money of the corporationin or about any election, but they should also forbidsuch use of money in connection with any legislationsave by the employment of counsel in public mannerfor distinctly legal services.The first conference of nations held at The Haguein 1899, being unable to dispose of all the businessbefore it, recommended the consideration and settlementof a number of important questions by another conferenceto be called subsequently and at an early date.These questions were the following: (1) The rightsand duties of neutrals; (2) the limitation of thearmed forces on land and sea, and of military budgets;(3) the use of new types and calibres of military andnaval guns; (4) the inviolability of private propertyat sea in times of war; (5) the bombardment of ports,cities, and villages by naval forces. In October,1904, at the instance of the Interparliamentary Union,which, at a conference held in the United States,and attended by the lawmakers of fifteen differentnations, had reiterated the demand for a second conferenceof nations, I issued invitations to all the powerssignatory to The Hague Convention to send delegatesto such a conference, and suggested that it be againheld at The Hague. In its note of December 16,1904, the United States Government communicated tothe representatives of foreign governments its beliefthat the conference could be best arranged under theprovisions of the present Hague treaty.
From all the powers acceptance was received, coupledin some cases with the condition that we should waituntil the end of the war then waging between Russiaand Japan. The Emperor of Russia, immediatelyafter the treaty of peace which so happily terminatedthis war, in a note presented to the President onSeptember 13, through Ambassador Rosen, took the initiativein recommending that the conference be now called.The United States Government in response expressedits cordial acquiescence, and stated that it would,as a matter of course, take part in the new conferenceand endeavor to further its aims. We assume thatall civilized governments will support the movement,and that the conference is now an assured fact.This Government will do everything in its power tosecure the success of the conference, to the end thatsubstantial progress may be made in the cause of internationalpeace, justice, and good will.
This renders it proper at this time to say somethingas to the general attitude of this Government towardpeace. More and more war is coming to be lookedupon as in itself a lamentable and evil thing.A wanton or useless war, or a war of mere aggression—inshort, any war begun or carried on in a consciencelessspirit, is to be condemned as a peculiarly atrociouscrime against all humanity. We can, however, donothing of permanent value for peace unless we keepever clearly in mind the ethical element which liesat the root of the problem. Our aim is righteousness.Peace is normally the hand-maiden of rightousness;but when peace and righteousness conflict then a greatand upright people can never for a moment hesitateto follow the path which leads toward righteousness,even though that path also leads to war. Thereare persons who advocate peace at any price; thereare others who, following a false analogy, think thatbecause it is no longer necessary in civilized countriesfor individuals to protect their rights with a stronghand, it is therefore unnecessary for nations to beready to defend their rights. These persons woulddo irreparable harm to any nation that adopted theirprinciples, and even as it is they seriously hamperthe cause which they advocate by tending to renderit absurd in the eyes of sensible and patriotic men.There can be no worse foe of mankind in general, andof his own country in particular, than the demagogueof war, the man who in mere folly or to serve his ownselfish ends continually rails at and abuses othernations, who seeks to excite his countrymen againstforeigners on insufficient pretexts, who excites andinflames a perverse and aggressive national vanity,and who may on occasions wantonly bring on conflictbetween his nation and some other nation. Butthere are demagogues of peace just as there are demagoguesof war, and in any such movement as this for The Hagueconference it is essential not to be misled by oneset of extremists any more than by the other.Whenever it is possible for a nation or an individualto work for real peace, assuredly it is failure ofduty not so to strive, but if war is necessary andrighteous then either the man or the nation shrinkingfrom it forfeits all title to self-respect. Wehave scant sympathy with the sentimentalist who dreadsoppression less than physical suffering, who wouldprefer a shameful peace to the pain and toil sometimeslamentably necessary in order to secure a righteouspeace. As yet there is only a partial and imperfectanalogy between international law and internal ormunicipal law, because there is no sanction of forcefor executing the former while there is in the caseof the latter. The private citizen is protectedin his rights by the law, because the law rests inthe last resort upon force exercised through the formsof law. A man does not have to defend his rightswith his own hand, because he can call upon the police,upon the sheriff’s posse, upon the militia,
or in certain extreme cases upon the army, to defendhim. But there is no such sanction of force forinternational law. At present there could beno greater calamity than for the free peoples, theenlightened, independent, and peace-loving peoples,to disarm while yet leaving it open to any barbarismor despotism to remain armed. So long as theworld is as unorganized as now the armies and naviesof those peoples who on the whole stand for justice,offer not only the best, but the only possible, securityfor a just peace. For instance, if the UnitedStates alone, or in company only with the other nationsthat on the whole tend to act justly, disarmed, wemight sometimes avoid bloodshed, but we would ceaseto be of weight in securing the peace of justice—thereal peace for which the most law-abiding and high-mindedmen must at times be willing to fight. As theworld is now, only that nation is equipped for peacethat knows how to fight, and that will not shrinkfrom fighting if ever the conditions become such thatwar is demanded in the name of the highest morality.So much it is emphatically necessary to say in orderboth that the position of the United States may notbe misunderstood, and that a genuine effort to bringnearer the day of the peace of justice among the nationsmay not be hampered by a folly which, in striving toachieve the impossible, would render it hopeless toattempt the achievement of the practical. But,while recognizing most clearly all above set forth,it remains our clear duty to strive in every practicableway to bring nearer the time when the sword shall notbe the arbiter among nations. At present thepractical thing to do is to try to minimize the numberof cases in which it must be the arbiter, and to offer,at least to all civilized powers, some substitute forwar which will be available in at least a considerablenumber of instances. Very much can be done throughanother Hague conference in this direction, and Imost earnestly urge that this Nation do all in itspower to try to further the movement and to make theresult of the decisions of The Hague conference effective.I earnestly hope that the conference may be able todevise some way to make arbitration between nationsthe customary way of settling international disputesin all save a few classes of cases, which should themselvesbe as sharply defined and rigidly limited as the presentgovernmental and social development of the world willpermit. If possible, there should be a generalarbitration treaty negotiated among all the nationsrepresented at the conference. Neutral rightsand property should be protected at sea as they areprotected on land. There should be an internationalagreement to this purpose and a similar agreement definingcontraband of war.
During the last century there has been a distinctdiminution in the number of wars between the mostcivilized nations. International relations havebecome closer and the development of The Hague tribunalis not only a symptom of this growing closeness ofrelationship, but is a means by which the growth canbe furthered. Our aim should be from time totime to take such steps as may be possible toward creatingsomething like an organization of the civilized nations,because as the world becomes more highly organizedthe need for navies and armies will diminish.It is not possible to secure anything like an immediatedisarmament, because it would first be necessary tosettle what peoples are on the whole a menace to therest of mankind, and to provide against the disarmamentof the rest being turned into a movement which wouldreally chiefly benefit these obnoxious peoples; butit may be possible to exercise some check upon thetendency to swell indefinitely the budgets for militaryexpenditure. Of course such an effort could succeedonly if it did not attempt to do too much; and if itwere undertaken in a spirit of sanity as far removedas possible from a merely hysterical pseudo-philanthropy.It is worth while pointing out that since the endof the insurrection in the Philippines this Nationhas shown its practical faith in the policy of disarmamentby reducing its little army one-third. But disarmamentcan never be of prime importance; there is more needto get rid of the causes of war than of the implementsof war.
I have dwelt much on the dangers to be avoided bysteering clear of any mere foolish sentimentalitybecause my wish for peace is so genuine and earnest;because I have a real and great desire that this secondHague conference may mark a long stride forward inthe direction of securing the peace of justice throughoutthe world. No object is better worthy the attentionof enlightened statesmanship than the establishmentof a surer method than now exists of securing justiceas between nations, both for the protection of thelittle nations and for the prevention of war betweenthe big nations. To this aim we should endeavornot only to avert bloodshed, but, above all, effectivelyto strengthen the forces of right. The GoldenRule should be, and as the world grows in moralityit will be, the guiding rule of conduct among nationsas among individuals; though the Golden Rule mustnot be construed, in fantastic manner, as forbiddingthe exercise of the police power. This mightyand free Republic should ever deal with all otherStates, great or small, on a basis of high honor,respecting their rights as jealously as it safeguardsits own.
One of the most effective instruments for peace isthe Monroe Doctrine as it has been and is being graduallydeveloped by this Nation and accepted by other nations.No other policy could have been as efficient in promotingpeace in the Western Hemisphere and in giving to eachnation thereon the chance to develop along its ownlines. If we had refused to apply the doctrineto changing conditions it would now be completelyoutworn, would not meet any of the needs of the presentday, and, indeed, would probably by this time havesunk into complete oblivion. It is useful athome, and is meeting with recognition abroad becausewe have adapted our application of it to meet the growingand changing needs of the hemisphere. When weannounce a policy such as the Monroe Doctrine we therebycommit ourselves to the consequences of the policy,and those consequences from time to time alter.It is out of the question to claim a right and yetshirk the responsibility for its exercise. Notonly we, but all American republics who are benefitedby the existence of the doctrine, must recognize theobligations each nation is under as regards foreignpeoples no less than its duty to insist upon its ownrights.
That our rights and interests are deeply concernedin the maintenance of the doctrine is so clear ashardly to need argument. This is especially truein view of the construction of the Panama Canal.As a mere matter of self-defense we must exercisea close watch over the approaches to this canal; andthis means that we must be thoroughly alive to ourinterests in the Caribbean Sea.
There are certain essential points which must neverbe forgotten as regards the Monroe Doctrine.In the first place we must as a Nation make it evidentthat we do not intend to treat it in any shape or wayas an excuse for aggrandizement on our part at theexpense of the republics to the south. We mustrecognize the fact that in some South American countriesthere has been much suspicion lest we should interpretthe Monroe Doctrine as in some way inimical to theirinterests, and we must try to convince all the othernations of this continent once and for all that nojust and orderly Government has anything to fear fromus. There are certain republics to the south ofus which have already reached such a point of stability,order, and prosperity that they themselves, thoughas yet hardly consciously, are among the guarantorsof this doctrine. These republics we now meetnot only on a basis of entire equality, but in a spiritof frank and respectful friendship, which we hopeis mutual. If all of the republics to the southof us will only grow as those to which I allude havealready grown, all need for us to be the especial championsof the doctrine will disappear, for no stable andgrowing American Republic wishes to see some greatnon-American military power acquire territory in itsneighborhood. All that this country desires isthat the other republics on this continent shall be
happy and prosperous; and they cannot be happy andprosperous unless they maintain order within theirboundaries and behave with a just regard for theirobligations toward outsiders. It must be understoodthat under no circ*mstances will the United Statesuse the Monroe Doctrine as a cloak for territorialaggression. We desire peace with all the world,but perhaps most of all with the other peoples ofthe American Continent. There are, of course,limits to the wrongs which any self-respecting nationcan endure. It is always possible that wrongactions toward this Nation, or toward citizens ofthis Nation, in some State unable to keep order amongits own people, unable to secure justice from outsiders,and unwilling to do justice to those outsiders whotreat it well, may result in our having to take actionto protect our rights; but such action will not betaken with a view to territorial aggression, and itwill be taken at all only with extreme reluctanceand when it has become evident that every other resourcehas been exhausted.Moreover, we must make it evident that we do not intendto permit the Monroe Doctrine to be used by any nationon this Continent as a shield to protect it from theconsequences of its own misdeeds against foreign nations.If a republic to the south of us commits a tort againsta foreign nation, such as an outrage against a citizenof that nation, then the Monroe Doctrine does notforce us to interfere to prevent punishment of thetort, save to see that the punishment does not assumethe form of territorial occupation in any shape.The case is more difficult when it refers to a contractualobligation. Our own Government has always refusedto enforce such contractual obligations on behalf,of its citizens by an appeal to arms. It is muchto be wished that all foreign governments would takethe same view. But they do not; and in consequencewe are liable at any time to be brought face to facewith disagreeable alternatives. On the one hand,this country would certainly decline to go to warto prevent a foreign government from collecting ajust debt; on the other hand, it is very inadvisableto permit any foreign power to take possession, eventemporarily, of the custom houses of an American Republicin order to enforce the payment of its obligations;for such temporary occupation might turn into a permanentoccupation. The only escape from these alternativesmay at any time be that we must ourselves undertaketo bring about some arrangement by which so much aspossible of a just obligation shall be paid.It is far better that this country should put throughsuch an arrangement, rather than allow any foreigncountry to undertake it. To do so insures thedefaulting republic from having to pay debt of animproper character under duress, while it also insureshonest creditors of the republic from being passedby in the interest of dishonest or grasping creditors.Moreover, for the United States to take such a positionoffers the only possible way of insuring us againsta clash with some foreign power. The positionis, therefore, in the interest of peace as well asin the interest of justice. It is of benefit toour people; it is of benefit to foreign peoples; andmost of all it is really of benefit to the peopleof the country concerned.
This brings me to what should be one of the fundamentalobjects of the Monroe Doctrine. We must ourselvesin good faith try to help upward toward peace andorder those of our sister republics which need suchhelp. Just as there has been a gradual growthof the ethical element in the relations of one individualto another, so we are, even though slowly, more andmore coming to recognize the duty of bearing one another’sburdens, not only as among individuals, but also asamong nations.
Santo Domingo, in her turn, has now made an appealto us to help her, and not only every principle ofwisdom but every generous instinct within us bidsus respond to the appeal. It is not of the slightestconsequence whether we grant the aid needed by SantoDomingo as an incident to the wise development ofthe Monroe Doctrine or because we regard the caseof Santo Domingo as standing wholly by itself, andto be treated as such, and not on general principlesor with any reference to the Monroe Doctrine.The important point is to give the needed aid, andthe case is certainly sufficiently peculiar to deserveto be judged purely on its own merits. The conditionsin Santo Domingo have for a number of years grownfrom bad to worse until a year ago all society wason the verge of dissolution. Fortunately, justat this time a ruler sprang up in Santo Domingo, who,with his colleagues, saw the dangers threatening theircountry and appealed to the friendship of the onlygreat and powerful neighbor who possessed the power,and as they hoped also the will to help them.There was imminent danger of foreign intervention.The previous rulers of Santo Domingo had recklesslyincurred debts, and owing to her internal disordersshe had ceased to be able to provide means of payingthe debts. The patience of her foreign creditorshad become exhausted, and at least two foreign nationswere on the point of intervention, and were only preventedfrom intervening by the unofficial assurance of thisGovernment that it would itself strive to help SantoDomingo in her hour of need. In the case of oneof these nations, only the actual opening of negotiationsto this end by our Government prevented the seizureof territory in Santo Domingo by a European power.Of the debts incurred some were just, while some werenot of a character which really renders it obligatoryon or proper for Santo Domingo to pay them in full.But she could not pay any of them unless some stabilitywas assured her Government and people.
Accordingly, the Executive Department of our Governmentnegotiated a treaty under which we are to try to helpthe Dominican people to straighten out their finances.This treaty is pending before the Senate. Inthe meantime a temporary arrangement has been madewhich will last until the Senate has had time to takeaction upon the treaty. Under this arrangementthe Dominican Government has appointed Americans toall the important positions in the customs serviceand they are seeing to the honest collection of therevenues, turning over 45 per cent. to the Governmentfor running expenses and putting the other 55 percent. into a safe depository for equitable divisionin case the treaty shall be ratified, among the variouscreditors, whether European or American.
The Custom Houses offer well-nigh the only sourcesof revenue in Santo Domingo, and the different revolutionsusually have as their real aim the obtaining of theseCustom Houses. The mere fact that the Collectorsof Customs are Americans, that they are performingtheir duties with efficiency and honesty, and thatthe treaty is pending in the Senate gives a certainmoral power to the Government of Santo Domingo whichit has not had before. This has completely discouragedall revolutionary movement, while it has already producedsuch an increase in the revenues that the Governmentis actually getting more from the 45 per cent. thatthe American Collectors turn over to it than it gotformerly when it took the entire revenue. Itis enabling the poor, harassed people of Santo Domingoonce more to turn their attention to industry andto be free from the cure of interminable revolutionarydisturbance. It offers to all bona-fide creditors,American and European, the only really good chanceto obtain that to which they are justly entitled,while it in return gives to Santo Domingo the onlyopportunity of defense against claims which it oughtnot to pay, for now if it meets the views of the Senatewe shall ourselves thoroughly examine all these claims,whether American or foreign, and see that none thatare improper are paid. There is, of course, oppositionto the treaty from dishonest creditors, foreign andAmerican, and from the professional revolutionistsof the island itself. We have already reason tobelieve that some of the creditors who do not dareexpose their claims to honest scrutiny are endeavoringto stir up sedition in the island and opposition tothe treaty. In the meantime, I have exercisedthe authority vested in me by the joint resolutionof the Congress to prevent the introduction of armsinto the island for revolutionary purposes.
Under the course taken, stability and order and allthe benefits of peace are at last coming to SantoDomingo, danger of foreign intervention has been suspended,and there is at last a prospect that all creditorswill get justice, no more and no less. If thearrangement is terminated by the failure of the treatychaos will follow; and if chaos follows, sooner orlater this Government may be involved in serious difficultieswith foreign Governments over the island, or elsemay be forced itself to intervene in the island insome unpleasant fashion. Under the proposed treatythe independence of the island is scrupulously respected,the danger of violation of the Monroe Doctrine bythe intervention of foreign powers vanishes, and theinterference of our Government is minimized, so thatwe shall only act in conjunction with the Santo Domingoauthorities to secure the proper administration ofthe customs, and therefore to secure the payment ofjust debts and to secure the Dominican Governmentagainst demands for unjust debts. The proposedmethod will give the people of Santo Domingo the same
chance to move onward and upward which we have alreadygiven to the people of Cuba. It will be doublyto our discredit as a Nation if we fail to take advantageof this chance; for it will be of damage to ourselves,and it will be of incalculable damage to Santo Domingo.Every consideration of wise policy, and, above all,every consideration of large generosity, bids us meetthe request of Santo Domingo as we are now tryingto meet it.We cannot consider the question of our foreign policywithout at the same time treating of the Army andthe Navy. We now have a very small army indeed,one well-nigh infinitesimal when compared With thearmy of any other large nation. Of course thearmy we do have should be as nearly perfect of itskind and for its size as is possible. I do notbelieve that any army in the world has a better averageof enlisted men or a better type of junior officer;but the army should be trained to act effectivelyin a mass. Provision should be made by sufficientappropriations for manoeuvers of a practical kind,so that the troops may learn how to take care of themselvesunder actual service conditions; every march, forinstance, being made with the soldier loaded exactlyas he would be in active campaign. The Generalsand Colonels would thereby have opportunity of handlingregiments, brigades, and divisions, and the commissaryand medical departments would be tested in the field.Provision should be made for the exercise at leastof a brigade and by preference of a division in marchingand embarking at some point on our coast and disembarkingat some other point and continuing its march.The number of posts in which the army is kept in timeof peace should be materially diminished and the poststhat are left made correspondingly larger. Nolocal interests should be allowed to stand in theway of assembling the greater part of the troops whichwould at need form our field armies in stations ofsuch size as will permit the best training to be givento the personnel of all grades, including the highofficers and staff officers. To accomplish thisend we must have not company or regimental garrisons,but brigade and division garrisons. Promotionby mere seniority can never result in a thoroughlyefficient corps of officers in the higher ranks unlessthere accompanies it a vigorous weeding-out process.Such a weeding-out process—that is, sucha process of selection—is a chief featureof the four years’ course of the young officerat West Point. There is no good reason why itshould stop immediately upon his graduation.While at West Point he is dropped unless he comes upto a certain standard of excellence, and when he graduateshe takes rank in the army according to his rank ofgraduation. The results are good at West Point;and there should be in the army itself something thatwill achieve the same end. After a certain agehas been reached the average officer is unfit to dogood work below a certain grade. Provision should
be made for the promotion of exceptionally meritoriousmen over the heads of their comrades and for the retirementof all men who have reached a given age without gettingbeyond a given rank; this age of retirement of coursechanging from rank to rank. In both the army andthe navy there should be some principle of selection,that is, of promotion for merit, and there shouldbe a resolute effort to eliminate the aged officersof reputable character who possess no special efficiency.There should be an increase in the coast artilleryforce, so that our coast fortifications can be insome degree adequately manned. There is specialneed for an increase and reorganization of the MedicalDepartment of the army. In both the army and navythere must be the same thorough training for dutyin the staff corps as in the fighting line. Onlyby such training in advance can we be sure that inactual war field operations and those at sea willbe carried on successfully. The importance ofthis was shown conclusively in the Spanish-Americanand the Russo-Japanese wars. The work of the medicaldepartments in the Japanese army and navy is especiallyworthy of study. I renew my recommendation ofJanuary 9, 1905, as to the Medical Department of thearmy and call attention to the equal importance ofthe needs of the staff corps of the navy. Inthe Medical Department of the navy the first in importanceis the reorganization of the Hospital Corps, on thelines of the Gallinger bill, (S. 3,984, February 1,1904), and the reapportionment of the different gradesof the medical officers to meet service requirements.It seems advisable also that medical officers of thearmy and navy should have similar rank and pay in theirrespective grades, so that their duties can be carriedon without friction when they are brought together.The base hospitals of the navy should be put in conditionto meet modern requirements and hospital ships beprovided. Unless we now provide with ample forethoughtfor the medical needs of the army and navy appallingsuffering of a preventable kind is sure to occur ifever the country goes to war. It is not reasonableto expect successful administration in time of warof a department which lacks a third of the numberof officers necessary to perform the medical servicein time of peace. We need men who are not merelydoctors; they must be trained in the administrationof military medical service.
Our navy must, relatively to the navies of other nations,always be of greater size than our army. We havemost wisely continued for a number of years to buildup our navy, and it has now reached a fairly highstandard of efficiency. This standard of efficiencymust not only be maintained, but increased. Itdoes not seem to be necessary, however, that the navyshould—at least in the immediate future—beincreased beyond the present number of units.What is now clearly necessary is to substitute efficientfor inefficient units as the latter become worn out
or as it becomes apparent that they are useless.Probably the result would be attained by adding asingle battleship to our navy each year, the supersededor outworn vessels being laid up or broken up as theyare thus replaced. The four single-turret monitorsbuilt immediately after the close of the Spanish war,for instance, are vessels which would be of but littleuse in the event of war. The money spent uponthem could have been more usefully spent in other ways.Thus it would have been far better never to have builta single one of these monitors and to have put themoney into an ample supply of reserve guns. Mostof the smaller cruisers and gunboats, though they servea useful purpose so far as they are needed for internationalpolice work, would not add to the strength of ournavy in a conflict with a serious foe. Thereis urgent need of providing a large increase in thenumber of officers, and especially in the number ofenlisted men.Recent naval history has emphasized certain lessonswhich ought not to, but which do, need emphasis.Seagoing torpedo boats or destroyers are indispensable,not only for making night attacks by surprise uponan enemy, but even in battle for finishing alreadycrippled ships. Under exceptional circ*mstancessubmarine boats would doubtless be of use. Fastscouts are needed. The main strength of the navy,however, lies, and can only lie, in the great battleships,the heavily armored, heavily gunned vessels whichdecide the mastery of the seas. Heavy-armed cruisersalso play a most useful part, and unarmed cruisers,if swift enough, are very useful as scouts. Betweenantagonists of approximately equal prowess the comparativeperfection of the instruments of war will ordinarilydetermine the fight. But it is, of course, truethat the man behind the gun, the man in the engineroom, and the man in the conning tower, considerednot only individually, but especially with regardto the way in which they work together, are even moreimportant than the weapons with which they work.The most formidable battleship is, of course, helplessagainst even a light cruiser if the men aboard itare unable to hit anything with their guns, and thoroughlywell-handled cruisers may count seriously in an engagementwith much superior vessels, if the men aboard thelatter are ineffective, whether from lack of trainingor from any other cause. Modern warships aremost formidable mechanisms when well handled, butthey are utterly useless when not well handled, andthey cannot be handled at all without long and carefultraining. This training can under no circ*mstancebe given when once war has broken out. No fightingship of the first class should ever be laid up savefor necessary repairs, and her crew should be keptconstantly exercised on the high seas, so that shemay stand at the highest point of perfection.To put a new and untrained crew upon the most powerfulbattleship and send it out to meet a formidable enemy
is not only to invite, but to insure, disaster anddisgrace. To improvise crews at the outbreakof a war, so far as the serious fighting craft areconcerned, is absolutely hopeless. If the officersand men are not thoroughly skilled in, and have notbeen thoroughly trained to, their duties, it wouldbe far better to keep the ships in port during hostilitiesthan to send them against a formidable opponent, forthe result could only be that they would be eithersunk or captured. The marksmanship of our navyis now on the whole in a gratifying condition, andthere has been a great improvement in fleet practice.We need additional seamen; we need a large store ofreserve guns; we need sufficient money for ample targetpractice, ample practice of every kind at sea.We should substitute for comparatively inefficienttypes—the old third-class battleship Texas,the single-turreted monitors above mentioned, and,indeed, all the monitors and some of the old cruisers—efficient,modern seagoing vessels. Seagoing torpedo-boatdestroyers should be substituted for some of the smallertorpedo boats. During the present Congress thereneed be no additions to the aggregate number of unitsof the navy. Our navy, though very small relativelyto the navies of other nations, is for the presentsufficient in point of numbers for our needs, andwhile we must constantly strive to make its efficiencyhigher, there need be no additions to the total ofships now built and building, save in the way of substitutionas above outlined. I recommend the report ofthe Secretary of the Navy to the careful considerationof the Congress, especially with a view to the legislationtherein advocated.During the past year evidence has accumulated to confirmthe expressions contained in my last two annual messagesas to the importance of revising by appropriate legislationour system of naturalizing aliens. I appointedlast March a commission to make a careful examinationof our naturalization laws, and to suggest appropriatemeasures to avoid the notorious abuses resulting fromthe improvident of unlawful granting of citizenship.This commission, composed of an officer of the Departmentof State, of the Department of Justice, and of theDepartment of Commerce and Labor, has discharged theduty imposed upon it, and has submitted a report, whichwill be transmitted to the Congress for its consideration,and, I hope, for its favor, able action.
The distinguishing recommendations of the commissionare:
First—A Federal Bureau of Naturalization,to be established in the Department of Commerce andLabor, to supervise the administration of the naturalizationlaws and to receive returns of naturalizations pendingand accomplished.
Second—Uniformity of naturalization certificates,fees to be charged, and procedure.
Third—More exacting qualifications forcitizenship.
Fourth—The preliminary declaration of intentionto be abolished and no alien to be naturalized untilat least ninety days after the filing of his petition.
Fifth—Jurisdiction to naturalize aliensto be confined to United States district courts andto such State courts as have jurisdiction in civilactions in which the amount in controversy is unlimited;in cities of over 100,000 inhabitants the United Statesdistrict courts to have exclusive jurisdiction inthe naturalization of the alien residents of suchcities.
In my last message I asked the attention of the Congressto the urgent need of action to make our criminallaw more effective; and I most earnestly request thatyou pay heed to the report of the Attorney Generalon this subject. Centuries ago it was especiallyneedful to throw every safeguard round the accused.The danger then was lest he should be wronged by theState. The danger is now exactly the reverse.Our laws and customs tell immensely in favor of thecriminal and against the interests of the public hehas wronged. Some antiquated and outworn ruleswhich once safeguarded the threatened rights of privatecitizens, now merely work harm to the general bodypolitic. The criminal law of the United Statesstands in urgent need of revision. The criminalprocess of any court of the United States should runthroughout the entire territorial extent of our country.The delays of the criminal law, no less than of thecivil, now amount to a very great evil.
There seems to be no statute of the United Stateswhich provides for the punishment of a United StatesAttorney or other officer of the Government who corruptlyagrees to wrongfully do or wrongfully refrain fromdoing any act when the consideration for such corruptagreement is other than one possessing money value.This ought to be remedied by appropriate legislation.Legislation should also be enacted to cover explicitly,unequivocally, and beyond question breach of trustin the shape of prematurely divulging official secretsby an officer or employe of the United States, andto provide a suitable penalty therefor. Suchofficer or employe owes the duty to the United Statesto guard carefully and not to divulge or in any manneruse, prematurely, information which is accessibleto the officer or employe by reason of his officialposition. Most breaches of public trust are alreadycovered by the law, and this one should be. Itis impossible, no matter how much care is used, toprevent the occasional appointment to the public serviceof a man who when tempted proves unfaithful; but everymeans should be provided to detect and every effortmade to punish the wrongdoer. So far as in mypower see each and every such wrongdoer shall be relentlesslyhunted down; in no instance in the past has he beenspared; in no instance in the future shall he be spared.His crime is a crime against every honest man in theNation, for it is a crime against the whole body politic.Yet in dwelling on such misdeeds it is unjust notto add that they are altogether exceptional, and thaton the whole the employes of the Government renderupright and faithful service to the people. Thereare exceptions, notably in one or two branches ofthe service, but at no time in the Nation’s historyhas the public service of the Nation taken as a wholestood on a higher plane than now, alike as regardshonesty and as regards efficiency.
Once again I call your attention to the conditionof the public land laws. Recent developmentshave given new urgency to the need for such changesas will fit these laws to actual present conditions.The honest disposal and right use of the remainingpublic lands is of fundamental importance. Theiniquitous methods by which the monopolizing of thepublic lands is being brought about under the presentlaws are becoming more generally known, but the existinglaws do not furnish effective remedies. The recommendationsof the Public Lands Commission upon this subject arewise and should be given effect.
The creation of small irrigated farms under the Reclamationact is a powerful offset to the tendency of certainother laws to foster or permit monopoly of the land.Under that act the construction of great irrigationworks has been proceeding rapidly and successfully,the lands reclaimed are eagerly taken up, and theprospect that the policy of National irrigation willaccomplish all that was expected of it is bright.The act should be extended to include the State ofTexas.
The Reclamation act derives much of its value fromthe fact that it tends to secure the greatest possiblenumber of homes on the land, and to create communitiesof freeholders, in part by settlement on public lands,in part by forcing the subdivision of large privateholdings before they can get water from Governmentirrigation works. The law requires that no rightto the use of water for land in private ownershipshall be sold for a tract exceeding 160 acres to anyone land owner. This provision has excited activeand powerful hostility, but the success of the lawitself depends on the wise and firm enforcement ofit. We cannot afford to substitute tenants forfreeholders on the public domain.
The greater part of the remaining public lands cannot be irrigated. They are at present and willprobably always be of greater value for grazing thanfor any other purpose. This fact has led to thegrazing homestead of 640 acres in Nebraska and tothe proposed extension of it to other States.It is argued that a family can not be supported on160 acres of arid grazing land. This is obviouslytrue, but neither can a family be supported on 640acres of much of the land to which it is proposedto apply the grazing homestead. To establish universallyany such arbitrary limit would be unwise at the presenttime. It would probably result on the one handin enlarging the holdings of some of the great landowners, and on the other in needless suffering andfailure on the part of a very considerable proportionof the bona fide settlers who give faith to the impliedassurance of the Government that such an area is sufficient.The best use of the public grazing lands requiresthe careful examination and classification of theselands in order to give each settler land enough tosupport his family and no more. While this workis being done, and until the lands are settled, theGovernment should take control of the open range, underreasonable regulations suited to local needs, followingthe general policy already in successful operationon the forest reserves. It is probable that thepresent grazing value of the open public range is scarcelymore than half what it once was or what it might easilybe again under careful regulation.
The forest policy of the Administration appears toenjoy the unbroken support of the people. Thegreat users of timber are themselves forwarding themovement for forest preservation. All organizedopposition to the forest preserves in the West hasdisappeared. Since the consolidation of all Governmentforest work in the National Forest Service there hasbeen a rapid and notable gain in the usefulness ofthe forest reserves to the people and in public appreciationof their value. The National parks within oradjacent to forest reserves should be transferredto the charge of the Forest Service also.
The National Government already does something inconnection with the construction and maintenance ofthe great system of levees along the lower courseof the Mississippi; in my judgment it should do muchmore.
To the spread of our trade in peace and the defenseof our flag in war a great and prosperous merchantmarine is indispensable. We should have shipsof our own and seamen of our own to convey our goodsto neutral markets, and in case of need to reinforceour battle line. It cannot but be a source ofregret and uneasiness to us that the lines of communicationwith our sister republics of South America should bechiefly under foreign control. It is not a goodthing that American merchants and manufacturers shouldhave to send their goods and letters to South Americavia Europe if they wish security and dispatch.Even on the Pacific, where our ships have held theirown better than on the Atlantic, our merchant flagis now threatened through the liberal aid bestowedby other Governments on their own steam lines.I ask your earnest consideration of the report withwhich the Merchant Marine Commission has followedits long and careful inquiry.
I again heartily commend to your favorable considerationthe tercentennial celebration at Jamestown, Va.Appreciating the desirability of this commemoration,the Congress passed an act, March 3, 1905, authorizingin the year 1907, on and near the waters of HamptonRoads, in the State of Virginia, an international naval,marine, and military celebration in honor of this event.By the authority vested in me by this act, I havemade proclamation of said celebration, and have issued,in conformity with its instructions, invitations toall the nations of the earth to participate, by sendingtheir naval vessels and such military organizationsas may be practicable. This celebration wouldfail of its full purpose unless it were enduring inits results and commensurate with the importance ofthe event to be celebrated, the event from which ourNation dates its birth. I earnestly hope thatthis celebration, already indorsed by the Congressof the United States, and by the Legislatures of sixteenStates since the action of the Congress, will receivesuch additional aid at your hands as will make itworthy of the great event it is intended to celebrate,and thereby enable the Government of the United Statesto make provision for the exhibition of its own resources,and likewise enable our people who have undertakenthe work of such a celebration to provide suitableand proper entertainment and instruction in the historicevents of our country for all who may visit the expositionand to whom we have tendered our hospitality.
It is a matter of unmixed satisfaction once more tocall attention to the excellent work of the PensionBureau; for the veterans of the civil war have a greaterclaim upon us than any other class of our citizens.To them, first of all among our people, honor is due.
Seven years ago my lamented predecessor, PresidentMcKinley, stated that the time had come for the Nationto care for the graves of the Confederate dead.I recommend that the Congress take action toward thisend. The first need is to take charge of the gravesof the Confederate dead who died in Northern prisons.
The question of immigration is of vital interest tothis country. In the year ending June 30, 1905,there came to the United States 1,026,000 alien immigrants.In other words, in the single year that has just elapsedthere came to this country a greater number of peoplethan came here during the one hundred and sixty-nineyears of our Colonial life which intervened betweenthe first landing at Jamestown and the Declarationof Independence. It is clearly shown in the reportof the Commissioner General of Immigration that whilemuch of this enormous immigration is undoubtedly healthyand natural, a considerable proportion is undesirablefrom one reason or another; moreover, a considerableproportion of it, probably a very large proportion,including most of the undesirable class, does not comehere of its own initiative, but because of the activityof the agents of the great transportation companies.These agents are distributed throughout Europe, andby the offer of all kinds of inducements they wheedleand cajole many immigrants, often against their bestinterest, to come here. The most serious obstaclewe have to encounter in the effort to secure a properregulation of the immigration to these shores arisesfrom the determined opposition of the foreign steamshiplines who have no interest whatever in the mattersave to increase the returns on their capital by carryingmasses of immigrants hither in the steerage quartersof their ships.
As I said in my last message to the Congress, we cannothave too much immigration of the right sort and weshould have none whatever of the wrong sort.Of course, it is desirable that even the right kindof immigration should be properly distributed in thiscountry. We need more of such immigration forthe South; and special effort should be made to secureit. Perhaps it would be possible to limit thenumber of immigrants allowed to come in any one yearto New York and other Northern cities, while leavingunlimited the number allowed to come to the South;always provided, however, that a stricter effort ismade to see that only immigrants of the right kindcome to our country anywhere. In actual practiceit has proved so difficult to enforce the migrationlaws where long stretches of frontier marked by animaginary line alone intervene between us and ourneighbors that I recommend that no immigrants be allowed
to come in from Canada and Mexico save natives ofthe two countries themselves. As much as possibleshould be done to distribute the immigrants upon theland and keep them away from the contested tenement-housedistricts of the great cities. But distributionis a palliative, not a cure. The prime need isto keep out all immigrants who will not make goodAmerican citizens. The laws now existing forthe exclusion of undesirable immigrants should bestrengthened. Adequate means should be adopted,enforced by sufficient penalties, to compel steamshipcompanies engaged in the passenger business to observein good faith the law which forbids them to encourageor solicit immigration to the United States. Moreover,there should be a sharp limitation imposed upon allvessels coming to our ports as to the number of immigrantsin ratio to the tonnage which each vessel can carry.This ratio should be high enough to insure the cominghither of as good a class of aliens as possible.Provision should be made for the surer punishmentof those who induce aliens to come to this countryunder promise or assurance of employment. It shouldbe made possible to inflict a sufficiently heavy penaltyon any employer violating this law to deter him fromtaking the risk. It seems to me wise that thereshould be an international conference held to dealwith this question of immigration, which has morethan a merely National significance; such a conferencecould, among other things, enter at length into themethod for securing a thorough inspection of would-beimmigrants at the ports from which they desire to embarkbefore permitting them to embark.In dealing with this question it is unwise to departfrom the old American tradition and to discriminatefor or against any man who desires to come here andbecome a citizen, save on the ground of that man’sfitness for citizenship. It is our right and dutyto consider his moral and social quality. Hisstandard of living should be such that he will not,by pressure of competition, lower the standard of livingof our own wage-workers; for it must ever be a primeobject of our legislation to keep high their standardof living. If the man who seeks to come hereis from the moral and social standpoint of such acharacter as to bid fair to add value to the communityhe should be heartily welcomed. We cannot affordto pay heed to whether he is of one creed or another,of one nation, or another. We cannot afford toconsider whether he is Catholic or Protestant, Jewor Gentile; whether he is Englishman or Irishman,Frenchman or German, Japanese, Italian, Scandinavian,Slav, or Magyar. What we should desire to findout is the individual quality of the individual man.In my judgment, with this end in view, we shall haveto prepare through our own agents a far more rigidinspection in the countries from which the immigrantscome. It will be a great deal better to havefewer immigrants, but all of the right kind, than
a great number of immigrants, many of whom are necessarilyof the wrong kind. As far as possible we wishto limit the immigration to this country to personswho propose to become citizens of this country, andwe can well afford to insist upon adequate scrutinyof the character of those who are thus proposed forfuture citizenship. There should be an increasein the stringency of the laws to keep out insane,idiotic, epileptic, and pauper immigrants. Butthis is by no means enough. Not merely the Anarchist,but every man of Anarchistic tendencies, all violentand disorderly people, all people of bad character,the incompetent, the lazy, the vicious, the physicallyunfit, defective, or degenerate should be kept out.The stocks out of which American citizenship is tobe built should be strong and healthy, sound in body,mind, and character. If it be objected that theGovernment agents would not always select well, theanswer is that they would certainly select better thando the agents and brokers of foreign steamship companies,the people who now do whatever selection is done.The questions arising in connection with Chinese immigrationstand by themselves. The conditions in Chinaare such that the entire Chinese coolie class, thatis, the class of Chinese laborers, skilled and unskilled,legitimately come under the head of undesirable immigrantsto this country, because of their numbers, the lowwages for which they work, and their low standardof living. Not only is it to the interest ofthis country to keep them out, but the Chinese authoritiesdo not desire that they should be admitted. Atpresent their entrance is prohibited by laws amplyadequate to accomplish this purpose. These lawshave been, are being, and will be, thoroughly enforced.The violations of them are so few in number as tobe infinitesimal and can be entirely disregarded.This is no serious proposal to alter the immigrationlaw as regards the Chinese laborer, skilled or unskilled,and there is no excuse for any man feeling or affectingto feel the slightest alarm on the subject.
But in the effort to carry out the policy of excludingChinese laborers, Chinese coolies, grave injusticeand wrong have been done by this Nation to the peopleof China, and therefore ultimately to this Nationitself. Chinese students, business and professionalmen of all kinds—not only merchants, butbankers, doctors, manufacturers, professors, travelers,and the like—should be encouraged to comehere, and treated on precisely the same footing thatwe treat students, business men, travelers, and thelike of other nations. Our laws and treatiesshould be framed, not so as to put these people inthe excepted classes, but to state that we will admitall Chinese, except Chinese of the coolie class, Chineseskilled or unskilled laborers. There would notbe the least danger that any such provision wouldresult in any relaxation of the law about laborers.These will, under all conditions, be kept out absolutely.
But it will be more easy to see that both justiceand courtesy are shown, as they ought to be shown,to other Chinese, if the law or treaty is framed asabove suggested. Examinations should be completedat the port of departure from China. For thispurpose there should be provided a more adequate ConsularService in China than we now have. The appropriationsboth for the offices of the Consuls and for the officeforces in the consulates should be increased.As a people we have talked much of the open door inChina, and we expect, and quite rightly intend toinsist upon, justice being shown us by the Chinese.But we cannot expect to receive equity unless we doequity. We cannot ask the Chinese to do to uswhat we are unwilling to do to them. They wouldhave a perfect right to exclude our laboring men ifour laboring men threatened to come into their countryin such numbers as to jeopardize the well-being ofthe Chinese population; and as, mutatis mutandis,these were the conditions with which Chinese immigrationactually brought this people face to face, we had andhave a perfect right, which the Chinese Governmentin no way contests, to act as we have acted in thematter of restricting coolie immigration. Thatthis right exists for each country was explicitly acknowledgedin the last treaty between the two countries.But we must treat the Chinese student, traveler, andbusiness man in a spirit of the broadest justice andcourtesy if we expect similar treatment to be accordedto our own people of similar rank who go to China.Much trouble has come during the past Summer fromthe organized boycott against American goods whichhas been started in China. The main factor inproducing this boycott has been the resentment feltby the students and business people of China, by allthe Chinese leaders, against the harshness of ourlaw toward educated Chinamen of the professional andbusiness classes. This Government has the friendliestfeeling for China and desires China’s well-being.We cordially sympathize with the announced purposeof Japan to stand for the integrity of China.Such an attitude tends to the peace of the world.
The civil service law has been on the statute booksfor twenty-two years. Every President and a vastmajority of heads of departments who have been inoffice during that period have favored a gradual extensionof the merit system. The more thoroughly its principleshave been understood, the greater has been the favorwith which the law has been regarded by administrationofficers. Any attempt to carry on the great executivedepartments of the Government without this law wouldinevitably result in chaos. The Civil ServiceCommissioners are doing excellent work, and theircompensation is inadequate considering the servicethey perform.
The statement that the examinations are not practicalin character is based on a misapprehension of thepractice of the Commission. The departments areinvariably consulted as to the requirements desiredand as to the character of questions that shall beasked. General invitations are frequently sentout to all heads of departments asking whether anychanges in the scope or character of examinations arerequired. In other words, the departments prescribethe requirements and qualifications desired, and theCivil Service Commission co-operates with them insecuring persons with these qualifications and insuringopen and impartial competition. In a large numberof examinations (as, for example, those for tradespositions), there are no educational requirementswhatever, and a person who can neither read nor writemay pass with a high average. Vacancies in theservice are filled with reasonable expedition, andthe machinery of the Commission, which reaches everypart of the country, is the best agency that has yetbeen devised for finding people with the most suitablequalifications for the various offices to be filled.Written competitive examinations do not make an idealmethod for filling positions, but they do representan immeasurable advance upon the “spoils”method, under which outside politicians really makethe appointments nominally made by the executive officers,the appointees being chosen by the politicians inquestion, in the great majority of cases, for reasonstotally unconnected with the needs of the service orof the public.
Statistics gathered by the Census Bureau show thatthe tenure of office in the Government service doesnot differ materially from that enjoyed by employesof large business corporations. Heads of executivedepartments and members of the Commission have calledmy attention to the fact that the rule requiring afiling of charges and three days’ notice beforean employe could be separated from the service forinefficiency has served no good purpose whatever, becausethat is not a matter upon which a hearing of the employefound to be inefficient can be of any value, and inpractice the rule providing for such notice and hearinghas merely resulted in keeping in a certain numberof incompetents, because of the reluctance of theheads of departments and bureau chiefs to go throughthe required procedure. Experience has shownthat this rule is wholly ineffective to save any man,if a superior for improper reasons wishes to removehim, and is mischievous because it sometimes servesto keep in the service incompetent men not guiltyof specific wrongdoing. Having these facts inview the rule has been amended by providing that wherethe inefficiency or incapacity comes within the personalknowledge of the head of a department the removalmay be made without notice, the reasons therefor beingfiled and made a record of the department. Theabsolute right of the removal rests where it alwayshas rested, with the head of a department; any limitationof this absolute right results in grave injury to thepublic service. The change is merely one of procedure;it was much needed, and it is producing good results.
The civil service law is being energetically and impartiallyenforced, and in the large majority of cases complaintsof violations of either the law or rules are discoveredto be unfounded. In this respect this law comparesvery favorably with any other Federal statute.The question of politics in the appointment and retentionof the men engaged in merely ministerial work hasbeen practically eliminated in almost the entire fieldof Government employment covered by the civil servicelaw. The action of the Congress in providing thecommission with its own force instead of requiringit to rely on detailed clerks has been justified bythe increased work done at a smaller cost to the Government.I urge upon the Congress a careful consideration ofthe recommendations contained in the annual reportof the commission.
Our copyright laws urgently need revision. Theyare imperfect in definition, confused and inconsistentin expression; they omit provision for many articleswhich, under modern reproductive processes are entitledto protection; they impose hardships upon the copyrightproprietor which are not essential to the fair protectionof the public; they are difficult for the courts tointerpret and impossible for the Copyright Officeto administer with satisfaction to the public.Attempts to improve them by amendment have been frequent,no less than twelve acts for the purpose having beenpassed since the Revised Statutes. To perfectthem by further amendment seems impracticable.A complete revision of them is essential. Sucha revision, to meet modern conditions, has been foundnecessary in Germany, Austria, Sweden, and other foreigncountries, and bills embodying it are pending in Englandand the Australian colonies. It has been urgedhere, and proposals for a commission to undertakeit have, from time to time, been pressed upon theCongress. The inconveniences of the present conditionsbeing so great, an attempt to frame appropriate legislationhas been made by the Copyright Office, which has calledconferences of the various interests especially andpractically concerned with the operation of the copyrightlaws. It has secured from them suggestions asto the changes necessary; it has added from its ownexperience and investigations, and it has drafteda bill which embodies such of these changes and additionsas, after full discussion and expert criticism, appearedto be sound and safe. In form this bill wouldreplace the existing insufficient and inconsistentlaws by one general copyright statute. It willbe presented to the Congress at the coming session.It deserves prompt consideration.
I recommend that a law be enacted to regulate inter-Statecommerce in misbranded and adulterated foods, drinks,and drugs. Such law would protect legitimatemanufacture and commerce, and would tend to securethe health and welfare of the consuming public.Traffic in food-stuffs which have been debased oradulterated so as to injure health or to deceive purchasersshould be forbidden.
The law forbidding the emission of dense black orgray smoke in the city of Washington has been sustainedby the courts. Something has been accomplishedunder it, but much remains to be done if we would preservethe capital city from defacement by the smoke nuisance.Repeated prosecutions under the law have not had thedesired effect. I recommend that it be made morestringent by increasing both the minimum and maximumfine; by providing for imprisonment in cases of repeatedviolation, and by affording the remedy of injunctionagainst the continuation of the operation of plantswhich are persistent offenders. I recommend,also, an increase in the number of inspectors, whoseduty it shall be to detect violations of the act.
I call your attention to the generous act of the Stateof California in conferring upon the United StatesGovernment the ownership of the Yosemite Valley andthe Mariposa Big Tree Grove. There should be nodelay in accepting the gift, and appropriations shouldbe made for the including thereof in the YosemiteNational Park, and for the care and policing of thepark. California has acted most wisely, as wellas with great magnanimity, in the matter. Thereare certain mighty natural features of our land whichshould be preserved in perpetuity for our childrenand our children’s children. In my judgment,the Grand Canyon of the Colorado should be made intoa National park. It is greatly to be wished thatthe State of New York should copy as regards Niagarawhat the State of California has done as regards theYosemite. Nothing should be allowed to interferewith the preservation of Niagara Falls in all theirbeauty and majesty. If the State cannot see tothis, then it is earnestly to be wished that she shouldbe willing to turn it over to the National Government,which should in such case (if possible, in conjunctionwith the Canadian Government) assume the burden andresponsibility of preserving unharmed Niagara Falls;just as it should gladly assume a similar burden andresponsibility for the Yosemite National Park, andas it has already assumed them for the YellowstoneNational Park. Adequate provision should be madeby the Congress for the proper care and supervisionof all these National parks. The boundaries ofthe Yellowstone National Park should be extended tothe south and east, to take in such portions of theabutting forest reservations as will enable the Governmentto protect the elk on their Winter range.
The most characteristic animal of the Western plainswas the great, shaggy-maned wild ox, the bison, commonlyknown as buffalo. Small fragments of herds existin a domesticated state here and there, a few of themin the Yellowstone Park. Such a herd as that onthe Flat-head Reservation should not be allowed togo out of existence. Either on some reservationor on some forest reserve like the Wichita reserveand game refuge provision should be made for the preservationof such a herd. I believe that the scheme wouldbe of economic advantage, for the robe of the buffalois of high market value, and the same is true of therobe of the crossbred animals.
I call your especial attention to the desirabilityof giving to the members of the Life Saving Servicepensions such as are given to firemen and policemenin all our great cities. The men in the LifeSaving Service continually and in the most matter offact way do deeds such as make Americans proud oftheir country. They have no political influence,and they live in such remote places that the reallyheroic services they continually render receive thescantiest recognition from the public. It isunjust for a great nation like this to permit thesem*n to become totally disabled or to meet death inthe performance of their hazardous duty and yet togive them no sort of reward. If one of them servesthirty years of his life in such a position he shouldsurely be entitled to retire on half pay, as a firemanor policeman does, and if he becomes totally incapacitatedthrough accident or sickness, or loses his healthin the discharge of his duty, he or his family shouldreceive a pension just as any soldier should.I call your attention with especial earnestness tothis matter because it appeals not only to our judgmentbut to our sympathy; for the people on whose behalfI ask it are comparatively few in number, render incalculableservice of a particularly dangerous kind, and haveno one to speak for them.
During the year just past, the phase of the Indianquestion which has been most sharply brought to publicattention is the larger legal significance of theIndian’s induction into citizenship. Thishas made itself manifest not only in a great accessof litigation in which the citizen Indian figuresas a party defendant and in a more widespread dispositionto levy local taxation upon his personalty, but ina decision of the United States Supreme Court whichstruck away the main prop on which has hitherto restedthe Government’s benevolent effort to protecthim against the evils of intemperance. The courtholds, in effect, that when an Indian becomes, byvirtue of an allotment of land to him, a citizen ofthe State in which his land is situated, he passesfrom under Federal control in such matters as this,and the acts of the Congress prohibiting the saleor gift to him of intoxicants become substantiallyinoperative. It is gratifying to note that theStates and municipalities of the West which have mostat stake in the welfare of the Indians are takingup this subject and are trying to supply, in a measureat least, the abdication of its trusteeship forcedupon the Federal Government. Nevertheless, Iwould urgently press upon the attention of the Congressthe question whether some amendment of the internalrevenue laws might not be of aid in prosecuting thosemalefactors, known in the Indian country as “bootleggers,”who are engaged at once in defrauding the United StatesTreasury of taxes and, what is far more important,in debauching the Indians by carrying liquors illicitlyinto territory still completely under Federal jurisdiction.
Among the crying present needs of the Indians aremore day schools situated in the midst of their settlements,more effective instruction in the industries pursuedon their own farms, and a more liberal tension ofthe field-matron service, which means the educationof the Indian women in the arts of home making.Until the mothers are well started in the right directionwe cannot reasonably expect much from the childrenwho are soon to form an integral part of our Americancitizenship. Moreover the excuse continually advancedby male adult Indians for refusing offers of remunerativeemployment at a distance from their homes is thatthey dare not leave their families too long out oftheir sight. One effectual remedy for this stateof things is to employ the minds and strengthen themoral fibre of the Indian women—the endto which the work of the field matron is especiallydirected. I trust that the Congress will makeits appropriations for Indian day schools and fieldmatrons as generous as may consist with the otherpressing demands upon its providence.
During the last year the Philippine Islands have beenslowly recovering from the series of disasters which,since American occupation, have greatly reduced theamount of agricultural products below what was producedin Spanish times. The war, the rinderpest, thelocusts, the drought, and the cholera have been unitedas causes to prevent a return of the prosperity muchneeded in the islands. The most serious is thedestruction by the rinderpest of more than 75 per centof the draught cattle, because it will take severalyears of breeding to restore the necessary numberof these indispensable aids to agriculture. Thecommission attempted to supply by purchase from adjoiningcountries the needed cattle, but the experiments madewere unsuccessful. Most of the cattle importedwere unable to withstand the change of climate andthe rigors of the voyage and died from other diseasesthan rinderpest.
The income of the Philippine Government has necessarilybeen reduced by reason of the business and agriculturaldepression in the islands, and the Government hasbeen obliged to exercise great economy to cut downits expenses, to reduce salaries, and in every wayto avoid a deficit. It has adopted an internalrevenue law, imposing taxes on cigars, cigarettes,and distilled liquors, and abolishing the old Spanishindustrial taxes. The law has not operated assmoothly as was hoped, and although its principleis undoubtedly correct, it may need amendments forthe purpose of reconciling the people to its provisions.The income derived from it has partly made up for thereduction in customs revenue.
There has been a marked increase in the number ofFilipinos employed in the civil service, and a correspondingdecrease in the number of Americans. The Governmentin every one of its departments has been renderedmore efficient by elimination of undesirable materialand the promotion of deserving public servants.
Improvements of harbors, roads, and bridges continue,although the cutting down of the revenue forbids theexpenditure of any great amount from current incomefor these purposes. Steps are being taken, byadvertisem*nt for competitive bids, to secure the constructionand maintenance of 1,000 miles of railway by privatecorporations under the recent enabling legislationof the Congress. The transfer of the friar lands,in accordance with the contract made some two yearsago, has been completely effected, and the purchasemoney paid. Provision has just been made by statutefor the speedy settlement in a special proceedingin the Supreme Court of controversies over the possessionand title of church buildings and rectories arisingbetween the Roman Catholic Church and schismaticsclaiming under ancient municipalities. Negotiationsand hearings for the settlement of the amount due tothe Roman Catholic Church for rent and occupationof churches and rectories by the army of the UnitedStates are in progress, and it is hoped a satisfactoryconclusion may be submitted to the Congress beforethe end of the session.
Tranquillity has existed during the past year throughoutthe Archipelago, except in the Province of Cavite,the Province of Batangas and the Province of Samar,and in the Island of Jolo among the Moros. TheJolo disturbance was put an end to by several sharpand short engagements, and now peace prevails in theMoro Province, Cavite, the mother of ladrones in theSpanish times, is so permeated with the traditionalsympathy of the people for ladronism as to make itdifficult to stamp out the disease. Batangas wasonly disturbed by reason of the fugitive ladronesfrom Cavite, Samar was thrown into disturbance bythe uneducated and partly savage peoples living inthe mountains, who, having been given by the municipalcode more power than they were able to exercise discreetly,elected municipal officers who abused their trusts,compelled the people raising hemp to sell it at amuch less price than it was worth, and by their abusesdrove their people into resistance to constitutedauthority. Cavite and Samar are instances ofreposing too much confidence in the self-governingpower of a people. The disturbances have allnow been suppressed, and it is hoped that with theselessons local governments can be formed which willsecure quiet and peace to the deserving inhabitants.The incident is another proof of the fact that ifthere has been any error as regards giving self-governmentin the Philippines it has been in the direction ofgiving it too quickly, not too slowly. A yearfrom next April the first legislative assembly forthe islands will be held. On the sanity and self-restraintof this body much will depend so far as the futureself-government of the islands is concerned.
The most encouraging feature of the whole situationhas been the very great interest taken by the commonpeople in education and the great increase in thenumber of enrolled students in the public schools.The increase was from 300,000 to half a million pupils.The average attendance is about 70 per cent.The only limit upon the number of pupils seems tobe the capacity of the government to furnish teachersand school houses.
The agricultural conditions of the islands enforcemore strongly than ever the argument in favor of reducingthe tariff on the products of the Philippine Islandsentering the United States. I earnestly recommendthat the tariff now imposed by the Dingley bill uponthe products of the Philippine Islands be entirelyremoved, except the tariff on sugar and tobacco, andthat that tariff be reduced to 25 per cent of thepresent rates under the Dingley act; that after July1, 1909, the tariff upon tobacco and sugar producedin the Philippine Islands be entirely removed, andthat free trade between the islands and the UnitedStates in the products of each country then be providedfor by law.
A statute in force, enacted April 15, 1904, suspendsthe operation of the coastwise laws of the UnitedStates upon the trade between the Philippine Islandsand the United States until July 1, 1906. I earnestlyrecommend that this suspension be postponed until July1, 1909. I think it of doubtful utility to applythe coastwise laws to the trade between the UnitedStates and the Philippines under any circ*mstances,because I am convinced that it will do no good whateverto American bottoms, and will only interfere and bean obstacle to the trade between the Philippines andthe United States, but if the coastwise law must bethus applied, certainly it ought not to have effectuntil free trade is enjoyed between the people of theUnited States and the people of the Philippine Islandsin their respective products.
I do not anticipate that free trade between the islandsand the United States will produce a revolution inthe sugar and tobacco production of the PhilippineIslands. So primitive are the methods of agriculturein the Philippine Islands, so slow is capital in goingto the islands, so many difficulties surround a largeagricultural enterprise in the islands, that it willbe many, many years before the products of those islandswill have any effect whatever upon the markets of theUnited States. The problem of labor is also aformidable one with the sugar and tobacco producersin the islands. The best friends of the Filipinopeople and the people themselves are utterly opposedto the admission of Chinese coolie labor. Hencethe only solution is the training of Filipino labor,and this will take a long time. The enactmentof a law by the Congress of the United States makingprovision for free trade between the islands and theUnited States, however, will be of great importancefrom a political and sentimental standpoint; and, whileits actual benefit has doubtless been exaggeratedby the people of the islands, they will accept thismeasure of justice as an indication that the peopleof the United States are anxious to aid the peopleof the Philippine Islands in every way, and especiallyin the agricultural development of their archipelago.It will aid the Filipinos without injuring interestsin America.
In my judgment immediate steps should be taken forthe fortification of Hawaii. This is the mostimportant point in the Pacific to fortify in orderto conserve the interests of this country. Itwould be hard to overstate the importance of thisneed. Hawaii is too heavily taxed. Lawsshould be enacted setting aside for a period of, say,twenty years 75 per cent of the internal revenue andcustoms receipts from Hawaii as a special fund tobe expended in the islands for educational and publicbuildings, and for harbor improvements and militaryand naval defenses. It cannot be too often repeatedthat our aim must be to develop the territory of Hawaiion traditional American lines. That territoryhas serious commercial and industrial problems toreckon with; but no measure of relief can be consideredwhich looks to legislation admitting Chinese and restrictingthem by statute to field labor and domestic service.The status of servility can never again be toleratedon American soil. We cannot concede that the propersolution of its problems is special legislation admittingto Hawaii a class of laborers denied admission tothe other States and Territories. There are obstacles,and great obstacles, in the way of building up a representativeAmerican community in the Hawaiian Islands; but itis not in the American character to give up in theface of difficulty. Many an American Commonwealthhas been built up against odds equal to those thatnow confront Hawaii.
No merely half-hearted effort to meet its problemsas other American communities have met theirs canbe accepted as final. Hawaii shall never becomea territory in which a governing class of rich plantersexists by means of coolie labor. Even if the rateof growth of the Territory is thereby rendered slower,the growth must only take place by the admission ofimmigrants fit in the end to assume the duties andburdens of full American citizenship. Our aimmust be to develop the Territory on the same basisof stable citizenship as exists on this continent.
I earnestly advocate the adoption of legislation whichwill explicitly confer American citizenship on allcitizens of Porto Rico. There is, in my judgment,no excuse for failure to do this. The harbor ofSan Juan should be dredged and improved. Theexpenses of the Federal Court of Porto Rico shouldbe met from the Federal Treasury and not from thePorto Rican treasury. The elections in Porto Ricoshould take place every four years, and the Legislatureshould meet in session every two years. The presentform of government in Porto Rico, which provides forthe appointment by the President of the members ofthe Executive Council or upper house of the Legislature,has proved satisfactory and has inspired confidencein property owners and investors. I do not deemit advisable at the present time to change this formin any material feature. The problems and needsof the island are industrial and commercial ratherthan political.
I wish to call the attention of the Congress to onequestion which affects our insular possessions generally;namely, the need of an increased liberality in thetreatment of the whole franchise question in theseislands. In the proper desire to prevent the islandsbeing exploited by speculators and to have them developin the interests of their own people an error hasbeen made in refusing to grant sufficiently liberalterms to induce the investment of American capitalin the Philippines and in Porto Rico. Elsewherein this message I have spoken strongly against thejealousy of mere wealth, and especially of corporatewealth as such. But it is particularly regrettableto allow any such jealousy to be developed when weare dealing either with our insular or with foreignaffairs. The big corporation has achieved itspresent position in the business world simply becauseit is the most effective instrument in business competition.In foreign affairs we cannot afford to put our peopleat a disadvantage with their competitors by in anyway discriminating against the efficiency of our businessorganizations. In the same way we cannot affordto allow our insular possessions to lag behind inindustrial development from any twisted jealousy ofbusiness success. It is, of course, a mere truismto say that the business interests of the islands willonly be developed if it becomes the financial interestof somebody to develop them. Yet this developmentis one of the things most earnestly to be wished forin the interest of the islands themselves. Wehave been paying all possible heed to the politicaland educational interests of the islands, but, importantthough these objects are, it is not less importantthat we should favor their industrial development.The Government can in certain ways help this directly,as by building good roads; but the fundamental andvital help must be given through the development ofthe industries of the islands, and a most efficientmeans to this end is to encourage big American corporationsto start industries in them, and this means to makeit advantageous for them to do so. To limit theownership of mining claims, as has been done in thePhilippines, is absurd. In both the Philippinesand Porto Rico the limit of holdings of land shouldbe largely raised.
I earnestly ask that Alaska be given an elective delegate.Some person should be chosen who can speak with authorityof the needs of the Territory. The Governmentshould aid in the construction of a railroad fromthe Gulf of Alaska to the Yukon River, in Americanterritory. In my last two messages I advocatedcertain additional action on behalf of Alaska.I shall not now repeat those recommendations, but Ishall lay all my stress upon the one recommendationof giving to Alaska some one authorized to speak forit. I should prefer that the delegate was madeelective, but if this is not deemed wise, then makehim appointive. At any rate, give Alaska some
person whose business it shall be to speak with authorityon her behalf to the Congress. The natural resourcesof Alaska are great. Some of the chief needsof the peculiarly energetic, self-reliant, and typicallyAmerican white population of Alaska were set forthin my last message. I also earnestly ask yourattention to the needs of the Alaskan Indians.All Indians who are competent should receive the fullrights of American citizenship. It is, for instance,a gross and indefensible wrong to deny to such hard-working,decent-living Indians as the Metlakahtlas the rightto obtain licenses as captains, pilots, and engineers;the right to enter mining claims, and to profit bythe homestead law. These particular Indians arecivilized and are competent and entitled to be puton the same basis with the white men round about them.I recommend that Indian Territory and Oklahoma beadmitted as one State and that New Mexico and Arizonabe admitted as one State. There is no obligationupon us to treat territorial subdivisions, which arematters of convenience only, as binding us on thequestion of admission to Statehood. Nothing hastaken up more time in the Congress during the pastfew years than the question as to the Statehood tobe granted to the four Territories above mentioned,and after careful consideration of all that has beendeveloped in the discussions of the question, I recommendthat they be immediately admitted as two States.There is no justification for further delay; and theadvisability of making the four Territories into twoStates has been clearly established.
In some of the Territories the legislative assembliesissue licenses for gambling. The Congress shouldby law forbid this practice, the harmful results ofwhich are obvious at a glance.
The treaty between the United States and the Republicof Panama, under which the construction of the PanamaCanal was made possible, went into effect with itsratification by the United States Senate on February23, 1904. The canal properties of the French CanalCompany were transferred to the United States on April23, 1904, on payment of $40,000,000 to that company.On April 1, 1905, the Commission was reorganized,and it now consists of Theodore P. Shonts, Chairman;Charles E. Magoon, Benjamin M. Harrod, Rear AdmiralMordecai T. Endicott, Brig. Gen. Peter C. Hains,and Col. Oswald H. Ernst. John F. Stevenswas appointed Chief Engineer on July 1 last. Activework in canal construction, mainly preparatory, hasbeen in progress for less than a year and a half.During that period two points about the canal haveceased to be open to debate: First, the questionof route; the canal will be built on the Isthmus ofPanama. Second, the question of feasibility;there are no physical obstacles on this route thatAmerican engineering skill will not be able to overcomewithout serious difficulty, or that will prevent thecompletion of the canal within a reasonable time andat a reasonable cost. This is virtually the unanimoustestimony of the engineers who have investigated thematter for the Government.
The point which remains unsettled is the questionof type, whether the canal shall be one of severallocks above sea level, or at sea level with a singletide lock. On this point I hope to lay beforethe Congress at an early day the findings of the AdvisoryBoard of American and European Engineers, that atmy invitation have been considering the subject, togetherwith the report of the Commission thereon, and suchcomments thereon or recommendations in reference theretoas may seem necessary.
The American people is pledged to the speediest possibleconstruction of a canal adequate to meet the demandswhich the commerce of the world will make upon it,and I appeal most earnestly to the Congress to aidin the fulfillment of the pledge. Gratifying progresshas been made during the past year, and especiallyduring the past four months. The greater partof the necessary preliminary work has been done.Actual work of excavation could be begun only on alimited scale till the Canal Zone was made a healthfulplace to live in and to work in. The Isthmushad to be sanitated first. This task has beenso thoroughly accomplished that yellow fever has beenvirtually extirpated from the Isthmus and generalhealth conditions vastly improved. The same methodswhich converted the island of Cuba from a pest hole,which menaced the health of the world, into a healthfulplace of abode, have been applied on the Isthmus withsatisfactory results. There is no reason to doubtthat when the plans for water supply, paving, and sewerageof Panama and Colon and the large labor camps havebeen fully carried out, the Isthmus will be, for thetropics, an unusually healthy place of abode.The work is so far advanced now that the health ofall those employed in canal work is as well guardedas it is on similar work in this country and elsewhere.
In addition to sanitating the Isthmus, satisfactoryquarters are being provided for employes and an adequatesystem of supplying them with wholesome food at reasonableprices has been created. Hospitals have beenestablished and equipped that are without their superiorsof their kind anywhere. The country has thusbeen made fit to work in, and provision has been madefor the welfare and comfort of those who are to dothe work. During the past year a large portionof the plant with which the work is to be done hasbeen ordered. It is confidently believed thatby the middle of the approaching year a sufficientproportion of this plant will have been installed toenable us to resume the work of excavation on a largescale.
What is needed now and without delay is an appropriationby the Congress to meet the current and accruing expensesof the commission. The first appropriation of$10,000,000, out of the $135,000,000 authorized bythe Spooner act, was made three years ago. Itis nearly exhausted. There is barely enough ofit remaining to carry the commission to the end ofthe year. Unless the Congress shall appropriate
before that time all work must cease. To arrestprogress for any length of time now, when mattersare advancing so satisfactorily, would be deplorable.There will be no money with which to meet pay rollobligations and none with which to meet bills comingdue for materials and supplies; and there will be demoralizationof the forces, here and on the Isthmus, now workingso harmoniously and effectively, if there is delayin granting an emergency appropriation. Estimatesof the amount necessary will be found in the accompanyingreports of the Secretary of War and the commission.I recommend more adequate provision than has beenmade heretofore for the work of the Department ofState. Within a few years there has been a verygreat increase in the amount and importance of thework to be done by that department, both in Washingtonand abroad. This has been caused by the greatincrease of our foreign trade, the increase of wealthamong our people, which enables them to travel moregenerally than heretofore, the increase of Americancapital which is seeking investment in foreign countries,and the growth of our power and weight in the councilsof the civilized world. There has been no correspondingincrease of facilities for doing the work affordedto the department having charge of our foreign relations.
Neither at home nor abroad is there a sufficient workingforce to do the business properly. In many respectsthe system which was adequate to the work of twenty-fiveyears or even ten years ago, is inadequate now, andshould be changed. Our Consular force should beclassified, and appointments should be made to theseveral classes, with authority to the Executive toassign the members of each class to duty at such postsas the interests of the service require, instead ofthe appointments being made as at present to specifiedposts. There should be an adequate inspectionservice, so that the department may be able to informitself how the business of each Consulate is beingdone, instead of depending upon casual private informationor rumor. The fee system should be entirely abolished,and a due equivalent made in salary to the officerswho now eke out their subsistence by means of fees.Sufficient provision should be made for a clericalforce in every Consulate composed entirely of Americans,instead of the insufficient provision now made, whichcompels the employment of great numbers of citizensof foreign countries whose services can be obtainedfor less money. At a large part of our Consulatesthe office quarters and the clerical force are inadequateto the performance of the onerous duties imposed bythe recent provisions of our immigration laws as wellas by our increasing trade. In many parts ofthe world the lack of suitable quarters for our embassies,legations, and Consulates detracts from the respectin which our officers ought to be held, and seriouslyimpairs their weight and influence.
Suitable provision should be made for the expenseof keeping our diplomatic officers more fully informedof what is being done from day to day in the progressof our diplomatic affairs with other countries.The lack of such information, caused by insufficientappropriations available for cable tolls and for clericaland messenger service, frequently puts our officersat a great disadvantage and detracts from their usefulness.The salary list should be readjusted. It doesnot now correspond either to the importance of theservice to be rendered and the degrees of abilityand experience required in the different positions,or to the differences in the cost of living. Inmany cases the salaries are quite inadequate.
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State of the Union Address
Theodore Roosevelt
December 3, 1906
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
As a nation we still continue to enjoy a literallyunprecedented prosperity; and it is probable thatonly reckless speculation and disregard of legitimatebusiness methods on the part of the business worldcan materially mar this prosperity.
No Congress in our time has done more good work ofimportance than the present Congress. There wereseveral matters left unfinished at your last session,however, which I most earnestly hope you will completebefore your adjournment.
I again recommend a law prohibiting all corporationsfrom contributing to the campaign expenses of anyparty. Such a bill has already past one Houseof Congress. Let individuals contribute as theydesire; but let us prohibit in effective fashion allcorporations from making contributions for any politicalpurpose, directly or indirectly.
Another bill which has just past one House of theCongress and which it is urgently necessary shouldbe enacted into law is that conferring upon the Governmentthe right of appeal in criminal cases on questionsof law. This right exists in many of the States;it exists in the District of Columbia by act of theCongress. It is of course not proposed that inany case a verdict for the defendant on the meritsshould be set aside. Recently in one districtwhere the Government had indicted certain personsfor conspiracy in connection with rebates, the courtsustained the defendant’s demurrer; while inanother jurisdiction an indictment for conspiracyto obtain rebates has been sustained by the court,convictions obtained under it, and two defendants sentencedto imprisonment. The two cases referred to maynot be in real conflict with each other, but it isunfortunate that there should even be an apparentconflict. At present there is no way by whichthe Government can cause such a conflict, when itoccurs, to be solved by an appeal to a higher court;and the wheels of justice are blocked without any realdecision of the question. I can not too stronglyurge the passage of the bill in question. A failureto pass it will result in seriously hampering the
Government in its effort to obtain justice, especiallyagainst wealthy individuals or corporations who dowrong; and may also prevent the Government from obtainingjustice for wage-workers who are not themselves ableeffectively to contest a case where the judgment ofan inferior court has been against them. I havespecifically in view a recent decision by a districtjudge leaving railway employees without remedy forviolation of a certain so-called labor statute.It seems an absurdity to permit a single districtjudge, against what may be the judgment of the immensemajority of his colleagues on the bench, to declarea law solemnly enacted by the Congress to be “unconstitutional,”and then to deny to the Government the right to havethe Supreme Court definitely decide the question.It is well to recollect that the real efficiency ofthe law often depends not upon the passage of actsas to which there is great public excitement, butupon the passage of acts of this nature as to whichthere is not much public excitement, because thereis little public understanding of their importance,while the interested parties are keenly alive to thedesirability of defeating them. The importanceof enacting into law the particular bill in questionis further increased by the fact that the Governmenthas now definitely begun a policy of resorting tothe criminal law in those trust and interstate commercecases where such a course offers a reasonable chanceof success. At first, as was proper, every effortwas made to enforce these laws by civil proceedings;but it has become increasingly evident that the actionof the Government in finally deciding, in certain cases,to undertake criminal proceedings was justifiable;and though there have been some conspicuous failuresin these cases, we have had many successes, whichhave undoubtedly had a deterrent effect upon evil-doers,whether the penalty inflicted was in the shape of fineor imprisonment—and penalties of both kindshave already been inflicted by the courts. Ofcourse, where the judge can see his way to inflictthe penalty of imprisonment the deterrent effect ofthe punishment on other offenders is increased; butsufficiently heavy fines accomplish much. JudgeHolt, of the New York district court, in a recent decisionadmirably stated the need for treating with just severityoffenders of this kind. His opinion runs in partas follows:
’The Government’s evidence to establishthe defendant’s guilt was clear, conclusive,and undisputed. The case was a flagrant one.The transactions which took place under this illegalcontract were very large; the amounts of rebates returnedwere considerable; and the amount of the rebate itselfwas large, amounting to more than one-fifth of theentire tariff charge for the transportation of merchandisefrom this city to Detroit. It is not too muchto say, in my opinion, that if this business was carriedon for a considerable time on that basis—that
is, if this discrimination in favor of this particularshipper was made with an 18 instead of a 23 cent rateand the tariff rate was maintained as against theircompetitors—the result might be and notimprobably would be that their competitors would bedriven out of business. This crime is one whichin its nature is deliberate and premeditated.I think over a fortnight elapsed between the date ofPalmer’s letter requesting the reduced rate andthe answer of the railroad company deciding to grantit, and then for months afterwards this business wascarried on and these claims for rebates submittedmonth after month and checks in payment of them drawnmonth after month. Such a violation of the law,in my opinion, in its essential nature, is a verymuch more heinous act than the ordinary common, vulgarcrimes which come before criminal courts constantlyfor punishment and which arise from sudden passionor temptation. This crime in this case was committedby men of education and of large business experience,whose standing in the community was such that theymight have been expected to set an example of obedienceto law upon the maintenance of which alone in thiscountry the security of their property depends.It was committed on behalf of a great railroad corporation,which, like other railroad corporations, has receivedgratuitously from the State large and valuable privilegesfor the public’s convenience and its own, whichperforms quasi public functions and which is chargedwith the highest obligation in the transaction ofits business to treat the citizens of this countryalike, and not to carry on its business with unjustdiscriminations between different citizens or differentclasses of citizens. This crime in its natureis one usually done with secrecy, and proof of whichit is very difficult to obtain. The interstatecommerce act was past in 1887, nearly twenty yearsago. Ever since that time complaints of the grantingof rebates by railroads have been common, urgent,and insistent, and although the Congress has repeatedlypast legislation endeavoring to put a stop to thisevil, the difficulty of obtaining proof upon whichto bring prosecution in these cases is so great thatthis is the first case that has ever been broughtin this court, and, as I am formed, this case andone recently brought in Philadelphia are the only casesthat have ever been brought in the eastern part ofthis country. In fact, but few cases of thiskind have ever been brought in this country, East orWest. Now, under these circ*mstances, I am forcedto the conclusion, in a case in which the proof isso clear and the facts are so flagrant, it is theduty of the court to fix a penalty which shall in somedegree be commensurate with the gravity of the offense.As between the two defendants, in my opinion, theprincipal penalty should be imposed on the corporation.The traffic manager in this case, presumably, actedwithout any advantage to himself and without any interestin the transaction, either by the direct authorityor in accordance with what he understood to be thepolicy or the wishes of his employer.“The sentence of this court in this case is,that the defendant Pomeroy, for each of the six offensesupon which he has been convicted, be fined the sumof $1,000, making six fines, amounting in all to thesum of $6,000; and the defendant, The New York Centraland Hudson River Railroad Company, for each of thesix crimes of which it has been convicted, be finedthe sum of $18,000, making six fines amounting inthe aggregate to the sum of $108,000, and judgmentto that effect will be entered in this case.”
In connection with this matter, I would like to callattention to the very unsatisfactory state of ourcriminal law, resulting in large part from the habitof setting aside the judgments of inferior courts ontechnicalities absolutely unconnected with the meritsof the case, and where there is no attempt to showthat there has been any failure of substantial justice.It would be well to enact a law providing somethingto the effect that:
No judgment shall be set aside or new trial grantedin any cause, civil or criminal, on the ground ofmisdirection of the jury or the improper admissionor rejection of evidence, or for error as to any matterof pleading or procedure unless, in the opinion ofthe court to which the application is made, afteran examination of the entire cause, it shall affirmativelyappear that the error complained of has resulted ina miscarriage of justice.
In my last message I suggested the enactment of alaw in connection with the issuance of injunctions,attention having been sharply drawn to the matterby the demand that the right of applying injunctionsin labor cases should be wholly abolished. Itis at least doubtful whether a law abolishing altogetherthe use of injunctions in such cases would stand thetest of the courts; in which case of course the legislationwould be ineffective. Moreover, I believe it wouldbe wrong altogether to prohibit the use of injunctions.It is criminal to permit sympathy for criminals toweaken our hands in upholding the law; and if men seekto destroy life or property by mob violence there shouldbe no impairment of the power of the courts to dealwith them in the most summary and effective way possible.But so far as possible the abuse of the power shouldbe provided against by some such law as I advocatedlast year.
In this matter of injunctions there is lodged in thehands of the judiciary a necessary power which isnevertheless subject to the possibility of grave abuse.It is a power that should be exercised with extremecare and should be subject to the jealous scrutinyof all men, and condemnation should be meted out asmuch to the judge who fails to use it boldly whennecessary as to the judge who uses it wantonly oroppressively. Of course a judge strong enoughto be fit for his office will enjoin any resort toviolence or intimidation, especially by conspiracy,no matter what his opinion may be of the rights ofthe original quarrel. There must be no hesitation
in dealing with disorder. But there must likewisebe no such abuse of the injunctive power as is impliedin forbidding laboring men to strive for their ownbetterment in peaceful and lawful ways; nor must theinjunction be used merely to aid some big corporationin carrying out schemes for its own aggrandizement.It must be remembered that a preliminary injunctionin a labor case, if granted without adequate proof(even when authority can be found to support the conclusionsof law on which it is founded), may often settle thedispute between the parties; and therefore if improperlygranted may do irreparable wrong. Yet there aremany judges who assume a matter-of-course grantingof a preliminary injunction to be the ordinary andproper judicial disposition of such cases; and therehave undoubtedly been flagrant wrongs committed byjudges in connection with labor disputes even withinthe last few years, although I think much less oftenthan in former years. Such judges by their unwiseaction immensely strengthen the hands of those whoare striving entirely to do away with the power ofinjunction; and therefore such careless use of theinjunctive process tends to threaten its very existence,for if the American people ever become convinced thatthis process is habitually abused, whether in mattersaffecting labor or in matters affecting corporations,it will be well-nigh impossible to prevent its abolition.It may be the highest duty of a judge at any givenmoment to disregard, not merely the wishes of individualsof great political or financial power, but the overwhelmingtide of public sentiment; and the judge who does thusdisregard public sentiment when it is wrong, who brushesaside the plea of any special interest when the pleadingis not rounded on righteousness, performs the highestservice to the country. Such a judge is deservingof all honor; and all honor can not be paid to thiswise and fearless judge if we permit the growth ofan absurd convention which would forbid any criticismof the judge of another type, who shows himself timidin the presence of arrogant disorder, or who on insufficientgrounds grants an injunction that does grave injustice,or who in his capacity as a construer, and thereforein part a maker, of the law, in flagrant fashion thwartsthe cause of decent government. The judge hasa power over which no review can be exercised; he himselfsits in review upon the acts of both the executiveand legislative branches of the Government; save inthe most extraordinary cases he is amenable only atthe bar of public opinion; and it is unwise to maintainthat public opinion in reference to a man with suchpower shall neither be exprest nor led.
The best judges have ever been foremost to disclaimany immunity from criticism. This has been truesince the days of the great English Lord ChancellorParker, who said: “Let all people be atliberty to know what I found my judgment upon; that,so when I have given it in any cause, others may beat liberty to judge of me.” The proprietiesof the case were set forth with singular clearnessand good temper by Judge W. H. Taft, when a UnitedStates circuit judge, eleven years ago, in 1895:
“The opportunity freely and publicly to criticizejudicial action is of vastly more importance to thebody politic than the immunity of courts and judgesfrom unjust aspersions and attack. Nothing tendsmore to render judges careful in their decisions andanxiously solicitous to do exact justice than theconsciousness that every act of theirs is to be subjectedto the intelligent scrutiny and candid criticism oftheir fellow-men. Such criticism is beneficialin proportion as it is fair, dispassionate, discriminating,and based on a knowledge of sound legal principles.The comments made by learned text writers and by theacute editors of the various law reviews upon judicialdecisions are therefore highly useful. Such criticsconstitute more or less impartial tribunals of professionalopinion before which each judgment is made to standor fall on its merits, and thus exert a strong influenceto secure uniformity of decision. But non-professionalcriticism also is by no means without its uses, evenif accompanied, as it often is, by a direct attackupon the judicial fairness and motives of the occupantsof the bench; for if the law is but the essence ofcommon sense, the protest of many average men mayevidence a defect in a judicial conclusion, thoughbased on the nicest legal reasoning and profoundestlearning. The two important elements of moralcharacter in a judge are an earnest desire to reacha just conclusion and courage to enforce it.In so far as fear of public comment does not affectthe courage of a judge, but only spurs him on to searchhis conscience and to reach the result which approvesitself to his inmost heart such comment serves a usefulpurpose. There are few men, whether they are judgesfor life or for a shorter term, who do not preferto earn and hold the respect of all, and who can notbe reached and made to pause and deliberate by hostilepublic criticism. In the case of judges havinga life tenure, indeed their very independence makesthe right freely to comment on their decisions ofgreater importance, because it is the only practicaland available instrument in the hands of a free peopleto keep such judges alive to the reasonable demandsof those they serve.
“On the other hand, the danger of destroyingthe proper influence of judicial decisions by creatingunfounded prejudices against the courts justifiesand requires that unjust attacks shall be met and answered.Courts must ultimately rest their defense upon theinherent strength of the opinions they deliver asthe ground for their conclusions and must trust tothe calm and deliberate judgment of all the peopleas their best vindication.”
There is one consideration which should be taken intoaccount by the good people who carry a sound propositionto an excess in objecting to any criticism of a judge’sdecision. The instinct of the American peopleas a whole is sound in this matter. They willnot subscribe to the doctrine that any public servantis to be above all criticism. If the best citizens,those most competent to express their judgment insuch matters, and above all those belonging to thegreat and honorable profession of the bar, so profoundlyinfluential in American life, take the position thatthere shall be no criticism of a judge under any circ*mstances,their view will not be accepted by the American peopleas a whole. In such event the people will turnto, and tend to accept as justifiable, the intemperateand improper criticism uttered by unworthy agitators.Surely it is a misfortune to leave to such criticsa function, right, in itself, which they are certainto abuse. Just and temperate criticism, whennecessary, is a safeguard against the acceptance bythe people as a whole of that intemperate antagonismtowards the judiciary which must be combated by everyright-thinking man, and which, if it became widespreadamong the people at large, would constitute a diremenace to the Republic.
In connection with the delays of the law, I call yourattention and the attention of the Nation to the prevalenceof crime among us, and above all to the epidemic oflynching and mob violence that springs up, now inone part of our country, now in another. Eachsection, North, South, East, or West, has its ownfaults; no section can with wisdom spend its timejeering at the faults of another section; it shouldbe busy trying to amend its own shortcomings.To deal with the crime of corruption It is necessaryto have an awakened public conscience, and to supplementthis by whatever legislation will add speed and certaintyin the execution of the law. When we deal withlynching even mote is necessary. A great manywhite men are lynched, but the crime is peculiarlyfrequent in respect to black men. The greatestexisting cause of lynching is the perpetration, especiallyby black men, of the hideous crime of rape—themost abominable in all the category of crimes, evenworse than murder. Mobs frequently avenge thecommission of this crime by themselves torturing todeath the man committing it; thus avenging in bestialfashion a bestial deed, and reducing themselves toa level with the criminal.
Lawlessness grows by what it feeds upon; and whenmobs begin to lynch for rape they speedily extendthe sphere of their operations and lynch for manyother kinds of crimes, so that two-thirds of the lynchingsare not for rape at all; while a considerable proportionof the individuals lynched are innocent of all crime.Governor Candler, of Georgia, stated on one occasionsome years ago: “I can say of a verity thatI have, within the last month, saved the lives of
half a dozen innocent Negroes who were pursued bythe mob, and brought them to trial in a court of lawin which they were acquitted.” As BishopGalloway, of Mississippi, has finely said: “Whenthe rule of a mob obtains, that which distinguishesa high civilization is surrendered. The mob whichlynches a negro charged with rape will in a littlewhile lynch a white man suspected of crime. EveryChristian patriot in America needs to lift up hisvoice in loud and eternal protest against the mob spiritthat is threatening the integrity of this Republic.”Governor Jelks, of Alabama, has recently spoken asfollows: “The lynching of any person forwhatever crime is inexcusable anywhere—itis a defiance of orderly government; but the killingof innocent people under any provocation is infinitelymore horrible; and yet innocent people are likely todie when a mob’s terrible lust is once aroused.The lesson is this: No good citizen can affordto countenance a defiance of the statutes, no matterwhat the provocation. The innocent frequentlysuffer, and, it is my observation, more usually sufferthan the guilty. The white people of the Southindict the whole colored race on the ground that eventhe better elements lend no assistance whatever inferreting out criminals of their own color. Therespectable colored people must learn not to harbortheir criminals, but to assist the officers in bringingthem to justice. This is the larger crime, andit provokes such atrocious offenses as the one atAtlanta. The two races can never get on untilthere is an understanding on the part of both to makecommon cause with the law-abiding against criminalsof any color.”Moreover, where any crime committed by a member ofone race against a member of another race is avengedin such fashion that it seems as if not the individualcriminal, but the whole race, is attacked, the resultis to exasperate to the highest degree race feeling.There is but one safe rule in dealing with black menas with white men; it is the same rule that must beapplied in dealing with rich men and poor men; thatis, to treat each man, whatever his color, his creed,or his social position, with even-handed justice onhis real worth as a man. White people owe itquite as much to themselves as to the colored raceto treat well the colored man who shows by his lifethat he deserves such treatment; for it is surelythe highest wisdom to encourage in the colored raceall those individuals who are honest, industrious,law-abiding, and who therefore make good and safe neighborsand citizens. Reward or punish the individualon his merits as an individual. Evil will surelycome in the end to both races if we substitute forthis just rule the habit of treating all the membersof the race, good and bad, alike. There is noquestion of “social equality” or “negrodomination” involved; only the question of relentlesslypunishing bad men, and of securing to the good manthe right to his life, his liberty, and the pursuitof his happiness as his own qualities of heart, head,and hand enable him to achieve it.
Every colored man should realize that the worst enemyof his race is the negro criminal, and above all thenegro criminal who commits the dreadful crime of rape;and it should be felt as in the highest degree anoffense against the whole country, and against thecolored race in particular, for a colored man to failto help the officers of the law in hunting down withall possible earnestness and zeal every such infamousoffender. Moreover, in my judgment, the crimeof rape should always be punished with death, as isthe case with murder; assault with intent to commitrape should be made a capital crime, at least in thediscretion of the court; and provision should be madeby which the punishment may follow immediately uponthe heels of the offense; while the trial should beso conducted that the victim need not be wantonlyshamed while giving testimony, and that the least possiblepublicity shall be given to the details.
The members of the white race on the other hand shouldunderstand that every lynching represents by justso much a loosening of the bands of civilization;that the spirit of lynching inevitably throws intoprominence in the community all the foul and evil creatureswho dwell therein. No man can take part in thetorture of a human being without having his own moralnature permanently lowered. Every lynching meansjust so much moral deterioration in all the childrenwho have any knowledge of it, and therefore just somuch additional trouble for the next generation ofAmericans.
Let justice be both sure and swift; but let it bejustice under the law, and not the wild and crookedsavagery of a mob.
There is another matter which has a direct bearingupon this matter of lynching and of the brutal crimewhich sometimes calls it forth and at other timesmerely furnishes the excuse for its existence.It is out of the question for our people as a wholepermanently to rise by treading down any of theirown number. Even those who themselves for themoment profit by such maltreatment of their fellowswill in the long run also suffer. No more shortsightedpolicy can be imagined than, in the fancied interestof one class, to prevent the education of anotherclass. The free public school, the chance foreach boy or girl to get a good elementary education,lies at the foundation of our whole political situation.In every community the poorest citizens, those whoneed the schools most, would be deprived of them ifthey only received school facilities proportionedto the taxes they paid. This is as true of oneportion of our country as of another. It is astrue for the negro as for the white man. Thewhite man, if he is wise, will decline to allow theNegroes in a mass to grow to manhood and womanhoodwithout education. Unquestionably education suchas is obtained in our public schools does not do everythingtowards making a man a good citizen; but it does much.The lowest and most brutal criminals, those for instance
who commit the crime of rape, are in the great majoritymen who have had either no education or very little;just as they are almost invariably men who own noproperty; for the man who puts money by out of hisearnings, like the man who acquires education, is usuallylifted above mere brutal criminality. Of coursethe best type of education for the colored man, takenas a whole, is such education as is conferred in schoolslike Hampton and Tuskegee; where the boys and girls,the young men and young women, are trained industriallyas well as in the ordinary public school branches.The graduates of these schools turn out well in thegreat majority of cases, and hardly any of them becomecriminals, while what little criminality there is nevertakes the form of that brutal violence which inviteslynch law. Every graduate of these schools—andfor the matter of that every other colored man orwoman—who leads a life so useful and honorableas to win the good will and respect of those whiteswhose neighbor he or she is, thereby helps the wholecolored race as it can be helped in no other way; fornext to the negro himself, the man who can do mostto help the negro is his white neighbor who livesnear him; and our steady effort should be to betterthe relations between the two. Great though thebenefit of these schools has been to their coloredpupils and to the colored people, it may well be questionedwhether the benefit, has not been at least as greatto the white people among whom these colored pupilslive after they graduate.Be it remembered, furthermore, that the individualswho, whether from folly, from evil temper, from greedfor office, or in a spirit of mere base demagogy,indulge in the inflammatory and incendiary speechesand writings which tend to arouse mobs and to bringabout lynching, not only thus excite the mob, butalso tend by what criminologists call “suggestion,”greatly to increase the likelihood of a repetitionof the very crime against which they are inveighing.When the mob is composed of the people of one raceand the man lynched is of another race, the men whoin their speeches and writings either excite or justifythe action tend, of course, to excite a bitter racefeeling and to cause the people of the opposite raceto lose sight of the abominable act of the criminalhimself; and in addition, by the prominence they giveto the hideous deed they undoubtedly tend to excitein other brutal and depraved natures thoughts of committingit. Swift, relentless, and orderly punishmentunder the law is the only way by which criminalityof this type can permanently be supprest.
In dealing with both labor and capital, with the questionsaffecting both corporations and trades unions, thereis one matter more important to remember than aughtelse, and that is the infinite harm done by preachersof mere discontent. These are the men who seekto excite a violent class hatred against all men ofwealth. They seek to turn wise and proper movementsfor the better control of corporations and for doingaway with the abuses connected with wealth, into acampaign of hysterical excitement and falsehood inwhich the aim is to inflame to madness the brutalpassions of mankind. The sinister demagogs andfoolish visionaries who are always eager to undertakesuch a campaign of destruction sometimes seek to associatethemselves with those working for a genuine reformin governmental and social methods, and sometimesmasquerade as such reformers. In reality theyare the worst enemies of the cause they profess toadvocate, just as the purveyors of sensational slanderin newspaper or magazine are the worst enemies ofall men who are engaged in an honest effort to betterwhat is bad in our social and governmental conditions.To preach hatred of the rich man as such, to carryon a campaign of slander and invective against him,to seek to mislead and inflame to madness honest menwhose lives are hard and who have not the kind ofmental training which will permit them to appreciatethe danger in the doctrines preached—allthis is to commit a crime against the body politicand to be false to every worthy principle and traditionof American national life. Moreover, while suchpreaching and such agitation may give a livelihoodand a certain notoriety to some of those who takepart in it, and may result in the temporary politicalsuccess of others, in the long run every such movementwill either fail or else will provoke a violent reaction,which will itself result not merely in undoing themischief wrought by the demagog and the agitator,but also in undoing the good that the honest reformer,the true upholder of popular rights, has painfullyand laboriously achieved. Corruption is neverso rife as in communities where the demagog and theagitator bear full sway, because in such communitiesall moral bands become loosened, and hysteria andsensationalism replace the spirit of sound judgmentand fair dealing as between man and man. In sheerrevolt against the squalid anarchy thus produced menare sure in the end to turn toward any leader who canrestore order, and then their relief at being freefrom the intolerable burdens of class hatred, violence,and demagogy is such that they can not for some timebe aroused to indignation against misdeeds by men ofwealth; so that they permit a new growth of the veryabuses which were in part responsible for the originaloutbreak. The one hope for success for our peoplelies in a resolute and fearless, but sane and cool-headed,advance along the path marked out last year by thisvery Congress. There must be a stern refusal
to be misled into following either that base creaturewho appeals and panders to the lowest instincts andpassions in order to arouse one set of Americans againsttheir fellows, or that other creature, equally basebut no baser, who in a spirit of greed, or to accumulateor add to an already huge fortune, seeks to exploithis fellow Americans with callous disregard to theirwelfare of soul and body. The man who debauchesothers in order to obtain a high office stands onan evil equality of corruption with the man who debauchesothers for financial profit; and when hatred is sownthe crop which springs up can only be evil.The plain people who think—the mechanics,farmers, merchants, workers with head or hand, themen to whom American traditions are dear, who lovetheir country and try to act decently by their neighbors,owe it to themselves to remember that the most damagingblow that can be given popular government is to electan unworthy and sinister agitator on a platform ofviolence and hypocrisy. Whenever such an issueis raised in this country nothing can be gained byflinching from it, for in such case democracy is itselfon trial, popular self-government under republicanforms is itself on trial. The triumph of the mobis just as evil a thing as the triumph of the plutocracy,and to have escaped one danger avails nothing whateverif we succumb to the other. In the end the honestman, whether rich or poor, who earns his own livingand tries to deal justly by his fellows, has as muchto fear from the insincere and unworthy demagog, promisingmuch and performing nothing, or else performing nothingbut evil, who would set on the mob to plunder therich, as from the crafty corruptionist, who, for hisown ends, would permit the common people to be exploitedby the very wealthy. If we ever let this Governmentfall into the hands of men of either of these twoclasses, we shall show ourselves false to America’spast. Moreover, the demagog and the corruptionistoften work hand in hand. There are at this momentwealthy reactionaries of such obtuse morality thatthey regard the public servant who prosecutes themwhen they violate the law, or who seeks to make thembear their proper share of the public burdens, asbeing even more objectionable than the violent agitatorwho hounds on the mob to plunder the rich. Thereis nothing to choose between such a reactionary andsuch an agitator; fundamentally they are alike intheir selfish disregard of the rights of others; andit is natural that they should join in opposition toany movement of which the aim is fearlessly to doexact and even justice to all.
I call your attention to the need of passing the billlimiting the number of hours of employment of railroademployees. The measure is a very moderate oneand I can conceive of no serious objection to it.Indeed, so far as it is in our power, it should beour aim steadily to reduce the number of hours oflabor, with as a goal the general introduction ofan eight-hour day. There are industries in whichit is not possible that the hours of labor shouldbe reduced; just as there are communities not farenough advanced for such a movement to be for theirgood, or, if in the Tropics, so situated that thereis no analogy between their needs and ours in thismatter. On the Isthmus of Panama, for instance,the conditions are in every way so different from whatthey are here that an eight-hour day would be absurd;just as it is absurd, so far as the Isthmus is concerned,where white labor can not be employed, to bother asto whether the necessary work is done by alien blackmen or by alien yellow men. But the wageworkersof the United States are of so high a grade that alikefrom the merely industrial standpoint and from thecivic standpoint it should be our object to do whatwe can in the direction of securing the general observanceof an eight-hour day. Until recently the eight-hourlaw on our Federal statute books has been very scantilyobserved. Now, however, largely through the instrumentalityof the Bureau of Labor, it is being rigidly enforced,and I shall speedily be able to say whether or notthere is need of further legislation in reference thereto;.for our purpose is to see it obeyed in spirit noless than in letter. Half holidays during summershould be established for Government employees; itis as desirable for wageworkers who toil with theirhands as for salaried officials whose labor is mentalthat there should be a reasonable amount of holiday.
The Congress at its last session wisely provided fora truant court for the District of Columbia; a markedstep in advance on the path of properly caring forthe children. Let me again urge that the Congressprovide for a thorough investigation of the conditionsof child labor and of the labor of women in the UnitedStates. More and more our people are growingto recognize the fact that the questions which arenot merely of industrial but of social importance outweighall others; and these two questions most emphaticallycome in the category of those which affect in themost far-reaching way the home life of the Nation.The horrors incident to the employment of young childrenin factories or at work anywhere are a blot on ourcivilization. It is true that each. Statemust ultimately settle the question in its own way;but a thorough official investigation of the matter,with the results published broadcast, would greatlyhelp toward arousing the public conscience and securingunity of State action in the matter. There is,however, one law on the subject which should be enactedimmediately, because there is no need for an investigationin reference thereto, and the failure to enact itis discreditable to the National Government. Adrastic and thoroughgoing child-labor law should beenacted for the District of Columbia and the Territories.
Among the excellent laws which the Congress past atthe last session was an employers’ liabilitylaw. It was a marked step in advance to get therecognition of employers’ liability on the statutebooks; but the law did not go far enough. Inspite of all precautions exercised by employers thereare unavoidable accidents and even deaths involvedin nearly every line of business connected with themechanic arts. This inevitable sacrifice of lifemay be reduced to a minimum, but it can not be completelyeliminated. It is a great social injustice tocompel the employee, or rather the family of the killedor disabled victim, to bear the entire burden of suchan inevitable sacrifice. In other words, societyshirks its duty by laying the whole cost on the victim,whereas the injury comes from what may be called thelegitimate risks of the trade. Compensation foraccidents or deaths due in any line of industry tothe actual conditions under which that industry iscarried on, should be paid by that portion of thecommunity for the benefit of which the industry iscarried on—that is, by those who profitby the industry. If the entire trade risk isplaced upon the employer he will promptly and properlyadd it to the legitimate cost of production and assessit proportionately upon the consumers of his commodity.It is therefore clear to my mind that the law shouldplace this entire “risk of a trade” uponthe employer. Neither the Federal law, nor, asfar as I am informed, the State laws dealing withthe question of employers’ liability are sufficientlythoroughgoing. The Federal law should of courseinclude employees in navy-yards, arsenals, and thelike.
The commission appointed by the President October16, 1902, at the request of both the anthracite coaloperators and miners, to inquire into, consider, andpass upon the questions in controversy in connectionwith the strike in the anthracite regions of Pennsylvaniaand the causes out of which the controversy arose,in their report, findings, and award exprest the belief“that the State and Federal governments shouldprovide the machinery for what may be called the compulsoryinvestigation of controversies between employers andemployees when they arise.” This expressionof belief is deserving of the favorable considerationof the Congress and the enactment of its provisionsinto law. A bill has already been introduced tothis end.
Records show that during the twenty years from January1, 1881, to, December 31, 1900, there were strikesaffecting 117,509 establishments, and 6,105,694 employeeswere thrown out of employment. During the sameperiod there were 1,005 lockouts, involving nearly10,000 establishments, throwing over one million peopleout of employment. These strikes and lockoutsinvolved an estimated loss to employees of $307,000,000and to employers of $143,000,000, a total of $450,000,000.The public suffered directly and indirectly probablyas great additional loss. But the money loss,great as it was, did not measure the anguish and sufferingendured by the wives and children of employees whosepay stopt when their work stopt, or the disastrouseffect of the strike or lockout upon the business ofemployers, or the increase in the cost of productsand the inconvenience and loss to the public.
Many of these strikes and lockouts would not haveoccurred had the parties to the dispute been requiredto appear before an unprejudiced body representingthe nation and, face to face, state the reasons fortheir contention. In most instances the disputewould doubtless be found to be due to a misunderstandingby each of the other’s rights, aggravated byan unwillingness of either party to accept as truethe statements of the other as to the justice or injusticeof the matters in dispute. The exercise of ajudicial spirit by a disinterested body representingthe Federal Government, such as would be provided bya commission on conciliation and arbitration, wouldtend to create an atmosphere of friendliness and conciliationbetween contending parties; and the giving each sidean equal opportunity to present fully its case inthe presence of the other would prevent many disputesfrom developing into serious strikes or lockouts,and, in other cases, would enable the commission topersuade the opposing parties to come to terms.
In this age of great corporate and labor combinations,neither employers nor employees should be left completelyat the mercy of the stronger party to a dispute, regardlessof the righteousness of their respective claims.The proposed measure would be in the line of securingrecognition of the fact that in many strikes the publichas itself an interest which can not wisely be disregarded;an interest not merely of general convenience, forthe question of a just and proper public policy mustalso be considered. In all legislation of thiskind it is well to advance cautiously, testing eachstep by the actual results; the step proposed cansurely be safely taken, for the decisions of the commissionwould not bind the parties in legal fashion, and yetwould give a chance for public opinion to crystallizeand thus to exert its full force for the right.
It is not wise that the Nation should alienate itsremaining coal lands. I have temporarily withdrawnfrom settlement all the lands which the GeologicalSurvey has indicated as containing, or in all probabilitycontaining, coal. The question, however, can beproperly settled only by legislation, which in myjudgment should provide for the withdrawal of theselands from sale or from entry, save in certain especialcirc*mstances. The ownership would then remainin the United States, which should not, however, attemptto work them, but permit them to be worked by privateindividuals under a royalty system, the Governmentkeeping such control as to permit it to see that noexcessive price was charged consumers. It would,of course, be as necessary to supervise the ratescharged by the common carriers to transport the productas the rates charged by those who mine it; and thesupervision must extend to the conduct of the commoncarriers, so that they shall in no way favor one competitorat the expense of another. The withdrawal ofthese coal lands would constitute a policy analogousto that which has been followed in withdrawing theforest lands from ordinary settlement. The coal,like the forests, should be treated as the propertyof the public and its disposal should be under conditionswhich would inure to the benefit of the public as awhole.
The present Congress has taken long strides in thedirection of securing proper supervision and controlby the National Government over corporations engagedin interstate business and the enormous majority ofcorporations of any size are engaged in interstatebusiness. The passage of the railway rate bill,and only to a less degree the passage of the purefood bill, and the provision for increasing and renderingmore effective national control over the beef-packingindustry, mark an important advance in the properdirection. In the short session it will perhapsbe difficult to do much further along this line; andit may be best to wait until the laws have been inoperation for a number of months before endeavoringto increase their scope, because only operation willshow with exactness their merits and their shortcomingsand thus give opportunity to define what further remediallegislation is needed. Yet in my judgment itwill in the end be advisable in connection with thepacking house inspection law to provide for puttinga date on the label and for charging the cost of inspectionto the packers. All these laws have already justifiedtheir enactment. The interstate commerce law,for instance, has rather amusingly falsified the predictions,both of those who asserted that it would ruin therailroads and of those who asserted that it did notgo far enough and would accomplish nothing. Duringthe last five months the railroads have shown increasedearnings and some of them unusual dividends; whileduring the same period the mere taking effect of thelaw has produced an unprecedented, a hitherto unheardof, number of voluntary reductions in freights andfares by the railroads. Since the founding ofthe Commission there has never been a time of equallength in which anything like so many reduced tariffshave been put into effect. On August 27, forinstance, two days before the new law went into effect,the Commission received notices of over five thousandseparate tariffs which represented reductions fromprevious rates.
It must not be supposed, however, that with the passageof these laws it will be possible to stop progressalong the line of increasing the power of the NationalGovernment over the use of capital interstate commerce.For example, there will ultimately be need of enlargingthe powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission alongseveral different lines, so as to give it a largerand more efficient control over the railroads.
It can not too often be repeated that experience hasconclusively shown the impossibility of securing bythe actions of nearly half a hundred different Statelegislatures anything but ineffective chaos in theway of dealing with the great corporations which donot operate exclusively within the limits of any oneState. In some method, whether by a nationallicense law or in other fashion, we must exercise,and that at an early date, a far more complete controlthan at present over these great corporations—a
control that will among other things prevent the evilsof excessive overcapitalization, and that will compelthe disclosure by each big corporation of its stockholdersand of its properties and business, whether owneddirectly or through subsidiary or affiliated corporations.This will tend to put a stop to the securing of inordinateprofits by favored individuals at the expense whetherof the general public, the stockholders, or the wageworkers.Our effort should be not so much to prevent consolidationas such, but so to supervise and control it as tosee that it results in no harm to the people.The reactionary or ultraconservative apologists forthe misuse of wealth assail the effort to secure suchcontrol as a step toward socialism. As a matterof fact it is these reactionaries and ultraconservativeswho are themselves most potent in increasing socialisticfeeling. One of the most efficient methods ofaverting the consequences of a dangerous agitation,which is 80 per cent wrong, is to remedy the 20 percent of evil as to which the agitation is well rounded.The best way to avert the very undesirable move forthe government ownership of railways is to secureby the Government on behalf of the people as a wholesuch adequate control and regulation of the greatinterstate common carriers as will do away with theevils which give rise to the agitation against them.So the proper antidote to the dangerous and wickedagitation against the men of wealth as such is tosecure by proper legislation and executive action theabolition of the grave abuses which actually do obtainin connection with the business use of wealth underour present system—or rather no system—offailure to exercise any adequate control at all.Some persons speak as if the exercise of such governmentalcontrol would do away with the freedom of individualinitiative and dwarf individual effort. Thisis not a fact. It would be a veritable calamityto fail to put a premium upon individual initiative,individual capacity and effort; upon the energy, character,and foresight which it is so important to encouragein the individual. But as a matter of fact thedeadening and degrading effect of pure socialism, andespecially of its extreme form communism, and thedestruction of individual character which they wouldbring about, are in part achieved by the wholly unregulatedcompetition which results in a single individual orcorporation rising at the expense of all others untilhis or its rise effectually checks all competitionand reduces former competitors to a position of utterinferiority and subordination.In enacting and enforcing such legislation as thisCongress already has to its credit, we are workingon a coherent plan, with the steady endeavor to securethe needed reform by the joint action of the moderatemen, the plain men who do not wish anything hystericalor dangerous, but who do intend to deal in resolutecommon-sense fashion with the real and great evilsof the present system. The reactionaries andthe violent extremists show symptoms of joining handsagainst us. Both assert, for instance, that,if logical, we should go to government ownership ofrailroads and the like; the reactionaries, becauseon such an issue they think the people would standwith them, while the extremists care rather to preachdiscontent and agitation than to achieve solid results.As a matter of fact, our position is as remote fromthat of the Bourbon reactionary as from that of theimpracticable or sinister visionary. We holdthat the Government should not conduct the businessof the nation, but that it should exercise such supervisionas will insure its being conducted in the interestof the nation. Our aim is, so far as may be,to secure, for all decent, hard working men, equalityof opportunity and equality of burden.
The actual working of our laws has shown that theeffort to prohibit all combination, good or bad, isnoxious where it is not ineffective. Combinationof capital like combination of labor is a necessaryelement of our present industrial system. Itis not possible completely to prevent it; and if itwere possible, such complete prevention would do damageto the body politic. What we need is not vainlyto try to prevent all combination, but to secure suchrigorous and adequate control and supervision of thecombinations as to prevent their injuring the public,or existing in such form as inevitably to threateninjury—for the mere fact that a combinationhas secured practically complete control of a necessaryof life would under any circ*mstances show that suchcombination was to be presumed to be adverse to thepublic interest. It is unfortunate that our presentlaws should forbid all combinations, instead of sharplydiscriminating between those combinations which dogood and those combinations which do evil. Rebates,for instance, are as often due to the pressure of bigshippers (as was shown in the investigation of theStandard Oil Company and as has been shown since bythe investigation of the tobacco and sugar trusts)as to the initiative of big railroads. Often railroadswould like to combine for the purpose of preventinga big shipper from maintaining improper advantagesat the expense of small shippers and of the generalpublic. Such a combination, instead of being forbiddenby law, should be favored. In other words, itshould be permitted to railroads to make agreements,provided these agreements were sanctioned by the InterstateCommerce Commission and were published. With thesetwo conditions complied with it is impossible to see
what harm such a combination could do to the publicat large. It is a public evil to have on thestatute books a law incapable of full enforcement becauseboth judges and juries realize that its full enforcementwould destroy the business of the country; for theresult is to make decent railroad men violators ofthe law against their will, and to put a premium onthe behavior of the wilful wrongdoers. Such aresult in turn tends to throw the decent man and thewilful wrongdoer into close association, and in theend to drag down the former to the latter’s level;for the man who becomes a lawbreaker in one way unhappilytends to lose all respect for law and to be willingto break it in many ways. No more scathing condemnationcould be visited upon a law than is contained in thewords of the Interstate Commerce Commission when, incommenting upon the fact that the numerous joint trafficassociations do technically violate the law, theysay: “The decision of the United StatesSupreme Court in the Trans-Missouri case and the JointTraffic Association case has produced no practicaleffect upon the railway operations of the country.Such associations, in fact, exist now as they didbefore these decisions, and with the same general effect.In justice to all parties, we ought probably to addthat it is difficult to see how our interstate railwayscould be operated with due regard to the interestof the shipper and the railway without concerted actionof the kind afforded through these associations.”This means that the law as construed by the SupremeCourt is such that the business of the country cannot be conducted without breaking it. I recommendthat you give careful and early consideration to thissubject, and if you find the opinion of the InterstateCommerce Commission justified, that you amend thelaw so as to obviate the evil disclosed.
The question of taxation is difficult in any country,but it is especially difficult in ours with its Federalsystem of government. Some taxes should on everyground be levied in a small district for use in thatdistrict. Thus the taxation of real estate ispeculiarly one for the immediate locality in whichthe real estate is found. Again, there is nomore legitimate tax for any State than a tax on thefranchises conferred by that State upon street railroadsand similar corporations which operate wholly withinthe State boundaries, sometimes in one and sometimesin several municipalities or other minor divisionsof the State. But there are many kinds of taxeswhich can only be levied by the General Governmentso as to produce the best results, because, amongother reasons, the attempt to impose them in one particularState too often results merely in driving the corporationor individual affected to some other locality or otherState. The National Government has long derivedits chief revenue from a tariff on imports and froman internal or excise tax. In addition to thesethere is every reason why, when next our system of
taxation is revised, the National Government shouldimpose a graduated inheritance tax, and, if possible,a graduated income tax. The man of great wealthowes a peculiar obligation to the State, because hederives special advantages from the mere existenceof government. Not only should he recognize thisobligation in the way he leads his daily life and inthe way he earns and spends his money, but it shouldalso be recognized by the way in which he pays forthe protection the State gives him. On the onehand, it is desirable that he should assume his fulland proper share of the burden of taxation; on theother hand, it is quite as necessary that in thiskind of taxation, where the men who vote the tax paybut little of it, there should be clear recognitionof the danger of inaugurating any such system savein a spirit of entire justice and moderation.Whenever we, as a people, undertake to remodel ourtaxation system along the lines suggested, we mustmake it clear beyond peradventure that our aim isto distribute the burden of supporting the Governmentmore equitably than at present; that we intend to treatrich man and poor man on a basis of absolute equality,and that we regard it as equally fatal to true democracyto do or permit injustice to the one as to do or permitinjustice to the other.I am well aware that such a subject as this needslong and careful study in order that the people maybecome familiar with what is proposed to be done,may clearly see the necessity of proceeding with wisdomand self-restraint, and may make up their minds justhow far they are willing to go in the matter; whileonly trained legislators can work out the projectin necessary detail. But I feel that in the nearfuture our national legislators should enact a lawproviding for a graduated inheritance tax by whicha steadily increasing rate of duty should be put uponall moneys or other valuables coming by gift, bequest,or devise to any individual or corporation. Itmay be well to make the tax heavy in proportion asthe individual benefited is remote of kin. Inany event, in my judgment the pro rata of the tax shouldincrease very heavily with the increase of the amountleft to any one individual after a certain point hasbeen reached. It is most desirable to encouragethrift and ambition, and a potent source of thriftand ambition is the desire on the part of the breadwinnerto leave his children well off. This object canbe attained by making the tax very small on moderateamounts of property left; because the prime objectshould be to put a constantly increasing burden onthe inheritance of those swollen fortunes which itis certainly of no benefit to this country to perpetuate.
There can be no question of the ethical proprietyof the Government thus determining the conditionsupon which any gift or inheritance should be received.Exactly how far the inheritance tax would, as an incident,have the effect of limiting the transmission by deviseor gift of the enormous fortunes in question it isnot necessary at present to discuss. It is wisethat progress in this direction should be gradual.At first a permanent national inheritance tax, whileit might be more substantial than any such tax hash*therto been, need not approximate, either in amountor in the extent of the increase by graduation, towhat such a tax should ultimately be.
This species of tax has again and again been imposed,although only temporarily, by the National Government.It was first imposed by the act of July 6, 1797, whenthe makers of the Constitution were alive and at thehead of affairs. It was a graduated tax; thoughsmall in amount, the rate was increased with the amountleft to any individual, exceptions being made in thecase of certain close kin. A similar tax wasagain imposed by the act of July 1, 1862; a minimumsum of one thousand dollars in personal property beingexcepted from taxation, the tax then becoming progressiveaccording to the remoteness of kin. The war-revenueact of June 13, 1898, provided for an inheritance taxon any sum exceeding the value of ten thousand dollars,the rate of the tax increasing both in accordancewith the amounts left and in accordance with the legatee’sremoteness of kin. The Supreme Court has heldthat the succession tax imposed at the time of theCivil War was not a direct tax but an impost or excisewhich was both constitutional and valid. Morerecently the Court, in an opinion delivered by Mr.Justice White, which contained an exceedingly ableand elaborate discussion of the powers of the Congressto impose death duties, sustained the constitutionalityof the inheritance-tax feature of the war-revenueact of 1898.
In its incidents, and apart from the main purposeof raising revenue, an income tax stands on an entirelydifferent footing from an inheritance tax; becauseit involves no question of the perpetuation of fortunesswollen to an unhealthy size. The question isin its essence a question of the proper adjustmentof burdens to benefits. As the law now standsit is undoubtedly difficult to devise a national incometax which shall be constitutional. But whetherit is absolutely impossible is another question; andif possible it is most certainly desirable. Thefirst purely income-tax law was past by the Congressin 1861, but the most important law dealing with thesubject was that of 1894. This the court heldto be unconstitutional.
The question is undoubtedly very intricate, delicate,and troublesome. The decision of the court wasonly reached by one majority. It is the law ofthe land, and of course is accepted as such and loyallyobeyed by all good citizens. Nevertheless, thehesitation evidently felt by the court as a wholein coming to a conclusion, when considered togetherwith the previous decisions on the subject, may perhapsindicate the possibility of devising a constitutionalincome-tax law which shall substantially accomplishthe results aimed at. The difficulty of amendingthe Constitution is so great that only real necessitycan justify a resort thereto. Every effort shouldbe made in dealing with this subject, as with thesubject of the proper control by the National Governmentover the use of corporate wealth in interstate business,to devise legislation which without such action shallattain the desired end; but if this fails, there willultimately be no alternative to a constitutional amendment.
It would be impossible to overstate (though it isof course difficult quantitatively to measure) theeffect upon a nation’s growth to greatness ofwhat may be called organized patriotism, which necessarilyincludes the substitution of a national feeling formere local pride; with as a resultant a high ambitionfor the whole country. No country can developits full strength so long as the parts which make upthe whole each put a feeling of loyalty to the partabove the feeling of loyalty to the whole. Thisis true of sections and it is just as true of classes.The industrial and agricultural classes must work together,capitalists and wageworkers must work together, ifthe best work of which the country is capable is tobe done. It is probable that a thoroughly efficientsystem of education comes next to the influence ofpatriotism in bringing about national success of thiskind. Our federal form of government, so fruitfulof advantage to our people in certain ways, in otherways undoubtedly limits our national effectiveness.It is not possible, for instance, for the NationalGovernment to take the lead in technical industrialeducation, to see that the public school system ofthis country develops on all its technical, industrial,scientific, and commercial sides. This must beleft primarily to the several States. Nevertheless,the National Government has control of the schoolsof the District of Columbia, and it should see thatthese schools promote and encourage the fullest developmentof the scholars in both commercial and industrialtraining. The commercial training should in oneof its branches deal with foreign trade. The industrialtraining is even more important. It should beone of our prime objects as a Nation, so far as feasible,constantly to work toward putting the mechanic, thewageworker who works with his hands, on a higher planeof efficiency and reward, so as to increase his effectivenessin the economic world, and the dignity, the remuneration,and the power of his position in the social world.Unfortunately, at present the effect of some of thework in the public schools is in the exactly oppositedirection. If boys and girls are trained merelyin literary accomplishments, to the total exclusionof industrial, manual, and technical training, thetendency is to unfit them for industrial work andto make them reluctant to go into it, or unfitted todo well if they do go into it. This is a tendencywhich should be strenuously combated. Our industrialdevelopment depends largely upon technical education,including in this term all industrial education, fromthat which fits a man to be a good mechanic, a goodcarpenter, or blacksmith, to that which fits a manto do the greatest engineering feat. The skilledmechanic, the skilled workman, can best become suchby technical industrial education. The far-reachingusefulness of institutes of technology and schoolsof mines or of engineering is now universally acknowledged,
and no less far—reaching is the effect ofa good building or mechanical trades school, a textile,or watch-making, or engraving school. All suchtraining must develop not only manual dexterity butindustrial intelligence. In international rivalrythis country does not have to fear the competitionof pauper labor as much as it has to fear the educatedlabor of specially trained competitors; and we shouldhave the education of the hand, eye, and brain whichwill fit us to meet such competition.In every possible way we should help the wageworkerwho toils with his hands and who must (we hope ina constantly increasing measure) also toil with hisbrain. Under the Constitution the National Legislaturecan do but little of direct importance for his welfaresave where he is engaged in work which permits itto act under the interstate commerce clause of theConstitution; and this is one reason why I so earnestlyhope that both the legislative and judicial branchesof the Government will construe this clause of theConstitution in the broadest possible manner.We can, however, in such a matter as industrial training,in such a matter as child labor and factory laws,set an example to the States by enacting the mostadvanced legislation that can wisely be enacted forthe District of Columbia.
The only other persons whose welfare is as vital tothe welfare of the whole country as is the welfareof the wageworkers are the tillers of the soil, thefarmers. It is a mere truism to say that no growthof cities, no growth of wealth, no industrial developmentcan atone for any falling off in the character andstanding of the farming population. During thelast few decades this fact has been recognized withever-increasing clearness. There is no longerany failure to realize that farming, at least in certainbranches, must become a technical and scientific profession.This means that there must be open to farmers thechance for technical and scientific training, nottheoretical merely but of the most severely practicaltype. The farmer represents a peculiarly hightype of American citizenship, and he must have thesame chance to rise and develop as other American citizenshave. Moreover, it is exactly as true of the farmer,as it is of the business man and the wageworker, thatthe ultimate success of the Nation of which he formsa part must be founded not alone on material prosperitybut upon high moral, mental, and physical development.This education of the farmer—self-educationby preference but also education from the outside,as with all other men—is peculiarly necessaryhere in the United States, where the frontier conditionseven in the newest States have now nearly vanished,where there must be a substitution of a more intensivesystem of cultivation for the old wasteful farm management,and where there must be a better business organizationamong the farmers themselves.
Several factors must cooperate in the improvementof the farmer’s condition. He must havethe chance to be educated in the widest possible sense—inthe sense which keeps ever in view the intimate relationshipbetween the theory of education and the facts of life.In all education we should widen our aims. Itis a good thing to produce a certain number of trainedscholars and students; but the education superintendedby the State must seek rather to produce a hundredgood citizens than merely one scholar, and it mustbe turned now and then from the class book to thestudy of the great book of nature itself. Thisis especially true of the farmer, as has been pointedout again and again by all observers most competentto pass practical judgment on the problems of ourcountry life. All students now realize that educationmust seek to train the executive powers of young peopleand to confer more real significance upon the phrase“dignity of labor,” and to prepare thepupils so that, in addition to each developing inthe highest degree his individual capacity for work,they may together help create a right public opinion,and show in many ways social and cooperative spirit.Organization has become necessary in the businessworld; and it has accomplished much for good in theworld of labor. It is no less necessary for farmers.Such a movement as the grange movement is good initself and is capable of a well-nigh infinite furtherextension for good so long as it is kept to its ownlegitimate business. The benefits to be derivedby the association of farmers for mutual advantageare partly economic and partly sociological.
Moreover, while in the long run voluntary effortswill prove more efficacious than government assistance,while the farmers must primarily do most for themselves,yet the Government can also do much. The Departmentof Agriculture has broken new ground in many directions,and year by year it finds how it can improve its methodsand develop fresh usefulness. Its constant effortis to give the governmental assistance in the mosteffective way; that is, through associations of farmersrather than to or through individual farmers.It is also striving to coordinate its work with theagricultural departments of the several States, andso far as its own work is educational to coordinateit with the work of other educational authorities.Agricultural education is necessarily based upon generaleducation, but our agricultural educational institutionsare wisely specializing themselves, making their coursesrelate to the actual teaching of the agriculturaland kindred sciences to young country people or youngcity people who wish to live in the country.
Great progress has already been made among farmersby the creation of farmers’ institutes, of dairyassociations, of breeders’ associations, horticulturalassociations, and the like. A striking exampleof how the Government and the farmers can cooperateis shown in connection with the menace offered tothe cotton growers of the Southern States by the advanceof the boll weevil. The Department is doing allit can to organize the farmers in the threatened districts,just as it has been doing all it can to organize themin aid of its work to eradicate the cattle fever tickin the South. The Department can and will cooperatewith all such associations, and it must have theirhelp if its own work is to be done in the most efficientstyle.
Much is now being done for the States of the RockyMountains and Great Plains through the developmentof the national policy of irrigation and forest preservation;no Government policy for the betterment of our internalconditions has been more fruitful of good than this.The forests of the White Mountains and Southern Appalachianregions should also be preserved; and they can notbe unless the people of the States in which they lie,through their representatives in the Congress, securevigorous action by the National Government.
I invite the attention of the Congress to the estimateof the Secretary of War for an appropriation to enablehim to begin the preliminary work for the constructionof a memorial amphitheater at Arlington. The GrandArmy of the Republic in its national encampment hasurged the erection of such an amphitheater as necessaryfor the proper observance Of Memorial Day and as afitting monument to the soldier and sailor dead buriedthere. In this I heartily concur and commend thematter to the favorable consideration of the Congress.
I am well aware of how difficult it is to pass a constitutionalamendment. Nevertheless in my judgment the wholequestion of marriage and divorce should be relegatedto the authority of the National Congress. Atpresent the wide differences in the laws of the differentStates on this subject result in scandals and abuses;and surely there is nothing so vitally essential tothe welfare of the nation, nothing around which thenation should so bend itself to throw every safeguard,as the home life of the average citizen. The changewould be good from every standpoint. In particularit would be good because it would confer on the Congressthe power at once to deal radically and efficientlywith polygamy; and this should be done whether or notmarriage and divorce are dealt with. It is neithersafe nor proper to leave the question of polygamyto be dealt with by the several States. Powerto deal with it should be conferred on the NationalGovernment.
When home ties are loosened; when men and women ceaseto regard a worthy family life, with all its dutiesfully performed, and all its responsibilities livedup to, as the life best worth living; then evil daysfor the commonwealth are at hand. There are regionsin our land, and classes of our population, wherethe birth rate has sunk below the death rate.Surely it should need no demonstration to show thatwilful sterility is, from the standpoint of the nation,from the standpoint of the human race, the one sinfor which the penalty is national death, race death;a sin for which there is no atonement; a sin whichis the more dreadful exactly in proportion as themen and women guilty thereof are in other respects,in character, and bodily and mental powers, thosewhom for the sake of the state it would be well tosee the fathers and mothers of many healthy children,well brought up in homes made happy by their presence.No man, no woman, can shirk the primary duties oflife, whether for love of ease and pleasure, or forany other cause, and retain his or her self-respect.
Let me once again call the attention of the Congressto two subjects concerning which I have frequentlybefore communicated with them. One is the questionof developing American shipping. I trust thata law embodying in substance the views, or a majorpart of the views, exprest in the report on this subjectlaid before the House at its last session will bepast. I am well aware that in former years objectionablemeasures have been proposed in reference to the encouragementof American shipping; but it seems to me that theproposed measure is as nearly unobjectionable as anycan be. It will of course benefit primarily ourseaboard States, such as Maine, Louisiana, and Washington;but what benefits part of our people in the end benefitsall; just as Government aid to irrigation and forestryin the West is really of benefit, not only to theRocky Mountain States, but to all our country.If it prove impracticable to enact a law for the encouragementof shipping generally, then at least provision shouldbe made for better communication with South America,notably for fast mail lines to the chief South Americanports. It is discreditable to us that our businesspeople, for lack of direct communication in the shapeof lines of steamers with South America, should inthat great sister continent be at a disadvantage comparedto the business people of Europe.
I especially call your attention to the second subject,the condition of our currency laws. The nationalbank act has ably served a great purpose in aidingthe enormous business development of the country; andwithin ten years there has been an increase in circulationper capita from $21.41 to $33.08. For severalyears evidence has been accumulating that additionallegislation is needed. The recurrence of eachcrop season emphasizes the defects of the presentlaws. There must soon be a revision of them,
because to leave them as they are means to incur liabilityof business disaster. Since your body adjournedthere has been a fluctuation in the interest on callmoney from 2 per cent to 30 per cent; and the fluctuationwas even greater during the preceding six months.The Secretary of the Treasury had to step in and bywise action put a stop to the most violent periodof oscillation. Even worse than such fluctuationis the advance in commercial rates and the uncertaintyfelt in the sufficiency of credit even at high rates.All commercial interests suffer during each crop period.Excessive rates for call money in New York attractmoney from the interior banks into the speculativefield; this depletes the fund that would otherwisebe available for commercial uses, and commercial borrowersare forced to pay abnormal rates; so that each falla tax, in the shape of increased interest charges,is placed on the whole commerce of the country.The mere statement of these has shows that our presentsystem is seriously defective. There is needof a change. Unfortunately, however, many ofthe proposed changes must be ruled from considerationbecause they are complicated, are not easy of comprehension,and tend to, disturb existing rights and interests.We must also rule out any plan which would materiallyimpair the value of the United States 2 per cent bondsnow pledged to secure circulations, the issue of whichwas made under conditions peculiarly creditable tothe Treasury. I do not press any especial plan.Various plans have recently been proposed by expertcommittees of bankers. Among the plans which arepossibly feasible and which certainly should receiveyour consideration is that repeatedly brought to yourattention by the present Secretary of the Treasury,the essential features of which have been approvedby many prominent bankers and business men. Accordingto this plan national banks should be permitted toissue a specified proportion of their capital in notesof a given kind, the issue to be taxed at so high arate as to drive the notes back when not wanted inlegitimate trade. This plan would not permitthe issue of currency to give banks additional profits,but to meet the emergency presented by times of stringency.
I do not say that this is the right system. Ionly advance it to emphasize my belief that thereis need for the adoption of some system which shallbe automatic and open to all sound banks, so as toavoid all possibility of discrimination and favoritism.Such a plan would tend to prevent the spasms of highmoney and speculation which now obtain in the NewYork market; for at present there is too much currencyat certain seasons of the year, and its accumulationat New York tempts bankers to lend it at low ratesfor speculative purposes; whereas at other times whenthe crops are being moved there is urgent need fora large but temporary increase in the currency supply.It must never be forgotten that this question concerns
business men generally quite as much as bankers; especiallyis this true of stockmen, farmers, and business menin the West; for at present at certain seasons of theyear the difference in interest rates between the Eastand the West is from 6 to 10 per cent, whereas inCanada the corresponding difference is but 2 per cent.Any plan must, of course, guard the interests of westernand southern bankers as carefully as it guards theinterests of New York or Chicago bankers; and mustbe drawn from the standpoints of the farmer and themerchant no less than from the standpoints of thecity banker and the country banker.The law should be amended so as specifically to providethat the funds derived from customs duties may betreated by the Secretary of the Treasury as he treatsfunds obtained under the internal-revenue laws.There should be a considerable increase in bills ofsmall denominations. Permission should be givenbanks, if necessary under settled restrictions, toretire their circulation to a larger amount than threemillions a month.
I most earnestly hope that the bill to provide a lowertariff for or else absolute free trade in Philippineproducts will become a law. No harm will cometo any American industry; and while there will be somesmall but real material benefit to the Filipinos, themain benefit will come by the showing made as to ourpurpose to do all in our power for their welfare.So far our action in the Philippines has been abundantlyjustified, not mainly and indeed not primarily becauseof the added dignity it has given us as a nation byproving that we are capable honorably and efficientlyto bear the international burdens which a mighty peopleshould bear, but even more because of the immense benefitthat has come to the people of the Philippine Islands.In these islands we are steadily introducing bothliberty and order, to a greater degree than theirpeople have ever before known. We have securedjustice. We have provided an efficient policeforce, and have put down ladronism. Only in theislands of Leyte and Samar is the authority of ourGovernment resisted and this by wild mountain tribesunder the superstitious inspiration of fakirs andpseudo-religions leaders. We are constantly increasingthe measure of liberty accorded the islanders, andnext spring, if conditions warrant, we shall take agreat stride forward in testing their capacity forself-government by summoning the first Filipino legislativeassembly; and the way in which they stand this testwill largely determine whether the self-governmentthus granted will be increased or decreased; for ifwe have erred at all in the Philippines it has beenin proceeding too rapidly in the direction of grantinga large measure of self-government. We are buildingroads. We have, for the immeasurable good of thepeople, arranged for the building of railroads.Let us also see to it that they are given free accessto our markets. This nation owes no more imperativeduty to itself and mankind than the duty of managingthe affairs of all the islands under the Americanflag—the Philippines, Porto Rico, and Hawaii—soas to make it evident that it is in every way to theiradvantage that the flag should fly over them.
American citizenship should be conferred on the citizensof Porto Rico. The harbor of San Juan in PortoRico should be dredged and improved. The expensesof the federal court of Porto Rico should be met fromthe Federal Treasury. The administration of theaffairs of Porto Rico, together with those of thePhilippines, Hawaii, and our other insular possessions,should all be directed under one executive department;by preference the Department of State or the Departmentof War.
The needs of Hawaii are peculiar; every aid shouldbe given the islands; and our efforts should be unceasingto develop them along the lines of a community ofsmall freeholders, not of great planters with coolie-tilledestates. Situated as this Territory is, in themiddle of the Pacific, there are duties imposed uponthis small community which do not fall in like degreeor manner upon any other American community.This warrants our treating it differently from theway in which we treat Territories contiguous to orsurrounded by sister Territories or other States,and justifies the setting aside of a portion of ourrevenues to be expended for educational and internalimprovements therein. Hawaii is now making aneffort to secure immigration fit in the end to assumethe duties and burdens of full American citizenship,and whenever the leaders in the various industriesof those islands finally adopt our ideals and heartilyjoin our administration in endeavoring to developa middle class of substantial citizens, a way willthen be found to deal with the commercial and industrialproblems which now appear to them so serious.The best Americanism is that which aims for stabilityand permanency of prosperous citizenship, rather thanimmediate returns on large masses of capital.
Alaska’s needs have been partially met, butthere must be a complete reorganization of the governmentalsystem, as I have before indicated to you. Iask your especial attention to this. Our fellow-citizenswho dwell on the shores of Puget Sound with characteristicenergy are arranging to hold in Seattle the AlaskaYukon Pacific Exposition. Its special aims includethe upbuilding of Alaska and the development of Americancommerce on the Pacific Ocean. This exposition,in its purposes and scope, should appeal not onlyto the people of the Pacific slope, but to the peopleof the United States at large. Alaska since itwas bought has yielded to the Government eleven millionsof dollars of revenue, and has produced nearly threehundred millions of dollars in gold, furs, and fish.When properly developed it will become in large degreea land of homes. The countries bordering the PacificOcean have a population more numerous than that ofall the countries of Europe; their annual foreigncommerce amounts to over three billions of dollars,of which the share of the United States is some sevenhundred millions of dollars. If this trade werethoroughly understood and pushed by our manufacturersand producers, the industries not only of the Pacificslope, but of all our country, and particularly ofour cotton-growing States, would be greatly benefited.Of course, in order to get these benefits, we musttreat fairly the countries with which we trade.
It is a mistake, and it betrays a spirit of foolishcynicism, to maintain that all international governmentalaction is, and must ever be, based upon mere selfishness,and that to advance ethical reasons for such actionis always a sign of hypocrisy. This is no morenecessarily true of the action of governments thanof the action of individuals. It is a sure signof a base nature always to ascribe base motives forthe actions of others. Unquestionably no nationcan afford to disregard proper considerations of self-interest,any more than a private individual can so do.But it is equally true that the average private individualin any really decent community does many actions withreference to other men in which he is guided, not byself-interest, but by public spirit, by regard forthe rights of others, by a disinterested purpose todo good to others, and to raise the tone of the communityas a whole. Similarly, a really great nationmust often act, and as a matter of fact often doesact, toward other nations in a spirit not in the leastof mere self-interest, but paying heed chiefly toethical reasons; and as the centuries go by this disinterestednessin international action, this tendency of the individualscomprising a nation to require that nation to act withjustice toward its neighbors, steadily grows and strengthens.It is neither wise nor right for a nation to disregardits own needs, and it is foolish—and maybe wicked—to think that other nations willdisregard theirs. But it is wicked for a nationonly to regard its own interest, and foolish to believethat such is the sole motive that actuates any othernation. It should be our steady aim to raise theethical standard of national action just as we striveto raise the ethical standard of individual action.
Not only must we treat all nations fairly, but wemust treat with justice and good will all immigrantswho come here under the law. Whether they areCatholic or Protestant, Jew or Gentile; whether theycome from England or Germany, Russia, Japan, or Italy,matters nothing. All we have a right to questionis the man’s conduct. If he is honest andupright in his dealings with his neighbor and withthe State, then he is entitled to respect and goodtreatment. Especially do we need to rememberour duty to the stranger within our gates. Itis the sure mark of a low civilization, a low morality,to abuse or discriminate against or in any way humiliatesuch stranger who has come here lawfully and who isconducting himself properly. To remember thisis incumbent on every American citizen, and it isof course peculiarly incumbent on every Governmentofficial, whether of the nation or of the severalStates.
I am prompted to say this by the attitude of hostilityhere and there assumed toward the Japanese in thiscountry. This hostility is sporadic and is limitedto a very few places. Nevertheless, it is mostdiscreditable to us as a people, and it may be fraughtwith the gravest consequences to the nation.The friendship between the United States and Japanhas been continuous since the time, over half a centuryago, when Commodore Perry, by his expedition to Japan,first opened the islands to western civilization.Since then the growth of Japan has been literallyastounding. There is not only nothing to parallelit, but nothing to approach it in the history of civilizedmankind. Japan has a glorious and ancient past.Her civilization is older than that of the nationsof northern Europe—the nations from whomthe people of the United States have chiefly sprung.But fifty years ago Japan’s development wasstill that of the Middle Ages. During that fiftyyears the progress of the country in every walk inlife has been a marvel to mankind, and she now standsas one of the greatest of civilized nations; greatin the arts of war and in the arts of peace; greatin military, in industrial, in artistic developmentand achievement. Japanese soldiers and sailorshave shown themselves equal in combat to any of whomhistory makes note. She has produced great generalsand mighty admirals; her fighting men, afloat andashore, show all the heroic courage, the unquestioning,unfaltering loyalty, the splendid indifference tohardship and death, which marked the Loyal Ronins;and they show also that they possess the highest idealof patriotism. Japanese artists of every kindsee their products eagerly sought for in all lands.The industrial and commercial development of Japanhas been phenomenal; greater than that of any othercountry during the same period. At the same timethe advance in science and philosophy is no less marked.The admirable management of the Japanese Red Crossduring the late war, the efficiency and humanity ofthe Japanese officials, nurses, and doctors, won therespectful admiration of all acquainted with the facts.Through the Red Cross the Japanese people sent over$100,000 to the sufferers of San Francisco, and thegift was accepted with gratitude by our people.The courtesy of the Japanese, nationally and individually,has become proverbial. To no other country hasthere been such an increasing number of visitors fromthis land as to Japan. In return, Japanese havecome here in great numbers. They are welcome,socially and intellectually, in all our colleges andinstitutions of higher learning, in all our professionaland social bodies. The Japanese have won in asingle generation the right to stand abreast of theforemost and most enlightened peoples of Europe andAmerica; they have won on their own merits and bytheir own exertions the right to treatment on a basisof full and frank equality. The overwhelming massof our people cherish a lively regard and respect for
the people of Japan, and in almost every quarter ofthe Union the stranger from Japan is treated as hedeserves; that is, he is treated as the stranger fromany part of civilized Europe is and deserves to betreated. But here and there a most unworthy feelinghas manifested itself toward the Japanese—thefeeling that has been shown in shutting them out fromthe common schools in San Francisco, and in mutteringsagainst them in one or two other places, because oftheir efficiency as workers. To shut them outfrom the public schools is a wicked absurdity, whenthere are no first-class colleges in the land, includingthe universities and colleges of California, whichdo not gladly welcome Japanese students and on whichJapanese students do not reflect credit. We haveas much to learn from Japan as Japan has to learnfrom us; and no nation is fit to teach unless it isalso willing to learn. Throughout Japan Americansare well treated, and any failure on the part of Americansat home to treat the Japanese with a like courtesyand consideration is by just so much a confessionof inferiority in our civilization.Our nation fronts on the Pacific, just as it frontson the Atlantic. We hope to play a constantlygrowing part in the great ocean of the Orient.We wish, as we ought to wish, for a great commercialdevelopment in our dealings with Asia; and it is outof the question that we should permanently have suchdevelopment unless we freely and gladly extend toother nations the same measure of justice and goodtreatment which we expect to receive in return.It is only a very small body of our citizens thatact badly. Where the Federal Government has powerit will deal summarily with any such. Where theseveral States have power I earnestly ask that theyalso deal wisely and promptly with such conduct, orelse this small body of wrongdoers may bring shameupon the great mass of their innocent and right-thinkingfellows—that is, upon our nation as a whole.Good manners should be an international no less thanan individual attribute. I ask fair treatmentfor the Japanese as I would ask fair treatment forGermans or Englishmen, Frenchmen, Russians, or Italians.I ask it as due to humanity and civilization.I ask it as due to ourselves because we must act uprightlytoward all men.
I recommend to the Congress that an act be past specificallyproviding for the naturalization of Japanese who comehere intending to become American citizens. Oneof the great embarrassments attending the performanceof our international obligations is the fact that theStatutes of the United States are entirely inadequate.They fail to give to the National Government sufficientlyample power, through United States courts and by theuse of the Army and Navy, to protect aliens in therights secured to them under solemn treaties whichare the law of the land. I therefore earnestlyrecommend that the criminal and civil statutes ofthe United States be so amended and added to as to
enable the President, acting for the United StatesGovernment, which is responsible in our internationalrelations, to enforce the rights of aliens under treaties.Even as the law now is something can be done by theFederal Government toward this end, and in the matternow before me affecting the Japanese everything thatit is in my power to do will be done, and all of theforces, military and civil, of the United States whichI may lawfully employ will be so employed. Thereshould, however, be no particle of doubt as to thepower of the National Government completely to performand enforce its own obligations to other nations.The mob of a single city may at any time perform actsof lawless violence against some class of foreignerswhich would plunge us into war. That city byitself would be powerless to make defense against theforeign power thus assaulted, and if independent ofthis Government it would never venture to performor permit the performance of the acts complained of.The entire power and the whole duty to protect theoffending city or the offending community lies in thehands of the United States Government. It isunthinkable that we should continue a policy underwhich a given locality may be allowed to commit a crimeagainst a friendly nation, and the United States Governmentlimited, not to preventing the commission of the crime,but, in the last resort, to defending the people whohave committed it against the consequences of theirown wrongdoing.Last August an insurrection broke out in Cuba whichit speedily grew evident that the existing Cuban Governmentwas powerless to quell. This Government was repeatedlyasked by the then Cuban Government to intervene, andfinally was notified by the President of Cuba thathe intended to resign; that his decision was irrevocable;that none of the other constitutional officers wouldconsent to carry on the Government, and that he waspowerless to maintain order. It was evident thatchaos was impending, and there was every probabilitythat if steps were not immediately taken by this Governmentto try to restore order the representatives of variousEuropean nations in the island would apply to theirrespective governments for armed intervention in orderto protect the lives and property of their citizens.Thanks to the preparedness of our Navy, I was ableimmediately to send enough ships to Cuba to preventthe situation from becoming hopeless; and I furthermoredispatched to Cuba the Secretary of War and the AssistantSecretary of State, in order that they might grapplewith the situation on the ground. All effortsto secure an agreement between the contending factions,by which they should themselves come to an amicableunderstanding and settle upon some modus vivendi—someprovisional government of their own—failed.Finally the President of the Republic resigned.The quorum of Congress assembled failed by deliberatepurpose of its members, so that there was no power
to act on his resignation, and the Government cameto a halt. In accordance with the so-called Plattamendment, which was embodied in the constitutionof Cuba, I thereupon proclaimed a provisional governmentfor the island, the Secretary of War acting as provisionalgovernor until he could be replaced by Mr. Magoon,the late minister to Panama and governor of the CanalZone on the Isthmus; troops were sent to support themand to relieve the Navy, the expedition being handledwith most satisfactory speed and efficiency.The insurgent chiefs immediately agreed that theirtroops should lay down their arms and disband; andthe agreement was carried out. The provisionalgovernment has left the personnel of the old governmentand the old laws, so far as might be, unchanged, andwill thus administer the island for a few months untiltranquillity can be restored, a new election properlyheld, and a new government inaugurated. Peacehas come in the island; and the harvesting of thesugar-cane crop, the great crop of the island, isabout to proceed.When the election has been held and the new governmentinaugurated in peaceful and orderly fashion the provisionalgovernment will come to an end. I take this opportunityof expressing upon behalf of the American people,with all possible solemnity, our most earnest hopethat the people of Cuba will realize the imperativeneed of preserving justice and keeping order in theIsland. The United States wishes nothing of Cubaexcept that it shall prosper morally and materially,and wishes nothing of the Cubans save that they shallbe able to preserve order among themselves and thereforeto preserve their independence. If the electionsbecome a farce, and if the insurrectionary habit becomesconfirmed in the Island, it is absolutely out of thequestion that the Island should continue independent;and the United States, which has assumed the sponsorshipbefore the civilized world for Cuba’s careeras a nation, would again have to intervene and tosee that the government was managed in such orderlyfashion as to secure the safety of life and property.The path to be trodden by those who exercise self-governmentis always hard, and we should have every charity andpatience with the Cubans as they tread this difficultpath. I have the utmost sympathy with, and regardfor, them; but I most earnestly adjure them solemnlyto weigh their responsibilities and to see that whentheir new government is started it shall run smoothly,and with freedom from flagrant denial of right onthe one hand, and from insurrectionary disturbanceson the other.
The Second International Conference of American Republics,held in Mexico in the years 1901-2, provided for theholding of the third conference within five years,and committed the fixing of the time and place andthe arrangements for the conference to the governingboard of the Bureau of American Republics, composedof the representatives of all the American nationsin Washington. That board discharged the dutyimposed upon it with marked fidelity and painstakingcare, and upon the courteous invitation of the UnitedStates of Brazil the conference was held at Rio deJaneiro, continuing from the 23d of July to the 29thof August last. Many subjects of common interestto all the American nations were discust by the conference,and the conclusions reached, embodied in a seriesof resolutions and proposed conventions, will be laidbefore you upon the coming in of the final report ofthe American delegates. They contain many mattersof importance relating to the extension of trade,the increase of communication, the smoothing awayof barriers to free intercourse, and the promotionof a better knowledge and good understanding betweenthe different countries represented. The meetingsof the conference were harmonious and the conclusionswere reached with substantial unanimity. It isinteresting to observe that in the successive conferenceswhich have been held the representatives of the differentAmerican nations have been learning to work togethereffectively, for, while the First Conference in Washingtonin 1889, and the Second Conference in Mexico in 1901-2,occupied many months, with much time wasted in an unregulatedand fruitless discussion, the Third Conference atRio exhibited much of the facility in the practicaldispatch of business which characterizes permanentdeliberative bodies, and completed its labors withinthe period of six weeks originally allotted for itssessions.
Quite apart from the specific value of the conclusionsreached by the conference, the example of the representativesof all the American nations engaging in harmoniousand kindly consideration and discussion of subjectsof common interest is itself of great and substantialvalue for the promotion of reasonable and consideratetreatment of all international questions. Thethanks of this country are due to the Government ofBrazil and to the people of Rio de Janeiro for thegenerous hospitality with which our delegates, in commonwith the others, were received, entertained, and facilitatedin their work.
Incidentally to the meeting of the conference, theSecretary of State visited the city of Rio de Janeiroand was cordially received by the conference, of whichhe was made an honorary president. The announcementof his intention to make this visit was followed bymost courteous and urgent invitations from nearlyall the countries of South America to visit them asthe guest of their Governments. It was deemedthat by the acceptance of these invitations we might
appropriately express the real respect and friendshipin which we hold our sister Republics of the southerncontinent, and the Secretary, accordingly, visitedBrazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Panama, andColombia. He refrained from visiting Paraguay,Bolivia, and Ecuador only because the distance oftheir capitals from the seaboard made it impracticablewith the time at his disposal. He carried withhim a message of peace and friendship, and of strongdesire for good understanding and mutual helpfulness;and he was everywhere received in the spirit of hismessage. The members of government, the press,the learned professions, the men of business, andthe great masses of the people united everywhere inemphatic response to his friendly expressions and indoing honor to the country and cause which he represented.In many parts of South America there has been muchmisunderstanding of the attitude and purposes of theUnited States towards the other American Republics.An idea had become prevalent that our assertion ofthe Monroe Doctrine implied, or carried with it, anassumption of superiority, and of a right to exercisesome kind of protectorate over the countries to whoseterritory that doctrine applies. Nothing couldbe farther from the truth. Yet that impressioncontinued to be a serious barrier to good understanding,to friendly intercourse, to the introduction of Americancapital and the extension of American trade.The impression was so widespread that apparently itcould not be reached by any ordinary means.
It was part of Secretary Root’s mission to dispelthis unfounded impression, and there is just causeto believe that he has succeeded. In an addressto the Third Conference at Rio on the 31st of July—anaddress of such note that I send it in, together withthis message—he said:
“We wish for no victories but those of peace;for no territory except our own; for no sovereigntyexcept the sovereignty over ourselves. We deemthe independence and equal rights of the smallest andweakest member of the family of nations entitled toas much respect as those of the greatest empire, andwe deem the observance of that respect the chief guarantyof the weak against the oppression of the strong.We neither claim nor desire any rights or privilegesor powers that we do not freely concede to every AmericanRepublic. We wish to increase our prosperity,to extend our trade, to grow in wealth, in wisdom,and in spirit, but our conception of the true wayto accomplish this is not to pull down others andprofit by their ruin, but to help all friends to acommon prosperity and a common growth, that we mayall become greater and stronger together. Withina few months for the first time the recognized possessorsof every foot of soil upon the American continentscan be and I hope will be represented with the acknowledgedrights of equal sovereign states in the great WorldCongress at The Hague. This will be the world’s
formal and final acceptance of the declaration thatno part of the American continents is to be deemedsubject to colonization. Let us pledge ourselvesto aid each other in the full performance of the dutyto humanity which that accepted declaration implies,so that in time the weakest and most unfortunate ofour Republics may come to march with equal step bythe side of the stronger and more fortunate.Let us help each other to show that for all the racesof men the liberty for which we have fought and laboredis the twin sister of justice and peace. Let usunite in creating and maintaining and making effectivean all-American public opinion, whose power shallinfluence international conduct and prevent internationalwrong, and narrow the causes of war, and forever preserveour free lands from the burden of such armaments asare massed behind the frontiers of Europe, and bringus ever nearer to the perfection of ordered liberty.So shall come security and prosperity, production andtrade, wealth, learning, the arts, and happiness forus all.”These words appear to have been received with acclaimin every part of South America. They have myhearty approval, as I am sure they will have yours,and I can not be wrong in the conviction that theycorrectly represent the sentiments of the whole Americanpeople. I can not better characterize the trueattitude of the United States in its assertion ofthe Monroe Doctrine than in the words of the distinguishedformer minister of foreign affairs of Argentina, DoctorDrago, in his speech welcoming Mr. Root at BuenosAyres. He spoke of—
“The traditional policy of the United States(which) without accentuating superiority or seekingpreponderance, condemned the oppression of the nationsof this part of the world and the control of theirdestinies by the great Powers of Europe.”
It is gratifying to know that in the great city ofBuenos Ayres, upon the arches which spanned the streets,entwined with Argentine and American flags for thereception of our representative, there were emblazonednot’ only the names of Washington and Jeffersonand Marshall, but also, in appreciative recognitionof their services to the cause of South American independence,the names of James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, HenryClay, and Richard Rush. We take especial pleasurein the graceful courtesy of the Government of Brazil,which has given to the beautiful and stately buildingfirst used for the meeting of the conference the nameof “Palacio Monroe.” Our gratefulacknowledgments are due to the Governments and thepeople of all the countries visited by the Secretaryof State for the courtesy, the friendship, and thehonor shown to our country in their generous hospitalityto him.
In my message to you on the 5th of December, 1905,I called your attention to the embarrassment thatmight be caused to this Government by the assertionby foreign nations of the right to collect by forceof arms contract debts due by American republics tocitizens of the collecting nation, and to the dangerthat the process of compulsory collection might resultin the occupation of territory tending to become permanent.I then said:
“Our own Government has always refused to enforcesuch contractual obligations on behalf of its citizensby an appeal to arms. It is much to be wishtthat all foreign governments would take the same view.”
This subject was one of the topics of considerationat the conference at Rio and a resolution was adoptedby that conference recommending to the respectivegovernments represented “to consider the advisabilityof asking the Second Peace Conference at The Hagueto examine the question of the compulsory collectionof public debts, and, in general, means tending todiminish among nations conflicts of purely pecuniaryorigin.”
This resolution was supported by the representativesof the United States in accordance with the followinginstructions:
“It has long been the established policy ofthe United States not to use its armed forces forthe collection of ordinary contract debts due to itscitizens by other governments. We have not consideredthe use of force for such a purpose consistent withthat respect for the independent sovereignty of othermembers of the family of nations which is the mostimportant principle of international law and the chiefprotection of weak nations against the oppression ofthe strong. It seems to us that the practiseis injurious in its general effect upon the relationsof nations and upon the welfare of weak and disorderedstates, whose development ought to be encouraged inthe interests of civilization; that it offers frequenttemptation to bullying and oppression and to unnecessaryand unjustifiable warfare. We regret that otherpowers, whose opinions and sense of justice we esteemhighly, have at times taken a different view and havepermitted themselves, though we believe with reluctance,to collect such debts by force. It is doubtlesstrue that the non-payment of public debts may be accompaniedby such circ*mstances of fraud and wrongdoing or violationof treaties as to justify the use of force. ThisGovernment would be glad to see an international considerationof the subject which shall discriminate between suchcases and the simple nonperformance of a contractwith a private person, and a resolution in favor ofreliance upon peaceful means in cases of the latterclass.
“It is not felt, however, that the conferenceat Rio should undertake to make such a discriminationor to resolve upon such a rule. Most of the Americancountries are still debtor nations, while the countriesof Europe are the creditors. If the Rio conference,therefore, were to take such action it would havethe appearance of a meeting of debtors resolving howtheir creditors should act, and this would not inspirerespect. The true course is indicated by the termsof the program, which proposes to request the SecondHague Conference, where both creditors and debtorswill be assembled, to consider the subject.”
Last June trouble which had existed for some timebetween the Republics of Salvador, Guatemala, andHonduras culminated in war—a war whichthreatened to be ruinous to the countries involvedand very destructive to the commercial interests ofAmericans, Mexicans, and other foreigners who aretaking an important part in the development of thesecountries. The thoroughly good understanding whichexists between the United States and Mexico enabledthis Government and that of Mexico to unite in effectivemediation between the warring Republics; which mediationresulted, not without long-continued and patient effort,in bringing about a meeting of the representativesof the hostile powers on board a United States warshipas neutral territory, and peace was there concluded;a peace which resulted in the saving of thousands oflives and in the prevention of an incalculable amountof misery and the destruction of property and of themeans of livelihood. The Rio Conference pastthe following resolution in reference to this action:
“That the Third International American Conferenceshall address to the Presidents of the United Statesof America and of the United States of Mexico a notein which the conference which is being held at Rioexpresses its satisfaction at the happy results oftheir mediation for the celebration of peace betweenthe Republics of Guatemala, Honduras, and Salvador.”
This affords an excellent example of one way in whichthe influence of the United States can properly beexercised for the benefit of the peoples of the WesternHemisphere; that is, by action taken in concert withother American republics and therefore free from thosesuspicions and prejudices which might attach if theaction were taken by one alone. In this way itis possible to exercise a powerful influence towardthe substitution of considerate action in the spiritof justice for the insurrectionary or internationalviolence which has hitherto been so great a hindranceto the development of many of our neighbors.Repeated examples of united action by several or manyAmerican republics in favor of peace, by urging cooland reasonable, instead of excited and belligerent,treatment of international controversies, can notfail to promote the growth of a general public opinionamong the American nations which will elevate thestandards of international action, strengthen thesense of international duty among governments, andtell in favor of the peace of mankind.
I have just returned from a trip to Panama and shallreport to you at length later on the whole subjectof the Panama Canal.
The Algeciras Convention, which was signed by theUnited States as well as by most of the powers ofEurope, supersedes the previous convention of 1880,which was also signed both by the United States anda majority of the European powers. This treatyconfers upon us equal commercial rights with all Europeancountries and does not entail a single obligationof any kind upon us, and I earnestly hope it may bespeedily ratified. To refuse to ratify it wouldmerely mean that we forfeited our commercial rightsin Morocco and would not achieve another object ofany kind. In the event of such refusal we wouldbe left for the first time in a hundred and twentyyears without any commercial treaty with Morocco;and this at a time when we are everywhere seeking newmarkets and outlets for trade.
The destruction of the Pribilof Islands fur sealsby pelagic sealing still continues. The herdwhich, according to the surveys made in 1874 by directionof the Congress, numbered 4,700,000, and which, accordingto the survey of both American and Canadian commissionersin 1891, amounted to 1,000,000, has now been reducedto about 180,000. This result has been broughtabout by Canadian and some other sealing vessels killingthe female seals while in the water during their annualpilgrimage to and from the south, or in search of food.As a rule the female seal when killed is pregnant,and also has an unweaned pup on land, so that, foreach skin taken by pelagic sealing, as a rule, threelives are destroyed—the mother, the unbornoffspring, and the nursing pup, which is left to starveto death. No damage whatever is done to the herdby the carefully regulated killing on land; the customof pelagic sealing is solely responsible for all ofthe present evil, and is alike indefensible from theeconomic standpoint and from the standpoint of humanity.
In 1896 over 16,000 young seals were found dead fromstarvation on the Pribilof Islands. In 1897 itwas estimated that since pelagic sealing began upwardof 400,000 adult female seals had been killed at sea,and over 300,000 young seals had died of starvationas the result. The revolting barbarity of sucha practise, as well as the wasteful destruction whichit involves, needs no demonstration and is its owncondemnation. The Bering Sea Tribunal, which satin Paris in 1893, and which decided against the claimsof the United States to exclusive jurisdiction inthe waters of Bering Sea and to a property right inthe fur seals when outside of the three-mile limit,determined also upon certain regulations which theTribunal considered sufficient for the proper protectionand preservation of the fur seal in, or habituallyresorting to, the Bering Sea. The Tribunal byits regulations established a close season, from the1st of May to the 31st of July, and excluded all killingin the waters within 60 miles around the PribilofIslands. They also provided that the regulationswhich they had determined upon, with a view to theprotection and preservation of the seals, should besubmitted every five years to new examination, soas to enable both interested Governments to considerwhether, in the light of past experience, there wasoccasion for any modification thereof.
The regulations have proved plainly inadequate toaccomplish the object of protection and preservationof the fur seals, and for a long time this Governmenthas been trying in vain to secure from Great Britainsuch revision and modification of the regulations aswere contemplated and provided for by the award ofthe Tribunal of Paris.
The process of destruction has been accelerated duringrecent years by the appearance of a number of Japanesevessels engaged in pelagic sealing. As thesevessels have not been bound even by the inadequatelimitations prescribed by the Tribunal of Paris, theyhave paid no attention either to the close seasonor to the sixty-mile limit imposed upon the Canadians,and have prosecuted their work up to the very islandsthemselves. On July 16 and 17 the crews from severalJapanese vessels made raids upon the island of St.Paul, and before they were beaten off by the verymeager and insufficiently armed guard, they succeededin killing several hundred seals and carrying off theskins of most of them. Nearly all the seals killedwere females and the work was done with frightfulbarbarity. Many of the seals appear to have beenskinned alive and many were found half skinned andstill alive. The raids were repelled only bythe use of firearms, and five of the raiders werekilled, two were wounded, and twelve captured, includingthe two wounded. Those captured have since beentried and sentenced to imprisonment. An attackof this kind had been wholly unlookt for, but suchprovision of vessels, arms, and ammunition will nowbe made that its repetition will not be found profitable.
Suitable representations regarding the incident havebeen made to the Government of Japan, and we are assuredthat all practicable measures will be taken by thatcountry to prevent any recurrence of the outrage.On our part, the guard on the island will be increasedand better equipped and organized, and a better revenue-cutterpatrol service about the islands will be established;next season a United States war vessel will also besent there.
We have not relaxed our efforts to secure an agreementwith Great Britain for adequate protection of theseal herd, and negotiations with Japan for the samepurpose are in progress.
The laws for the protection of the seals within thejurisdiction of the United States need revision andamendment. Only the islands of St. Paul and St.George are now, in terms, included in the Governmentreservation, and the other islands are also to be included.The landing of aliens as well as citizens upon theislands, without a permit from the Department of Commerceand Labor, for any purpose except in case of stressof weather or for water, should be prohibited underadequate penalties. The approach of vessels forthe excepted purposes should be regulated. Theauthority of the Government agents on the islands shouldbe enlarged, and the chief agent should have the powers
of a committing magistrate. The entrance of avessel into the territorial waters surrounding theislands with intent to take seals should be made acriminal offense and cause of forfeiture. Authorityfor seizures in such cases should be given and thepresence on any such vessel of seals or sealskins,or the paraphernalia for taking them, should be madeprima facie evidence of such intent. I recommendwhat legislation is needed to accomplish these ends;and I commend to your attention the report of Mr.Sims, of the Department of Commerce and Labor, on thissubject.In case we are compelled to abandon the hope of makingarrangements with other governments to put an endto the hideous cruelty now incident to pelagic sealing,it will be a question for your serious considerationhow far we should continue to protect and maintainthe seal herd on land with the result of continuingsuch a practise, and whether it is not better to endthe practice by exterminating the herd ourselves inthe most humane way possible.
In my last message I advised you that the Emperorof Russia had taken the initiative in bringing abouta second peace conference at The Hague. Underthe guidance of Russia the arrangement of the preliminariesfor such a conference has been progressing during thepast year. Progress has necessarily been slow,owing to the great number of countries to be consultedupon every question that has arisen. It is amatter of satisfaction that all of the American Republicshave now, for the first time, been invited to joinin the proposed conference.
The close connection between the subjects to be takenup by the Red Cross Conference held at Geneva lastsummer and the subjects which naturally would comebefore The Hague Conference made it apparent thatit was desirable to have the work of the Red CrossConference completed and considered by the differentpowers before the meeting at The Hague. The RedCross Conference ended its labors on the 6th day ofJuly, and the revised and amended convention, whichwas signed by the American delegates, will be promptlylaid before the Senate.
By the special and highly appreciated courtesy ofthe Governments of Russia and the Netherlands, a proposalto call The Hague Conference together at a time whichwould conflict with the Conference of the AmericanRepublics at Rio de Janeiro in August was laid aside.No other date has yet been suggested. A tentativeprogram for the conference has been proposed by theGovernment of Russia, and the subjects which it enumeratesare undergoing careful examination and considerationin preparation for the conference.
It must ever be kept in mind that war is not merelyjustifiable, but imperative, upon honorable men, uponan honorable nation, where peace can only be obtainedby the sacrifice of conscientious conviction or ofnational welfare. Peace is normally a great good,and normally it coincides with righteousness; butit is righteousness and not peace which should bindthe conscience of a nation as it should bind the conscienceof an individual; and neither a nation nor an individualcan surrender conscience to another’s keeping.Neither can a nation, which is an entity, and whichdoes not die as individuals die, refrain from takingthought for the interest of the generations that areto come, no less than for the interest of the generationof to-day; and no public men have a right, whetherfrom shortsightedness, from selfish indifference,or from sentimentality, to sacrifice national interestswhich are vital in character. A just war is inthe long run far better for a nation’s soulthan the most prosperous peace obtained by acquiescencein wrong or injustice. Moreover, though it iscriminal for a nation not to prepare for war, so thatit may escape the dreadful consequences of being defeatedin war, yet it must always be remembered that evento be defeated in war may be far better than not tohave fought at all. As has been well and finelysaid, a beaten nation is not necessarily a disgracednation; but the nation or man is disgraced if theobligation to defend right is shirked.
We should as a nation do everything in our power forthe cause of honorable peace. It is morally asindefensible for a nation to commit a wrong upon anothernation, strong or weak, as for an individual thus towrong his fellows. We should do all in our powerto hasten the day when there shall be peace amongthe nations—a peace based upon justice andnot upon cowardly submission to wrong. We canaccomplish a good deal in this direction, but we cannot accomplish everything, and the penalty of attemptingto do too much would almost inevitably be to do worsethan nothing; for it must be remembered that fantasticextremists are not in reality leaders of the causeswhich they espouse, but are ordinarily those who domost to hamper the real leaders of the cause and todamage the cause itself. As yet there is no likelihoodof establishing any kind of international power, ofwhatever sort, which can effectively check wrongdoing,and in these circ*mstances it would be both a foolishand an evil thing for a great and free nation to depriveitself of the power to protect its own rights and evenin exceptional cases to stand up for the rights ofothers. Nothing would more promote iniquity,nothing would further defer the reign upon earth ofpeace and righteousness, than for the free and enlightenedpeoples which, though with much stumbling and manyshortcomings, nevertheless strive toward justice,deliberately to render themselves powerless whileleaving every despotism and barbarism armed and ableto work their wicked will. The chance for thesettlement of disputes peacefully, by arbitration,now depends mainly upon the possession by the nationsthat mean to do right of sufficient armed strengthto make their purpose effective.
The United States Navy is the surest guarantor ofpeace which this country possesses. It is earnestlyto be wisht that we would profit by the teachingsof history in this matter. A strong and wise peoplewill study its own failures no less than its triumphs,for there is wisdom to be learned from the study ofboth, of the mistake as well as of the success.For this purpose nothing could be more instructivethan a rational study of the war of 1812, as it istold, for instance, by Captain Mahan. There wasonly one way in which that war could have been avoided.If during the preceding twelve years a navy relativelyas strong as that which this country now has had beenbuilt up, and an army provided relatively as goodas that which the country now has, there never wouldhave been the slightest necessity of fighting thewar; and if the necessity had arisen the war wouldunder such circ*mstances have ended with our speedyand overwhelming triumph. But our people duringthose twelve years refused to make any preparationswhatever, regarding either the Army or the Navy.They saved a million or two of dollars by so doing;and in mere money paid a hundredfold for each millionthey thus saved during the three years of war whichfollowed—a war which brought untold sufferingupon our people, which at one time threatened thegravest national disaster, and which, in spite ofthe necessity of waging it, resulted merely in whatwas in effect a drawn battle, while the balance ofdefeat and triumph was almost even.
I do not ask that we continue to increase our Navy.I ask merely that it be maintained at its presentstrength; and this can be done only if we replacethe obsolete and outworn ships by new and good ones,the equals of any afloat in any navy. To stopbuilding ships for one year means that for that yearthe Navy goes back instead of forward. The oldbattle ship Texas, for instance, would now be of littleservice in a stand-up fight with a powerful adversary.The old double-turret monitors have outworn theirusefulness, while it was a waste of money to buildthe modern single-turret monitors. All these shipsshould be replaced by others; and this can be doneby a well-settled program of providing for the buildingeach year of at least one first-class battle shipequal in size and speed to any that any nation is atthe same time building; the armament presumably toconsist of as large a number as possible of very heavyguns of one caliber, together with smaller guns torepel torpedo attack; while there should be heavy armor,turbine engines, and in short, every modern device.Of course, from time to time, cruisers, colliers,torpedo-boat destroyers or torpedo boats, Will haveto be built also. All this, be it remembered,would not increase our Navy, but would merely keepit at its present strength. Equally of course,the ships will be absolutely useless if the men aboardthem are not so trained that they can get the bestpossible service out of the formidable but delicate
and complicated mechanisms intrusted to their care.The marksmanship of our men has so improved duringthe last five years that I deem it within bounds tosay that the Navy is more than twice as efficient,ship for ship, as half a decade ago. The Navycan only attain proper efficiency if enough officersand men are provided, and if these officers and menare given the chance (and required to take advantageof it) to stay continually at sea and to exercisethe fleets singly and above all in squadron, the exerciseto be of every kind and to include unceasing practiseat the guns, conducted under conditions that willtest marksmanship in time of war.In both the Army and the Navy there is urgent needthat everything possible should be done to maintainthe highest standard for the personnel, alike as regardsthe officers and the enlisted men. I do not believethat in any service there is a finer body of enlistedmen and of junior officer than we have in both theArmy and the Navy, including the Marine Corps.All possible encouragement to the enlisted men shouldbe given, in pay and otherwise, and everything practicabledone to render the service attractive to men of theright type. They should be held to the strictestdischarge of their duty, and in them a spirit shouldbe encouraged which demands not the mere performanceof duty, but the performance of far more than duty,if it conduces to the honor and the interest of theAmerican nation; and in return the amplest considerationshould be theirs.
West Point and Annapolis already turn out excellentofficers. We do not need to have these schoolsmade more scholastic. On the contrary we shouldnever lose sight of the fact that the aim of each schoolis to turn out a man who shall be above everythingelse a fighting man. In the Army in particularit is not necessary that either the cavalry or infantryofficer should have special mathematical ability.Probably in both schools the best part of the educationis the high standard of character and of professionalmorale which it confers.
But in both services there is urgent need for theestablishment of a principle of selection which willeliminate men after a certain age if they can notbe promoted from the subordinate ranks, and which willbring into the higher ranks fewer men, and these atan earlier age. This principle of selection willbe objected to by good men of mediocre capacity, whoare fitted to do well while young in the lower positions,but who are not fitted to do well when at an advancedage they come into positions of command and of greatresponsibility. But the desire of these men tobe promoted to positions which they are not competentto fill should not weigh against the interest of theNavy and the country. At present our men, especiallyin the Navy, are kept far too long in the junior grades,and then, at much too advanced an age, are put quicklythrough the senior grades, often not attaining to thesesenior grades until they are too old to be of realuse in them; and if they are of real use, being putthrough them so quickly that little benefit to theNavy comes from their having been in them at all.
The Navy has one great advantage over the Army inthe fact that the officers of high rank are actuallytrained in the continual performance of their duties;that is, in the management of the battle ships andarmored cruisers gathered into fleets. This isnot true of the army officers, who rarely have correspondingchances to exercise command over troops under serviceconditions. The conduct of the Spanish war showedthe lamentable loss of life, the useless extravagance,and the inefficiency certain to result, if duringpeace the high officials of the War and Navy Departmentsare praised and rewarded only if they save money atno matter what cost to the efficiency of the service,and if the higher officers are given no chance whateverto exercise and practise command. For years priorto the Spanish war the Secretaries of War were praisedchiefly if they practised economy; which economy,especially in connection with the quartermaster, commissary,and medical departments, was directly responsiblefor most of the mismanagement that occurred in thewar itself—and parenthetically be it observedthat the very people who clamored for the misdirectedeconomy in the first place were foremost to denouncethe mismanagement, loss, and suffering which wereprimarily due to this same misdirected economy andto the lack of preparation it involved. Thereshould soon be an increase in the number of men forour coast defenses; these men should be of the righttype and properly trained; and there should thereforebe an increase of pay for certain skilled grades, especiallyin the coast artillery. Money should be appropriatedto permit troops to be massed in body and exercisedin maneuvers, particularly in marching. Suchexercise during the summer just past has been of incalculablebenefit to the Army and should under no circ*mstancesbe discontinued. If on these practise marchesand in these maneuvers elderly officers prove unableto bear the strain, they should be retired at once,for the fact is conclusive as to their unfitness forwar; that is, for the only purpose because of whichthey should be allowed to stay in the service.It is a real misfortune to have scores of small companyor regimental posts scattered throughout the country;the Army should be gathered in a few brigade or divisionposts; and the generals should be practised in handlingthe men in masses. Neglect to provide for allof this means to incur the risk of future disasterand disgrace.
The readiness and efficiency of both the Army andNavy in dealing with the recent sudden crisis in Cubaillustrate afresh their value to the Nation.This readiness and efficiency would have been verymuch less had it not been for the existence of theGeneral Staff in the Army and the General Board inthe Navy; both are essential to the proper developmentand use of our military forces afloat and ashore.The troops that were sent to Cuba were handled flawlessly.It was the swiftest mobilization and dispatch of troops
over sea ever accomplished by our Government.The expedition landed completely equipped and readyfor immediate service, several of its organizationshardly remaining in Havana over night before splittingup into detachments and going to their several posts,It was a fine demonstration of the value and efficiencyof the General Staff. Similarly, it was owingin large part to the General Board that the Navy wasable at the outset to meet the Cuban crisis with suchinstant efficiency; ship after ship appearing on theshortest notice at any threatened point, while theMarine Corps in particular performed indispensableservice. The Army and Navy War Colleges are ofincalculable value to the two services, and they cooperatewith constantly increasing efficiency and importance.The Congress has most wisely provided for a NationalBoard for the promotion of rifle practise. Excellentresults have already come from this law, but it doesnot go far enough. Our Regular Army is so smallthat in any great war we should have to trust mainlyto volunteers; and in such event these volunteersshould already know how to shoot; for if a soldierhas the fighting edge, and ability to take care ofhimself in the open, his efficiency on the line ofbattle is almost directly Proportionate to excellencein marksmanship. We should establish shootinggalleries in all the large public and military schools,should maintain national target ranges in differentparts of the country, and should in every way encouragethe formation of rifle clubs throughout all partsof the land. The little Republic of Switzerlandoffers us an excellent example in all matters connectedwith building up an efficient citizen soldiery.
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State of the Union Address
Theodore Roosevelt
December 3, 1907
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
No nation has greater resources than ours, and I thinkit can be truthfully said that the citizens of nonation possess greater energy and industrial ability.In no nation are the fundamental business conditionssounder than in ours at this very moment; and it isfoolish, when such is the case, for people to hoardmoney instead of keeping it in sound banks; for itis such hoarding that is the immediate occasion ofmoney stringency. Moreover, as a rule, the businessof our people is conducted with honesty and probity,and this applies alike to farms and factories, torailroads and banks, to all our legitimate commercialenterprises.
In any large body of men, however, there are certainto be some who are dishonest, and if the conditionsare such that these men prosper or commit their misdeedswith impunity, their example is a very evil thingfor the community. Where these men are businessmen of great sagacity and of temperament both unscrupulousand reckless, and where the conditions are such thatthey act without supervision or control and at firstwithout effective check from public opinion, they delude
many innocent people into making investments or embarkingin kinds of business that are really unsound.When the misdeeds of these successfully dishonestmen are discovered, suffering comes not only uponthem, but upon the innocent men whom they have misled.It is a painful awakening, whenever it occurs; and,naturally, when it does occur those who suffer areapt to forget that the longer it was deferred themore painful it would be. In the effort to punishthe guilty it is both wise and proper to endeavorso far as possible to minimize the distress of thosewho have been misled by the guilty. Yet it isnot possible to refrain because of such distress fromstriving to put an end to the misdeeds that are theultimate causes of the suffering, and, as a meansto this end, where possible to punish those responsiblefor them. There may be honest differences of opinionas to many governmental policies; but surely therecan be no such differences as to the need of unflinchingperseverance in the war against successful dishonesty.In my Message to the Congress on December 5, 1905,I said:
“If the folly of man mars the general well-being,then those who are innocent of the folly will haveto pay part of the penalty incurred by those who areguilty of the folly. A panic brought on by thespeculative folly of part of the business communitywould hurt the whole business community; but suchstoppage of welfare, though it might be severe, wouldnot be lasting. In the long run, the one vitalfactor in the permanent prosperity of the countryis the high individual character of the average Americanworker, the average American citizen, no matter whetherhis work be mental or manual, whether he be farmeror wage-worker, business man or professional man.
“In our industrial and social system the interestsof all men are so closely intertwined that in theimmense majority of cases a straight-dealing man,who by his efficiency, by his ingenuity and industry,benefits himself, must also benefit others. Normally,the man of great productive capacity who becomes richby guiding the labor of many other men does so byenabling them to produce more than they could producewithout his guidance; and both he and they share inthe benefit, which comes also to the public at large.The superficial fact that the sharing may be unequalmust never blind us to the underlying fact that thereis this sharing, and that the benefit comes in somedegree to each man concerned.. Normally, the wageworker,the man of small means, and the average consumer,as well as the average producer, are all alike helpedby making conditions such that the man of exceptionalbusiness ability receives an exceptional reward forhis ability Something can be done by legislation tohelp the general prosperity; but no such help of apermanently beneficial character can be given to theless able and less fortunate save as the results ofa policy which shall inure to the advantage of all
industrious and efficient people who act decently;and this is only another way of saying that any benefitwhich comes to the less able and less fortunate mustof necessity come even more to the more able and morefortunate. If, therefore, the less fortunateman is moved by envy of his more fortunate brotherto strike at the conditions under which they haveboth, though unequally, prospered, the result willassuredly be that while damage may come to the onestruck at, it will visit with an even heavier loadthe one who strikes the blow. Taken as a whole,we must all go up or go down together.“Yet, while not merely admitting, but insistingupon this, it is also true that where there is nogovernmental restraint or supervision some of theexceptional men use their energies, not in ways thatare for the common good, but in ways which tell againstthis common good. The fortunes amassed throughcorporate organization are now so large, and vestsuch power in those that wield them, as to make ita matter of necessity to give to the sovereign—thatis, to the Government, which represents the peopleas a whole—some effective power of supervisionover their corporate use. In order to insure ahealthy social and industrial life, every big corporationshould be held responsible by, and be accountableto, some sovereign strong enough to control its conduct.I am in no sense hostile to corporations. Thisis an age of combination, and any effort to preventall combination will be not only useless, but in theend vicious, because of the contempt for law whichthe failure to enforce law inevitably produces.We should, moreover, recognize in cordial and amplefashion the immense good effected by corporate agenciesin a country such as ours, and the wealth of intellect,energy, and fidelity devoted to their service, andtherefore normally to the service of the public, bytheir officers and directors. The corporationhas come to stay, just as the trade union has cometo stay. Each can do and has done great good.Each should be favored so long as it does good.But each should be sharply checked where it acts againstlaw and justice.
“The makers of our National Constitution providedespecially that the regulation of interstate commerceshould come within the sphere of the General Government.The arguments in favor of their taking this standwere even then overwhelming. But they are farstronger to-day, in view of the enormous developmentof great business agencies, usually corporate in form.Experience has shown conclusively that it is uselessto try to get any adequate regulation and supervisionof these great corporations by State action.Such regulation and supervision can only be effectivelyexercised by a sovereign whose jurisdiction is coextensivewith the field of work of the corporations—thatis, by the National Government. I believe thatthis regulation and supervision can be obtained bythe enactment of law by the Congress. Our steadyaim should be by legislation, cautiously and carefullyundertaken, but resolutely persevered in, to assertthe sovereignty of the National Government by affirmativeaction.
“This is only in form an innovation. Insubstance it is merely a restoration; for from theearliest time such regulation of industrial activitieshas been recognized in the action of the lawmakingbodies; and all that I propose is to meet the changedconditions in such manner as will prevent the Commonwealthabdicating the power it has always possessed, notonly in this country, but also in England before andsince this country became a separate nation.
“It has been a misfortune that the Nationallaws on this subject have hitherto been of a negativeor prohibitive rather than an affirmative kind, andstill more that they have in part sought to prohibitwhat could not be effectively prohibited, and havein part in their prohibitions confounded what shouldbe allowed and what should not be allowed. Itis generally useless to try to prohibit all restrainton competition, whether this restraint be reasonableor unreasonable; and where it is not useless it isgenerally hurtful. The successful prosecutionof one device to evade the law immediately developsanother device to accomplish the same purpose.What is needed is not sweeping prohibition of everyarrangement, good or bad, which may tend to restrictcompetition, but such adequate supervision and regulationas will prevent any restriction of competition frombeing to the detriment of the public, as well as suchsupervision and regulation as will prevent other abusesin no way connected with restriction of competition.”
I have called your attention in these quotations towhat I have already said because I am satisfied thatit is the duty of the National Government to embodyin action the principles thus expressed.
No small part of the trouble that we have comes fromcarrying to an extreme the national virtue of self-reliance,of independence in initiative and action. Itis wise to conserve this virtue and to provide forits fullest exercise, compatible with seeing that libertydoes not become a liberty to wrong others. Unfortunately,this is the kind of liberty that the lack of all effectiveregulation inevitably breeds. The founders ofthe Constitution provided that the National Governmentshould have complete and sole control of interstatecommerce. There was then practically no interstatebusiness save such as was conducted by water, andthis the National Government at once proceeded toregulate in thoroughgoing and effective fashion.Conditions have now so wholly changed that the interstatecommerce by water is insignificant compared with theamount that goes by land, and almost all big businessconcerns are now engaged in interstate commerce.As a result, it can be but partially and imperfectlycontrolled or regulated by the action of any one ofthe several States; such action inevitably tendingto be either too drastic or else too lax, and in eithercase ineffective for purposes of justice. Onlythe National Government can in thoroughgoing fashion
exercise the needed control. This does not meanthat there should be any extension of Federal authority,for such authority already exists under the Constitutionin amplest and most far-reaching form; but it doesmean that there should be an extension of Federalactivity. This is not advocating centralization.It is merely looking facts in the face, and realizingthat centralization in business has already come andcan not be avoided or undone, and that the publicat large can only protect itself from certain evileffects of this business centralization by providingbetter methods for the exercise of control throughthe authority already centralized in the NationalGovernment by the Constitution itself. Theremust be no ball in the healthy constructive courseof action which this Nation has elected to pursue,and has steadily pursued, during the last six years,as shown both in the legislation of the Congress andthe administration of the law by the Department ofJustice. The most vital need is in connectionwith the railroads. As to these, in my judgmentthere should now be either a national incorporationact or a law licensing railway companies to engagein interstate commerce upon certain conditions.The law should be so framed as to give to the InterstateCommerce Commission power to pass upon the futureissue of securities, while ample means should be providedto enable the Commission, whenever in its judgmentit is necessary, to make a physical valuation of anyrailroad. As I stated in my Message to the Congressa year ago, railroads should be given power to enterinto agreements, subject to these agreements beingmade public in minute detail and to the consent ofthe Interstate Commerce Commission being first obtained.Until the National Government assumes proper controlof interstate commerce, in the exercise of the authorityit already possesses, it will be impossible eitherto give to or to get from the railroads full justice.The railroads and all other great corporations willdo well to recognize that this control must come; theonly question is as to what governmental body can mostwisely exercise it. The courts will determinethe limits within which the Federal authority canexercise it, and there will still remain ample workwithin each State for the railway commission of thatState; and the National Interstate Commerce Commissionwill work in harmony with the several State commissions,each within its own province, to achieve the desiredend.Moreover, in my judgment there should be additionallegislation looking to the proper control of the greatbusiness concerns engaged in interstate business,this control to be exercised for their own benefitand prosperity no less than for the protection of investorsand of the general public. As I have repeatedlysaid in Messages to the Congress and elsewhere, experiencehas definitely shown not merely the unwisdom but thefutility of endeavoring to put a stop to all business
combinations. Modern industrial conditions aresuch that combination is not only necessary but inevitable.It is so in the world of business just as it is soin the world of labor, and it is as idle to desireto put an end to all corporations, to all big combinationsof capital, as to desire to put an end to combinationsof labor. Corporation and labor union alike havecome to stay. Each if properly managed is a sourceof good and not evil. Whenever in either thereis evil, it should be promptly held to account; butit should receive hearty encouragement so long asit is properly managed. It is profoundly immoralto put or keep on the statute books a law, nominallyin the interest of public morality that really putsa premium upon public immorality, by undertaking toforbid honest men from doing what must be done undermodern business conditions, so that the law itselfprovides that its own infraction must be the conditionprecedent upon business success. To aim at theaccomplishment of too much usually means the accomplishmentof too little, and often the doing of positive damage.In my Message to the Congress a year ago, in speakingof the antitrust laws, I said:“The actual working of our laws has shown thatthe effort to prohibit all combination, good or bad,is noxious where it is not ineffective. Combinationof capital, like combination of labor, is a necessaryelement in our present industrial system. It isnot possible completely to prevent it; and if it werepossible, such complete prevention would do damageto the body politic. What we need is not vainlyto try to prevent all combination, but to secure suchrigorous and adequate control and supervision of thecombinations as to prevent their injuring the public,or existing in such forms as inevitably to threateninjury. It is unfortunate that our present lawsshould forbid all combinations instead of sharplydiscriminating between those combinations which doevil. Often railroads would like to combine forthe purpose of preventing a big shipper from maintainingimproper advantages at the expense of small shippersand of the general public. Such a combination,instead of being forbidden by law, should be favored.It is a public evil to have on the statute books alaw incapable of full enforcement, because both judgesand juries realize that its full enforcement woulddestroy the business of the country; for the resultis to make decent men violators of the law againsttheir will, and to put a premium on the behavior ofthe willful wrongdoers. Such a result in turntends to throw the decent man and the willful wrongdoerinto close association, and in the end to drag downthe former to the latter’s level; for the manwho becomes a lawbreaker in one way unhappily tendsto lose all respect for law and to be willing to breakit in many ways. No more scathing condemnationcould be visited upon a law than is contained in thewords of the Interstate Commerce Commission when,
in commenting upon the fact that the numerous jointtraffic associations do technically violate the law,they say: The decision of the United States SupremeCourt in the Trans-Missouri case and the Joint TrafficAssociation case has produced no practical effectupon the railway operations of the country. Suchassociations, in fact, exist now as they did beforethese decisions, and with the same general effect.In justice to all parties, we ought probably to addthat it is difficult to see how our interstate railwayscould be operated with due regard to the interestof the shipper and the railway without concerted actionof the kind afforded through these associations.“This means that the law as construed by theSupreme Court is such that the business of the countrycan not be conducted without breaking it.”
As I have elsewhere said:
“All this is substantially what I have saidover and over again. Surely it ought not to benecessary to say that it in no shape or way representsany hostility to corporations as such. On thecontrary, it means a frank recognition of the factthat combinations of capital, like combinations oflabor, are a natural result of modern conditions andof our National development. As far as in my abilitylies my endeavor is and will be to prevent abuse ofpower by either and to favor both so long as theydo well. The aim of the National Government isquite as much to favor and protect honest corporations,honest business men of wealth, as to bring to justicethose individuals and corporations representing dishonestmethods. Most certainly there will be no relaxationby the Government authorities in the effort to getat any great railroad wrecker—any man whoby clever swindling devices robs investors, oppresseswage-workers, and does injustice to the general public.But any such move as this is in the interest of honestrailway operators, of honest corporations, and of thosewho, when they invest their small savings in stocksand bonds, wish to be assured that these will representmoney honestly expended for legitimate business purposes.To confer upon the National Government the power forwhich I ask would be a check upon overcapitalizationand upon the clever gamblers who benefit by overcapitalization.But it alone would mean an increase in the value,an increase in the safety of the stocks and bondsof law-abiding, honestly managed railroads, and wouldrender it far easier to market their securities.I believe in proper publicity. There has beencomplaint of some of the investigations recently carriedon, but those who complain should put the blame whereit belongs—upon the misdeeds which aredone in darkness and not upon the investigations whichbrought them to light. The Administration is responsiblefor turning on the light, but it is not responsiblefor what the light showed. I ask for full powerto be given the Federal Government, because no singleState can by legislation effectually cope with thesepowerful corporations engaged in interstate commerce,and, while doing them full justice, exact from themin return full justice to others. The conditionsof railroad activity, the conditions of our immenseinterstate commerce, are such as to make the CentralGovernment alone competent to exercise full supervisionand control.
“The grave abuses in individual cases of railroadmanagement in the past represent wrongs not merelyto the general public, but, above all, wrongs to fair-dealingand honest corporations and men of wealth, becausethey excite a popular anger and distrust which fromthe very nature of the case tends to include in thesweep of its resentment good and bad alike. Fromthe standpoint of the public I can not too earnestlysay that as soon as the natural and proper resentmentaroused by these abuses becomes indiscriminate andunthinking, it also becomes not merely unwise andunfair, but calculated to defeat the very ends whichthose feeling it have in view. There has beenplenty of dishonest work by corporations in the past.There will not be the slightest let-up in the effortto hunt down and punish every dishonest man. Butthe bulk of our business is honestly done. Inthe natural indignation the people feel over the dishonesty,it is essential that they should not lose their headsand get drawn into an indiscriminate raid upon allcorporations, all people of wealth, whether they dowell or ill. Out of any such wild movement goodwill not come, can not come, and never has come.On the contrary, the surest way to invite reactionis to follow the lead of either demagogue or visionaryin a sweeping assault upon property values and uponpublic confidence, which would work incalculable damagein the business world and would produce such distrustof the agitators that in the revulsion the distrustwould extend to honest men who, in sincere and samefashion, are trying to remedy the evils.”
The antitrust law should not be repealed; but it shouldbe made both more efficient and more in harmony withactual conditions. It should be so amended asto forbid only the kind of combination which does harmto the general public, such amendment to be accompaniedby, or to be an incident of, a grant of supervisorypower to the Government over these big concerns engagedin interstate business. This should be accompaniedby provision for the compulsory publication of accountsand the subjection of books and papers to the inspectionof the Government officials. A beginning hasalready been made for such supervision by the establishmentof the Bureau of Corporations.
The antitrust law should not prohibit combinationsthat do no injustice to the public, still less thosethe existence of which is on the whole of benefitto the public. But even if this feature of thelaw were abolished, there would remain as an equallyobjectionable feature the difficulty and delay nowincident to its enforcement. The Government mustnow submit to irksome and repeated delay before obtaininga final decision of the courts upon proceedings instituted,and even a favorable decree may mean an empty victory.Moreover, to attempt to control these corporationsby lawsuits means to impose upon both the Departmentof Justice and the courts an impossible burden; itis not feasible to carry on more than a limited numberof such suits. Such a law to be really effectivemust of course be administered by an executive body,and not merely by means of lawsuits. The designshould be to prevent the abuses incident to the creationof unhealthy and improper combinations, instead ofwaiting until they are in existence and then attemptingto destroy them by civil or criminal proceedings.
A combination should not be tolerated if it abusethe power acquired by combination to the public detriment.No corporation or association of any kind should bepermitted to engage in foreign or interstate commercethat is formed for the purpose of, or whose operationscreate, a monopoly or general control of the production,sale, or distribution of any one or more of the primenecessities of life or articles of general use andnecessity. Such combinations are against publicpolicy; they violate the common law; the doors ofthe courts are closed to those who are parties tothem, and I believe the Congress can close the channelsof interstate commerce against them for its protection.The law should make its prohibitions and permissionsas clear and definite as possible, leaving the leastpossible room for arbitrary action, or allegationof such action, on the part of the Executive, or ofdivergent interpretations by the courts. Amongthe points to be aimed at should be the prohibitionof unhealthy competition, such as by rendering serviceat an actual loss for the purpose of crushing outcompetition, the prevention of inflation of capital,and the prohibition of a corporation’s makingexclusive trade with itself a condition of havingany trade with itself. Reasonable agreementsbetween, or combinations of, corporations should bepermitted, provided they are submitted to and approvedby some appropriate Government body.
The Congress has the power to charter corporationsto engage in interstate and foreign commerce, anda general law can be enacted under the provisionsof which existing corporations could take out Federalcharters and new Federal corporations could be created.An essential provision of such a law should be a methodof predetermining by some Federal board or commissionwhether the applicant for a Federal charter was anassociation or combination within the restrictionsof the Federal law. Provision should also bemade for complete publicity in all matters affectingthe public and complete protection to the investingpublic and the shareholders in the matter of issuingcorporate securities. If an incorporation lawis not deemed advisable, a license act for big interstatecorporations might be enacted; or a combination ofthe two might be tried. The supervision establishedmight be analogous to that now exercised over nationalbanks. At least, the antitrust act should besupplemented by specific prohibitions of the methodswhich experience has shown have been of most servicein enabling monopolistic combinations to crush outcompetition. The real owners of a corporationshould be compelled to do business in their own name.The right to hold stock in other corporations shouldhereafter be denied to interstate corporations, unlesson approval by the Government officials, and a prerequisiteto such approval should be the listing with the Governmentof all owners and stockholders, both by the corporationowning such stock and by the corporation in which suchstock is owned.
To confer upon the National Government, in connectionwith the amendment I advocate in the antitrust law,power of supervision over big business concerns engagedin interstate commerce, would benefit them as it hasbenefited the national banks. In the recent businesscrisis it is noteworthy that the institutions whichfailed were institutions which were not under thesupervision and control of the National Government.Those which were under National control stood thetest.
National control of the kind above advocated wouldbe to the benefit of every well-managed railway.From the standpoint of the public there is need foradditional tracks, additional terminals, and improvementsin the actual handling of the railroads, and all thisas rapidly as possible. Ample, safe, and speedytransportation facilities are even more necessarythan cheap transportation. Therefore, there isneed for the investment of money which will providefor all these things while at the same time securingas far as is possible better wages and shorter hoursfor their employees. Therefore, while there mustbe just and reasonable regulation of rates, we shouldbe the first to protest against any arbitrary andunthinking movement to cut them down without the fullestand most careful consideration of all interests concernedand of the actual needs of the situation. Onlya special body of men acting for the National Governmentunder authority conferred upon it by the Congressis competent to pass judgment on such a matter.
Those who fear, from any reason, the extension ofFederal activity will do well to study the historynot only of the national banking act but of the pure-foodlaw, and notably the meat inspection law recentlyenacted. The pure-food law was opposed so violentlythat its passage was delayed for a decade; yet ithas worked unmixed and immediate good. The meatinspection law was even more violently assailed; andthe same men who now denounce the attitude of theNational Government in seeking to oversee and controlthe workings of interstate common carriers and businessconcerns, then asserted that we were “discreditingand ruining a great American industry.”Two years have not elapsed, and already it has becomeevident that the great benefit the law confers uponthe public is accompanied by an equal benefit to thereputable packing establishments. The latterare better off under the law than they were withoutit. The benefit to interstate common carriersand business concerns from the legislation I advocatewould be equally marked.
Incidentally, in the passage of the pure-food lawthe action of the various State food and dairy commissionersshowed in striking fashion how much good for the wholepeople results from the hearty cooperation of theFederal and State officials in securing a given reform.It is primarily to the action of these State commissionersthat we owe the enactment of this law; for they arousedthe people, first to demand the enactment and enforcementof State laws on the subject, and then the enactmentof the Federal law, without which the State laws werelargely ineffective. There must be the closestcooperation between the National and State governmentsin administering these laws.
In my Message to the Congress a year ago I spoke asfollows of the currency:
“I especially call your attention to the conditionof our currency laws. The national-bank act hasably served a great purpose in aiding the enormousbusiness development of the country, and within tenyears there has been an increase in circulation percapita from $21.41 to $33.08. For several yearsevidence has been accumulating that additional legislationis needed. The recurrence of each crop seasonemphasizes the defects of the present laws. Theremust soon be a revision of them, because to leavethem as they are means to incur liability of businessdisaster. Since your body adjourned there hasbeen a fluctuation in the interest on call money from2 per cent to 30 percent, and the fluctuation waseven greater during the preceding six months.The Secretary of the Treasury had to step in and bywise action put a stop to the most violent periodof oscillation. Even worse than such fluctuationis the advance in commercial rates and the uncertaintyfelt in the sufficiency of credit even at high rates.All commercial interests suffer during each crop period.Excessive rates for call money in New York attractmoney from the interior banks into the speculativefield. This depletes the fund that would otherwisebe available for commercial uses, and commercial borrowersare forced to pay abnormal rates, so that each falla tax, in the shape of increased interest charges,is placed on the whole commerce of the country.
“The mere statement of these facts shows thatour present system is seriously defective. Thereis need of a change. Unfortunately, however,many of the proposed changes must be ruled from considerationbecause they are complicated, are not easy of comprehension,and tend to disturb existing rights and interests.We must also rule out any plan which would materiallyimpair the value of the United States 2 per cent bondsnow pledged to secure circulation, the issue of whichwas made under conditions peculiarly creditable tothe Treasury. I do not press any especial plan.Various plans have recently been proposed by expertcommittees of bankers. Among the plans which arepossibly feasible and which certainly should receiveyour consideration is that repeatedly brought to yourattention by the present Secretary of the Treasury,the essential features of which have been approvedby many prominent bankers and business men. Accordingto this plan national banks should be permitted toissue a specified proportion of their capital in notesof a given kind, the issue to be taxed at so high arate as to drive the notes back when not wanted inlegitimate trade. This plan would not permitthe issue of currency to give banks additional profits,but to meet the emergency presented by times of stringency.
“I do not say that this is the right system.I only advance it to emphasize my belief that thereis need for the adoption of some system which shallbe automatic and open to all sound banks, so as toavoid all possibility of discrimination and favoritism.Such a plan would tend to prevent the spasms of highmoney and speculation which now obtain in the NewYork market; for at present there is too much currencyat certain seasons of the year, and its accumulationat New York tempts bankers to lend it at low ratesfor speculative purposes; whereas at other times whenthe crops are being moved there is urgent need fora large but temporary increase in the currency supply.It must never be forgotten that this question concernsbusiness men generally quite as much as bankers; especiallyis this true of stockmen, farmers, and business menin the West; for at present at certain seasons of theyear the difference in interest rates between the Eastand the West is from 6 to 10 per cent, whereas inCanada the corresponding difference is but 2 per cent.Any plan must, of course, guard the interests of westernand southern bankers as carefully as it guards theinterests of New York or Chicago bankers, and mustbe drawn from the standpoints of the farmer and themerchant no less than from the standpoints of thecity banker and the country banker.”
I again urge on the Congress the need of immediateattention to this matter. We need a greater elasticityin our currency; provided, of course, that we recognizethe even greater need of a safe and secure currency.There must always be the most rigid examination bythe National authorities. Provision should bemade for an emergency currency. The emergencyissue should, of course, be made with an effectiveguaranty, and upon conditions carefully prescribedby the Government. Such emergency issue mustbe based on adequate securities approved by the Government,and must be issued under a heavy tax. This wouldpermit currency being issued when the demand for itwas urgent, while securing its requirement as thedemand fell off. It is worth investigating todetermine whether officers and directors of nationalbanks should ever be allowed to loan to themselves.Trust companies should be subject to the same supervisionas banks; legislation to this effect should be enactedfor the District of Columbia and the Territories.
Yet we must also remember that even the wisest legislationon the subject can only accomplish a certain amount.No legislation can by any possibility guarantee thebusiness community against the results of speculativefolly any more than it can guarantee an individualagainst the results of his extravagance. Whenan individual mortgages his house to buy an automobilehe invites disaster; and when wealthy men, or menwho pose as such, or are unscrupulously or foolishlyeager to become such, indulge in reckless speculation—especiallyif it is accompanied by dishonesty—theyjeopardize not only their own future but the futureof all their innocent fellow-citizens, for the exposethe whole business community to panic and distress.
The income account of the Nation is in a most satisfactorycondition. For the six fiscal years ending withthe 1st of July last, the total expenditures and revenuesof the National Government, exclusive of the postalrevenues and expenditures, were, in round numbers,revenues, $3,465,000,0000, and expenditures, $3,275,000,000.The net excess of income over expenditures, includingin the latter the fifty millions expended for thePanama Canal, was one hundred and ninety million dollarsfor the six years, an average of about thirty-one millionsa year. This represents an approximation betweenincome and outgo which it would be hard to improve.The satisfactory working of the present tariff lawhas been chiefly responsible for this excellent showing.Nevertheless, there is an evident and constantly growingfeeling among our people that the time is rapidlyapproaching when our system of revenue legislationmust be revised.
This country is definitely committed to the protectivesystem and any effort to uproot it could not but causewidespread industrial disaster. In other words,the principle of the present tariff law could not withwisdom be changed. But in a country of such phenomenalgrowth as ours it is probably well that every dozenyears or so the tariff laws should be carefully scrutinizedso as to see that no excessive or improper benefitsare conferred thereby, that proper revenue is provided,and that our foreign trade is encouraged. Theremust always be as a minimum a tariff which will notonly allow for the collection of an ample revenuebut which will at least make good the difference incost of production here and abroad; that is, the differencein the labor cost here and abroad, for the well-beingof the wage-worker must ever be a cardinal point ofAmerican policy. The question should be approachedpurely from a business standpoint; both the time andthe manner of the change being such as to arouse theminimum of agitation and disturbance in the businessworld, and to give the least play for selfish andfactional motives. The sole consideration shouldbe to see that the sum total of changes representsthe public good. This means that the subjectcan not with wisdom be dealt with in the year precedinga Presidential election, because as a matter of factexperience has conclusively shown that at such a timeit is impossible to get men to treat it from the standpointof the public good. In my judgment the wise timeto deal with the matter is immediately after such election.
When our tax laws are revised the question of an incometax and an inheritance tax should receive the carefulattention of our legislators. In my judgmentboth of these taxes should be part of our system ofFederal taxation. I speak diffidently about theincome tax because one scheme for an income tax wasdeclared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court; whilein addition it is a difficult tax to administer inits practical working, and great care would have to
be exercised to see that it was not evaded by thevery men whom it was most desirable to have taxed,for if so evaded it would, of course, be worse thanno tax at all; as the least desirable of all taxesis the tax which bears heavily upon the honest ascompared with the dishonest man. Nevertheless,a graduated income tax of the proper type would bea desirable feature of Federal taxation, and it isto be hoped that one may be devised which the SupremeCourt will declare constitutional. The inheritancetax, however, is both a far better method of taxation,and far more important for the purpose of having thefortunes of the country bear in proportion to theirincrease in size a corresponding increase and burdenof taxation. The Government has the absolute rightto decide as to the terms upon which a man shall receivea bequest or devise from another, and this point inthe devolution of property is especially appropriatefor the imposition of a tax. Laws imposing suchtaxes have repeatedly been placed upon the Nationalstatute books and as repeatedly declared constitutionalby the courts; and these laws contained the progressiveprinciple, that is, after a certain amount is reachedthe bequest or gift, in life or death, is increasinglyburdened and the rate of taxation is increased inproportion to the remoteness of blood of the man receivingthe bequest. These principles are recognizedalready in the leading civilized nations of the world.In Great Britain all the estates worth $5,000 or lessare practically exempt from death duties, while theincrease is such that when an estate exceeds fivemillions of dollars in value and passes to a distantkinsman or stranger in blood the Government receivesall told an amount equivalent to nearly a fifth ofthe whole estate. In France so much of an inheritanceas exceeds $10,000,000 pays over a fifth to the Stateif it passes to a distant relative. The Germanlaw is especially interesting to us because it makesthe inheritance tax an imperial measure while allottingto the individual States of the Empire a portion ofthe proceeds and permitting them to impose taxes inaddition to those imposed by the Imperial Government.Small inheritances are exempt, but the tax is so sharplyprogressive that when the inheritance is still notvery large, provided it is not an agricultural ora forest land, it is taxed at the rate of 25 per centif it goes to distant relatives. There is no reasonwhy in the United States the National Government shouldnot impose inheritance taxes in addition to thoseimposed by the States, and when we last had an inheritancetax about one-half of the States levied such taxesconcurrently with the National Government, making acombined maximum rate, in some cases as high as 25per cent. The French law has one feature whichis to be heartily commended. The progressive principleis so applied that each higher rate is imposed onlyon the excess above the amount subject to the nextlower rate; so that each increase of rate will applyonly to a certain amount above a certain maximum.The tax should if possible be made to bear more heavilyupon those residing without the country than withinit. A heavy progressive tax upon a very largefortune is in no way such a tax upon thrift or industryas a like would be on a small fortune. No advantagecomes either to the country as a whole or to the individualsinheriting the money by permitting the transmissionin their entirety of the enormous fortunes which wouldbe affected by such a tax; and as an incident to itsfunction of revenue raising, such a tax would helpto preserve a measurable equality of opportunity forthe people of the generations growing to manhood.We have not the slightest sympathy with that socialisticidea which would try to put laziness, thriftlessnessand inefficiency on a par with industry, thrift andefficiency; which would strive to break up not merelyprivate property, but what is far more important, thehome, the chief prop upon which our whole civilizationstands. Such a theory, if ever adopted, wouldmean the ruin of the entire country—a ruinwhich would bear heaviest upon the weakest, upon thoseleast able to shift for themselves. But proposalsfor legislation such as this herein advocated aredirectly opposed to this class of socialistic theories.Our aim is to recognize what Lincoln pointed out:The fact that there are some respects in which menare obviously not equal; but also to insist that thereshould be an equality of self-respect and of mutualrespect, an equality of rights before the law, andat least an approximate equality in the conditionsunder which each man obtains the chance to show thestuff that is in him when compared to his fellows.A few years ago there was loud complaint that thelaw could not be invoked against wealthy offenders.There is no such complaint now. The course ofthe Department of Justice during the last few yearshas been such as to make it evident that no man standsabove the law, that no corporation is so wealthy thatit can not be held to account. The Departmentof Justice has been as prompt to proceed against thewealthiest malefactor whose crime was one of greedand cunning as to proceed against the agitator whoincites to brutal violence. Everything that canbe done under the existing law, and with the existingstate of public opinion, which so profoundly influencesboth the courts and juries, has been done. Butthe laws themselves need strengthening in more thanone important point; they should be made more definite,so that no honest man can be led unwittingly to breakthem, and so that the real wrongdoer can be readilypunished.
Moreover, there must be the public opinion back ofthe laws or the laws themselves will be of no avail.At present, while the average juryman undoubtedlywishes to see trusts broken up, and is quite readyto fine the corporation itself, he is very reluctantto find the facts proven beyond a reasonable doubtwhen it comes to sending to jail a member of the businesscommunity for indulging in practices which are profoundlyunhealthy, but which, unfortunately, the business communityhas grown to recognize as well-nigh normal. Boththe present condition of the law and the present temperof juries render it a task of extreme difficulty toget at the real wrongdoer in any such case, especiallyby imprisonment. Yet it is from every standpointfar preferable to punish the prime offender by imprisonmentrather than to fine the corporation, with the attendantdamage to stockholders.
The two great evils in the execution of our criminallaws to-day are sentimentality and technicality.For the latter the remedy must come from the handsof the legislatures, the courts, and the lawyers.The other must depend for its cure upon the gradualgrowth of a sound public opinion which shall insistthat regard for the law and the demands of reasonshall control all other influences and emotions inthe jury box. Both of these evils must be removedor public discontent with the criminal law will continue.
Instances of abuse in the granting of injunctionsin labor disputes continue to occur, and the resentmentin the minds of those who feel that their rights arebeing invaded and their liberty of action and of speechunwarrantably restrained continues likewise to grow.Much of the attack on the use of the process of injunctionis wholly without warrant; but I am constrained toexpress the belief that for some of it there is warrant.This question is becoming more and more one of primeimportance, and unless the courts will themselves dealwith it in effective manner, it is certain ultimatelyto demand some form of legislative action. Itwould be most unfortunate for our social welfare ifwe should permit many honest and law-abiding citizensto feel that they had just cause for regarding ourcourts with hostility. I earnestly commend tothe attention of the Congress this matter, so thatsome way may be devised which will limit the abuseof injunctions and protect those rights which fromtime to time it unwarrantably invades. Moreover,discontent is often expressed with the use of the processof injunction by the courts, not only in labor disputes,but where State laws are concerned. I refrainfrom discussion of this question as I am informedthat it will soon receive the consideration of theSupreme Court.
The Federal courts must of course decide ultimatelywhat are the respective spheres of State and Nationin connection with any law, State or National, andthey must decide definitely and finally in mattersaffecting individual citizens, not only as to the rightsand wrongs of labor but as to the rights and wrongsof capital; and the National Government must alwayssee that the decision of the court is put into effect.The process of injunction is an essential adjunct ofthe court’s doing its work well; and as preventivemeasures are always better than remedial, the wiseuse of this process is from every standpoint commendable.But where it is recklessly or unnecessarily used,the abuse should he censured, above all by the verymen who are properly anxious to prevent any effortto shear the courts of this necessary power.The court’s decision must be final; the protestis only against the conduct of individual judges inneedlessly anticipating such final decision, or inthe tyrannical use of what is nominally a temporaryinjunction to accomplish what is in fact a permanentdecision.
The loss of life and limb from railroad accidentsin this country has become appalling. It is asubject of which the National Government should takesupervision. It might be well to begin by providingfor a Federal inspection of interstate railroads somewhatalong the lines of Federal inspection of steamboats,although not going so far; perhaps at first all thatit would be necessary to have would be some officerwhose duty would be to investigate all accidents oninterstate railroads and report in detail the causesthereof. Such an officer should make it his businessto get into close touch with railroad operating menso as to become thoroughly familiar with every sideof the question, the idea being to work along thelines of the present steamboat inspection law.
The National Government should be a model employer.It should demand the highest quality of service fromeach of its employees and it should care for all ofthem properly in return. Congress should adoptlegislation providing limited but definite compensationfor accidents to all workmen within the scope of theFederal power, including employees of navy yards andarsenals. In other words, a model employers’liability act, far-reaching and thoroughgoing, shouldbe enacted which should apply to all positions, publicand private, over which the National Government hasjurisdiction. The number of accidents to wage-workers,including those that are preventable and those thatare not, has become appalling in the mechanical, manufacturing,and transportation operations of the day. Itworks grim hardship to the ordinary wage-worker andhis family to have the effect of such an accidentfall solely upon him; and, on the other hand, thereare whole classes of attorneys who exist only by incitingmen who may or may not have been wronged to undertakesuits for negligence. As a matter of fact a suit
for negligence is generally an inadequate remedy forthe person injured, while it often causes altogetherdisproportionate annoyance to the employer. Thelaw should be made such that the payment for accidentsby the employer would be automatic instead of beinga matter for lawsuits. Workmen should receivecertain and definite compensation for all accidentsin industry irrespective of negligence. The employeris the agent of the public and on his own responsibilityand for his own profit he serves the public. Whenhe starts in motion agencies which create risks forothers, he should take all the ordinary and extraordinaryrisks involved; and the risk he thus at the momentassumes will ultimately be assumed, as it ought tobe, by the general public. Only in this way canthe shock of the accident be diffused, instead offalling upon the man or woman least able to bear it,as is now the case. The community at large shouldshare the burdens as well as the benefits of industry.By the proposed law, employers would gain a desirablecertainty of obligation and get rid of litigation todetermine it, while the workman and his family wouldbe relieved from a crushing load. With such apolicy would come increased care, and accidents wouldbe reduced in number. The National laws providingfor employers’ liability on railroads engagedin interstate commerce and for safety appliances,as well as for diminishing the hours any employeeof a railroad should be permitted to work, should allbe strengthened wherever in actual practice they haveshown weakness; they should be kept on the statutebooks in thoroughgoing form.The constitutionality of the employers’ liabilityact passed by the preceding Congress has been carriedbefore the courts. In two jurisdictions the lawhas been declared unconstitutional, and in three jurisdictionsits constitutionality has been affirmed. The questionhas been carried to the Supreme Court, the case hasbeen heard by that tribunal, and a decision is expectedat an early date. In the event that the courtshould affirm the constitutionality of the act, I urgefurther legislation along the lines advocated in myMessage to the preceding Congress. The practiceof putting the entire burden of loss to life or limbupon the victim or the victim’s family is a formof social injustice in which the United States standsin unenviable prominence. In both our Federaland State legislation we have, with few exceptions,scarcely gone farther than the repeal of the fellow-servantprinciple of the old law of liability, and in someof our States even this slight modification of a completelyoutgrown principle has not yet been secured.The legislation of the rest of the industrial worldstands out in striking contrast to our backwardnessin this respect. Since 1895 practically everycountry of Europe, together with Great Britain, NewZealand, Australia, British Columbia, and the Capeof Good Hope has enacted legislation embodying in
one form or another the complete recognition of theprinciple which places upon the employer the entiretrade risk in the various lines of industry. Iurge upon the Congress the enactment of a law whichwill at the same time bring Federal legislation upto the standard already established by all the Europeancountries, and which will serve as a stimulus to thevarious States to perfect their legislation in thisregard.The Congress should consider the extension of theeight-hour law. The constitutionality of thepresent law has recently been called into question,and the Supreme Court has decided that the existinglegislation is unquestionably within the powers ofthe Congress. The principle of the eight-hourday should as rapidly and as far as practicable beextended to the entire work carried on by the Government;and the present law should be amended to embrace contractson those public works which the present wording ofthe act has been construed to exclude. The generalintroduction of the eight-hour day should be the goaltoward which we should steadily tend, and the Governmentshould set the example in this respect.
Strikes and lockouts, with their attendant loss andsuffering, continue to increase. For the fiveyears ending December 31, 1905, the number of strikeswas greater than those in any previous ten years andwas double the number in the preceding five years.These figures indicate the increasing need of providingsome machinery to deal with this class of disturbancein the interest alike of the employer, the employee,and the general public. I renew my previous recommendationthat the Congress favorably consider the matter ofcreating the machinery for compulsory investigationof such industrial controversies as are of sufficientmagnitude and of sufficient concern to the people ofthe country as a whole to warrant the Federal Governmentin taking action.
The need for some provision for such investigationwas forcibly illustrated during the past summer.A strike of telegraph operators seriously interferedwith telegraphic communication, causing great damageto business interests and serious inconvenience tothe general public. Appeals were made to me frommany parts of the country, from city councils, fromboards of trade, from chambers of commerce, and fromlabor organizations, urging that steps be taken toterminate the strike. Everything that could withany propriety be done by a representative of the Governmentwas done, without avail, and for weeks the publicstood by and suffered without recourse of any kind.Had the machinery existed and had there been authorityfor compulsory investigation of the dispute, the publicwould have been placed in possession of the meritsof the controversy, and public opinion would probablyhave brought about a prompt adjustment.
Each successive step creating machinery for the adjustmentof labor difficulties must be taken with caution,but we should endeavor to make progress in this direction.
The provisions of the act of 1898 creating the chairmanof the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Commissionerof Labor a board of mediation in controversies betweeninterstate railroads and their employees has, forthe first time, been subjected to serious tests withinthe past year, and the wisdom of the experiment hasbeen fully demonstrated. The creation of a boardfor compulsory investigation in cases where mediationfails and arbitration is rejected is the next logicalstep in a progressive program.
It is certain that for some time to come there willbe a constant increase absolutely, and perhaps relatively,of those among our citizens who dwell in cities ortowns of some size and who work for wages. Thismeans that there will be an ever-increasing need toconsider the problems inseparable from a great industrialcivilization. Where an immense and complex business,especially in those branches relating to manufactureand transportation, is transacted by a large numberof capitalists who employ a very much larger numberof wage-earners, the former tend more and more tocombine into corporations and the latter into unions.The relations of the capitalist and wage-worker toone another, and of each to the general public, arenot always easy to adjust; and to put them and keepthem on a satisfactory basis is one of the most importantand one of the most delicate tasks before our wholecivilization. Much of the work for the accomplishmentof this end must be done by the individuals concernedthemselves, whether singly or in combination; and theone fundamental fact that must never be lost trackof is that the character of the average man, whetherhe be a man of means or a man who works with his hands,is the most important factor in solving the problemaright. But it is almost equally important toremember that without good laws it is also impossibleto reach the proper solution. It is idle to holdthat without good laws evils such as child labor,as the over-working of women, as the failure to protectemployees from loss of life or limb, can be effectivelyreached, any more than the evils of rebates and stock-wateringcan be reached without good laws. To fail to stopthese practices by legislation means to force honestmen into them, because otherwise the dishonest whosurely will take advantage of them will have everythingtheir own way. If the States will correct theseevils, well and good; but the Nation must stand readyto aid them.
No question growing out of our rapid and complex industrialdevelopment is more important than that of the employmentof women and children. The presence of womenin industry reacts with extreme directness upon thecharacter of the home and upon family life, and theconditions surrounding the employment of childrenbear a vital relation to our future citizenship.Our legislation in those areas under the control ofthe Congress is very much behind the legislation ofour more progressive States. A thorough and comprehensive
measure should be adopted at this session of the Congressrelating to the employment of women and children inthe District of Columbia and the Territories.The investigation into the condition of women andchildren wage-earners recently authorized and directedby the Congress is now being carried on in the variousStates, and I recommend that the appropriation madelast year for beginning this work be renewed, in orderthat we may have the thorough and comprehensive investigationwhich the subject demands. The National Governmenthas as an ultimate resort for control of child laborthe use of the interstate commerce clause to preventthe products of child labor from entering into interstatecommerce. But before using this it ought certainlyto enact model laws on the subject for the Territoriesunder its own immediate control.There is one fundamental proposition which can belaid down as regards all these matters, namely:While honesty by itself will not solve the problem,yet the insistence upon honesty—not merelytechnical honesty, but honesty in purpose and spirit—isan essential element in arriving at a right conclusion.Vice in its cruder and more archaic forms shocks everybody;but there is very urgent need that public opinion shouldbe just as severe in condemnation of the vice whichhides itself behind class or professional loyalty,or which denies that it is vice if it can escape convictionin the courts. The public and the representativesof the public, the high officials, whether on the benchor in executive or legislative positions, need toremember that often the most dangerous criminals,so far as the life of the Nation is concerned, arenot those who commit the crimes known to and condemnedby the popular conscience for centuries, but thosewho commit crimes only rendered possible by the complexconditions of our modern industrial life. Itmakes not a particle of difference whether these crimesare committed by a capitalist or by a laborer, bya leading banker or manufacturer or railroad man,or by a leading representative of a labor union.Swindling in stocks, corrupting legislatures, makingfortunes by the inflation of securities, by wreckingrailroads, by destroying competitors through rebates—theseforms of wrongdoing in the capitalist, are far moreinfamous than any ordinary form of embezzlement orforgery; yet it is a matter of extreme difficulty tosecure the punishment of the man most guilty of them,most responsible for them. The business man whocondones such conduct stands on a level with the laborman who deliberately supports a corrupt demagogue andagitator, whether head of a union or head of some municipality,because he is said to have “stood by the union.”The members of the business community, the educators,or clergymen, who condone and encourage the firstkind of wrongdoing, are no more dangerous to the community,but are morally even worse, than the labor men whoare guilty of the second type of wrongdoing, because
less is to be pardoned those who have no such excuseas is furnished either by ignorance or by dire need. When the Department of Agriculture was founded therewas much sneering as to its usefulness. No Departmentof the Government, however, has more emphaticallyvindicated its usefulness, and none save the Post-OfficeDepartment comes so continually and intimately intotouch with the people. The two citizens whosewelfare is in the aggregate most vital to the welfareof the Nation, and therefore to the welfare of allother citizens, are the wage-worker who does manuallabor and the tiller of the soil, the farmer.There are, of course, kinds of labor where the workmust be purely mental, and there are other kinds oflabor where, under existing conditions, very littledemand indeed is made upon the mind, though I am gladto say that the proportion of men engaged in thiskind of work is diminishing. But in any communitywith the solid, healthy qualities which make up areally great nation the bulk of the people shoulddo work which calls for the exercise of both body andmind. Progress can not permanently exist in theabandonment of physical labor, but in the developmentof physical labor, so that it shall represent moreand more the work of the trained mind in the trainedbody. Our school system is gravely defective inso far as it puts a premium upon mere literary trainingand tends therefore to train the boy away from thefarm and the workshop. Nothing is more neededthan the best type of industrial school, the schoolfor mechanical industries in the city, the schoolfor practically teaching agriculture in the country.The calling of the skilled tiller of the soil, thecalling of the skilled mechanic, should alike be recognizedas professions, just as emphatically as the callingsof lawyer, doctor, merchant, or clerk. The schoolsrecognize this fact and it should equally be recognizedin popular opinion. The young man who has thefarsightedness and courage to recognize it and to getover the idea that it makes a difference whether whathe earns is called salary or wages, and who refusesto enter the crowded field of the so-called professions,and takes to constructive industry instead, is reasonablysure of an ample reward in earnings, in health, inopportunity to marry early, and to establish a homewith a fair amount of freedom from worry. Itshould be one of our prime objects to put both thefarmer and the mechanic on a higher plane of efficiencyand reward, so as to increase their effectivenessin the economic world, and therefore the dignity,the remuneration, and the power of their positionsin the social world.No growth of cities, no growth of wealth, can makeup for any loss in either the number or the characterof the farming population. We of the United Statesshould realize this above almost all other peoples.We began our existence as a nation of farmers, andin every great crisis of the past a peculiar dependencehas had to be placed upon the farming population;and this dependence has hitherto been justified.But it can not be justified in the future if agricultureis permitted to sink in the scale as compared withother employments. We can not afford to losethat preeminently typical American, the farmer whoowns his own medium-sized farm. To have his placetaken by either a class of small peasant proprietors,or by a class of great landlords with tenant-farmedestates would be a veritable calamity. The growthof our cities is a good thing but only in so far asit does not mean a growth at the expense of the countryfarmer. We must welcome the rise of physicalsciences in their application to agricultural practices,and we must do all we can to render country conditionsmore easy and pleasant. There are forces whichnow tend to bring about both these results, but theyare, as yet, in their infancy. The National Governmentthrough the Department of Agriculture should do allit can by joining with the State governments and withindependent associations of farmers to encourage thegrowth in the open farming country of such institutionaland social movements as will meet the demand of thebest type of farmers, both for the improvement oftheir farms and for the betterment of the life itself.The Department of Agriculture has in many places,perhaps especially in certain districts of the South,accomplished an extraordinary amount by cooperatingwith and teaching the farmers through their associations,on their own soil, how to increase their income bymanaging their farms better than they were hithertomanaged. The farmer must not lose his independence,his initiative, his rugged self-reliance, yet he mustlearn to work in the heartiest cooperation with hisfellows, exactly as the business man has learned towork; and he must prepare to use to constantly betteradvantage the knowledge that can be obtained from agriculturalcolleges, while he must insist upon a practical curriculumin the schools in which his children are taught.The Department of Agriculture and the Department ofCommerce and Labor both deal with the fundamentalneeds of our people in the production of raw materialand its manufacture and distribution, and, therefore,with the welfare of those who produce it in the rawstate, and of those who manufacture and distributeit. The Department of Commerce and Labor has butrecently been founded but has already justified itsexistence; while the Department of Agriculture yieldsto no other in the Government in the practical benefitswhich it produces in proportion to the public moneyexpended. It must continue in the future to deal
with growing crops as it has dealt in the past, butit must still further extend its field of usefulnesshereafter by dealing with live men, through a far-reachingstudy and treatment of the problems of farm life alikefrom the industrial and economic and social standpoint.Farmers must cooperate with one another and with theGovernment, and the Government can best give its aidthrough associations of farmers, so as to deliver tothe farmer the large body of agricultural knowledgewhich has been accumulated by the National and Stategovernments and by the agricultural colleges and schools.The grain producing industry of the country, one ofthe most important in the United States, deservesspecial consideration at the hands of the Congress.Our grain is sold almost exclusively by grades.To secure satisfactory results in our home marketsand to facilitate our trade abroad, these grades shouldapproximate the highest degree of uniformity and certainty.The present diverse methods of inspection and gradingthroughout the country under different laws and boards,result in confusion and lack of uniformity, destroyingthat confidence which is necessary for healthful trade.Complaints against the present methods have continuedfor years and they are growing in volume and intensity,not only in this country but abroad. I thereforesuggest to the Congress the advisability of a Nationalsystem of inspection and grading of grain enteringinto interstate and foreign commerce as a remedy forthe present evils.
The conservation of our natural resources and theirproper use constitute the fundamental problem whichunderlies almost every other problem of our Nationallife. We must maintain for our civilization theadequate material basis without which that civilizationcan not exist. We must show foresight, we mustlook ahead. As a nation we not only enjoy a wonderfulmeasure of present prosperity but if this prosperityis used aright it is an earnest of future success suchas no other nation will have. The reward of foresightfor this Nation is great and easily foretold.But there must be the look ahead, there must be arealization of the fact that to waste, to destroy,our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the landinstead of using it so as to increase its usefulness,will result in undermining in the days of our childrenthe very prosperity which we ought by right to handdown to them amplified and developed. For thelast few years, through several agencies, the Governmenthas been endeavoring to get our people to look aheadand to substitute a planned and orderly developmentof our resources in place of a haphazard strivingfor immediate profit. Our great river systemsshould be developed as National water highways, theMississippi, with its tributaries, standing first inimportance, and the Columbia second, although thereare many others of importance on the Pacific, theAtlantic and the Gulf slopes. The National Government
should undertake this work, and I hope a beginningwill be made in the present Congress; and the greatestof all our rivers, the Mississippi, should receiveespecial attention. From the Great Lakes to themouth of the Mississippi there should be a deep waterway,with deep waterways leading from it to the East andthe West. Such a waterway would practically meanthe extension of our coast line into the very heartof our country. It would be of incalculable benefitto our people. If begun at once it can be carriedthrough in time appreciably to relieve the congestionof our great freight-carrying lines of railroads.The work should be systematically and continuouslycarried forward in accordance with some well-conceivedplan. The main streams should be improved tothe highest point of efficiency before the improvementof the branches is attempted; and the work shouldbe kept free from every faint of recklessness or jobbery.The inland waterways which lie just back of the wholeeastern and southern coasts should likewise be developed.Moreover, the development of our waterways involvesmany other important water problems, all of whichshould be considered as part of the same general scheme.The Government dams should be used to produce hundredsof thousands of horsepower as an incident to improvingnavigation; for the annual value of the unused water-powerof the United States perhaps exceeds the annual valueof the products of all our mines. As an incidentto creating the deep waterways down the Mississippi,the Government should build along its whole lower lengthlevees which taken together with the control of theheadwaters, will at once and forever put a completestop to all threat of floods in the immensely fertileDelta region. The territory lying adjacent tothe Mississippi along its lower course will therebybecome one of the most prosperous and populous, asit already is one of the most fertile, farming regionsin all the world. I have appointed an Inland WaterwaysCommission to study and outline a comprehensive schemeof development along all the lines indicated.Later I shall lay its report before the Congress.Irrigation should be far more extensively developedthan at present, not only in the States of the GreatPlains and the Rocky Mountains, but in many others,as, for instance, in large portions of the South Atlanticand Gulf States, where it should go hand in hand withthe reclamation of swamp land. The Federal Governmentshould seriously devote itself to this task, realizingthat utilization of waterways and water-power, forestry,irrigation, and the reclamation of lands threatenedwith overflow, are all interdependent parts of thesame problem. The work of the Reclamation Servicein developing the larger opportunities of the westernhalf of our country for irrigation is more importantthan almost any other movement. The constant purposeof the Government in connection with the ReclamationService has been to use the water resources of the
public lands for the ultimate greatest good of thegreatest number; in other words, to put upon the landpermanent home-makers, to use and develop it for themselvesand for their children and children’s children.There has been, of course, opposition to this work;opposition from some interested men who desire to exhaustthe land for their own immediate profit without regardto the welfare of the next generation, and oppositionfrom honest and well-meaning men who did not fullyunderstand the subject or who did not look far enoughahead. This opposition is, I think, dying away,and our people are understanding that it would beutterly wrong to allow a few individuals to exhaustfor their own temporary personal profit the resourceswhich ought to be developed through use so as to beconserved for the permanent common advantage of thepeople as a whole.The effort of the Government to deal with the publicland has been based upon the same principle as thatof the Reclamation Service. The land law systemwhich was designed to meet the needs of the fertileand well-watered regions of the Middle West has largelybroken down when applied to the dryer regions of theGreat Plains, the mountains, and much of the Pacificslope, where a farm of 160 acres is inadequate forself-support. In these regions the system lentit*elf to fraud, and much land passed out of the handsof the Government without passing into the hands ofthe home-maker. The Department of the Interiorand the Department of Justice joined in prosecutingthe offenders against the law; and they have accomplishedmuch, while where the administration of the law hasbeen defective it has been changed. But the lawsthemselves are defective. Three years ago a publiclands commission was appointed to scrutinize the law,and defects, and recommend a remedy. Their examinationspecifically showed the existence of great fraud uponthe public domain, and their recommendations for changesin the law were made with the design of conservingthe natural resources of every part of the publiclands by putting it to its best use. Especialattention was called to the prevention of settlementby the passage of great areas of public land intothe hands of a few men, and to the enormous wastecaused by unrestricted grazing upon the open range.The recommendations of the Public Lands Commissionare sound, for they are especially in the interestof the actual homemaker; and where the small home-makercan not at present utilize the land they provide thatthe Government shall keep control of it so that itmay not be monopolized by a few men. The Congresshas not yet acted upon these recommendations; butthey are so just and proper, so essential to our Nationalwelfare, that I feel confident, if the Congress willtake time to consider them, that they will ultimatelybe adopted.
Some such legislation as that proposed is essentialin order to preserve the great stretches of publicgrazing land which are unfit for cultivation underpresent methods and are valuable only for the foragewhich they supply. These stretches amount in allto some 300,000,000 acres, and are open to the freegrazing of cattle, sheep, horses and goats, withoutrestriction. Such a system, or lack of system,means that the range is not so much used as wastedby abuse. As the West settles the range becomesmore and more over-grazed. Much of it can notbe used to advantage unless it is fenced, for fencingis the only way by which to keep in check the ownersof nomad flocks which roam hither and thither, utterlydestroying the pastures and leaving a waste behindso that their presence is incompatible with the presenceof home-makers. The existing fences are all illegal.Some of them represent the improper exclusion of actualsettlers, actual home-makers, from territory whichis usurped by great cattle companies. Some ofthem represent what is in itself a proper effort touse the range for those upon the land, and to preventit* use by nomadic outsiders. All these fences,those that are hurtful and those that are beneficial,are alike illegal and must come down. But it isan outrage that the law should necessitate such actionon the part of the Administration. The unlawfulfencing of public lands for private grazing must bestopped, but the necessity which occasioned it mustbe provided for. The Federal Government shouldhave control of the range, whether by permit or lease,as local necessities may determine. Such controlcould secure the great benefit of legitimate fencing,while at the same time securing and promoting thesettlement of the country. In some places itmay be that the tracts of range adjacent to the homesteadsof actual settlers should be allotted to them severallyor in common for the summer grazing of their stock.Elsewhere it may be that a lease system would servethe purpose; the leases to be temporary and subjectto the rights of settlement, and the amount chargedbeing large enough merely to permit of the efficientand beneficial control of the range by the Government,and of the payment to the county of the equivalentof what it would otherwise receive in taxes. Thedestruction of the public range will continue untilsome such laws as these are enacted. Fully toprevent the fraud in the public lands which, throughthe joint action of the Interior Department and theDepartment of Justice, we have been endeavoring toprevent, there must be further legislation, and especiallya sufficient appropriation to permit the Departmentof the Interior to examine certain classes of entrieson the ground before they pass into private ownership.The Government should part with its title only tothe actual home-maker, not to the profit-maker whodoes not care to make a home. Our prime objectis to secure the rights and guard the interests ofthe small ranchman, the man who plows and pitcheshay for himself. It is this small ranchman, thisactual settler and homemaker, who in the long run ismost hurt by permitting thefts of the public landin whatever form.
Optimism is a good characteristic, but if carriedto an excess it becomes foolishness. We are proneto speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible;this is not so. The mineral wealth of the country,the coal, iron, oil, gas, and the like, does not reproduceitself, and therefore is certain to be exhausted ultimately;and wastefulness in dealing with it to-day means thatour descendants will feel the exhaustion a generationor two before they otherwise would. But thereare certain other forms of waste which could be entirelystopped—the waste of soil by washing, forinstance, which is among the most dangerous of allwastes now in progress in the United States, is easilypreventable, so that this present enormous loss offertility is entirely unnecessary. The preservationor replacement of the forests is one of the most importantmeans of preventing this loss. We have made abeginning in forest preservation, but it is only abeginning. At present lumbering is the fourthgreatest industry in the United States; and yet, sorapid has been the rate of exhaustion of timber inthe United States in the past, and so rapidly is theremainder being exhausted, that the country is unquestionablyon the verge of a timber famine which will be feltin every household in the land. There has alreadybeen a rise in the price of lumber, but there is certainto be a more rapid and heavier rise in the future.The present annual consumption of lumber is certainlythree times as great as the annual growth; and ifthe consumption and growth continue unchanged, practicallyall our lumber will be exhausted in another generation,while long before the limit to complete exhaustionis reached the growing scarcity will make itself feltin many blighting ways upon our National welfare.About 20 per cent of our forested territory is nowreserved in National forests; but these do not includethe most valuable timber lauds, and in any event theproportion is too small to expect that the reservescan accomplish more than a mitigation of the troublewhich is ahead for the nation. Far more drasticaction is needed. Forests can be lumbered soas to give to the public the full use of their mercantiletimber without the slightest detriment to the forest,any more than it is a detriment to a farm to furnisha harvest; so that there is no parallel between forestsand mines, which can only be completely used by exhaustion.But forests, if used as all our forests have beenused in the past and as most of them are still used,will be either wholly destroyed, or so damaged thatmany decades have to pass before effective use canbe made of them again. All these facts are soobvious that it is extraordinary that it should benecessary to repeat them. Every business manin the land, every writer in the newspapers, everyman or woman of an ordinary school education, oughtto be able to see that immense quantities of timberare used in the country, that the forests which supply
this timber are rapidly being exhausted, and that,if no change takes place, exhaustion will come comparativelysoon, and that the effects of it will be felt severelyin the every-day life of our people. Surely,when these facts are so obvious, there should be nodelay in taking preventive measures. Yet we seemas a nation to be willing to proceed in this matterwith happy-go-lucky indifference even to the immediatefuture. It is this attitude which permits theself-interest of a very few persons to weigh for morethan the ultimate interest of all our people.There are persons who find it to their immense pecuniarybenefit to destroy the forests by lumbering.They are to be blamed for thus sacrificing the futureof the Nation as a whole to their own self-interestof the moment; but heavier blame attaches to the peopleat large for permitting such action, whether in theWhite Mountains, in the southern Alleghenies, or inthe Rockies and Sierras. A big lumbering company,impatient for immediate returns and not caring to lookfar enough ahead, will often deliberately destroyall the good timber in a region, hoping afterwardsto move on to some new country. The shiftlessman of small means, who does not care to become anactual home-maker but would like immediate profit,will find it to his advantage to take up timber landsimply to turn it over to such a big company, and leaveit valueless for future settlers. A big mineowner, anxious only to develop his mine at the moment,will care only to cut all the timber that he wisheswithout regard to the future—probably netlooking ahead to the condition of the country whenthe forests are exhausted, any more than he does tothe condition when the mine is worked out. I donot blame these men nearly as much as I blame the supinepublic opinion, the indifferent public opinion, whichpermits their action to go unchecked. Of courseto check the waste of timber means that there mustbe on the part of the public the acceptance of a temporaryrestriction in the lavish use of the timber, in orderto prevent the total loss of this use in the future.There are plenty of men in public and private lifewho actually advocate the continuance of the presentsystem of unchecked and wasteful extravagance, usingas an argument the fact that to check it will of coursemean interference with the ease and comfort of certainpeople who now get lumber at less cost than they oughtto pay, at the expense of the future generations.Some of these persons actually demand that the presentforest reserves be thrown open to destruction, because,forsooth, they think that thereby the price of lumbercould be put down again for two or three or more years.Their attitude is precisely like that of an agitatorprotesting against the outlay of money by farmerson manure and in taking care of their farms generally.Undoubtedly, if the average farmer were content absolutelyto ruin his farm, he could for two or three years avoidspending any money on it, and yet make a good dealof money out of it. But only a savage would,in his private affairs, show such reckless disregardof the future; yet it is precisely this reckless disregardof the future which the opponents of the forestrysystem are now endeavoring to get the people of theUnited States to show. The only trouble with themovement for the preservation of our forests is thatit has not gone nearly far enough, and was not begunsoon enough. It is a most fortunate thing, however,that we began it when we did. We should acquirein the Appalachian and White Mountain regions all theforest lands that it is possible to acquire for theuse of the Nation. These lands, because theyform a National asset, are as emphatically nationalas the rivers which they feed, and which flow throughso many States before they reach the ocean.There should be no tariff on any forest product grownin this country; and, in especial, there should beno tariff on wood pulp; due notice of the change beingof course given to those engaged in the business soas to enable them to adjust themselves to the newconditions. The repeal of the duty on wood pulpshould if possible be accompanied by an agreementwith Canada that there shall be no export duty on Canadianpulp wood.
In the eastern United States the mineral fuels havealready passed into the hands of large private owners,and those of the West are rapidly following.It is obvious that these fuels should be conservedand not wasted, and it would be well to protect thepeople against unjust and extortionate prices, sofar as that can still be done. What has beenaccomplished in the great oil fields of the IndianTerritory by the action of the Administration, offersa striking example of the good results of such a policy.In my judgment the Government should have the rightto keep the fee of the coal, oil, and gas fields inits own possession and to lease the rights to developthem under proper regulations; or else, if the Congresswill not adopt this method, the coal deposits shouldbe sold under limitations, to conserve them as publicutilities, the right to mine coal being separated fromthe title to the soil. The regulations shouldpermit coal lands to be worked in sufficient quantityby the several corporations. The present limitationshave been absurd, excessive, and serve no useful purpose,and often render it necessary that there should beeither fraud or close abandonment of the work of gettingout the coal.
Work on the Panama Canal is proceeding in a highlysatisfactory manner. In March last, John F. Stevens,chairman of the Commission and chief engineer, resigned,and the Commission was reorganized and constitutedas follows: Lieut. Col. George W. Goethals,Corps. of Engineers, U. S. Army, chairman and chiefengineer; Maj. D. D. Gall-lard, Corps of Engineers,U. S. Army; Maj. William L. Sibert, Corps of Engineers,U. S. Army; Civil Engineer H. H. Rousseau, U. S. Navy;Mr. J. C. S. Blackburn; Col. W. C. Gorgas, U.
S. Army, and Mr. Jackson Smith, Commissioners.This change of authority and direction went into effecton April 1, without causing a perceptible check tothe progress of the work. In March the totalexcavation in the Culebra Cut, where effort was chieflyconcentrated, was 815,270 cubic yards. In Aprilthis was increased to 879,527 cubic yards. Therewas a considerable decrease in the output for Mayand June owing partly to the advent of the rainy seasonand partly to temporary trouble with the steam shovelmen over the question of wages. This troublewas settled satisfactorily to all parties and in Julythe total excavation advanced materially and in Augustthe grand total from all points in the canal prismby steam shovels and dredges exceeded all previousUnited States records, reaching 1,274,404 cubic yards.In September this record was eclipsed and a totalof 1,517,412 cubic yards was removed. Of thisamount 1,481,307 cubic yards were from the canal prismand 36,105 cubic yards were from accessory works.These results were achieved in the rainy season witha rainfall in August of 11.89 inches and in Septemberof 11.65 inches. Finally, in October, the recordwas again eclipsed, the total excavation being 1,868,729cubic yards; a truly extraordinary record, especiallyin view of the heavy rainfall, which was 17.1 inches.In fact, experience during the last two rainy seasonsdemonstrates that the rains are a less serious obstacleto progress than has hitherto been supposed.Work on the locks and dams at Gatun, which began activelyin March last, has advanced so far that it is thoughtthat masonry work on the locks can be begun withinfifteen months. In order to remove all doubtas to the satisfactory character of the foundationsfor the locks of the Canal, the Secretary of War requestedthree eminent civil engineers, of special experiencein such construction, Alfred Noble, Frederic P. Stearnsand John R. Freeman, to visit the Isthmus and makethorough personal investigations of the sites.These gentlemen went to the Isthmus in April and bymeans of test pits which had been dug for the purpose,they inspected the proposed foundations, and also examinedthe borings that had been made. In their reportto the Secretary of War, under date of May 2, 1907,they said: “We found that all of the locks,of the dimensions now proposed, will rest upon rockof such character that it will furnish a safe andstable foundation.” Subsequent new borings,conducted by the present Commission, have fully confirmedthis verdict. They show that the locks will reston rock for their entire length. The cross sectionof the dam and method of construction will be suchas to insure against any slip or sloughing off.Similar examination of the foundations of the locksand dams on the Pacific side are in progress.I believe that the locks should be made of a widthof 120 feet.
Last winter bids were requested and received for doingthe work of canal construction by contract. Noneof them was found to be satisfactory and all wererejected. It is the unanimous opinion of thepresent Commission that the work can be done better,more cheaply, and more quickly by the Government thanby private contractors. Fully 80 per cent ofthe entire plant needed for construction has been purchasedor contracted for; machine shops have been erectedand equipped for making all needed repairs to theplant; many thousands of employees have been secured;an effective organization has been perfected; a recruitingsystem is in operation which is capable of furnishingmore labor than can be used advantageously; employeesare well sheltered and well fed; salaries paid aresatisfactory, and the work is not only going forwardsmoothly, but it is producing results far in advanceof the most sanguine anticipations. Under thesefavorable conditions, a change in the method of prosecutingthe work would be unwise and unjustifiable, for itwould inevitably disorganize existing conditions,check progress, and increase the cost and lengthenthe time of completing the Canal.
The chief engineer and all his professional associatesare firmly convinced that the 85 feet level lock canalwhich they are constructing is the best that couldbe desired. Some of them had doubts on this pointwhen they went to the Isthmus. As the plans havedeveloped under their direction their doubts havebeen dispelled. While they may decide upon changesin detail as construction advances they are in heartyaccord in approving the general plan. They believethat it provides a canal not only adequate to alldemands that will be made upon it but superior inevery way to a sea level canal. I concur in thisbelief.
I commend to the favorable consideration of the Congressa postal savings bank system, as recommended by thePostmaster-General. The primary object is toencourage among our people economy and thrift andby the use of postal savings banks to give them anopportunity to husband their resources, particularlythose who have not the facilities at hand for depositingtheir money in savings banks. Viewed, however,from the experience of the past few weeks, it is evidentthat the advantages of such an institution are tillmore far-reaching. Timid depositors have withdrawntheir savings for the time being from national banks,trust companies, and savings banks; individuals havehoarded their cash and the workingmen their earnings;all of which money has been withheld and kept in hidingor in safe deposit box to the detriment of prosperity.Through the agency of the postal savings banks suchmoney would be restored to the channels of trade, tothe mutual benefit of capital and labor.
I further commend to the Congress the considerationof the Postmaster-General’s recommendation foran extension of the parcel post, especially on therural routes. There are now 38,215 rural routes,serving nearly 15,000,000 people who do not have theadvantages of the inhabitants of cities in obtainingtheir supplies. These recommendations have beendrawn up to benefit the farmer and the country storekeeper;otherwise, I should not favor them, for I believethat it is good policy for our Government to do everythingpossible to aid the small town and the country district.It is desirable that the country merchant should notbe crushed out.
The fourth-class postmasters’ convention haspassed a very strong resolution in favor of placingthe fourth-class postmasters under the civil-servicelaw. The Administration has already put into effectthe policy of refusing to remove any fourth-classpostmasters save for reasons connected with the goodof the service; and it is endeavoring so far as possibleto remove them from the domain of partisan politics.It would be a most desirable thing to put the fourth-classpostmasters in the classified service. It ispossible that this might be done without Congressionalaction, but, as the matter is debatable, I earnestlyrecommend that the Congress enact a law providing thatthey be included under the civil-service law and putin the classified service.
Oklahoma has become a State, standing on a full equalitywith her elder sisters, and her future is assuredby her great natural resources. The duty of theNational Government to guard the personal and propertyrights of the Indians within her borders remains ofcourse unchanged.
I reiterate my recommendations of last year as regardsAlaska. Some form of local self-government shouldbe provided, as simple and inexpensive as possible;it is impossible for the Congress to devote the necessarytime to all the little details of necessary Alaskanlegislation. Road building and railway buildingshould be encouraged. The Governor of Alaskashould be given an ample appropriation wherewith toorganize a force to preserve the public peace.Whisky selling to the natives should be made a felony.The coal land laws should be changed so as to meetthe peculiar needs of the Territory. This shouldbe attended to at once; for the present laws permitindividuals to locate large areas of the public domainfor speculative purposes; and cause an immense amountof trouble, fraud, and litigation. There shouldbe another judicial division established. Asearly as possible lighthouses and buoys should beestablished as aids to navigation, especially in andabout Prince William Sound, and the survey of the coastcompleted. There is need of liberal appropriationsfor lighting and buoying the southern coast and improvingthe aids to navigation in southeastern Alaska.One of the great industries of Alaska, as of PugetSound and the Columbia, is salmon fishing. Gradually,by reason of lack of proper laws, this industry isbeing ruined; it should now be taken in charge, andeffectively protected, by the United States Government.
The courage and enterprise of the citizens of thefar north-west in their projected Alaskan-Yukon-PacificExposition, to be held in 1909, should receive liberalencouragement. This exposition is not sentimentalin its conception, but seeks to exploit the naturalresources of Alaska and to promote the commerce, trade,and industry of the Pacific States with their neighboringStates and with our insular possessions and the neighboringcountries of the Pacific. The exposition asksno loan from the Congress but seeks appropriationsfor National exhibits and exhibits of the westerndependencies of the General Government. The Stateof Washington and the city of Seattle have shown thecharacteristic western enterprise in large donationsfor the conduct of this exposition in which otherStates are lending generous assistance.
The unfortunate failure of the shipping bill at thelast session of the last Congress was followed bythe taking off of certain Pacific steamships, whichhas greatly hampered the movement of passengers betweenHawaii and the mainland. Unless the Congress isprepared by positive encouragement to secure properfacilities in the way of shipping between Hawaii andthe mainland, then the coastwise shipping laws shouldbe so far relaxed as to prevent Hawaii suffering asit is now suffering. I again call your attentionto the capital importance from every standpoint ofmaking Pearl Harbor available for the largest deepwater vessels, and of suitably fortifying the island.
The Secretary of War has gone to the Philippines.On his return I shall submit to you his report onthe islands.
I again recommend that the rights of citizenship beconferred upon the people of Porto Rico.
A bureau of mines should be created under the controland direction of the Secretary of the Interior; thebureau to have power to collect statistics and makeinvestigations in all matters pertaining to miningand particularly to the accidents and dangers of theindustry. If this can not now be done, at leastadditional appropriations should be given the InteriorDepartment to be used for the study of mining conditions,for the prevention of fraudulent mining schemes, forcarrying on the work of mapping the mining districts,for studying methods for minimizing the accidentsand dangers in the industry; in short, to aid in allproper ways the development of the mining industry.
I strongly recommend to the Congress to provide fundsfor keeping up the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson;these funds to be used through the existing HermitageAssociation for the preservation of a historic buildingwhich should ever be dear to Americans.
I further recommend that a naval monument be establishedin the Vicksburg National Park. This nationalpark gives a unique opportunity for commemoratingthe deeds of those gallant men who fought on water,no less than of those who fought on land, in the greatcivil War.
Legislation should be enacted at the present sessionof the Congress for the Thirteenth Census. Theestablishment of the permanent Census Bureau affordsthe opportunity for a better census than we have everhad, but in order to realize the full advantage ofthe permanent organization, ample time must be givenfor preparation.
There is a constantly growing interest in this countryin the question of the public health. At lastthe public mind is awake to the fact that many diseases,notably tuberculosis, are National scourges. Thework of the State and city boards of health shouldbe supplemented by a constantly increasing intereston the part of the National Government. The Congresshas already provided a bureau of public health andhas provided for a hygienic laboratory. Thereare other valuable laws relating to the public healthconnected with the various departments. Thiswhole branch of the Government should be strengthenedand aided in every way.
I call attention to two Government commissions whichI have appointed and which have already done excellentwork. The first of these has to do with the organizationof the scientific work of the Government, which hasgrown up wholly without plan and is in consequenceso unwisely distributed among the Executive Departmentsthat much of its effect is lost for the lack of propercoordination. This commission’s chief objectis to introduce a planned and orderly development andoperation in the place of the ill-assorted and oftenineffective grouping and methods of work which haveprevailed. This can not be done without legislation,nor would it be feasible to deal in detail with socomplex an administrative problem by specific provisionsof law. I recommend that the President be givenauthority to concentrate related lines of work andreduce duplication by Executive order through transferand consolidation of lines of work.
The second committee, that on Department methods,was instructed to investigate and report upon thechanges needed to place the conduct of the executiveforce of the Government on the most economical andeffective basis in the light of the best modern businesspractice. The committee has made very satisfactoryprogress. Antiquated practices and bureaucraticways have been abolished, and a general renovationof departmental methods has been inaugurated.All that can be done by Executive order has alreadybeen accomplished or will be put into effect in thenear future. The work of the main committee andits several assistant committees has produced a wholesomeawakening on the part of the great body of officersand employees engaged in Government work. Innearly every Department and office there has been acareful self-inspection for the purpose of remedyingany defects before they could be made the subjectof adverse criticism. This has led individualsto a wider study of the work on which they were engaged,and this study has resulted in increasing their efficiencyin their respective lines of work. There arerecommendations of special importance from the committeeon the subject of personnel and the classificationof salaries which will require legislative action beforethey can be put into effect. It is my intentionto submit to the Congress in the near future a specialmessage on those subjects.
Under our form of government voting is not merelya right but a duty, and, moreover, a fundamental andnecessary duty if a man is to be a good citizen.It is well to provide that corporations shall notcontribute to Presidential or National campaigns, andfurthermore to provide for the publication of bothcontributions and expenditures. There is, however,always danger in laws of this kind, which from theirvery nature are difficult of enforcement; the dangerbeing lest they be obeyed only by the honest, anddisobeyed by the unscrupulous, so as to act only asa penalty upon honest men. Moreover, no such lawwould hamper an unscrupulous man of unlimited meansfrom buying his own way into office. There isa very radical measure which would, I believe, worka substantial improvement in our system of conductinga campaign, although I am well aware that it willtake some time for people so to familiarize themselveswith such a proposal as to be willing to considerits adoption. The need for collecting large campaignfunds would vanish if Congress provided an appropriationfor the proper and legitimate expenses of each ofthe great national parties, an appropriation ampleenough to meet the necessity for thorough organizationand machinery, which requires a large expenditure ofmoney. Then the stipulation should be made thatno party receiving campaign funds from the Treasuryshould accept more than a fixed amount from any individualsubscriber or donor; and the necessary publicity forreceipts and expenditures could without difficultybe provided.
There should be a National gallery of art establishedin the capital city of this country. This isimportant not merely to the artistic but to the materialwelfare of the country; and the people are to be congratulatedon the fact that the movement to establish such a galleryis taking definite form under the guidance of the SmithsonianInstitution. So far from there being a tariffon works of art brought into the country, their importationshould be encouraged in every way. There havebeen no sufficient collections of objects of art bythe Government, and what collections have been acquiredare scattered and are generally placed in unsuitableand imperfectly lighted galleries.
The Biological Survey is quietly working for the goodof our agricultural interests, and is an excellentexample of a Government bureau which conducts originalscientific research the findings of which are of muchpractical utility. For more than twenty yearsit has studied the food habits of birds and mammalsthat are injurious or beneficial to agriculture, horticulture,and forestry; has distributed illustrated bulletinson the subject, and has labored to secure legislativeprotection for the beneficial species. The cottonboll-weevil, which has recently overspread the cottonbelt of Texas and is steadily extending its range,is said to cause an annual loss of about $3,000,000.The Biological Survey has ascertained and gives wide
publicity to the fact that at least 43 kinds of birdsprey upon this destructive insect. It has discoveredthat 57 species of birds feed upon scale-insects—dreadedenemies of the fruit grower. It has shown thatwoodpeckers as a class, by destroying the larvae ofwood-boring insects, are so essential to tree lifethat it is doubtful if our forests could exist withoutthem. It has shown that cuckoos and orioles arethe natural enemies of the leaf-eating caterpillarsthat destroy our shade and fruit trees; that our quailsand sparrows consume annually hundreds of tons ofseeds of noxious weeds; that hawks and owls as a class(excepting the few that kill poultry and game birds)are markedly beneficial, spending their lives in catchinggrasshoppers, mice, and other pests that prey uponthe products of husbandry. It has conducted fieldexperiments for the purpose of devising and perfectingsimple methods for holding in check the hordes of destructiverodents—rats, mice, rabbits, gophers, prairiedogs, and ground squirrels—which annuallydestroy crops worth many millions of dollars; andit has published practical directions for the destructionof wolves and coyotes on the stock ranges of the West,resulting during the past year in an estimated savingof cattle and sheep valued at upwards of a milliondollars.It has inaugurated a system of inspection at the principalports of entry on both Atlantic and Pacific coastsby means of which the introduction of noxious mammalsand birds is prevented, thus keeping out the mongooseand certain birds which are as much to be dreaded asthe previously introduced English sparrow and the houserats and mice.
In the interest of game protection it has cooperatedwith local officials in every State in the Union,has striven to promote uniform legislation in theseveral States, has rendered important service inenforcing the Federal law regulating interstate trafficin game, and has shown how game protection may bemade to yield a large revenue to the State—arevenue amounting in the case of Illinois to $128,000in a single year.
The Biological Survey has explored the faunas andfloras of America with reference to the distributionof animals and plants; it has defined and mapped thenatural life areas—areas in which, by reasonof prevailing climatic conditions, certain kinds ofanimals and plants occur—and has pointedout the adaptability of these areas to the cultivationof particular crops. The results of these investigationsare not only of high educational value but are wortheach year to the progressive farmers of the countrymany times the cost of maintaining the Survey, which,it may be added, is exceedingly small. I recommendto Congress that this bureau, whose usefulness is seriouslyhandicapped by lack of funds, be granted an appropriationin some degree commensurate with the importance ofthe work it is doing.
I call your especial attention to the unsatisfactorycondition of our foreign mail service, which, becauseof the lack of American steamship lines is now largelydone through foreign lines, and which, particularlyso far as South and Central America are concerned,is done in a manner which constitutes a serious barrierto the extension of our commerce.
The time has come, in my judgment, to set to workseriously to make our ocean mail service correspondmore closely with our recent commercial and politicaldevelopment. A beginning was made by the oceanmail act of March 3, 1891, but even at that time theact was known to be inadequate in various particulars.Since that time events have moved rapidly in our history.We have acquired Hawaii, the Philippines, and lesserislands in the Pacific. We are steadily prosecutingthe great work of uniting at the Isthmus the watersof the Atlantic and the Pacific. To a greaterextent than seemed probable even a dozen years ago,we may look to an American future on the sea worthyof the traditions of our past. As the first stepin that direction, and the step most feasible at thepresent time, I recommend the extension of the oceanmail act of 1891. This act has stood for someyears free from successful criticism of its principleand purpose. It was based on theories of theobligations of a great maritime nation, undisputedin our own land and followed by other nations sincethe beginning of steam navigation. Briefly thosetheories are, that it is the duty of a first-classPower so far as practicable to carry its ocean mailsunder its own flag; that the fast ocean steamshipsand their crews, required for such mail service, arevaluable auxiliaries to the sea power of a nation.Furthermore, the construction of such steamships insuresthe maintenance in an efficient condition of the shipyardsin which our battleships must be built.
The expenditure of public money for the Performanceof such necessary functions of government is certainlywarranted, nor is it necessary to dwell upon the incidentalbenefits to our foreign commerce, to the shipbuildingindustry, and to ship owning and navigation which willaccompany the discharge of these urgent public duties,though they, too, should have weight.
The only serious question is whether at this timewe can afford to improve our ocean mail service asit should be improved. All doubt on this subjectis removed by the reports of the Post-Office Department.For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1907, that Departmentestimates that the postage collected on the articlesexchanged with foreign countries other than Canadaand Mexico amounted to $6,579,043.48, or $3,637,226.81more than the net cost of the service exclusive ofthe cost of transporting the articles between theUnited States exchange post-offices and the UnitedStates post-offices at which they were mailed or delivered.In other words, the Government of the United States,having assumed a monopoly of carrying the mails forthe people, making a profit of over $3,600,000 byrendering a cheap and inefficient service. Thatprofit I believe should be devoted to strengtheningmaritime power in those directions where it will bestpromote our prestige. The country is familiarwith the facts of our maritime impotence in the harbors
of the great and friendly Republics of South America.Following the failure of the shipbuilding bill we lostour only American line of steamers to Australasia,and that loss on the Pacific has become a seriousembarrassment to the people of Hawaii, and has whollycut off the Samoan islands from regular communicationwith the Pacific coast. Puget Sound, in the year,has lost over half (four out of seven) of its Americansteamers trading with the Orient.We now pay under the act of 1891 $4 a statute mileoutward to 20-knot American mail steamships, builtaccording to naval plans, available as cruisers, andmanned by Americans. Steamships of that speedare confined exclusively to trans-Atlantic trade withNew York. To steamships of 16 knots or over only$2 a mile can be paid, and it is steamships of thisspeed and type which are needed to meet the requirementsof mail service to South America, Asia (including thePhilippines), and Australia. I strongly recommend,therefore, a simple amendment to the ocean mail actof 1891 which shall authorize the Postmaster-Generalin his discretion to enter into contracts for thetransportation of mails to the Republics of South America,to Asia, the Philippines, and Australia at a ratenot to exceed $4 a mile for steamships of 16 knotsspeed or upwards, subject to the restrictions andobligations of the act of 1891. The profit of$3,600,000 which has been mentioned will fully coverthe maximum annual expenditure involved in this recommendation,and it is believed will in time establish the linesso urgently needed. The proposition involves nonew principle, but permits the efficient dischargeof public functions now inadequately performed ornot performed at all.
Not only there is not now, but there never has been,any other nation in the world so wholly free fromthe evils of militarism as is ours. There neverhas been any other large nation, not even China, whichfor so long a period has had relatively to its numbersso small a regular army as has ours. Never atany time in our history has this Nation suffered frommilitarism or been in the remotest danger of sufferingfrom militarism. Never at any time of our historyhas the Regular Army been of a size which caused theslightest appreciable tax upon the tax-paying citizensof the Nation. Almost always it has been too smallin size and underpaid. Never in our entire historyhas the Nation suffered in the least particular becausetoo much care has been given to the Army, too muchprominence given it, too much money spent upon it,or because it has been too large. But again andagain we have suffered because enough care has notbeen given to it, because it has been too small, becausethere has not been sufficient preparation in advancefor possible war. Every foreign war in which wehave engaged has cost us many times the amount which,if wisely expended during the preceding years of peaceon the Regular Army, would have insured the war ending
in but a fraction of the time and but for a fractionof the cost that was actually the case. As aNation we have always been shortsighted in providingfor the efficiency of the Army in time of peace.It is nobody’s especial interest to make suchprovision and no one looks ahead to war at any period,no matter how remote, as being a serious possibility;while an improper economy, or rather nigg*rdliness,can be practiced at the expense of the Army with thecertainty that those practicing it will not be calledto account therefor, but that the price will be paidby the unfortunate persons who happen to be in officewhen a war does actually come.I think it is only lack of foresight that troublesus, not any hostility to the Army. There are,of course, foolish people who denounce any care ofthe Army or Navy as “militarism,” but Ido not think that these people are numerous.This country has to contend now, and has had to contendin the past, with many evils, and there is ample scopefor all who would work for reform. But there isnot one evil that now exists, or that ever has existedin this country, which is, or ever has been, owingin the smallest part to militarism. Declamationagainst militarism has no more serious place in anearnest and intelligent movement for righteousnessin this country than declamation against the worshipof Baal or Astaroth. It is declamation againsta non-existent evil, one which never has existed inthis country, and which has not the slightest chanceof appearing here. We are glad to help in anymovement for international peace, but this is becausewe sincerely believe that it is our duty to help allsuch movements provided they are sane and rational,and not because there is any tendency toward militarismon our part which needs to be cured. The evilswe have to fight are those in connection with industrialism,not militarism. Industry is always necessary,just as war is sometimes necessary. Each hasits price, and industry in the United States now exacts,and has always exacted, a far heavier toll of deaththan all our wars put together. The statisticsof the railroads of this country for the year endedJune 30, 1906, the last contained in the annual statisticalreport of the Interstate Commerce Commission, showin that one year a total of 108,324 casualties topersons, of which 10,618 represent the number of personskilled. In that wonderful hive of human activity,Pittsburg, the deaths due to industrial accidents in1906 were 919, all the result of accidents in mills,mines or on railroads. For the entire country,therefore, it is safe to say that the deaths due toindustrial accidents aggregate in the neighborhoodof twenty thousand a year. Such a record makesthe death rate in all our foreign wars utterly trivialby comparison. The number of deaths in battlein all the foreign wars put together, for the lastcentury and a quarter, aggregate considerably lessthan one year’s death record for our industries.A mere glance at these figures is sufficient to showthe absurdity of the outcry against militarism.
But again and again in the past our little RegularArmy has rendered service literally vital to the country,and it may at any time have to do so in the future.Its standard of efficiency and instruction is highernow than ever in the past. But it is too small.There are not enough officers; and it is impossibleto secure enough enlisted men. We should maintainin peace a fairly complete skeleton of a large army.A great and long-continued war would have to be foughtby volunteers. But months would pass before anylarge body of efficient volunteers could be put inthe field, and our Regular Army should be large enoughto meet any immediate need. In particular itis essential that we should possess a number of extraofficers trained in peace to perform efficiently theduties urgently required upon the breaking out of war.
The Medical Corps should be much larger than the needsof our Regular Army in war. Yet at present itis smaller than the needs of the service demand evenin peace. The Spanish war occurred less than tenyears ago. The chief loss we suffered in it wasby disease among the regiments which never left thecountry. At the moment the Nation seemed deeplyimpressed by this fact; yet seemingly it has alreadybeen forgotten, for not the slightest effort has beenmade to prepare a medical corps of sufficient sizeto prevent the repetition of the same disaster on amuch larger scale if we should ever be engaged in aserious conflict. The trouble in the Spanishwar was not with the then existing officials of theWar Department; it was with the representatives ofthe people as a whole who, for the preceding thirtyyears, had declined to make the necessary provisionfor the Army. Unless ample provision is now madeby Congress to put the Medical Corps where it shouldbe put disaster in the next war is inevitable, andthe responsibility will not lie with those then incharge of the War Department, but with those who nowdecline to make the necessary provision. A wellorganized medical corps, thoroughly trained beforethe advent of war in all the important administrativeduties of a military sanitary corps, is essential tothe efficiency of any large army, and especially ofa large volunteer army. Such knowledge of medicineand surgery as is possessed by the medical professiongenerally will not alone suffice to make an efficientmilitary surgeon. He must have, in addition, knowledgeof the administration and sanitation of large fieldhospitals and camps, in order to safeguard the healthand lives of men intrusted in great numbers to hiscare. A bill has long been pending before theCongress for the reorganization of the Medical Corps;its passage is urgently needed.
But the Medical Department is not the only departmentfor which increased provision should be made.The rate of pay for the officers should be greatlyincreased; there is no higher type of citizen thanthe American regular officer, and he should have afair reward for his admirable work. There shouldbe a relatively even greater increase in the pay forthe enlisted men. In especial provision shouldbe made for establishing grades equivalent to thoseof warrant officers in the Navy which should be opento the enlisted men who serve sufficiently long andwho do their work well. Inducements should beoffered sufficient to encourage really good men tomake the Army a life occupation. The prime needsof our present Army is to secure and retain competentnoncommissioned officers. This difficulty restsfundamentally on the question of pay. The noncommissionedofficer does not correspond with an unskilled laborer;he corresponds to the best type of skilled workmanor to the subordinate official in civil institutions.Wages have greatly increased in outside occupationsin the last forty years and the pay of the soldier,like the pay of the officers, should be proportionatelyincreased. The first sergeant of a company, ifa good man, must be one of such executive and administrativeability, and such knowledge of his trade, as to beworth far more than we at present pay him. Thesame is true of the regimental sergeant major.These men should be men who had fully resolved tomake the Army a life occupation and they should beable to look forward to ample reward; while only menproperly qualified should be given a chance to securethese final rewards. The increase over the presentpay need not be great in the lower grades for thefirst one or two enlistments, but the increase shouldbe marked for the noncommissioned officers of the uppergrades who serve long enough to make it evident thatthey intend to stay permanently in the Army, whileadditional pay should be given for high qualificationsin target practice. The position of warrant officershould be established and there should be not onlyan increase of pay, but an increase of privilegesand allowances and dignity, so as to make the gradeopen to noncommissioned officers capable of fillingthem desirably from every standpoint. The rateof desertion in our Army now in time of peace is alarming.The deserter should be treated by public opinion asa man guilty of the greatest crime; while on the otherhand the man who serves steadily in the Army shouldbe treated as what he is, that is, as preeminentlyone of the best citizens of this Republic. Aftertwelve years’ service in the Army, my own beliefis that the man should be given a preference accordingto his ability for certain types of office over allcivilian applicants without examination. Thisshould also apply, of course, to the men who haveserved twelve years in the Navy. A special corpsshould be provided to do the manual labor now necessarilydemanded of the privates themselves.
Among the officers there should be severe examinationsto weed out the unfit up to the grade of major.From that position on appointments should be solelyby selection and it should be understood that a manof merely average capacity could never get beyondthe position of major, while every man who servesin any grade a certain length of time prior to promotionto the next grade without getting the promotion tothe next grade should be forthwith retired. Thepractice marches and field maneuvers of the last twoor three years have been invaluable to the Army.They should be continued and extended. A rigidand not a perfunctory examination of physical capacityhas been provided for the higher grade officers.This will work well. Unless an officer has agood physique, unless he can stand hardship, ride well,and walk fairly, he is not fit for any position, evenafter he has become a colonel. Before he hasbecome a colonel the need for physical fitness inthe officers is almost as great as in the enlistedman. I hope speedily to see introduced into theArmy a far more rigid and thoroughgoing test of horsemanshipfor all field officers than at present. Thereshould be a Chief of Cavalry just as there is a Chiefof Artillery.
Perhaps the most important of all legislation neededfor the benefit of the Army is a law to equalize andincrease the pay of officers and enlisted men of theArmy, Navy, Marine Corps, and Revenue-Cutter Service.Such a bill has been prepared, which it is hoped willmeet with your favorable consideration. The nextmost essential measure is to authorize a number ofextra officers as mentioned above. To make theArmy more attractive to enlisted men, it is absolutelyessential to create a service corps, such as existsin nearly every modern army in the world, to do theskilled and unskilled labor, inseparably connectedwith military administration, which is now exacted,without just compensation, of enlisted men who voluntarilyentered the Army to do service of an altogether differentkind. There are a number of other laws necessaryto so organize the Army as to promote its efficiencyand facilitate its rapid expansion in time of war;but the above are the most important.
It was hoped The Hague Conference might deal withthe question of the limitation of armaments.But even before it had assembled informal inquirieshad developed that as regards naval armaments, theonly ones in which this country had any interest,it was hopeless to try to devise any plan for whichthere was the slightest possibility of securing theassent of the nations gathered at The Hague. Noplan was even proposed which would have had the assentof more than one first class Power outside of theUnited States. The only plan that seemed at allfeasible, that of limiting the size of battleships,met with no favor at all. It is evident, therefore,that it is folly for this Nation to base any hopeof securing peace on any international agreement as
to the limitations of armaments. Such being thefact it would be most unwise for us to stop the upbuildingof our Navy. To build one battleship of the bestand most advanced type a year would barely keep ourfleet up to its present force. This is not enough.In my judgment, we should this year provide for fourbattleships. But it is idle to build battleshipsunless in addition to providing the men, and the meansfor thorough training, we provide the auxiliaries forthem, unless we provide docks, the coaling stations,the colliers and supply ships that they need.We are extremely deficient in coaling stations anddocks on the Pacific, and this deficiency should notlonger be permitted to exist. Plenty of torpedoboats and destroyers should be built. Both onthe Atlantic and Pacific coasts, fortifications ofthe best type should be provided for all our greatestharbors.We need always to remember that in time of war theNavy is not to be used to defend harbors and sea-coastcities; we should perfect our system of coast fortifications.The only efficient use for the Navy is for offense.The only way in which it can efficiently protect ourown coast against the possible action of a foreignnavy is by destroying that foreign navy. Fordefense against a hostile fleet which actually attacksthem, the coast cities must depend upon their forts,mines, torpedoes, submarines, and torpedo boats anddestroyers. All of these together are efficientfor defensive purposes, but they in no way supplythe place of a thoroughly efficient navy capable ofacting on the offensive; for parrying never yet wona fight. It can only be won by hard hitting,and an aggressive sea-going navy alone can do thishard hitting of the offensive type. But the fortsand the like are necessary so that the Navy may befootloose. In time of war there is sure to bedemand, under pressure, of fright, for the ships tobe scattered so as to defend all kind of ports.Under penalty of terrible disaster, this demand mustbe refused. The ships must be kept together,and their objective made the enemies’ fleet.If fortifications are sufficiently strong, no modernnavy will venture to attack them, so long as the foehas in existence a hostile navy of anything like thesame size or efficiency. But unless there existssuch a navy then the fortifications are powerlessby themselves to secure the victory. For of coursethe mere deficiency means that any resolute enemy canat his leisure combine all his forces upon one pointwith the certainty that he can take it.
Until our battle fleet is much larger than at presentit should never be split into detachments so far apartthat they could not in event of emergency be speedilyunited. Our coast line is on the Pacific justas much as on the Atlantic. The interests ofCalifornia, Oregon, and Washington are as emphaticallythe interests of the whole Union as those of Maineand New York, of Louisiana and Texas. The battle
fleet should now and then be moved to the Pacific,just as at other times it should be kept in the Atlantic.When the Isthmian Canal is built the transit of thebattle fleet from one ocean to the other will be comparativelyeasy. Until it is built I earnestly hope thatthe battle fleet will be thus shifted between thetwo oceans every year or two. The marksmanshipon all our ships has improved phenomenally during thelast five years. Until within the last two orthree years it was not possible to train a battlefleet in squadron maneuvers under service conditions,and it is only during these last two or three yearsthat the training under these conditions has becomereally effective. Another and most necessarystride in advance is now being taken. The battlefleet is about starting by the Straits of Magellanto visit the Pacific coast.. Sixteen battleshipsare going under the command of Rear-Admiral Evans,while eight armored cruisers and two other battleshipswill meet him at San Francisco, whither certain torpedodestroyers are also going. No fleet of such sizehas ever made such a voyage, and it will be of verygreat educational use to all engaged in it. Theonly way by which to teach officers and men how tohandle the fleet so as to meet every possible strainand emergency in time of war is to have them practiceunder similar conditions in time of peace. Moreover,the only way to find out our actual needs is to performin time of peace whatever maneuvers might be necessaryin time of war. After war is declared it is toolate to find out the needs; that means to invite disaster.This trip to the Pacific will show what some of ourneeds are and will enable us to provide for them.The proper place for an officer to learn his dutyis at sea, and the only way in which a navy can everbe made efficient is by practice at sea, under allthe conditions which would have to be met if war existed.I bespeak the most liberal treatment for the officersand enlisted men of the Navy. It is true of them,as likewise of the officers and enlisted men of theArmy, that they form a body whose interests shouldbe close to the heart of every good American.In return the most rigid performance of duty shouldbe exacted from them. The reward should be amplewhen they do their best; and nothing less than theirbest should be tolerated. It is idle to hopefor the best results when the men in the senior gradescome to those grades late in life and serve too shorta time in them. Up to the rank of lieutenant-commanderpromotion in the Navy should be as now, by seniority,subject, however, to such rigid tests as would eliminatethe unfit. After the grade of lieutenant-commander,that is, when we come to the grade of command rank,the unfit should be eliminated in such manner thatonly the conspicuously fit would remain, and sea serviceshould be a principal test of fitness. Thosewho are passed by should, after a certain length ofservice in their respective grades, be retired.
Of a given number of men it may well be that almostall would make good lieutenants and most of them goodlieutenant-commanders, while only a minority be fitto be captains, and but three or four to be admirals.Those who object to promotion otherwise than by mereseniority should reflect upon the elementary factthat no business in private life could be successfullymanaged if those who enter at the lowest rungs of theladder should each in turn, if he lived, become thehead of the firm, its active director, and retireafter he had held the position a few months. Onits face such a scheme is an absurdity. Chancesfor improper favoritism can be minimized by a properlyformed board; such as the board of last June, whichdid such conscientious and excellent work in elimination.If all that ought to be done can not now be done,at least let a beginning be made. In my lastthree annual Messages, and in a special Message tothe last Congress, the necessity for legislation thatwill cause officers of the line of the Navy to reachthe grades of captain and rear-admiral at less advancedages and which will cause them to have more sea trainingand experience in the highly responsible duties ofthose grades, so that they may become thoroughly skillfulin handling battleships, divisions, squadrons, andfleets in action, has been fully explained and urgentlyrecommended. Upon this subject the Secretaryof the Navy has submitted detailed and definite recommendationswhich have received my approval, and which, if enactedinto law, will accomplish what is immediately necessary,and will, as compared with existing law, make a savingof more than five millions of dollars during the nextseven years. The navy personnel act of 1899 hasaccomplished all that was expected of it in providingsatisfactory periods of service in the several subordinategrades, from the grade of ensign to the grade of lieutenant-commander,but the law is inadequate in the upper grades andwill continue to be inadequate on account of the expansionof the personnel since its enactment. Your attentionis invited to the following quotations from the reportof the personnel board of 1906, of which the AssistantSecretary of the Navy was president:
“Congress has authorized a considerable increasein the number of midshipmen at the Naval Academy,and these midshipmen upon graduation are promotedto ensign and lieutenant (junior-grade). But noprovision has been made for a corresponding increasein the upper grades, the result being that the lowergrades will become so congested that a midshipmannow in one of the lowest classes at Annapolis may possiblynot be promoted to lieutenant until he is between 45and 50 years of age. So it will continue underthe present law, congesting at the top and congestingat the bottom. The country fails to get from theofficers of the service the best that is in them bynot providing opportunity for their normal developmentand training. The board believes that this worksa serious detriment to the efficiency of the Navyand is a real menace to the public safety.”
As stated in my special Message to the last Congress:“I am firmly of the opinion that unless thepresent conditions of the higher commissioned personnelis rectified by judicious legislation the future ofour Navy will be gravely compromised.” Itis also urgently necessary to increase the efficiencyof the Medical Corps of the Navy. Special legislationto this end has already been proposed; and I trustit may be enacted without delay.
It must be remembered that everything done in theNavy to fit it to do well in time of war must be donein time of peace. Modern wars are short; theydo not last the length of time requisite to build abattleship; and it takes longer to train the officersand men to do well on a battleship than it takes tobuild it. Nothing effective can be done for theNavy once war has begun, and the result of the war,if the combatants are otherwise equally matched, willdepend upon which power has prepared best in timeof peace. The United States Navy is the bestguaranty the Nation has that its honor and interestwill not be neglected; and in addition it offers byfar the best insurance for peace that can by humaningenuity be devised.
I call attention to the report of the official Boardof Visitors to the Naval Academy at Annapolis whichhas been forwarded to the Congress. The reportcontains this paragraph:
“Such revision should be made of the coursesof study and methods of conducting and marking examinationsas will develop and bring out the average all-roundability of the midshipman rather than to give himprominence in any one particular study. The factshould be kept in mind that the Naval Academy is nota university but a school, the primary object of whichis to educate boys to be efficient naval officers.Changes in curriculum, therefore, should be in thedirection of making the course of instruction lesstheoretical and more practical. No portion ofany future class should be graduated in advance ofthe full four years’ course, and under no circ*mstancesshould the standard of instruction be lowered.The Academy in almost all of its departments is nowmagnificently equipped, and it would be very unwiseto make the course of instruction less exacting thanit is to-day.”
Acting upon this suggestion I designated three seagoingofficers, Capt. Richard Wainwright, CommanderRobert S. Griffin, and Lieut. Commander AlbertL. Key, all graduates of the Academy, to investigateconditions and to recommend to me the best methodof carrying into effect this general recommendation.These officers performed the duty promptly and intelligently,and, under the personal direction of Capt. CharlesJ. Badger, Superintendent of the Academy, such ofthe proposed changes as were deemed to be at presentadvisable were put into effect at the beginning ofthe academic year, October 1, last. The results,I am confident, will be most beneficial to the Academy,to the midshipmen, and to the Navy.
In foreign affairs this country’s steady policyis to behave toward other nations as a strong andself-respecting man should behave toward the othermen with whom he is brought into contact. In otherwords, our aim is disinterestedly to help other nationswhere such help can be wisely given without the appearanceof meddling with what does not concern us; to be carefulto act as a good neighbor; and at the same time, ingood-natured fashion, to make it evident that we donot intend to be imposed upon.
The Second International Peace Conference was convenedat The Hague on the 15th of June last and remainedin session until the 18th of October. For thefirst time the representatives of practically all thecivilized countries of the world united in a temperateand kindly discussion of the methods by which thecauses of war might be narrowed and its injuriouseffects reduced.
Although the agreements reached in the Conferencedid not in any direction go to the length hoped forby the more sanguine, yet in many directions importantsteps were taken, and upon every subject on the programmethere was such full and considerate discussion as tojustify the belief that substantial progress has beenmade toward further agreements in the future.Thirteen conventions were agreed upon embodying thedefinite conclusions which had been reached, and resolutionswere adopted marking the progress made in matters uponwhich agreement was not yet sufficiently complete tomake conventions practicable.
The delegates of the United States were instructedto favor an agreement for obligatory arbitration,the establishment of a permanent court of arbitrationto proceed judicially in the hearing and decisionof international causes, the prohibition of force forthe collection of contract debts alleged to be duefrom governments to citizens of other countries untilafter arbitration as to the justice and amount of thedebt and the time and manner of payment, the immunityof private property at sea, the better definitionof the rights of neutrals, and, in case any measureto that end should be introduced, the limitation ofarmaments.
In the field of peaceful disposal of internationaldifferences several important advances were made.First, as to obligatory arbitration. Althoughthe Conference failed to secure a unanimous agreementupon the details of a convention for obligatory arbitration,it did resolve as follows;
“It is unanimous: (1) In accepting theprinciple for obligatory arbitration; (2) In declaringthat certain differences, and notably those relatingto the interpretation and application of internationalconventional stipulations are susceptible of beingsubmitted to obligatory arbitration without any restriction.”
In view of the fact that as a result of the discussionthe vote upon the definite treaty of obligatory arbitration,which was proposed, stood 32 in favor to 9 againstthe adoption of the treaty, there can be little doubtthat the great majority of the countries of the worldhave reached a point where they are now ready to applypractically the principles thus unanimously agreedupon by the Conference.
The second advance, and a very great one, is the agreementwhich relates to the use of force for the collectionof contract debts. Your attention is invitedto the paragraphs upon this subject in my Messageof December, 1906, and to the resolution of the ThirdAmerican Conference at Rio in the summer of 1906.The convention upon this subject adopted by the Conferencesubstantially as proposed by the American delegatesis as follows:
“In order to avoid between nations armed conflictsof a purely pecuniary origin arising from contractualdebts claimed of the government of one country bythe government of another country to be due to itsnationals, the signatory Powers agree not to have recourseto armed force for the collection of such contractualdebts.
“However, this stipulation shall not be applicablewhen the debtor State refuses or leaves unansweredan offer to arbitrate, or, in case of acceptance,makes it impossible to formulate the terms of submission,or, after arbitration, fails to comply with the awardrendered.
“It is further agreed that arbitration herecontemplated shall be in conformity, as to procedure,with Chapter III of the Convention for the PacificSettlement of International Disputes adopted at TheHague, and that it shall determine, in so far as thereshall be no agreement between the parties, the justiceand the amount of the debt, the time and mode of paymentthereof.”
Such a provision would have prevented much injusticeand extortion in the past, and I cannot doubt thatit* effect in the future will be most salutary.
A third advance has been made in amending and perfectingthe convention of 1899 for the voluntary settlementof international disputes, and particularly the extensionof those parts of that convention which relate tocommissions of inquiry. The existence of thoseprovisions enabled the Governments of Great Britainand Russia to avoid war, notwithstanding great publicexcitement, at the time of the Dogger Bank incident,and the new convention agreed upon by the Conferencegives practical effect to the experience gained inthat inquiry.
Substantial progress was also made towards the creationof a permanent judicial tribunal for the determinationof international causes. There was very fulldiscussion of the proposal for such a court and a generalagreement was finally reached in favor of its creation.The Conference recommended to the signatory Powersthe adoption of a draft upon which it agreed for theorganization of the court, leaving to be determinedonly the method by which the judges should be selected.This remaining unsettled question is plainly one whichtime and good temper will solve.
A further agreement of the first importance was thatfor the creation of an international prize court.The constitution, organization and procedure of sucha tribunal were provided for in detail. Anyonewho recalls the injustices under which this countrysuffered as a neutral power during the early partof the last century can not fail to see in this provisionfor an international prize court the great advancewhich the world is making towards the substitutionof the rule of reason and justice in place of simpleforce. Not only will the international prizecourt be the means of protecting the interests of neutrals,but it is in itself a step towards the creation ofthe more general court for the hearing of internationalcontroversies to which reference has just been made.The organization and action of such a prize court cannot fail to accustom the different countries to thesubmission of international questions to the decisionof an international tribunal, and we may confidentlyexpect the results of such submission to bring abouta general agreement upon the enlargement of the practice.
Numerous provisions were adopted for reducing theevil effects of war and for defining the rights andduties of neutrals.
The Conference also provided for the holding of athird Conference within a period similar to that whichelapsed between the First and Second Conferences.
The delegates of the United States worthily representedthe spirit of the American people and maintained withfidelity and ability the policy of our Governmentupon all the great questions discussed in the Conference.
The report of the delegation, together with authenticatedcopies of the conventions signed, when received, willbe laid before the Senate for its consideration.
When we remember how difficult it is for one of ourown legislative bodies, composed of citizens of thesame country, speaking the same language, living underthe same laws, and having the same customs, to reachan agreement, or even to secure a majority upon anydifficult and important subject which is proposedfor legislation, it becomes plain that the representativesof forty-five different countries, speaking many differentlanguages, accustomed to different methods of procedure,with widely diverse interests, who discussed so manydifferent subjects and reached agreements upon somany, are entitled to grateful appreciation for thewisdom, patience, and moderation with which they havedischarged their duty. The example of this temperatediscussion, and the agreements and the efforts toagree, among representatives of all the nations ofthe earth, acting with universal recognition of thesupreme obligation to promote peace, can not fail tobe a powerful influence for good in future internationalrelations.
A year ago in consequence of a revolutionary movementin Cuba which threatened the immediate return to chaosof the island, the United States intervened, sendingdown an army and establishing a provisional governmentunder Governor Magoon. Absolute quiet and prosperityhave returned to the island because of this action.We are now taking steps to provide for elections inthe island and our expectation is within the comingyear to be able to turn the island over again to governmentchosen by the people thereof. Cuba is at our doors.It is not possible that this Nation should permitCuba again to sink into the condition from which werescued it. All that we ask of the Cuban peopleis that they be prosperous, that they govern themselvesso as to bring content, order and progress to theirisland, the Queen of the Antilles; and our only interferencehas been and will be to help them achieve these results.
An invitation has been extended by Japan to the Governmentand people of the United States to participate ina great national exposition to be held at Tokyo fromApril 1 to October 31, 1912, and in which the principalcountries of the world are to be invited to take part.This is an occasion of special interest to all thenations of the world, and peculiarly so to us; forit is the first instance in which such a great nationalexposition has been held by a great power dwellingon the Pacific; and all the nations of Europe andAmerica will, I trust, join in helping to successthis first great exposition ever held by a great nationof Asia. The geographical relations of Japan andthe United States as the possessors of such largeportions of the coasts of the Pacific, the intimatetrade relations already existing between the two countries,the warm friendship which has been maintained betweenthem without break since the opening of Japan to intercoursewith the western nations, and her increasing wealthand production, which we regard with hearty goodwilland wish to make the occasion of mutually beneficialcommerce, all unite in making it eminently desirablethat this invitation should be accepted. I heartilyrecommend such legislation as will provide in generousfashion for the representation of this Governmentand its people in the proposed exposition. Actionshould be taken now. We are apt to underestimatethe time necessary for preparation in such cases.The invitation to the French Exposition of 1900 wasbrought to the attention of the Congress by PresidentCleveland in December, 1895; and so many are the delaysnecessary to such proceedings that the period of fontyears and a half which then intervened before theexposition proved none too long for the proper preparationof the exhibits.
The adoption of a new tariff by Germany, accompaniedby conventions for reciprocal tariff concessions betweenthat country and most of the other countries of continentalEurope, led the German Government to give the noticenecessary to terminate the reciprocal commercial agreementwith this country proclaimed July 13, 1900. Thenotice was to take effect on the 1st of March, 1906,and in default of some other arrangements this wouldhave left the exports from the United States to Germanysubject to the general German tariff duties, from 25to 50 per cent higher than the conventional dutiesimposed upon the goods of most of our competitorsfor German trade.
Under a special agreement made between the two Governmentsin February, 1906, the German Government postponedthe operation of their notice until the 30th of June,1907. In the meantime, deeming it to be my dutyto make every possible effort to prevent a tariff warbetween the United States and Germany arising frommisunderstanding by either country of the conditionsexisting in the other, and acting upon the invitationof the German Government, I sent to Berlin a commissioncomposed of competent experts in the operation andadministration of the customs tariff, from the Departmentsof the Treasury and Commerce and Labor. Thiscommission was engaged for several mouths in conferencewith a similar commission appointed by the German Government,under instructions, so far as practicable, to reacha common understanding as to all the facts regardingthe tariffs of the United States and Germany materialand relevant to the trade relations between the twocountries. The commission reported, and uponthe basis of the report, a further temporary commercialagreement was entered into by the two countries, pursuantto which, in the exercise of the authority conferredupon the President by the third section of the tariffact of July 24, 1897, I extended the reduced tariffrates provided for in that section to champagne andall other sparkling wines, and pursuant to which theGerman conventional or minimum tariff rates were extendedto about 96 1/2 per cent of all the exports from theUnited States to Germany. This agreement is toremain in force until the 30th of June, 1908, and untilsix months after notice by either party to terminateit.
The agreement and the report of the commission onwhich it is based will be laid before the Congressfor its information.
This careful examination into the tariff relationsbetween the United States and Germany involved aninquiry into certain of our methods of administrationwhich had been the cause of much complaint on the partof German exporters. In this inquiry I becamesatisfied that certain vicious and unjustifiable practiceshad grown up in our customs administration, notablythe practice of determining values of imports upondetective reports never disclosed to the persons whoseinterests were affected. The use of detectives,though often necessary, tends towards abuse, and shouldbe carefully guarded. Under our practice as Ifound it to exist in this case, the abuse had becomegross and discreditable. Under it, instead ofseeking information as to the market value of merchandisefrom the well-known and respected members of the commercialcommunity in the country of its production, secretstatements were obtained from informers and dischargedemployees and business rivals, and upon this kindof secret evidence the values of imported goods werefrequently raised and heavy penalties were frequentlyimposed upon importers who were never permitted toknow what the evidence was and who never had an opportunity
to meet it. It is quite probable that this systemtended towards an increase of the duties collectedupon imported goods, but I conceive it to be a violationof law to exact more duties than the law provides,just as it is a violation to admit goods upon thepayment of less than the legal rate of duty.This practice was repugnant to the spirit of Americanlaw and to American sense of justice. In thejudgment of the most competent experts of the TreasuryDepartment and the Department of Commerce and Laborit was wholly unnecessary for the due collection ofthe customs revenues, and the attempt to defend itmerely illustrates the demoralization which naturallyfollows from a long continued course of reliance uponsuch methods. I accordingly caused the regulationsgoverning this branch of the customs service to bemodified so that values are determined upon a hearingin which all the parties interested have an opportunityto be heard and to know the evidence against them.Moreover our Treasury agents are accredited to thegovernment of the country in which they seek information,and in Germany receive the assistance of the quasi-officialchambers of commerce in determining the actual marketvalue of goods, in accordance with what I am advisedto be the true construction of the law.These changes of regulations were adapted to the removalof such manifest abuses that I have not felt thatthey ought to be confined to our relations with Germany;and I have extended their operation to all other countrieswhich have expressed a desire to enter into similaradministrative relations.
I ask for authority to reform the agreement with Chinaunder which the indemnity of 1900 was fixed, by remittingand cancelling the obligation of China for the paymentof all that part of the stipulated indemnity whichis in excess of the sum of eleven million, six hundredand fifty-five thousand, four hundred and ninety-twodollars and sixty-nine cents, and interest at fourper cent. After the rescue of the foreign legationsin Peking during the Boxer troubles in 1900 the Powersrequired from China the payment of equitable indemnitiesto the several nations, and the final protocol underwhich the troops were withdrawn, signed at Peking,September 7, 1901, fixed the amount of this indemnityallotted to the United States at over $20,000,000,and China paid, up to and including the 1st day ofJune last, a little over $6,000,000. It was thefirst intention of this Government at the proper time,when all claims had been presented and all expensesascertained as fully as possible, to revise the estimatesand account, and as a proof of sincere friendshipfor China voluntarily to release that country fromits legal liability for all payments in excess of thesum which should prove to be necessary for actualindemnity to the United States and its citizens.
This Nation should help in every practicable way inthe education of the Chinese people, so that the vastand populous Empire of China may gradually adapt itselfto modern conditions. One way of doing this isby promoting the coming of Chinese students to thiscountry and making it attractive to them to take coursesat our universities and higher educational institutions.Our educators should, so far as possible, take concertedaction toward this end.
On the courteous invitation of the President of Mexico,the Secretary of State visited that country in Septemberand October and was received everywhere with the greatestkindness and hospitality.
He carried from the Government of the United Statesto our southern neighbor a message of respect andgood will and of desire for better acquaintance andincreasing friendship. The response from theGovernment and the people of Mexico was hearty andsincere. No pains were spared to manifest themost friendly attitude and feeling toward the UnitedStates.
In view of the close neighborhood of the two countriesthe relations which exist between Mexico and the UnitedStates are just cause for gratification. We havea common boundary of over 1,500 miles from the Gulfof Mexico to the Pacific. Much of it is markedonly by the shifting waters of the Rio Grande.Many thousands of Mexicans are residing upon our sideof the line and it is estimated that over 40,000 Americansare resident in Mexican territory and that Americaninvestments in Mexico amount to over seven hundredmillion dollars. The extraordinary industrialand commercial prosperity of Mexico has been greatlypromoted by American enterprise, and Americans aresharing largely in its results. The foreign tradeof the Republic already exceeds $240,000,000 per annum,and of this two-thirds both of exports and importsare exchanged with the United States. Under thesecirc*mstances numerous questions necessarily arisebetween the two countries. These questions arealways approached and disposed of in a spirit of mutualcourtesy and fair dealing. Americans carryingon business in Mexico testify uniformly to the kindnessand consideration with which they are treated andtheir sense of the security of their property andenterprises under the wise administration of the greatstatesman who has so long held the office of ChiefMagistrate of that Republic.
The two Governments have been uniting their effortsfor a considerable time past to aid Central Americain attaining the degree of peace and order which havemade possible the prosperity of the northern portsof the Continent. After the peace between Guatemala,Honduras, and Salvador, celebrated under the circ*mstancesdescribed in my last Message, a new war broke outbetween the Republics of Nicaragua, Honduras, andSalvador. The effort to compose this new difficultyhas resulted in the acceptance of the joint suggestionof the Presidents of Mexico and of the United Statesfor a general peace conference between all the countriesof Central America. On the 17th day of Septemberlast a protocol was signed between the representativesof the five Central American countries accreditedto this Government agreeing upon a conference to beheld in the City of Washington “in order to devisethe means of preserving the good relations among saidRepublics and bringing about permanent peace in thosecountries.” The protocol includes the expressionof a wish that the Presidents of the United Statesand Mexico should appoint “representatives tolend their good and impartial offices in a purelyfriendly way toward the realization of the objectsof the conference.” The conference is nowin session and will have our best wishes and, whereit is practicable, our friendly assistance.
One of the results of the Pan American Conferenceat Rio Janeiro in the summer of 1906 has been a greatincrease in the activity and usefulness of the InternationalBureau of American Republics. That institution,which includes all the American Republics in its membershipand brings all their representatives together, isdoing a really valuable work in informing the peopleof the United States about the other Republics andin making the United States known to them. Itsaction is now limited by appropriations determinedwhen it was doing a work on a much smaller scale andrendering much less valuable service. I recommendthat the contribution of this Government to the expensesof the Bureau be made commensurate with its increasedwork.
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State of the Union Address
Theodore Roosevelt
December 8, 1908
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
Finances.
The financial standing of the Nation at the presenttime is excellent, and the financial management ofthe Nation’s interests by the Government duringthe last seven years has shown the most satisfactoryresults. But our currency system is imperfect,and it is earnestly to be hoped that the CurrencyCommission will be able to propose a thoroughly goodsystem which will do away with the existing defects.
During the period from July 1, 1901, to September30, 1908, there was an increase in the amount of moneyin circulation of $902,991,399. The increasein the per capita during this period was $7.06.Within this time there were several occasions whenit was necessary for the Treasury Department to cometo the relief of the money market by purchases orredemptions of United States bonds; by increasing depositsin national banks; by stimulating additional issuesof national bank notes, and by facilitating importationsfrom abroad of gold. Our imperfect currency systemhas made these proceedings necessary, and they wereeffective until the monetary disturbance in the fallof 1907 immensely increased the difficulty of ordinarymethods of relief. By the middle of Novemberthe available working balance in the Treasury hadbeen reduced to approximately $5,000,000. Clearinghouse associations throughout the country had beenobliged to resort to the expedient of issuing clearinghouse certificates, to be used as money. In thisemergency it was determined to invite subscriptionsfor $50,000,000 Panama Canal bonds, and $100,000,000three per cent certificates of indebtedness authorizedby the act of June 13, 1898. It was proposedto re-deposit in the national banks the proceeds ofthese issues, and to permit their use as a basis foradditional circulating notes of national banks.The moral effect of this procedure was so great thatit was necessary to issue only $24,631,980 of the PanamaCanal bonds and $15,436,500 of the certificates ofindebtedness.
During the period from July 1, 1901, to September30, 1908, the balance between the net ordinary receiptsand the net ordinary expenses of the Government showeda surplus in the four years 1902, 1903, 1906 and 1907,and a deficit in the years 1904, 1905, 1908 and a fractionalpart of the fiscal year 1909. The net resultwas a surplus of $99,283,413.54. The financialoperations of the Government during this period, basedupon these differences between receipts and expenditures,resulted in a net reduction of the interest-bearingdebt of the United States from $987,141,040 to $897,253,990,notwithstanding that there had been two sales of PanamaCanal bonds amounting in the aggregate to $54,631,980,and an issue of three per cent certificates of indebtednessunder the act of June 13, 1998, amounting to $15,436,500.Refunding operations of the Treasury Department underthe act of March 14, 1900, resulted in the conversioninto two per cent consols of 1930 of $200,309,400bonds bearing higher rates of interest. A decreaseof $8,687,956 in the annual interest charge resultedfrom these operations.
In short, during the seven years and three monthsthere has been a net surplus of nearly one hundredmillions of receipts over expenditures, a reductionof the interest-bearing debt by ninety millions, inspite of the extraordinary expense of the Panama Canal,and a saving of nearly nine millions on the annualinterest charge. This is an exceedingly satisfactoryshowing, especially in view of the fact that duringthis period the Nation has never hesitated to undertakeany expenditure that it regarded as necessary.There have been no new taxes and no increase of taxes;on the contrary, some taxes have been taken off; therehas been a reduction of taxation.
Corporations.
As regards the great corporations engaged in interstatebusiness, and especially the railroad, I can onlyrepeat what I have already again and again said inmy messages to the Congress, I believe that under theinterstate clause of the Constitution the United Stateshas complete and paramount right to control all agenciesof interstate commerce, and I believe that the NationalGovernment alone can exercise this right with wisdomand effectiveness so as both to secure justice from,and to do justice to, the great corporations whichare the most important factors in modern business.I believe that it is worse than folly to attempt toprohibit all combinations as is done by the Shermananti-trust law, because such a law can be enforcedonly imperfectly and unequally, and its enforcementworks almost as much hardship as good. I stronglyadvocate that instead of an unwise effort to prohibitall combinations there shall be substituted a lawwhich shall expressly permit combinations which arein the interest of the public, but shall at the sametime give to some agency of the National Governmentfull power of control and supervision over them.One of the chief features of this control should besecuring entire publicity in all matters which thepublic has a right to know, and furthermore, the power,not by judicial but by executive action, to preventor put a stop to every form of improper favoritismor other wrongdoing.
The railways of the country should be put completelyunder the Interstate Commerce Commission and removedfrom the domain of the anti-trust law. The powerof the Commission should be made thoroughgoing, sothat it could exercise complete supervision and controlover the issue of securities as well as over the raisingand lowering of rates. As regards rates, at least,this power should be summary. The power to investigatethe financial operations and accounts of the railwayshas been one of the most valuable features in recentlegislation. Power to make combinations and trafficagreements should be explicitly conferred upon therailroads, the permission of the Commission beingfirst gained and the combination or agreement beingpublished in all its details. In the interestof the public the representatives of the public shouldhave complete power to see that the railroads do theirduty by the public, and as a matter of course thispower should also be exercised so as to see that noinjustice is done to the railroads. The shareholders,the employees and the shippers all have intereststhat must be guarded. It is to the interest ofall of them that no swindling stock speculation shouldbe allowed, and that there should be no improper issuanceof securities. The guiding intelligences necessaryfor the successful building and successful managementof railroads should receive ample remuneration; butno man should be allowed to make money in connectionwith railroads out of fraudulent over-capitalizationand kindred stock-gambling performances; there mustbe no defrauding of investors, oppression of the farmersand business men who ship freight, or callous disregardof the rights and needs of the employees. Inaddition to this the interests of the shareholders,of the employees, and of the shippers should all beguarded as against one another. To give any oneof them undue and improper consideration is to doinjustice to the others. Rates must be made aslow as is compatible with giving proper returns toall the employees of the railroad, from the highestto the lowest, and proper returns to the shareholders;but they must not, for instance, be reduced in suchfashion as to necessitate a cut in the wages of theemployees or the abolition of the proper and legitimateprofits of honest shareholders.
Telegraph and telephone companies engaged in interstatebusiness should be put under the jurisdiction of theInterstate Commerce Commission.
It is very earnestly to be wished that our people,through their representatives, should act in thismatter. It is hard to say whether most damageto the country at large would come from entire failureon the part of the public to supervise and controlthe actions of the great corporations, or from theexercise of the necessary governmental power in away which would do injustice and wrong to the corporations.Both the preachers of an unrestricted individualism,and the preachers of an oppression which would deny
to able men of business the just reward of their initiativeand business sagacity, are advocating policies thatwould be fraught with the gravest harm to the wholecountry. To permit every lawless capitalist, everylaw-defying corporation, to take any action, no matterhow iniquitous, in the effort to secure an improperprofit and to build up privilege, would be ruinousto the Republic and would mark the abandonment of theeffort to secure in the industrial world the spiritof democratic fair dealing. On the other hand,to attack these wrongs in that spirit of demagogywhich can see wrong only when committed by the manof wealth, and is dumb and blind in the presence ofwrong committed against men of property or by menof no property, is exactly as evil as corruptly todefend the wrongdoing of men of wealth. The warwe wage must be waged against misconduct, againstwrongdoing wherever it is found; and we must standheartily for the rights of every decent man, whetherhe be a man of great wealth or a man who earns hislivelihood as a wage-worker or a tiller of the soil.It is to the interest of all of us that there shouldbe a premium put upon individual initiative and individualcapacity, and an ample reward for the great directingintelligences alone competent to manage the greatbusiness operations of to-day. It is well to keepin mind that exactly as the anarchist is the worstenemy of liberty and the reactionary the worst enemyof order, so the men who defend the rights of propertyhave most to fear from the wrongdoers of great wealth,and the men who are championing popular rights havemost to fear from the demagogues who in the name ofpopular rights would do wrong to and oppress honestbusiness men, honest men of wealth; for the successof either type of wrongdoer necessarily invites aviolent reaction against the cause the wrongdoer nominallyupholds. In point of danger to the Nation thereis nothing to choose between on the one hand the corruptionist,the bribe-giver, the bribe-taker, the man who employshis great talent to swindle his fellow-citizens ona large scale, and, on the other hand, the preacherof class hatred, the man who, whether from ignoranceor from willingness to sacrifice his country to hisambition, persuades well-meaning but wrong-headed mento try to destroy the instruments upon which our prosperitymainly rests. Let each group of men beware ofand guard against the shortcomings to which that groupis itself most liable. Too often we see the businesscommunity in a spirit of unhealthy class consciousnessdeplore the effort to hold to account under the lawthe wealthy men who in their management of great corporations,whether railroads, street railways, or other industrialenterprises, have behaved in a way that revolts theconscience of the plain, decent people. Suchan attitude can not be condemned too severely, formen of property should recognize that they jeopardizethe rights of property when they fail heartily to
join in the effort to do away with the abuses of wealth.On the other hand, those who advocate proper controlon behalf of the public, through the State, of thesegreat corporations, and of the wealth engaged on agiant scale in business operations, must ever keepin mind that unless they do scrupulous justice tothe corporation, unless they permit ample profit,and cordially encourage capable men of business solong as they act with honesty, they are striking atthe root of our national well-being; for in the longrun, under the mere pressure of material distress,the people as a whole would probably go back to thereign of an unrestricted individualism rather thansubmit to a control by the State so drastic and sofoolish, conceived in a spirit of such unreasonableand narrow hostility to wealth, as to prevent businessoperations from being profitable, and therefore tobring ruin upon the entire business community, andultimately upon the entire body of citizens.The opposition to Government control of these greatcorporations makes its most effective effort in theshape of an appeal to the old doctrine of State’srights. Of course there are many sincere men whonow believe in unrestricted individualism in business,just as there were formerly many sincere men who believedin slavery—that is, in the unrestrictedright of an individual to own another individual.These men do not by themselves have great weight,however. The effective fight against adequateGovernment control and supervision of individual, andespecially of corporate, wealth engaged in interstatebusiness is chiefly done under cover; and especiallyunder cover of an appeal to State’s rights.It is not at all infrequent to read in the same speecha denunciation of predatory wealth fostered by specialprivilege and defiant of both the public welfare andlaw of the land, and a denunciation of centralizationin the Central Government of the power to deal withthis centralized and organized wealth. Of coursethe policy set forth in such twin denunciations amountsto absolutely nothing, for the first half is nullifiedby the second half. The chief reason, among themany sound and compelling reasons, that led to theformation of the National Government was the absoluteneed that the Union, and not the several States, shoulddeal with interstate and foreign commerce; and thepower to deal with interstate commerce was grantedabsolutely and plenarily to the Central Governmentand was exercised completely as regards the only instrumentsof interstate commerce known in those days—thewaterways, the highroads, as well as the partnershipsof individuals who then conducted all of what businessthere was. Interstate commerce is now chieflyconducted by railroads; and the great corporationhas supplanted the mass of small partnerships or individuals.The proposal to make the National Government supremeover, and therefore to give it complete control over,the railroads and other instruments of interstate
commerce is merely a proposal to carry out to theletter one of the prime purposes, if not the primepurpose, for which the Constitution was rounded.It does not represent centralization. It representsmerely the acknowledgment of the patent fact thatcentralization has already come in business. Ifthis irresponsible outside business power is to becontrolled in the interest of the general public itcan only be controlled in one way—by givingadequate power of control to the one sovereignty capableof exercising such power—the National Government.Forty or fifty separate state governments can notexercise that power over corporations doing businessin most or all of them; first, because they absolutelylack the authority to deal with interstate businessin any form; and second, because of the inevitableconflict of authority sure to arise in the effortto enforce different kinds of state regulation, ofteninconsistent with one another and sometimes oppressivein themselves. Such divided authority can notregulate commerce with wisdom and effect. TheCentral Government is the only power which, withoutoppression, can nevertheless thoroughly and adequatelycontrol and supervise the large corporations.To abandon the effort for National control means toabandon the effort for all adequate control and yetto render likely continual bursts of action by Statelegislatures, which can not achieve the purpose soughtfor, but which can do a great deal of damage to thecorporation without conferring any real benefit onthe public.I believe that the more farsighted corporations arethemselves coming to recognize the unwisdom of theviolent hostility they have displayed during the lastfew years to regulation and control by the NationalGovernment of combinations engaged in interstate business.The truth is that we who believe in this movementof asserting and exercising a genuine control, inthe public interest, over these great corporationshave to contend against two sets of enemies, who, thoughnominally opposed to one another, are really alliesin preventing a proper solution of the problem.There are, first, the big corporation men, and theextreme individualists among business men, who genuinelybelieve in utterly unregulated business that is, inthe reign of plutocracy; and, second, the men who,being blind to the economic movements of the day,believe in a movement of repression rather than ofregulation of corporations, and who denounce boththe power of the railroads and the exercise of theFederal power which alone can really control the railroads.Those who believe in efficient national control, onthe other hand, do not in the least object to combinations;do not in the least object to concentration in businessadministration. On the contrary, they favor both,with the all important proviso that there shall besuch publicity about their workings, and such thoroughgoingcontrol over them, as to insure their being in theinterest, and not against the interest, of the general
public. We do not object to the concentrationof wealth and administration; but we do believe inthe distribution of the wealth in profits to the realowners, and in securing to the public the full benefitof the concentrated administration. We believethat with concentration in administration there cancome both be advantage of a larger ownership and ofa more equitable distribution of profits, and at thesame time a better service to the commonwealth.We believe that the administration should be for thebenefit of the many; and that greed and rascality,practiced on a large scale, should be punished asrelentlessly as if practiced on a small scale.We do not for a moment believe that the problem willbe solved by any short and easy method. The solutionwill come only by pressing various concurrent remedies.Some of these remedies must lie outside the domainof all government. Some must lie outside the domainof the Federal Government. But there is legislationwhich the Federal Government alone can enact and whichis absolutely vital in order to secure the attainmentof our purpose. Many laws are needed. Thereshould be regulation by the National Government ofthe great interstate corporations, including a simplemethod of account keeping, publicity, supervisionof the issue securities, abolition of rebates, andof special privileges. There should be shorttime franchises for all corporations engaged in publicbusiness; including the corporations which get powerfrom water rights. There should be National aswell as State guardianship of mines and forests.The labor legislation hereinafter referred to shouldconcurrently be enacted into law.
To accomplish this, means of course a certain increasein the use of—not the creation of—power,by the Central Government. The power alreadyexists; it does not have to be created; the only questionis whether it shall be used or left idle—andmeanwhile the corporations over which the power oughtto be exercised will not remain idle. Let thosewho object to this increase in the use of the onlypower available, the national power, be frank, andadmit openly that they propose to abandon any effortto control the great business corporations and toexercise supervision over the accumulation and distributionof wealth; for such supervision and control can onlycome through this particular kind of increase of power.We no more believe in that empiricism which demand,absolutely unrestrained individualism than we do inthat empiricism which clamors for a deadening socialismwhich would destroy all individual initiative and wouldruin the country with a completeness that not evenan unrestrained individualism itself could achieve.The danger to American democracy lies not in the leastin the concentration of administrative power in responsibleand accountable hands. It lies in having thepower insufficiently concentrated, so that no onecan be held responsible to the people for its use.
Concentrated power is palpable, visible, responsible,easily reached, quickly held to account. Powerscattered through many administrators, many legislators,many men who work behind and through legislators andadministrators, is impalpable, is unseen, is irresponsible,can not be reached, can not be held to account.Democracy is in peril wherever the administration ofpolitical power is scattered among a variety of menwho work in secret, whose very names are unknown tothe common people. It is not in peril from anyman who derives authority from the people, who exercisesit in sight of the people, and who is from time totime compelled to give an account of its exerciseto the people.Labor.
There are many matters affecting labor and the statusof the wage-worker to which I should like to drawyour attention, but an exhaustive discussion of theproblem in all its aspects is not now necessary.This administration is nearing its end; and, moreover,under our form of government the solution of the problemdepends upon the action of the States as much as uponthe action of the Nation. Nevertheless, thereare certain considerations which I wish to set beforeyou, because I hope that our people will more and morekeep them in mind. A blind and ignorant resistanceto every effort for the reform of abuses and for thereadjustment of society to modern industrial conditionsrepresents not true conservatism, but an incitementto the wildest radicalism; for wise radicalism andwise conservatism go hand in hand, one bent on progress,the other bent on seeing that no change is made unlessin the right direction. I believe in a steadyeffort, or perhaps it would be more accurate to sayin steady efforts in many different directions, tobring about a condition of affairs under which themen who work with hand or with brain, the laborers,the superintendents, the men who produce for the marketand the men who find a market for the articles produced,shall own a far greater share than at present of thewealth they produce, and be enabled to invest it inthe tools and instruments by which all work is carriedon. As far as possible I hope to see a frankrecognition of the advantages conferred by machinery,organization, and division of labor, accompanied byan effort to bring about a larger share in the ownershipby wage-worker of railway, mill and factory.In farming, this simply means that we wish to seethe farmer own his own land; we do not wish to seethe farms so large that they become the property ofabsentee landlords who farm them by tenants, nor yetso small that the farmer becomes like a European peasant.Again, the depositors in our savings banks now numberover one-tenth of our entire population. Theseare all capitalists, who through the savings banksloan their money to the workers—that is,in many cases to themselves—to carry ontheir various industries. The more we increasetheir number, the more we introduce the principles
of cooperation into our industry. Every increasein the number of small stockholders in corporationsis a good thing, for the same reasons; and where theemployees are the stockholders the result is particularlygood. Very much of this movement must be outsideof anything that can be accomplished by legislation;but legislation can do a good deal. Postal savingsbanks will make it easy for the poorest to keep theirsavings in absolute safety. The regulation ofthe national highways must be such that they shallserve all people with equal justice. Corporatefinances must be supervised so as to make it far saferthan at present for the man of small means to investhis money in stocks. There must be prohibitionof child labor, diminution of woman labor, shorteningof hours of all mechanical labor; stock watering shouldbe prohibited, and stock gambling so far as is possiblediscouraged. There should be a progressive inheritancetax on large fortunes. Industrial education shouldbe encouraged. As far as possible we should lightenthe burden of taxation on the small man. We shouldput a premium upon thrift, hard work, and businessenergy; but these qualities cease to be the main factorsin accumulating a fortune long before that fortunereaches a point where it would be seriously affectedby any inheritance tax such as I propose. Itis eminently right that the Nation should fix theterms upon which the great fortunes are inherited.They rarely do good and they often do harm to thosewho inherit them in their entirety.Protection for wageworkers.
The above is the merest sketch, hardly even a sketchin outline, of the reforms for which we should work.But there is one matter with which the Congress shoulddeal at this session. There should no longer beany paltering with the question of taking care ofthe wage-workers who, under our present industrialsystem, become killed, crippled, or worn out as partof the regular incidents of a given business.The majority of wageworkers must have their rightssecured for them by State action; but the NationalGovernment should legislate in thoroughgoing and far-reachingfashion not only for all employees of the NationalGovernment, but for all persons engaged in interstatecommerce. The object sought for could be achievedto a measurable degree, as far as those killed orcrippled are concerned, by proper employers’liability laws. As far as concerns those whohave been worn out, I call your attention to the factthat definite steps toward providing old-age pensionshave been taken in many of our private industries.These may be indefinitely extended through voluntaryassociation and contributory schemes, or through theagency of savings banks, as under the recent Massachusettsplan. To strengthen these practical measures shouldbe our immediate duty; it is not at present necessaryto consider the larger and more general governmentalschemes that most European governments have foundthemselves obliged to adopt.
Our present system, or rather no system, works dreadfulwrong, and is of benefit to only one class of people—thelawyers. When a workman is injured what he needsis not an expensive and doubtful lawsuit, but thecertainty of relief through immediate administrativeaction. The number of accidents which resultin the death or crippling of wageworkers, in the Unionat large, is simply appalling; in a very few yearsit runs up a total far in excess of the aggregateof the dead and wounded in any modern war. Noacademic theory about “freedom of contract”or “constitutional liberty to contract”should be permitted to interfere with this and similarmovements. Progress in civilization has everywheremeant a limitation and regulation of contract.I call your especial attention to the bulletin ofthe Bureau of Labor which gives a statement of themethods of treating the unemployed in European countries,as this is a subject which in Germany, for instance,is treated in connection with making provision forworn-out and crippled workmen.
Pending a thoroughgoing investigation and action thereis certain legislation which should be enacted atonce. The law, passed at the last session ofthe Congress, granting compensation to certain classesof employees of the Government, should be extendedto include all employees of the Government and shouldbe made more liberal in its terms. There is nogood ground for the distinction made in the law betweenthose engaged in hazardous occupations and those notso engaged. If a man is injured or killed inany line of work, it was hazardous in his case.Whether 1 per cent or 10 per cent of those followinga given occupation actually suffer injury or deathought not to have any bearing on the question of theirreceiving compensation. It is a grim logic whichsays to an injured employee or to the dependents ofone killed that he or they are entitled to no compensationbecause very few people other than he have been injuredor killed in that occupation. Perhaps one ofthe most striking omissions in the law is that itdoes not embrace peace officers and others whose livesmay be sacrificed in enforcing the laws of the UnitedStates. The terms of the act providing compensationshould be made more liberal than in the present act.A year’s compensation is not adequate for a wage-earner’sfamily in the event of his death by accident in thecourse of his employment. And in the event ofdeath occurring, say, ten or eleven months after theaccident, the family would only receive as compensationthe equivalent of one or two months’ earnings.In this respect the generosity of the United Statestowards its employees compares most unfavorably withthat of every country in Europe—even thepoorest.
The terms of the act are also a hardship in prohibitingpayment in cases where the accident is in any waydue to the negligence of the employee. It isinevitable that daily familiarity with danger willlead men to take chances that can be construed intonegligence. So well is this recognized that inpractically all countries in the civilized world,except the United States, only a great degree of negligenceacts as a bar to securing compensation. Probablyin no other respect is our legislation, both Stateand National, so far behind practically the entirecivilized world as in the matter of liability and compensationfor accidents in industry. It is humiliating thatat European international congresses on accidentsthe United States should be singled out as the mostbelated among the nations in respect to employers’liability legislation. This Government is itselfa large employer of labor, and in its dealings withits employees it should set a standard in this countrywhich would place it on a par with the most progressivecountries in Europe. The laws of the United Statesin this respect and the laws of European countrieshave been summarized in a recent Bulletin of the Bureauof Labor, and no American who reads this summary canfail to be struck by the great contrast between ourpractices and theirs—a contrast not in anysense to our credit.
The Congress should without further delay pass a modelemployers’ liability law for the District ofColumbia. The employers’ liability actrecently declared unconstitutional, on account of apparentlyincluding in its provisions employees engaged in intrastatecommerce as well as those engaged in interstate commerce,has been held by the local courts to be still in effectso far as its provisions apply to District of Columbia.There should be no ambiguity on this point. Ifthere is any doubt on the subject, the law should bereenacted with special reference to the District ofColumbia. This act, however, applies only toemployees of common carriers. In all other occupationsthe liability law of the District is the old commonlaw. The severity and injustice of the commonlaw in this matter has been in some degree or anothermodified in the majority of our States, and the onlyjurisdiction under the exclusive control of the Congressshould be ahead and not behind the States of the Unionin this respect. A comprehensive employers’liability law should be passed for the District ofColumbia.
I renew my recommendation made in a previous messagethat half-holidays be granted during summer to allwageworkers in Government employ.
I also renew my recommendation that the principleof the eight-hour day should as rapidly and as faras practicable be extended to the entire work beingcarried on by the Government; the present law shouldbe amended to embrace contracts on those public workswhich the present wording of the act seems to exclude.
The courts.
I most earnestly urge upon the Congress the duty ofincreasing the totally inadequate salaries now givento our Judges. On the whole there is no bodyof public servants who do as valuable work, nor whosemoneyed reward is so inadequate compared to their work.Beginning with the Supreme Court, the Judges shouldhave their salaries doubled. It is not befittingthe dignity of the Nation that its most honored publicservants should be paid sums so small compared to whatthey would earn in private life that the performanceof public service by them implies an exceedingly heavypecuniary sacrifice.
It is earnestly to be desired that some method shouldbe devised for doing away with the long delays whichnow obtain in the administration of justice, and whichoperate with peculiar severity against persons ofsmall means, and favor only the very criminals whomit is most desirable to punish. These long delaysin the final decisions of cases make in the aggregatea crying evil; and a remedy should be devised.Much of this intolerable delay is due to improper regardpaid to technicalities which are a mere hindranceto justice. In some noted recent cases this over-regardfor technicalities has resulted in a striking denialof justice, and flagrant wrong to the body politic.
At the last election certain leaders of organizedlabor made a violent and sweeping attack upon theentire judiciary of the country, an attack couchedin such terms as to include the most upright, honestand broad-minded judges, no less than those of narrowermind and more restricted outlook. It was thekind of attack admirably fitted to prevent any successfulattempt to reform abuses of the judiciary, becauseit gave the champions of the unjust judge their eagerlydesired opportunity to shift their ground into a championshipof just judges who were unjustly assailed. Lastyear, before the House Committee on the Judiciary,these same labor leaders formulated their demands,specifying the bill that contained them, refusing allcompromise, stating they wished the principle of thatbill or nothing. They insisted on a provisionthat in a labor dispute no injunction should issueexcept to protect a property right, and specificallyprovided that the right to carry on business shouldnot be construed as a property right; and in a secondprovision their bill made legal in a labor disputeany act or agreement by or between two or more personsthat would not have been unlawful if done by a singleperson. In other words, this bill legalized blacklistingand boycotting in every form, legalizing, for instance,those forms of the secondary boycott which the anthracitecoal strike commission so unreservedly condemned; whilethe right to carry on a business was explicitly takenout from under that protection which the law throwsover property. The demand was made that thereshould be trial by jury in contempt cases, therebymost seriously impairing the authority of the courts.All this represented a course of policy which, ifcarried out, would mean the enthronement of classprivilege in its crudest and most brutal form, andthe destruction of one of the most essential functionsof the judiciary in all civilized lands.
The violence of the crusade for this legislation,and its complete failure, illustrate two truths whichit is essential our people should learn. In thefirst place, they ought to teach the workingman, thelaborer, the wageworker, that by demanding what isimproper and impossible he plays into the hands ofhis foes. Such a crude and vicious attack uponthe courts, even if it were temporarily successful,would inevitably in the end cause a violent reactionand would band the great mass of citizens together,forcing them to stand by all the judges, competentand incompetent alike, rather than to see the wheelsof justice stopped. A movement of this kind canultimately result in nothing but damage to those inwhose behalf it is nominally undertaken. Thisis a most healthy truth, which it is wise for all ourpeople to learn. Any movement based on that classhatred which at times assumes the name of “classconsciousness” is certain ultimately to fail,and if it temporarily succeeds, to do far-reachingdamage. “Class consciousness,” whereit is merely another name for the odious vice of classselfishness, is equally noxious whether in an employer’sassociation or in a workingman’s association.The movement in question was one in which the appealwas made to all workingmen to vote primarily, notas American citizens, but as individuals of a certainclass in society. Such an appeal in the firstplace revolts the more high-minded and far-sightedamong the persons to whom it is addressed, and inthe second place tends to arouse a strong antagonismamong all other classes of citizens, whom it thereforetends to unite against the very organization on whosebehalf it is issued. The result is thereforeunfortunate from every standpoint. This healthytruth, by the way, will be learned by the socialistsif they ever succeed in establishing in this countryan important national party based on such class consciousnessand selfish class interest.
The wageworkers, the workingmen, the laboring menof the country, by the way in which they repudiatedthe effort to get them to cast their votes in responseto an appeal to class hatred, have emphasized theirsound patriotism and Americanism. The whole countryhas cause to fell pride in this attitude of sturdyindependence, in this uncompromising insistence uponacting simply as good citizens, as good Americans,without regard to fancied—and improper—classinterests. Such an attitude is an object-lessonin good citizenship to the entire nation.
But the extreme reactionaries, the persons who blindthemselves to the wrongs now and then committed bythe courts on laboring men, should also think seriouslyas to what such a movement as this portends. Thejudges who have shown themselves able and willing effectivelyto check the dishonest activity of the very rich manwho works iniquity by the mismanagement of corporations,who have shown themselves alert to do justice to thewageworker, and sympathetic with the needs of the mass
of our people, so that the dweller in the tenementhouses, the man who practices a dangerous trade, theman who is crushed by excessive hours of labor, feelthat their needs are understood by the courts—thesejudges are the real bulwark of the courts; these judges,the judges of the stamp of the president-elect, whohave been fearless in opposing labor when it has gonewrong, but fearless also in holding to strict accountcorporations that work iniquity, and far-sighted inseeing that the workingman gets his rights, are themen of all others to whom we owe it that the appealfor such violent and mistaken legislation has fallenon deaf ears, that the agitation for its passage provedto be without substantial basis. The courts arejeopardized primarily by the action of those Federaland State judges who show inability or unwillingnessto put a stop to the wrongdoing of very rich men undermodern industrial conditions, and inability or unwillingnessto give relief to men of small means or wageworkerswho are crushed down by these modern industrial conditions;who, in other words, fail to understand and applythe needed remedies for the new wrongs produced bythe new and highly complex social and industrial civilizationwhich has grown up in the last half century.The rapid changes in our social and industrial lifewhich have attended this rapid growth have made itnecessary that, in applying to concrete cases thegreat rule of right laid down in our Constitution,there should be a full understanding and appreciationof the new conditions to which the rules are to beapplied. What would have been an infringementupon liberty half a century ago may be the necessarysafeguard of liberty to-day. What would have beenan injury to property then may be necessary to theenjoyment of property now. Every judicial decisioninvolves two terms—one, as interpretationof the law; the other, the understanding of the factsto which it is to be applied. The great massof our judicial officers are, I believe, alive to thosechanges of conditions which so materially affect theperformance of their judicial duties. Our judicialsystem is sound and effective at core, and it remains,and must ever be maintained, as the safeguard of thoseprinciples of liberty and justice which stand at thefoundation of American institutions; for, as Burkefinely said, when liberty and justice are separated,neither is safe. There are, however, some membersof the judicial body who have lagged behind in theirunderstanding of these great and vital changes in thebody politic, whose minds have never been opened tothe new applications of the old principles made necessaryby the new conditions. Judges of this stamp dolasting harm by their decisions, because they convincepoor men in need of protection that the courts ofthe land are profoundly ignorant of and out of sympathywith their needs, and profoundly indifferent or hostileto any proposed remedy. To such men it seems a
cruel mockery to have any court decide against themon the ground that it desires to preserve “liberty”in a purely technical form, by withholding libertyin any real and constructive sense. It is desirablethat the legislative body should possess, and wherevernecessary exercise, the power to determine whetherin a given case employers and employees are not onan equal footing, so that the necessities of the lattercompel them to submit to such exactions as to hoursand conditions of labor as unduly to tax their strength;and only mischief can result when such determinationis upset on the ground that there must be no “interferencewith the liberty to contract”—oftena merely academic “liberty,” the exerciseof which is the negation of real liberty.There are certain decisions by various courts whichhave been exceedingly detrimental to the rights ofwageworkers. This is true of all the decisionsthat decide that men and women are, by the Constitution,“guaranteed their liberty” to contractto enter a dangerous occupation, or to work an undesirableor improper number of hours, or to work in unhealthysurroundings; and therefore can not recover damageswhen maimed in that occupation and can not be forbiddento work what the legislature decides is an excessivenumber of hours, or to carry on the work under conditionswhich the legislature decides to be unhealthy.The most dangerous occupations are often the poorestpaid and those where the hours of work are longest;and in many cases those who go into them are drivenby necessity so great that they have practically noalternative. Decisions such as those alluded toabove nullify the legislative effort to protect thewage-workers who most need protection from those employerswho take advantage of their grinding need. Theyhalt or hamper the movement for securing better andmore equitable conditions of labor. The talk aboutpreserving to the misery-hunted beings who make contractsfor such service their “liberty” to makethem, is either to speak in a spirit of heartlessirony or else to show an utter lack of knowledge ofthe conditions of life among the great masses of ourfellow-countrymen, a lack which unfits a judge todo good service just as it would unfit any executiveor legislative officer.
There is also, I think, ground for the belief thatsubstantial injustice is often suffered by employeesin consequence of the custom of courts issuing temporaryinjunctions without notice to them, and punishingthem for contempt of court in instances where, as amatter of fact, they have no knowledge of any proceedings.Outside of organized labor there is a widespread feelingthat this system often works great injustice to wageworkerswhen their efforts to better their working conditionresult in industrial disputes. A temporary injunctionprocured ex parte may as a matter of fact have allthe effect of a permanent injunction in causing disasterto the wageworkers’ side in such a dispute.Organized labor is chafing under the unjust restraintwhich comes from repeated resort to this plan of procedure.Its discontent has been unwisely expressed, and oftenimproperly expressed, but there is a sound basis forit, and the orderly and law-abiding people of a communitywould be in a far stronger position for upholdingthe courts if the undoubtedly existing abuses couldbe provided against.
Such proposals as those mentioned above as advocatedby the extreme labor leaders contain the vital errorof being class legislation of the most offensive kind,and even if enacted into law I believe that the lawwould rightly be held unconstitutional. Moreover,the labor people are themselves now beginning to invokethe use of the power of injunction. During thelast ten years, and within my own knowledge, at leastfifty injunctions have been obtained by labor unionsin New York City alone, most of them being to protectthe union label (a “property right"), but somebeing obtained for other reasons against employers.The power of injunction is a great equitable remedy,which should on no account be destroyed. Butsafeguards should be erected against its abuse.I believe that some such provisions as those I advocateda year ago for checking the abuse of the issuanceof temporary injunctions should be adopted. Insubstance, provision should be made that no injunctionor temporary restraining order issue otherwise thanon notice, except where irreparable injury would otherwiseresult; and in such case a hearing on the merits ofthe order should be had within a short fixed period,and, if not then continued after hearing, it shouldforthwith lapse. Decisions should be renderedimmediately, and the chance of delay minimized inevery way. Moreover, I believe that the procedureshould be sharply defined, and the judge required minutelyto state the particulars both of his action and ofhis reasons therefor, so that the Congress can, ifit desires, examine and investigate the same.
The chief lawmakers in our country may be, and oftenare, the judges, because they are the final seat ofauthority. Every time they interpret contract,property, vested rights, due process of law, liberty,they necessarily enact into law parts of a systemof social philosophy, and as such interpretation isfundamental, they give direction to all law-making.The decisions of the courts on economic and socialquestions depend upon their economic and social philosophy;and for the peaceful progress of our people duringthe twentieth century we shall owe most to those judgeswho hold to a twentieth century economic and socialphilosophy and not to a long outgrown philosophy, whichwas itself the product of primitive economic conditions.Of course a judge’s views on progressive socialphilosophy are entirely second in importance to hispossession of a high and fine character; which meansthe possession of such elementary virtues as honesty,courage, and fair-mindedness. The judge who oweshis election to pandering to demagogic sentimentsor class hatreds and prejudices, and the judge whoowes either his election or his appointment to themoney or the favor of a great corporation, are alikeunworthy to sit on the bench, are alike traitors tothe people; and no profundity of legal learning, orcorrectness of abstract conviction on questions ofpublic policy, can serve as an offset to such shortcomings.But it is also true that judges, like executives andlegislators, should hold sound views on the questionsof public policy which are of vital interest to thepeople.
The legislators and executives are chosen to representthe people in enacting and administering the laws.The judges are not chosen to represent the peoplein this sense. Their function is to interpretthe laws. The legislators are responsible forthe laws; the judges for the spirit in which theyinterpret and enforce the laws. We stand alooffrom the reckless agitators who would make the judgesmere pliant tools of popular prejudice and passion;and we stand aloof from those equally unwise partisansof reaction and privilege who deny the propositionthat, inasmuch as judges are chosen to serve the interestsof the whole people, they should strive to find outwhat those interests are, and, so far as they conscientiouslycan, should strive to give effect to popular convictionwhen deliberately and duly expressed by the lawmakingbody. The courts are to be highly commended andstaunchly upheld when they set their faces againstwrongdoing or tyranny by a majority; but they areto be blamed when they fail to recognize under a governmentlike ours the deliberate judgment of the majority asto a matter of legitimate policy, when duly expressedby the legislature. Such lawfully expressed anddeliberate judgment should be given effect by thecourts, save in the extreme and exceptional cases wherethere has been a clear violation of a constitutionalprovision. Anything like frivolity or wantonnessin upsetting such clearly taken governmental actionis a grave offense against the Republic. To protestagainst tyranny, to protect minorities from oppression,to nullify an act committed in a spasm of popularfury, is to render a service to the Republic.But for the courts to arrogate to themselves functionswhich properly belong to the legislative bodies isall wrong, and in the end works mischief. Thepeople should not be permitted to pardon evil andslipshod legislation on the theory that the court willset it right; they should be taught that the rightway to get rid of a bad law is to have the legislaturerepeal it, and not to have the courts by ingenioushair-splitting nullify it. A law may be unwiseand improper; but it should not for these reasonsbe declared unconstitutional by a strained interpretation,for the result of such action is to take away fromthe people at large their sense of responsibilityand ultimately to destroy their capacity for orderlyself restraint and self government. Under sucha popular government as ours, rounded on the theorythat in the long run the will of the people is supreme,the ultimate safety of the Nation can only rest intraining and guiding the people so that what theywill shall be right, and not in devising means to defeattheir will by the technicalities of strained construction.
For many of the shortcomings of justice in our countryour people as a whole are themselves to blame, andthe judges and juries merely bear their share togetherwith the public as a whole. It is discreditableto us as a people that there should be difficultyin convicting murderers, or in bringing to justicemen 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 tohairsplitting technicalities in the interpretationof law by judges, to sentimentality and class consciousnesson the part of juries, or to hysteria and sensationalismin the daily press. For much of this failureof justice no responsibility whatever lies on richmen as such. We who make up the mass of the peoplecan not shift the responsibility from our own shoulders.But there is an important part of the failure whichhas specially to do with inability to hold to properaccount men of wealth who behave badly.
The chief breakdown is in dealing with the new relationsthat arise from the mutualism, the interdependenceof our time. Every new social relation begetsa new type of wrongdoing—of sin, to usean old-fashioned word—and many years alwayselapse before society is able to turn this sin intocrime which can be effectively punished at law.During the lifetime of the older men now alive thesocial relations have changed far more rapidly thanin the preceding two centuries. The immense growthof corporations, of business done by associations,and the extreme strain and pressure of modern life,have produced conditions which render the public confusedas to who its really dangerous foes are; and amongthe public servants who have not only shared thisconfusion, but by some of their acts have increasedit, are certain judges. Marked inefficiency hasbeen shown in dealing with corporations and in re-settlingthe proper attitude to be taken by the public notonly towards corporations, but towards labor and towardsthe social questions arising out of the factory systemand the enormous growth of our great cities.
The huge wealth that has been accumulated by a fewindividuals of recent years, in what has amountedto a social and industrial revolution, has been asregards some of these individuals made possible onlyby the improper use of the modern corporation.A certain type of modern corporation, with its officersand agents, its many issues of securities, and itsconstant consolidation with allied undertakings, finallybecomes an instrument so complex as to contain a greaternumber of elements that, under various judicial decisions,lend themselves to fraud and oppression than any deviceyet evolved in the human brain. Corporationsare necessary instruments of modern business.They have been permitted to become a menace largelybecause the governmental representatives of the peoplehave worked slowly in providing for adequate controlover them.
The chief offender in any given case may be an executive,a legislature, or a judge. Every executive headwho advises violent, instead of gradual, action, orwho advocates ill-considered and sweeping measuresof reform (especially if they are tainted with vindictivenessand disregard for the rights of the minority) is particularlyblameworthy. The several legislatures are responsiblefor the fact that our laws are often prepared withslovenly haste and lack of consideration. Moreover,they are often prepared, and still more frequentlyamended during passage, at the suggestion of the veryparties against whom they are afterwards enforced.Our great clusters of corporations, huge trusts andfabulously wealthy multi-millionaires, employ thevery best lawyers they can obtain to pick flaws inthese statutes after their passage; but they alsoemploy a class of secret agents who seek, under theadvice of experts, to render hostile legislation innocuousby making it unconstitutional, often through the insertionof what appear on their face to be drastic and sweepingprovisions against the interests of the parties inspiringthem; while the demagogues, the corrupt creatureswho introduce blackmailing schemes to “strike”corporations, and all who demand extreme, and undesirablyradical, measures, show themselves to be the worstenemies of the very public whose loud-mouthed championsthey profess to be. A very striking illustrationof the consequences of carelessness in the preparationof a statute was the employers’ liability lawof 1906. In the cases arising under that law,four out of six courts of first instance held it unconstitutional;six out of nine justices of the Supreme Court heldthat its subject-matter was within the province ofcongressional action; and four of the nine justicesheld it valid. It was, however, adjudged unconstitutionalby a bare majority of the court—five tofour. It was surely a very slovenly piece of workto frame the legislation in such shape as to leavethe question open at all.
Real damage has been done by the manifold and conflictinginterpretations of the interstate commerce law.Control over the great corporations doing interstatebusiness can be effective only if it is vested withfull power in an administrative department, a branchof the Federal executive, carrying out a Federal law;it can never be effective if a divided responsibilityis left in both the States and the Nation; it cannever be effective if left in the hands of the courtsto be decided by lawsuits.
The courts hold a place of peculiar and deserved sanctityunder our form of government. Respect for thelaw is essential to the permanence of our institutions;and respect for the law is largely conditioned uponrespect for the courts. It is an offense againstthe Republic to say anything which can weaken thisrespect, save for the gravest reason and in the mostcarefully guarded manner. Our judges should beheld in peculiar honor; and the duty of respectful
and truthful comment and criticism, which should bebinding when we speak of anybody, should be especiallybinding when we speak of them. On an average theystand above any other servants of the community, andthe greatest judges have reached the high level heldby those few greatest patriots whom the whole countrydelights to honor. But we must face the fact thatthere are wise and unwise judges, just as there arewise and unwise executives and legislators. Whena president or a governor behaves improperly or unwisely,the remedy is easy, for his term is short; the sameis true with the legislator, although not to the samedegree, for he is one of many who belong to some givenlegislative body, and it is therefore less easy tofix his personal responsibility and hold him accountabletherefor. With a judge, who, being human, is alsolikely to err, but whose tenure is for life, thereis no similar way of holding him to responsibility.Under ordinary conditions the only forms of pressureto which he is in any way amenable are public opinionand the action of his fellow judges. It is thelast which is most immediately effective, and to whichwe should look for the reform of abuses. Anyremedy applied from without is fraught with risk.It is far better, from every standpoint, that theremedy should come from within. In no other nationin the world do the courts wield such vast and far-reachingpower as in the United States. All that is necessaryis that the courts as a whole should exercise thispower with the farsighted wisdom already shown bythose judges who scan the future while they act inthe present. Let them exercise this great powernot only honestly and bravely, but with wise insightinto the needs and fixed purposes of the people, sothat they may do justice and work equity, so thatthey may protect all persons in their rights, and yetbreak down the barriers of privilege, which is thefoe of right.Forests.
If there is any one duty which more than another weowe it to our children and our children’s childrento perform at once, it is to save the forests of thiscountry, for they constitute the first and most importantelement in the conservation of the natural resourcesof the country. There are of course two kindsof natural resources, One is the kind which can onlybe used as part of a process of exhaustion; this istrue of mines, natural oil and gas wells, and the like.The other, and of course ultimately by far the mostimportant, includes the resources which can be improvedin the process of wise use; the soil, the rivers,and the forests come under this head. Any reallycivilized nation will so use all of these three greatnational assets that the nation will have their benefitin the future. Just as a farmer, after all hislife making his living from his farm, will, if heis an expert farmer, leave it as an asset of increasedvalue to his son, so we should leave our nationaldomain to our children, increased in value and not
worn out. There are small sections of our owncountry, in the East and the West, in the Adriondacks,the White Mountains, and the Appalachians, and inthe Rocky Mountains, where we can already see for ourselvesthe damage in the shape of permanent injury to thesoil and the river systems which comes from recklessdeforestation. It matters not whether this deforestationis due to the actual reckless cutting of timber, tothe fires that inevitably follow such reckless cuttingof timber, or to reckless and uncontrolled grazing,especially by the great migratory bands of sheep,the unchecked wandering of which over the country meansdestruction to forests and disaster to the small homemakers, the settlers of limited means.Shortsighted persons, or persons blinded to the futureby desire to make money in every way out of the present,sometimes speak as if no great damage would be doneby the reckless destruction of our forests. Itis difficult to have patience with the arguments ofthese persons. Thanks to our own recklessnessin the use of our splendid forests, we have alreadycrossed the verge of a timber famine in this country,and no measures that we now take can, at least formany years, undo the mischief that has already beendone. But we can prevent further mischief beingdone; and it would be in the highest degree reprehensibleto let any consideration of temporary convenience ortemporary cost interfere with such action, especiallyas regards the National Forests which the nation cannow, at this very moment, control.
All serious students of the question are aware ofthe great damage that has been done in the Mediterraneancountries of Europe, Asia, and Africa by deforestation.The similar damage that has been done in Eastern Asiais less well known. A recent investigation intoconditions in North China by Mr. Frank N. Meyer, ofthe Bureau of Plant Industry of the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture, has incidentally furnishedin very striking fashion proof of the ruin that comesfrom reckless deforestation of mountains, and of thefurther fact that the damage once done may prove practicallyirreparable. So important are these investigationsthat I herewith attach as an appendix to my messagecertain photographs showing present conditions in China.They show in vivid fashion the appalling desolation,taking the shape of barren mountains and gravel andsand-covered plains, which immediately follows anddepends upon the deforestation of the mountains.Not many centuries ago the country of northern Chinawas one of the most fertile and beautiful spots inthe entire world, and was heavily forested. Weknow this not only from the old Chinese records, butfrom the accounts given by the traveler, Marco Polo.He, for instance, mentions that in visiting the provincesof Shansi and Shensi he observed many plantationsof mulberry trees. Now there is hardly a singlemulberry tree in either of these provinces, and the
culture of the silkworm has moved farther south, toregions of atmospheric moisture. As an illustrationof the complete change in the rivers, we may take Polo’sstatement that a certain river, the Hun Ho, was solarge and deep that merchants ascended it from thesea with heavily laden boats; today this river issimply a broad sandy bed, with shallow, rapid currentswandering hither and thither across it, absolutelyunnavigable. But we do not have to depend uponwritten records. The dry wells, and the wellswith water far below the former watermark, bear testimonyto the good days of the past and the evil days ofthe present. Wherever the native vegetation hasbeen allowed to remain, as, for instance, here andthere around a sacred temple or imperial burying ground,there are still huge trees and tangled jungle, fragmentsof the glorious ancient forests. The thick, mattedforest growth formerly covered the mountains to theirsummits. All natural factors favored this denseforest growth, and as long as it was permitted toexist the plains at the foot of the mountains wereamong the most fertile on the globe, and the wholecountry was a garden. Not the slightest effortwas made, however, to prevent the unchecked cuttingof the trees, or to secure reforestation. Doubtlessfor many centuries the tree-cutting by the inhabitantsof the mountains worked but slowly in bringing aboutthe changes that have now come to pass; doubtlessfor generations the inroads were scarcely noticeable.But there came a time when the forest had shrunk sufficientlyto make each year’s cutting a serious matter,and from that time on the destruction proceeded withappalling rapidity; for of course each year of destructionrendered the forest less able to recuperate, lessable to resist next year’s inroad. Mr. Meyerdescribes the ceaseless progress of the destructioneven now, when there is so little left to destroy.Every morning men and boys go out armed with mattoxor axe, scale the steepest mountain sides, and cutdown and grub out, root and branch, the small treesand shrubs still to be found. The big trees disappearedcenturies ago, so that now one of these is never seensave in the neighborhood of temples, where they areartificially protected; and even here it takes allthe watch and care of the tree-loving priests to preventtheir destruction. Each family, each community,where there is no common care exercised in the interestof all of them to prevent deforestation, finds itsprofit in the immediate use of the fuel which wouldotherwise be used by some other family or some othercommunity. In the total absence of regulationof the matter in the interest of the whole people,each small group is inevitably pushed into a policyof destruction which can not afford to take thoughtfor the morrow. This is just one of those matterswhich it is fatal to leave to unsupervised individualcontrol. The forest can only be protected bythe State, by the Nation; and the liberty of actionof individuals must be conditioned upon what the Stateor Nation determines to be necessary for the commonsafety.The lesson of deforestation in China is a lesson whichmankind should have learned many times already fromwhat has occurred in other places. Denudationleaves naked soil; then gullying cuts down to the barerock; and meanwhile the rock-waste buries the bottomlands.When the soil is gone, men must go; and the processdoes not take long.
This ruthless destruction of the forests in northernChina has brought about, or has aided in bringingabout, desolation, just as the destruction of theforests in central Asia aid in bringing ruin to theonce rich central Asian cities; just as the destructionof the forest in northern Africa helped towards theruin of a region that was a fertile granary in Romandays. Shortsighted man, whether barbaric, semi-civilized,or what he mistakenly regards as fully civilized, whenhe has destroyed the forests, has rendered certainthe ultimate destruction of the land itself.In northern China the mountains are now such as areshown by the accompanying photographs, absolutely barrenpeaks. Not only have the forests been destroyed,but because of their destruction the soil has beenwashed off the naked rock. The terrible consequenceis that it is impossible now to undo the damage thathas been done. Many centuries would have to passbefore soil would again collect, or could be madeto collect, in sufficient quantity once more to supportthe old-time forest growth. In consequence theMongol Desert is practically extending eastward overnorthern China. The climate has changed and isstill changing. It has changed even within thelast half century, as the work of tree destructionhas been consummated. The great masses of arborealvegetation on the mountains formerly absorbed theheat of the sun and sent up currents of cool air whichbrought the moisture-laden clouds lower and forcedthem to precipitate in rain a part of their burdenof water. Now that there is no vegetation, thebarren mountains, scorched by the sun, send up currentsof heated air which drive away instead of attractingthe rain clouds, and cause their moisture to be disseminated.In consequence, instead of the regular and plentifulrains which existed in these regions of China whenthe forests were still in evidence, the unfortunateinhabitants of the deforested lands now see theircrops wither for lack of rainfall, while the seasonsgrow more and more irregular; and as the air becomesdryer certain crops refuse longer to grow at all.That everything dries out faster than formerly isshown by the fact that the level of the wells allover the land has sunk perceptibly, many of them havingbecome totally dry. In addition to the resultingagricultural distress, the watercourses have changed.Formerly they were narrow and deep, with an abundanceof clear water the year around; for the roots and humusof the forests caught the rainwater and let it escapeby slow, regular seepage. They have now becomebroad, shallow stream beds, in which muddy water trickles
in slender currents during the dry seasons, whilewhen it rains there are freshets, and roaring muddytorrents come tearing down, bringing disaster anddestruction everywhere. Moreover, these floodsand freshets, which diversify the general dryness,wash away from the mountain sides, and either washaway or cover in the valleys, the rich fertile soilwhich it took tens of thousands of years for Natureto form; and it is lost forever, and until the forestsgrow again it can not be replaced. The sand andstones from the mountain sides are washed loose andcome rolling down to cover the arable lands, and inconsequence, throughout this part of China, many formerlyrich districts are now sandy wastes, useless for humancultivation and even for pasture. The citieshave been of course seriously affected, for the streamshave gradually ceased to be navigable. There istestimony that even within the memory of men now livingthere has been a serious diminution of the rainfallof northeastern China. The level of the SungariRiver in northern Manchuria has been sensibly loweredduring the last fifty years, at least partly as theresult of the indiscriminate rutting of the forestsforming its watershed. Almost all the riversof northern China have become uncontrollable, and verydangerous to the dwellers along their banks, as a directresult of the destruction of the forests. Thejourney from Pekin to Jehol shows in melancholy fashionhow the soil has been washed away from whole valleys,so that they have been converted into deserts.In northern China this disastrous process has goneon so long and has proceeded so far that no completeremedy could be applied. There are certain mountainsin China from which the soil is gone so utterly thatonly the slow action of the ages could again restoreit; although of course much could be done to preventthe still further eastward extension of the MongolianDesert if the Chinese Government would act at once.The accompanying cuts from photographs show the inconceivabledesolation of the barren mountains in which certainof these rivers rise—mountains, be it remembered,which formerly supported dense forests of larchesand firs, now unable to produce any wood, and becauseof their condition a source of danger to the wholecountry. The photographs also show the same riversafter they have passed through the mountains, thebeds having become broad and sandy because of thedeforestation of the mountains. One of the photographsshows a caravan passing through a valley. Formerly,when the mountains were forested, it was thickly peopledby prosperous peasants. Now the floods have carrieddestruction all over the land and the valley is a stonydesert. Another photograph shows a mountain roadcovered with the stones and rocks that are broughtdown in the rainy season from the mountains whichhave already been deforested by human hands. Anothershows a pebbly river-bed in southern Manchuria wherewhat was once a great stream has dried up owing tothe deforestation in the mountains. Only somescrub wood is left, which will disappear within a halfcentury. Yet another shows the effect of oneof 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 reforestationis still a possibility in places.
What has thus happened in northern China, what hashappened 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 exercisethat wise forethought which should be one of the chiefmarks of any people calling itself civilized.Nothing should be permitted to stand in the way ofthe preservation of the forests, and it is criminalto permit individuals to purchase a little gain forthemselves through the destruction of forests whenthis destruction is fatal to the well-being of thewhole country in the future.
Inland waterways.
Action should be begun forthwith, during the presentsession of the Congress, for the improvement of ourinland waterways—action which will resultin giving us not only navigable but navigated rivers.We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars uponthese waterways, yet the traffic on nearly all ofthem is steadily declining. This condition isthe direct result of the absence of any comprehensiveand far-seeing plan of waterway improvement, Obviouslywe can not continue thus to expend the revenues ofthe Government without return. It is poor businessto spend money for inland navigation unless we getit.
Inquiry into the condition of the Mississippi andits principal tributaries reveals very many instancesof the utter waste caused by the methods which havehitherto obtained for the so-called “improvement”of navigation. A striking instance is suppliedby the “improvement” of the Ohio, which,begun in 1824, was continued under a single plan forhalf a century. In 1875 a new plan was adoptedand followed for a quarter of a century. In 1902still a different plan was adopted and has since beenpursued at a rate which only promises a navigableriver in from twenty to one hundred years longer.
Such shortsighted, vacillating, and futile methodsare accompanied by decreasing water-borne commerceand increasing traffic congestion on land, by increasingfloods, and by the waste of public money. Theremedy lies in abandoning the methods which have sosignally failed and adopting new ones in keeping withthe needs and demands of our people.
In a report on a measure introduced at the first sessionof the present Congress, the Secretary of War said:“The chief defect in the methods hitherto pursuedlies in the absence of executive authority for originatingcomprehensive plans covering the country or naturaldivisions thereof.” In this opinion I heartilyconcur. The present methods not only fail togive us inland navigation, but they are injuriousto the army as well. What is virtually a permanentdetail of the corps of engineers to civilian dutynecessarily impairs the efficiency of our militaryestablishment. The military engineers have undoubtedlydone efficient work in actual construction, but theyare necessarily unsuited by their training and traditions
to take the broad view, and to gather and transmitto the Congress the commercial and industrial informationand forecasts, upon which waterway improvement mustalways so largely rest. Furthermore, they havefailed to grasp the great underlying fact that everystream is a unit from its source to its mouth, andthat all its uses are interdependent. Prominentofficers of the Engineer Corps have recently evengone so far as to assert in print that waterways arenot dependent upon the conservation of the forestsabout their headwaters. This position is opposedto all the recent work of the scientific bureaus ofthe Government and to the general experience of mankind.A physician who disbelieved in vaccination would notbe the right man to handle an epidemic of smallpox,nor should we leave a doctor skeptical about the transmissionof yellow fever by the Stegomyia mosquito in chargeof sanitation at Havana or Panama. So with theimprovement of our rivers; it is no longer wise orsafe to leave this great work in the hands of men whofail to grasp the essential relations between navigationand general development and to assimilate and usethe central facts about our streams.Until the work of river improvement is undertakenin a modern way it can not have results that willmeet the needs of this modern nation. These needsshould be met without further dilly-dallying or delay.The plan which promises the best and quickest resultsis that of a permanent commission authorized to coordinatethe work of all the Government departments relatingto waterways, and to frame and supervise the executionof a comprehensive plan. Under such a commissionthe actual work of construction might be entrustedto the reclamation service; or to the military engineersacting with a sufficient number of civilians to continuethe work in time of war; or it might be divided betweenthe reclamation service and the corps of engineers.Funds should be provided from current revenues if itis deemed wise—otherwise from the saleof bonds. The essential thing is that the workshould go forward under the best possible plan, andwith the least possible delay. We should havea new type of work and a new organization for planningand directing it. The time for playing with ourwaterways is past. The country demands results.
National parks.
I urge that all our National parks adjacent to Nationalforests be placed completely under the control ofthe forest service of the Agricultural Department,instead of leaving them as they now are, under theInterior Department and policed by the army. TheCongress should provide for superintendents with adequatecorps of first-class civilian scouts, or rangers,and, further, place the road construction under thesuperintendent instead of leaving it with the War Department.Such a change in park management would result in economyand avoid the difficulties of administration whichnow arise from having the responsibility of care andprotection divided between different departments.The need for this course is peculiarly great in theYellowstone Park. This, like the Yosemite, isa great wonderland, and should be kept as a nationalplayground. In both, all wild things should beprotected and the scenery kept wholly unmarred.
I am happy to say that I have been able to set asidein various parts of the country small, well-chosentracts of ground to serve as sanctuaries and nurseriesfor wild creatures.
Denatured alcohol.
I had occasion in my message of May 4, 1906, to urgethe passage of some law putting alcohol, used in thearts, industries, and manufactures, upon the freelist—that is, to provide for the withdrawalfree of tax of alcohol which is to be denatured forthose purposes. The law of June 7, 1906, andits amendment of March 2, 1907, accomplished whatwas desired in that respect, and the use of denaturedalcohol, as intended, is making a fair degree of progressand is entitled to further encouragement and supportfrom the Congress.
Pure food.
The pure food legislation has already worked a benefitdifficult to overestimate.
Indian service.
It has been my purpose from the beginning of my administrationto take the Indian Service completely out of the atmosphereof political activity, and there has been steady progresstoward that end. The last remaining strongholdof politics in that service was the agency system,which had seen its best days and was gradually fallingto pieces from natural or purely evolutionary causes,but, like all such survivals, was decaying slowlyin its later stages. It seems clear that itsextinction had better be made final now, so that theground can be cleared for larger constructive workon behalf of the Indians, preparatory to their inductioninto the full measure of responsible citizenship.On November 1 only eighteen agencies were left on theroster; with two exceptions, where some legal questionsseemed to stand temporarily in the way, these havebeen changed to superintendencies, and their headsbrought into the classified civil service.
Secret service.
Last year an amendment was incorporated in the measureproviding for the Secret Service, which provided thatthere should be no detail from the Secret Serviceand no transfer therefrom. It is not too muchto 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 diminishingthe effectiveness of war against crime it could nothave been better devised to this end. It forbadethe practices that had been followed to a greateror less extent by the executive heads of various departmentsfor twenty years. To these practices we owe thesecuring of the evidence which enabled us to drivegreat lotteries out of business and secure a quarterof a million of dollars in fines from their promoters.These practices have enabled us to get some of theevidence indispensable in order in connection withthe theft of government land and government timberby great corporations and by individuals. Thesepractices have enabled us to get some of the evidence
indispensable in order to secure the conviction ofthe wealthiest and most formidable criminals withwhom the Government has to deal, both those operatingin violation of the anti-trust law and others.The amendment in question was of benefit to no oneexcepting to these criminals, and it seriously hampersthe Government in the detection of crime and the securingof justice. Moreover, it not only affects departmentsoutside of the Treasury, but it tends to hamper theSecretary of the Treasury himself in the effort toutilize the employees of his department so as to bestmeet the requirements of the public service.It forbids him from preventing frauds upon the customsservice, from investigating irregularities in branchmints and assay offices, and has seriously crippledhim. It prevents the promotion of employees inthe Secret Service, and this further discourages goodeffort. In its present form the restriction operatesonly to the advantage of the criminal, of the wrongdoer.The chief argument in favor of the provision was thatthe Congressmen did not themselves wish to be investigatedby Secret Service men. Very little of such investigationhas been done in the past; but it is true that thework of the Secret Service agents was partly responsiblefor the indictment and conviction of a Senator anda Congressman for land frauds in Oregon. I donot believe that it is in the public interest to protectcriminally in any branch of the public service, andexactly as we have again and again during the pastseven years prosecuted and convicted such criminalswho were in the executive branch of the Government,so in my belief we should be given ample means toprosecute them if found in the legislative branch.But if this is not considered desirable a specialexception could be made in the law prohibiting theuse of the Secret Service force in investigating membersof the Congress. It would be far better to dothis than to do what actually was done, and striveto prevent or at least to hamper effective action againstcriminals by the executive branch of the Government.Postal savings banks.
I again renew my recommendation for postal savingshanks, for depositing savings with the security ofthe Government behind them. The object is toencourage thrift and economy in the wage-earner andperson of moderate means. In 14 States the depositsin savings banks as reported to the Comptroller ofthe Currency amount to $3,590,245,402, or 98.4 percent of the entire deposits, while in the remaining32 States there are only $70,308,543, or 1.6 per cent,showing conclusively that there are many localitiesin the United States where sufficient opportunityis 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 ofmoney would be brought into circulation through theinstrumentality of the postal savings banks.While there are only 1,453 savings banks reportingto the Comptroller there are more than 61,000 post-offices,40,000 of which are money order offices. Postalsavings banks are now in operation in practicallyall of the great civilized countries with the exceptionof the United States.
Parcel post.
In my last annual message I commended the Postmaster-General’srecommendation for an extension of the parcel poston the rural routes. The establishment of a localparcel post on rural routes would be to the mutualbenefit of the farmer and the country storekeeper,and it is desirable that the routes, serving morethan 15,000,000 people, should be utilized to thefullest practicable extent. An amendment wasproposed in the Senate at the last session, at thesuggestion of the Postmaster-General, providing that,for the purpose of ascertaining the practicabilityof establishing a special local parcel post systemon the rural routes throughout the United States,the Postmaster-General be authorized and directedto experiment and report to the Congress the resultof such experiment by establishing a special localparcel post system on rural delivery routes in notto exceed four counties in the United States for packagesof fourth-class matter originating on a rural routeor at the distributing post office for delivery byrural carriers. It would seem only proper thatsuch an experiment should be tried in order to demonstratethe practicability of the proposition, especiallyas the Postmaster-General estimates that the revenuederived from the operation of such a system on allthe rural routes would amount to many million dollars.
Education.
The share that the National Government should takein the broad work of education has not received theattention and the care it rightly deserves. Theimmediate responsibility for the support and improvementof our educational systems and institutions rests andshould always rest with the people of the severalStates acting through their state and local governments,but the Nation has an opportunity in educational workwhich must not be lost and a duty which should no longerbe neglected.
The National Bureau of Education was established morethan forty years ago. Its purpose is to collectand diffuse such information “as shall aid thepeople of the United States in the establishment andmaintenance of efficient school systems and otherwisepromote the cause of education throughout the country.”This purpose in no way conflicts with the educationalwork of the States, but may be made of great advantageto the States by giving them the fullest, most accurate,and hence the most helpful information and suggestionregarding the best educational systems. The Nation,through its broader field of activities, its wideropportunity for obtaining information from all theStates and from foreign countries, is able to do thatwhich not even the richest States can do, and withthe distinct additional advantage that the informationthus obtained is used for the immediate benefit ofall our people.
With the limited means hitherto provided, the Bureauof Education has rendered efficient service, but theCongress has neglected to adequately supply the bureauwith means to meet the educational growth of the country.The appropriations for the general work of the bureau,outside education in Alaska, for the year 1909 arebut $87,500—an amount less than they wereten years ago, and some of the important items inthese appropriations are less than they were thirtyyears ago. It is an inexcusable waste of publicmoney to appropriate an amount which is so inadequateas to make it impossible properly to do the work authorized,and it is unfair to the great educational interestsof the country to deprive them of the value of theresults which can be obtained by proper appropriations.
I earnestly recommend that this unfortunate stateof affairs as regards the national educational officebe remedied by adequate appropriations. Thisrecommendation is urged by the representatives of ourcommon schools and great state universities and theleading educators, who all unite in requesting favorableconsideration and action by the Congress upon thissubject.
Census.
I strongly urge that the request of the Director ofthe Census in connection with the decennial work sosoon to be begun be complied with and that the appointmentsto the census force be placed under the civil servicelaw, waiving the geographical requirements as requestedby the Director of the Census. The supervisorsand enumerators should not be appointed under thecivil service law, for the reasons given by the Director.I commend to the Congress the careful considerationof the admirable report of the Director of the Census,and I trust that his recommendations will be adoptedand immediate action thereon taken.
Public health.
It is highly advisable that there should be intelligentaction on the part of the Nation on the question ofpreserving the health of the country. Throughthe practical extermination in San Francisco of disease-bearingrodents our country has thus far escaped the bubonicplague. This is but one of the many achievementsof American health officers; and it shows what canbe accomplished with a better organization than atpresent exists. The dangers to public health fromfood adulteration and from many other sources, suchas the menace to the physical, mental and moral developmentof children from child labor, should be met and overcome.There are numerous diseases, which are now known tobe preventable, which are, nevertheless, not prevented.The recent International Congress on Tuberculosis hasmade us painfully aware of the inadequacy of Americanpublic health legislation. This Nation can notafford to lag behind in the world-wide battle nowbeing waged by all civilized people with the microscopicfoes of mankind, nor ought we longer to ignore thereproach that this Government takes more pains toprotect the lives of hogs and of cattle than of humanbeings.
Redistribution of bureaus.
The first legislative step to be taken is that forthe concentration of the proper bureaus into one ofthe existing departments. I therefore urgentlyrecommend the passage of a bill which shall authorizea redistribution of the bureaus which shall best accomplishthis end.
Government printing office.
I recommend that legislation be enacted placing underthe jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce andLabor the Government Printing Office. At presentthis office is under the combined control, supervision,and administrative direction of the President andof the Joint Committee on Printing of the two Housesof the Congress. The advantage of having the4,069 employees in this office and the expenditureof the $5,761,377.57 appropriated therefor supervisedby an executive department is obvious, instead ofthe present combined supervision.
Soldiers’ homes.
All Soldiers’ Homes should be placed under thecomplete jurisdiction and control of the War Department.
Independent bureaus and commissions.
Economy and sound business policy require that allexisting independent bureaus and commissions shouldbe placed under the jurisdiction of appropriate executivedepartments. It is unwise from every standpoint,and results only in mischief, to have any executivework done save by the purely executive bodies, underthe control of the President; and each such executivebody should be under the immediate supervision of aCabinet Minister.
Statehood.
I advocate the immediate admission of New Mexico andArizona as States. This should be done at thepresent session of the Congress. The people ofthe two Territories have made it evident by their votesthat they will not come in as one State. Theonly alternative is to admit them as two, and I trustthat this will be done without delay.
Interstate fisheries.
I call the attention of the Congress to the importanceof the problem of the fisheries in the interstatewaters. On the Great Lakes we are now, underthe very wise treaty of April 11th of this year, endeavoringto come to an international agreement for the preservationand satisfactory use of the fisheries of these waterswhich can not otherwise be achieved. Lake Erie,for example, has the richest fresh water fisheriesin the world; but it is now controlled by the statutesof two Nations, four States, and one Province, andin this Province by different ordinances in differentcounties. All these political divisions workat cross purposes, and in no case can they achieveprotection to the fisheries, on the one hand, and justiceto the localities and individuals on the other.The case is similar in Puget Sound.
But the problem is quite as pressing in the interstatewaters of the United States. The salmon fisheriesof the Columbia River are now but a fraction of whatthey were twenty-five years ago, and what they wouldbe now if the United States Government had taken completecharge of them by intervening between Oregon and Washington.During these twenty-five years the fishermen of eachState have naturally tried to take all they couldget, and the two legislatures have never been ableto agree on joint action of any kind adequate in degreefor the protection of the fisheries. At the momentthe fishing on the Oregon side is practically closed,while there is no limit on the Washington side ofany kind, and no one can tell what the courts willdecide as to the very statutes under which this actionand non-action result. Meanwhile very few salmonreach the spawning grounds, and probably four yearshence the fisheries will amount to nothing; and thiscomes from a struggle between the associated, or gill-net,fishermen on the one hand, and the owners of the fishingwheels up the river. The fisheries of the Mississippi,the Ohio, and the Potomac are also in a bad way.For this there is no remedy except for the United Statesto control and legislate for the interstate fisheriesas part of the business of interstate commerce.In this case the machinery for scientific investigationand for control already exists in the United StatesBureau of Fisheries. In this as in similar problemsthe obvious and simple rule should be followed ofhaving those matters which no particular State canmanage taken in hand by the United States; problemswhich in the seesaw of conflicting State legislaturesare absolutely unsolvable are easy enough for Congressto control.
Fisheries and fur seals.
The federal statute regulating interstate trafficin game should be extended to include fish. Newfederal fish hatcheries should be established.The administration of the Alaskan fur-seal serviceshould be vested in the Bureau of Fisheries.
Foreign affairs.
This Nation’s foreign policy is based on thetheory that right must be done between nations preciselyas between individuals, and in our actions for thelast ten years we have in this matter proven our faithby our deeds. We have behaved, and are behaving,towards other nations as in private life an honorableman would behave towards his fellows.
Latin-American republics.
The commercial and material progress of the twentyLatin-American Republics is worthy of the carefulattention of the Congress. No other section ofthe world has shown a greater proportionate developmentof its foreign trade during the last ten years andnone other has more special claims on the interestof the United States. It offers to-day probablylarger opportunities for the legitimate expansion ofour commerce than any other group of countries.
These countries will want our products in greatlyincreased quantities, and we shall correspondinglyneed theirs. The International Bureau of the AmericanRepublics is doing a useful work in making these nationsand their resources better known to us, and in acquaintingthem not only with us as a people and with our purposestowards them, but with what we have to exchange fortheir goods. It is an international institutionsupported by all the governments of the two Americas.Panama canal.
The work on the Panama Canal is being done with aspeed, efficiency and entire devotion to duty whichmake it a model for all work of the kind. Notask of such magnitude has ever before been undertakenby any nation; and no task of the kind has ever beenbetter performed. The men on the isthmus, fromColonel Goethals and his fellow commissioners throughthe entire list of employees who are faithfully doingtheir duty, have won their right to the ungrudgingrespect and gratitude of the American people.
Ocean mail Liners.
I again recommend the extension of the ocean mailact of 1891 so that satisfactory American ocean maillines to South America, Asia, the Philippines, andAustralasia may be established. The creation ofsuch steamship lines should be the natural corollaryof the voyage of the battle fleet. It shouldprecede the opening of the Panama Canal. Evenunder favorable conditions several years must elapsebefore such lines can be put into operation.Accordingly I urge that the Congress act promptlywhere foresight already shows that action sooner orlater will be inevitable.
Hawaii.
I call particular attention to the Territory of Hawaii.The importance of those islands is apparent, and theneed of improving their condition and developing theirresources is urgent. In recent years industrialconditions upon the islands have radically changed,The importation of coolie labor has practically ceased,and there is now developing such a diversity in agriculturalproducts as to make possible a change in the landconditions of the Territory, so that an opportunitymay be given to the small land owner similar to thaton the mainland. To aid these changes, the NationalGovernment must provide the necessary harbor improvementson each island, so that the agricultural products canbe carried to the markets of the world. The coastwiseshipping laws should be amended to meet the specialneeds of the islands, and the alien contract laborlaw should be so modified in its application to Hawaiias to enable American and European labor to be broughtthither.
We have begun to improve Pearl Harbor for a navalbase and to provide the necessary military fortificationsfor the protection of the islands, but I can not toostrongly emphasize the need of appropriations forthese purposes of such an amount as will within theshortest possible time make those islands practicallyimpregnable. It is useless to develop the industrialconditions of the islands and establish there basesof supply for our naval and merchant fleets unlesswe insure, as far as human ingenuity can, their safetyfrom foreign seizure.
One thing to be remembered with all our fortificationsis that it is almost useless to make them impregnablefrom the sea if they are left open to land attack.This is true even of our own coast, but it is doublytrue of our insular possessions. In Hawaii, forinstance, it is worse than useless to establish anaval station unless we establish it behind fortificationsso strong that no landing force can take them saveby regular and long-continued siege operations.
The Philippines.
Real progress toward self-government is being madein the Philippine Islands. The gathering of aPhilippine legislative body and Philippine assemblymarks a process absolutely new in Asia, not only asregards Asiatic colonies of European powers but asregards Asiatic possessions of other Asiatic powers;and, indeed, always excepting the striking and wonderfulexample afforded by the great Empire of Japan, it opensan entirely new departure when compared with anythingwhich has happened among Asiatic powers which aretheir own masters. Hitherto this Philippine legislaturehas acted with moderation and self-restraint, andhas seemed in practical fashion to realize the eternaltruth that there must always be government, and thatthe only way in which any body of individuals canescape the necessity of being governed by outsidersis to show that they are able to restrain themselves,to keep down wrongdoing and disorder. The Filipinopeople, through their officials, are therefore makingreal steps in the direction of self-government.I hope and believe that these steps mark the beginningof a course which will continue till the Filipinosbecome fit to decide for themselves whether they desireto be an independent nation. But it is well forthem (and well also for those Americans who duringthe past decade have done so much damage to the Filipinosby agitation for an immediate independence for whichthey were totally unfit) to remember that self-governmentdepends, and must depend, upon the Filipinos themselves.All we can do is to give them the opportunity to developthe capacity for self-government. If we had followedthe advice of the foolish doctrinaires who wishedus at any time during the last ten years to turn theFilipino people adrift, we should have shirked theplainest possible duty and have inflicted a lastingwrong upon the Filipino people. We have actedin exactly the opposite spirit. We have giventhe Filipinos constitutional government—agovernment based upon justice—and we haveshown that we have governed them for their good andnot for our aggrandizement. At the present time,as during the past ten years, the inexorable logicof facts shows that this government must be suppliedby us and not by them. We must be wise and generous;we must help the Filipinos to master the difficultart of self-control, which is simply another namefor self-government. But we can not give themself-government save in the sense of governing them
so that gradually they may, if they are able, learnto govern themselves. Under the present systemof just laws and sympathetic administration, we haveevery reason to believe that they are gradually acquiringthe character which lies at the basis of self-government,and for which, if it be lacking, no system of laws,no paper constitution, will in any wise serve as asubstitute. Our people in the Philippines haveachieved what may legitimately be called a marveloussuccess in giving to them a government which markson the part of those in authority both the necessaryunderstanding of the people and the necessary purposeto serve them disinterestedly and in good faith.I trust that within a generation the time will arrivewhen the Philippines can decide for themselves whetherit is well for them to become independent, or to continueunder the protection of a strong and disinterestedpower, able to guarantee to the islands order at homeand protection from foreign invasion. But noone can prophesy the exact date when it will be wiseto consider independence as a fixed and definite policy.It would be worse than folly to try to set down sucha date in advance, for it must depend upon the wayin which the Philippine people themselves developthe power of self-mastery.Porto Rico.
I again recommend that American citizenship be conferredupon the people of Porto Rico.
Cuba.
In Cuba our occupancy will cease in about two months’time, the Cubans have in orderly manner elected theirown governmental authorities, and the island willbe turned over to them. Our occupation on thisoccasion has lasted a little over two years, and Cubahas thriven and prospered under it. Our earnesthope and one desire is that the people of the islandshall now govern themselves with justice, so that peaceand order may be secure. We will gladly helpthem to this end; but I would solemnly warn them toremember the great truth that the only way a peoplecan permanently avoid being governed from without isto show that they both can and will govern themselvesfrom within.
Japanese exposition.
The Japanese Government has postponed until 1917 thedate of the great international exposition, the actionbeing taken so as to insure ample time in which toprepare to make the exposition all that it should bemade. The American commissioners have visitedJapan and the postponement will merely give ampleropportunity for America to be represented at the exposition.Not since the first international exposition has therebeen one of greater importance than this will be,marking as it does the fiftieth anniversary of theascension to the throne of the Emperor of Japan.The extraordinary leap to a foremost place among thenations of the world made by Japan during this halfcentury is something unparalleled in all previous history.This exposition will fitly commemorate and signalizethe giant progress that has been achieved. Itis the first exposition of its kind that has everbeen held in Asia. The United States, becauseof the ancient friendship between the two peoples,because each of us fronts on the Pacific, and becauseof the growing commercial relations between this countryand Asia, takes a peculiar interest in seeing theexposition made a success in every way.
I take this opportunity publicly to state my appreciationof the way in which in Japan, in Australia, in NewZealand, and in all the States of South America, thebattle fleet has been received on its practice voyagearound the world. The American Government cannot too strongly express its appreciation of the aboundingand generous hospitality shown our ships in everyport they visited.
The army.
As regards the Army I call attention to the fact thatwhile our junior officers and enlisted men stand veryhigh, the present system of promotion by seniorityresults in bringing into the higher grades many menof mediocre capacity who have but a short time to serve.No man should regard it as his vested right to riseto the highest rank in the Army any more than in anyother profession. It is a curious and by no meanscreditable fact that there should be so often a failureon the part of the public and its representativesto understand the great need, from the standpointof the service and the Nation, of refusing to promoterespectable, elderly incompetents. The higherplaces should be given to the most deserving men withoutregard to seniority; at least seniority should betreated as only one consideration. In the stressof modern industrial competition no business firmcould succeed if those responsible for its managementwere chosen simply on the ground that they were theoldest people in its employment; yet this is the courseadvocated as regards the Army, and required by lawfor all grades except those of general officer.As a matter of fact, all of the best officers in thehighest ranks of the Army are those who have attainedtheir present position wholly or in part by a processof selection.
The scope of retiring boards should be extended sothat they could consider general unfitness to commandfor any cause, in order to secure a far more rigidenforcement than at present in the elimination ofofficers for mental, physical or temperamental disabilities.But this plan is recommended only if the Congressdoes not see fit to provide what in my judgment isfar better; that is, for selection in promotion, andfor elimination for age. Officers who fail toattain a certain rank by a certain age should be retired—forinstance, if a man should not attain field rank bythe time he is 45 he should of course be placed onthe retired list. General officers should be selectedas at present, and one-third of the other promotionsshould be made by selection, the selection to be madeby the President or the Secretary of War from a listof at least two candidates proposed for each vacancyby a board of officers from the arm of the servicefrom which the promotion is to be made. A billis now before the Congress having for its object tosecure the promotion of officers to various gradesat reasonable ages through a process of selection,by boards of officers, of the least efficient forretirement with a percentage of their pay dependingupon length of service. The bill, although notaccomplishing all that should be done, is a long stepin the right direction; and I earnestly recommend itspassage, or that of a more completely effective measure.
The cavalry arm should be reorganized upon modernlines. This is an arm in which it is peculiarlynecessary that the field officers should not be old.The cavalry is much more difficult to form than infantry,and it should be kept up to the maximum both in efficiencyand in strength, for it can not be made in a hurry.At present both infantry and artillery are too fewin number for our needs. Especial attention shouldbe paid to development of the machine gun. A generalservice corps should be established. As thingsare now the average soldier has far too much laborof a nonmilitary character to perform.
National guard.
Now that the organized militia, the National Guard,has been incorporated with the Army as a part of thenational forces, it behooves the Government to doevery reasonable thing in its power to perfect itsefficiency. It should be assisted in its instructionand otherwise aided more liberally than heretofore.The continuous services of many well-trained regularofficers will be essential in this connection.Such officers must be specially trained at serviceschools best to qualify them as instructors of theNational Guard. But the detailing of officersfor training at the service schools and for duty withthe National Guard entails detaching them from theirregiments which are already greatly depleted by detachmentof officers for assignment to duties prescribed byacts of the Congress.
A bill is now pending before the Congress creatinga number of extra officers in the Army, which if passed,as it ought to be, will enable more officers to betrained as instructors of the National Guard and assignedto that duty. In case of war it will be of theutmost importance to have a large number of trainedofficers to use for turning raw levies into good troops.
There should be legislation to provide a completeplan for organizing the great body of volunteers behindthe Regular Army and National Guard when war has come.Congressional assistance should be given those whoare endeavoring to promote rifle practice so that ourmen, in the services or out of them, may know howto use the rifle. While teams representing theUnited States won the rifle and revolver championshipsof the world against all comers in England this year,it is unfortunately true that the great body of ourcitizens shoot less and less as time goes on.To meet this we should encourage rifle practice amongschoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well asin the military services, by every means in our power.Thus, and not otherwise, may we be able to assistin preserving the peace of the world. Fit tohold our own against the strong nations of the earth,our voice for peace will carry to the ends of theearth. Unprepared, and therefore unfit, we mustsit dumb and helpless to defend ourselves, protectothers, or preserve peace. The first step—inthe direction of preparation to avert war if possible,and to be fit for war if it should come—isto teach our men to shoot.
The navy.
I approve the recommendations of the General Boardfor the increase of the Navy, calling especial attentionto the need of additional destroyers and colliers,and above all, of the four battleships. It isdesirable to complete as soon as possible a squadronof eight battleships of the best existing type.The North Dakota, Delaware, Florida, and Utah willform the first division of this squadron. Thefour vessels proposed will form the second division.It will be an improvement on the first, the shipsbeing of the heavy, single caliber, all big gun type.All the vessels should have the same tactical qualities—thatis, speed and turning circle—and as nearas possible these tactical qualities should be thesame as in the four vessels before named now beingbuilt.
I most earnestly recommend that the General Boardbe by law turned into a General Staff. Thereis literally no excuse whatever for continuing thepresent bureau organization of the Navy. The Navyshould be treated as a purely military organization,and everything should be subordinated to the one objectof securing military efficiency. Such militaryefficiency can only be guaranteed in time of war ifthere is the most thorough previous preparation intime of peace—a preparation, I may add,which will in all probability prevent any need of war.The Secretary must be supreme, and he should haveas his official advisers a body of line officers whoshould themselves have the power to pass upon andcoordinate all the work and all the proposals of theseveral bureaus. A system of promotion by merit,either by selection or by exclusion, or by both processes,should be introduced. It is out of the question,if the present principle of promotion by mere seniorityis kept, to expect to get the best results from thehigher officers. Our men come too old, and stayfor too short a time, in the high command positions.
Two hospital ships should be provided. The actualexperience of the hospital ship with the fleet inthe Pacific has shown the invaluable work which sucha ship does, and has also proved that it is well tohave it kept under the command of a medical officer.As was to be expected, all of the anticipations oftrouble from such a command have proved completelybaseless. It is as absurd to put a hospital shipunder a line officer as it would be to put a hospitalon shore under such a command. This ought tohave been realized before, and there is no excusefor failure to realize it now.
Nothing better for the Navy from every standpointhas ever occurred than the cruise of the battle fleetaround the world. The improvement of the shipsin every way has been extraordinary, and they havegained far more experience in battle tactics thanthey would have gained if they had stayed in the Atlanticwaters. The American people have cause for profoundgratification, both in view of the excellent conditionof the fleet as shown by this cruise, and in view
of the improvement the cruise has worked in this alreadyhigh condition. I do not believe that there isany other service in the world in which the averageof character and efficiency in the enlisted men isas high as is now the case in our own. I believethat the same statement can be made as to our officers,taken as a whole; but there must be a reservation madein regard to those in the highest ranks—asto which I have already spoken—and in regardto those who have just entered the service; becausewe do not now get full benefit from our excellent navalschool at Annapolis. It is absurd not to graduatethe midshipmen as ensigns; to keep them for two yearsin such an anomalous position as at present the lawrequires is detrimental to them and to the service.In the academy itself, every first classman shouldbe required in turn to serve as petty officer andofficer; his ability to discharge his duties as suchshould be a prerequisite to his going into the line,and his success in commanding should largely determinehis standing at graduation. The Board of Visitorsshould be appointed in January, and each member shouldbe required to give at least six days’ service,only from one to three days’ to be performedduring June week, which is the least desirable timefor the board to be at Annapolis so far as benefitingthe Navy by their observations is concerned.The white house,
Tuesday, December 8, 1908.
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