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Title: State of the Union Addresses of Theodore Roosevelt
Author: Theodore Roosevelt
Posting Date: December 3, 2014 [EBook #5032]
Release Date: February, 2004
First Posted: April 11, 2002
Last Updated: December 16, 2004
Language: English
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State of the Union Addresses of Theodore Roosevelt
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 shadow of a great calamity.
On the sixth of September, President McKinley was shot by an anarchist
while attending the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, and died in
that city on the fourteenth of that month.
Of the last seven elected Presidents, he is the third who has been
murdered, and the bare recital of this fact is sufficient to justify
grave alarm among all loyal American citizens. Moreover, the
circumstances of this, the third assassination of an American
President, have a peculiarly sinister significance. Both President
Lincoln and President Garfield were killed by assassins of types
unfortunately not uncommon in history; President Lincoln falling a
victim to the terrible passions aroused by four years of civil war, and
President Garfield to the revengeful vanity of a disappointed
office-seeker. President McKinley was killed by an utterly depraved
criminal belonging to that body of criminals who object to all
governments, good and bad alike, who are against any form of popular
liberty if it is guaranteed by even the most just and liberal laws, and
who are as hostile to the upright exponent of a free people's sober
will as to the tyrannical and irresponsible despot.
It is not too much to say that at the time of President McKinley's
death he was the most widely loved man in all the United States; while
we have never had any public man of his position who has been so wholly
free from the bitter animosities incident to public life. His political
opponents were the first to bear the heartiest and most generous
tribute to the broad kindliness of nature, the sweetness and gentleness
of character which so endeared him to his close associates. To a
standard of lofty integrity in public life he united the tender
affections and home virtues which are all-important in the make-up of
national character. A gallant soldier in the great war for the Union,
he also shone as an example to all our people because of his conduct in
the most sacred and intimate of home relations. There could be no
personal hatred of him, for he never acted with aught but consideration
for the welfare of others. No one could fail to respect him who knew
him in public or private life. The defenders of those murderous
criminals who seek to excuse their criminality by asserting that it is
exercised for political ends, inveigh against wealth and irresponsible
power. But for this assassination even this base apology cannot be
urged.
President McKinley was a man of moderate means, a man whose stock
sprang from the sturdy tillers of the 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 moderate gains after a lifetime of
unremitting labor, largely in the service of the public. Still less was
power struck at in the sense that power is irresponsible or 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 the wage-worker
has ever had; at one of the most faithful representatives of the system
of public rights and representative government who has ever risen to
public office. President McKinley filled that political office for
which the entire people vote, and no President not even Lincoln
himself--was ever more earnestly anxious to represent the well
thought-out wishes of the people; his one anxiety in every crisis was
to keep in closest touch with the people--to find out what they thought
and to endeavor to give expression to their thought, after having
endeavored to guide that thought aright. He had just been reelected to
the Presidency because the majority of our citizens, the majority of
our farmers and wage-workers, believed that he had faithfully upheld
their interests for four years. They felt themselves in close and
intimate touch with him. They felt that he represented so well and so
honorably all their ideals and aspirations that they wished him to
continue for another four years to represent them.
And this was the man at whom the assassin struck That there might be
nothing lacking to complete the Judas-like infamy of his act, he took
advantage of an occasion when the President was meeting the people
generally; and advancing as if to take the hand out-stretched to him in
kindly and brotherly fellowship, he turned the noble and generous
confidence of the victim into an opportunity to strike the fatal blow.
There is no baser deed in all the annals of crime.
The shock, the grief of the country, are bitter in the minds of all who
saw the dark days, while the President yet hovered between life and
death. At last the light was stilled in the kindly eyes and the breath
went from the lips that even in mortal agony uttered no words save of
forgiveness to his murderer, of love for his friends, and of faltering
trust in the will of the Most High. Such a death, crowning the glory of
such a life, leaves us with infinite sorrow, but with such pride in
what he had accomplished and in his own personal character, that we
feel the blow not as struck at him, but as struck at the Nation We
mourn a good and great President who is dead; but while we mourn we are
lifted up by the splendid achievements of his life and the grand
heroism with which he met his death.
When we turn from the man to the Nation, the harm done is so great as
to excite our gravest apprehensions and to demand our wisest and most
resolute action. This criminal was a professed anarchist, inflamed by
the teachings of professed anarchists, and probably also by the
reckless utterances of those who, on the stump and in the public press,
appeal to the dark and evil spirits of malice and greed, envy and
sullen hatred. The wind is sowed by the men who preach such doctrines,
and they cannot escape their share of responsibility for the whirlwind
that is reaped. This applies alike to the deliberate demagogue, to the
exploiter of sensationalism, and to the crude and foolish visionary
who, for whatever reason, apologizes for crime or excites aimless
discontent.
The blow was aimed not at this President, but at all Presidents; at
every symbol of government. President McKinley was as emphatically the
embodiment of the popular will of the Nation expressed through the
forms of law as a New England town meeting is in similar fashion the
embodiment of the law-abiding purpose and practice of the people of the
town. On no conceivable theory could the murder of the President be
accepted as due to protest against "inequalities in the social order,"
save as the murder of all the freemen engaged in a town meeting could
be accepted as a protest against that social inequality which puts a
malefactor in jail. Anarchy is no more an expression of "social
discontent" than picking pockets or wife-beating.
The anarchist, and especially the anarchist in the United States, is
merely one type of criminal, more dangerous than any other because he
represents the same depravity in a greater degree. The man who
advocates anarchy directly or indirectly, in any shape or fashion, or
the man who apologizes for anarchists and their deeds, makes himself
morally accessory to murder before the fact. The anarchist is a
criminal whose perverted instincts lead him to prefer confusion and
chaos to the most beneficent form of social order. His protest of
concern for workingmen is outrageous in its impudent falsity; for if
the political institutions of this country do not afford opportunity to
every honest and intelligent son of toil, then the door of hope is
forever closed against him. The anarchist is everywhere not merely the
enemy of system and of progress, but the deadly foe of liberty. If ever
anarchy is triumphant, its triumph will last for but one red moment, to
be succeeded, for ages by the gloomy night of despotism.
For the anarchist himself, whether he preaches or practices his
doctrines, we need not have one particle more 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. The cause of his
criminality is to be found in his own evil passions and in the evil
conduct of those who urge him on, not in any failure by others or by
the State to do justice to him or his. He is a malefactor and nothing
else. He is in no sense, in no shape or way, a "product of social
conditions," save as a highwayman is "produced" by the fact than an
unarmed man happens to have a purse. It is a travesty upon the great
and holy names of liberty and freedom to permit them to be invoked in
such a cause. No man or body of men preaching anarchistic doctrines
should be allowed at large any more than if preaching the murder of
some specified private individual. Anarchistic speeches, writings, and
meetings are essentially seditious and treasonable.
I earnestly recommend to the Congress that in the exercise of its wise
discretion it should take into consideration the coming to this country
of anarchists or persons professing principles hostile to all
government and justifying the murder of those placed in authority. Such
individuals as those who not long ago gathered in open meeting to
glorify the murder of King Humbert of Italy perpetrate a crime, and the
law should ensure their rigorous punishment. They and those like them
should be kept out of this country; and if found here they should be
promptly deported to the country whence they came; and far-reaching
provision should be made for the punishment of those who stay. No
matter calls more urgently for the wisest thought of the Congress.
The Federal courts should be given jurisdiction over any man who kills
or attempts to kill the President or any man who by the Constitution or
by law is in line of succession for the Presidency, while the
punishment for an unsuccessful attempt should be proportioned to the
enormity of the offense against our institutions.
Anarchy is a crime against the whole human race; and all mankind should
band against the anarchist. His crime should be made an offense against
the law of nations, like piracy and that form of man-stealing known as
the slave trade; for it is of far blacker infamy than either. It should
be so declared by treaties among all civilized powers. Such treaties
would give to the Federal Government the power of dealing with the
crime.
A grim commentary upon the folly of the anarchist position was afforded
by the attitude of the law toward this very criminal who had just taken
the life of the President. The people would have torn him limb from
limb if it had not been that the law he defied was at once invoked in
his behalf. So far from his deed being committed on behalf of the
people against the Government, the Government was obliged at 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 dislocation
in our governmental system, and the danger of a recurrence of such
deeds, no matter how great it might grow, would work only in the
direction of strengthening and giving harshness to the forces of order.
No man will ever be restrained from becoming President by any fear as
to his personal safety. If the risk to the President's life became
great, it would mean that the office would more and more come to be
filled by men of a spirit which would make them resolute and merciless
in dealing with every friend of disorder. This great country will not
fall into anarchy, and if anarchists should ever become a serious
menace to its institutions, they would not merely be stamped out, but
would involve in their own ruin every active or passive sympathizer
with their doctrines. The American people are slow to wrath, but when
their wrath is once kindled it burns like a consuming flame.
During the last five years business confidence has been restored, and
the nation is to be congratulated because of its present abounding
prosperity. Such prosperity can never be created by law alone, although
it is easy enough to destroy it by mischievous laws. If the hand of the
Lord is heavy upon any country, if flood or drought comes, human wisdom
is powerless to avert the calamity. Moreover, no law can guard us
against the consequences of our own folly. The men who are idle or
credulous, the men who seek gains not by genuine work with head or hand
but by gambling in any form, are always a source of menace not only to
themselves but to others. If the business world loses its head, it
loses what legislation cannot supply. Fundamentally the welfare of each
citizen, and therefore the welfare of the aggregate of citizens which
makes the nation, must rest upon individual thrift and energy,
resolution, and intelligence. Nothing can take the place of this
individual capacity; but wise legislation and honest and intelligent
administration can give it the fullest scope, the largest opportunity
to work to good effect.
The tremendous and highly complex industrial development which went on
with ever accelerated rapidity during the latter half of the nineteenth
century brings us face to face, at the beginning of the twentieth, with
very serious social problems. The old laws, and the old customs which
had almost the binding force of law, were once quite sufficient to
regulate the accumulation and distribution of wealth. Since the
industrial changes which have so enormously increased the productive
power of mankind, they are no longer sufficient.
The growth of cities has gone on beyond comparison faster than the
growth of the country, and the upbuilding of the great industrial
centers has meant a startling increase, not merely in the aggregate of
wealth, but in the number of very large individual, and especially of
very large corporate, fortunes. The creation of these great corporate
fortunes has not been due to the tariff nor to any other governmental
action, but to natural causes in the business world, operating in other
countries as they operate in our own.
The process has aroused much antagonism, a great part of which is
wholly without warrant. It is not true that as the rich have grown
richer the poor have grown poorer. On the contrary, never before has
the average man, the wage-worker, the farmer, the small trader, been so
well off as in this country and at the present time. There have been
abuses connected with the accumulation of wealth; yet it remains true
that a fortune accumulated in legitimate business can be accumulated by
the person specially benefited only on condition of conferring immense
incidental benefits upon others. Successful enterprise, of the type
which benefits all mankind, can only exist if the conditions are such
as to offer great prizes as the rewards of success.
The captains of industry who have driven the railway systems across
this continent, who have built up our commerce, who have developed our
manufactures, have on the whole done great good to our people. Without
them the material development of which we are so justly proud could
never have taken place. Moreover, we should recognize the immense
importance of this material development of leaving as unhampered as is
compatible with the public good the strong and forceful men upon whom
the success of business operations inevitably rests. The slightest
study of business conditions will satisfy anyone capable of forming a
judgment that the personal equation is the most important factor in a
business operation; that the business ability of the man at the head of
any business concern, big or little, is usually the factor which fixes
the gulf between striking success and hopeless failure.
An additional reason for caution in dealing with corporations is to be
found in the international commercial conditions of to-day. The same
business conditions which have produced the great aggregations of
corporate and individual wealth have made them very potent factors in
international Commercial competition. Business concerns which have the
largest means at their disposal and are managed by the ablest men are
naturally those which take the lead in the strife for commercial
supremacy among the nations of the world. America has only just begun
to assume that commanding position in the international business world
which we believe will more and more be hers. It is of the utmost
importance that this position be not jeoparded, especially at a time
when the overflowing abundance of our own natural resources and the
skill, business energy, and mechanical aptitude of our people make
foreign markets essential. Under such conditions it would be most
unwise to cramp or to fetter the youthful strength of our Nation.
Moreover, it cannot too often be pointed out that to strike with
ignorant violence at the interests of one set of men almost inevitably
endangers the interests of all. The fundamental rule in our national
life--the rule which underlies all others--is that, on the whole, and
in the long run, we shall go up or down together. There are exceptions;
and in times of prosperity some will prosper far more, and in times of
adversity, some will suffer far more, than others; but speaking
generally, a period of good times means that all share more or less in
them, and in a period of hard times all feel the stress to a greater or
less degree. It surely ought not to be necessary to enter into any
proof of this statement; the memory of the lean years which began in
1893 is still vivid, and we can contrast them with the conditions in
this very year which is now closing. Disaster to great business
enterprises can never have its effects limited to the men at the top.
It spreads throughout, and while it is bad for everybody, it is worst
for those farthest down. The capitalist may be shorn of his luxuries;
but the wage-worker may be deprived of even bare necessities.
The mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must
be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance.
Many of those who have made it their vocation to denounce the great
industrial combinations which are popularly, although with technical
inaccuracy, known as "trusts," appeal especially to hatred and fear.
These are precisely the two emotions, particularly when combined with
ignorance, which unfit men for the exercise of cool and steady
judgment. In facing new industrial conditions, the whole history of the
world shows that legislation will generally be both unwise and
ineffective unless undertaken after calm inquiry and with sober
self-restraint. Much of the legislation directed at the trusts would
have been exceedingly mischievous had it not also been entirely
ineffective. In accordance with a well-known sociological law, the
ignorant or reckless agitator has been the really effective friend of
the evils which he has been nominally opposing. In dealing with
business interests, for the Government to undertake by crude and
ill-considered legislation to do what may turn out to be bad, would be
to incur the risk of such far-reaching national disaster that it would
be preferable to undertake nothing at all. The men who demand the
impossible or the undesirable serve as the allies of the forces with
which they are nominally at war, for they hamper those who would
endeavor to find out in rational fashion what the wrongs really are and
to what extent and in what manner it is practicable to apply remedies.
All this is true; and yet it is also true that there are real and grave
evils, one of the chief being over-capitalization because of its many
baleful consequences; and a resolute and practical effort must be made
to correct these evils.
There is a widespread conviction in the minds of the American people
that the great corporations known as trusts are in certain of their
features and tendencies hurtful to the general welfare. This springs
from no spirit of envy or uncharitableness, nor lack of pride in the
great industrial achievements that have placed this country at the head
of the nations struggling for commercial supremacy. It does not rest
upon a lack of intelligent appreciation of the necessity of meeting
changing and changed conditions of trade with new methods, nor upon
ignorance of the fact that combination of capital in the effort to
accomplish great things is necessary when the world's progress demands
that great things be done. It is based upon sincere conviction that
combination and concentration should be, not prohibited, but supervised
and within reasonable limits controlled; and in my judgment this
conviction is right.
It is no limitation upon property rights or freedom of contract to
require that when men receive from Government the privilege of doing
business under corporate form, which frees them from individual
responsibility, and enables them to call into their enterprises the
capital of the public, they shall do so upon absolutely truthful
representations as to the value of the property in which the capital is
to be invested. Corporations engaged in interstate commerce should be
regulated if they are found to exercise a license working to the public
injury. It should be as much the aim of those who seek for social
betterment to rid the business world of crimes of cunning as to rid the
entire body politic of crimes of violence. Great corporations exist
only because they are created and safeguarded by our institutions; and
it is therefore our right and our duty to see that they work in harmony
with these institutions.
The first essential in determining how to deal with the great
industrial combinations is knowledge of the facts--publicity. In the
interest of the public, the Government should have the right to inspect
and examine the workings of the great corporations engaged in
interstate business. Publicity is the only sure remedy which we can now
invoke. What further remedies are needed in the way of governmental
regulation, or taxation, can only be determined after publicity has
been obtained, by process of law, and in the course of administration.
The first requisite is knowledge, full and complete--knowledge which
may be made public to the world.
Artificial bodies, such as corporations and joint stock or other
associations, depending upon any statutory law for their existence or
privileges, should be subject to proper governmental supervision, and
full and accurate information as to their operations should be made
public regularly at reasonable intervals.
The large corporations, commonly called trusts, though organized in one
State, always do business in many States, often doing very little
business in the State where they are incorporated. There is utter lack
of uniformity in the State laws about them; and as no State has any
exclusive interest in or power over their acts, it has in practice
proved impossible to get adequate regulation through State action.
Therefore, in the interest of the whole people, the Nation should,
without interfering with the power of the States in the matter itself,
also assume power of supervision and regulation over all corporations
doing an interstate business. This is especially true where the
corporation derives a portion of its wealth from the existence of some
monopolistic element or tendency in its business. There would be no
hardship in such supervision; banks are subject to it, and in their
case it is now accepted as a simple matter of course. Indeed, it is
probable that supervision of corporations by the National Government
need not go so far as is now the case with the supervision exercised
over them by so conservative a State as Massachusetts, in order to
produce excellent results.
When the Constitution was adopted, at the end of the eighteenth
century, no human wisdom could foretell the sweeping changes, alike in
industrial and political conditions, which were to take place by the
beginning of the twentieth century. At that time it was accepted as a
matter of course that the several States were the proper authorities to
regulate, so far as was then necessary, the comparatively insignificant
and strictly localized corporate bodies of the day. The conditions are
now wholly different and wholly different action is called for. I
believe that a law can be framed which will enable the National
Government to exercise control along the lines above indicated;
profiting by the experience gained through the passage and
administration of the Interstate-Commerce Act. If, however, the
judgment of the Congress is that it lacks the constitutional power to
pass such an act, then a constitutional amendment should be submitted
to confer the power.
There should be created a Cabinet officer, to be known as Secretary of
Commerce and Industries, as provided in the bill introduced at the last
session of the Congress. It should be his province to deal with
commerce in its broadest sense; including among many other things
whatever concerns labor and all matters affecting the great business
corporations and our merchant marine.
The course proposed is one phase of what should be a comprehensive and
far-reaching scheme of constructive statesmanship for the purpose of
broadening our markets, securing our business interests on a safe
basis, and making firm our new position in the international industrial
world; while scrupulously safeguarding the rights of wage-worker and
capitalist, of investor and private citizen, so as to secure equity as
between man and man in this Republic.
With the sole exception of the farming interest, no one matter is of
such vital moment to our whole people as the welfare of the
wage-workers. If the farmer and the wage-worker are well off, it is
absolutely certain that all others will be well off too. It is
therefore a matter for hearty congratulation that on the whole wages
are higher to-day in the United States than ever before in our history,
and far higher than in any other country. The standard of living is
also higher than ever before. Every effort of legislator and
administrator should be bent to secure the permanency of this condition
of things and its improvement wherever possible. Not only must our
labor be protected by the tariff, but it should also be protected so
far as it is possible from the presence in this country of any laborers
brought over by contract, or of those who, coming freely, yet represent
a standard of living so depressed that they can undersell our men in
the labor market and drag them to a lower level. I regard it as
necessary, with this end in view, to re-enact immediately the law
excluding Chinese laborers and to strengthen it wherever necessary in
order to make its enforcement entirely effective.
The National Government should demand the highest quality of service
from its employees; and in return it should be a good employer. If
possible legislation should be passed, in connection with the
Interstate Commerce Law, which will render effective the efforts of
different States to do away with the competition of convict contract
labor in the open labor market. So far as practicable under the
conditions of Government work, provision should be made to render the
enforcement of the eight-hour law easy and certain. In all industries
carried on directly or indirectly for the United States Government
women and children should be protected from excessive hours of labor,
from night work, and from work under unsanitary conditions. The
Government should provide in its contracts that all work should be done
under "fair" conditions, and in addition to setting a high standard
should uphold it by proper inspection, extending if necessary to the
subcontractors. The Government should forbid all night work for women
and children, as well as excessive overtime. For the District of
Columbia a good factory law should be passed; and, as a powerful
indirect aid to such laws, provision should be made to turn the
inhabited alleys, the existence of which is a reproach to our Capital
city, into minor streets, where the inhabitants can live under
conditions favorable to health and morals.
American wage-workers work with their heads as well as their hands.
Moreover, they take a keen pride in what they are doing; so that,
independent of the reward, they wish to turn out a perfect job. This is
the great secret of our success in competition with the labor of
foreign countries.
The most vital problem with which this country, and for that matter the
whole civilized world, has to deal, is the problem which has for one
side the betterment of social conditions, moral and physical, in large
cities, and for another side the effort to deal with that tangle of
far-reaching questions which we group together when we speak of
"labor." The chief factor in the success of each man--wage-worker,
farmer, and capitalist alike--must ever be the sum total of his own
individual qualities and abilities. Second only to this comes the power
of acting in combination or association with others. Very great good
has been and will be accomplished by associations or unions of
wage-workers, when managed with forethought, and when they combine
insistence upon their own rights with law-abiding respect for the
rights of others. The display of these qualities in such bodies is a
duty to the nation no less than to the associations themselves.
Finally, there must also in many cases be action by the Government in
order to safeguard the rights and interests of all. Under our
Constitution there is much more scope for such action by the State and
the municipality than by the nation. But on points such as those
touched on above the National Government can act.
When all is said and done, the rule of brotherhood remains as the
indispensable prerequisite to success in the kind of national life for
which we strive. Each man must work for himself, and unless he so works
no outside help can avail him; but each man must remember also that he
is indeed his brother's keeper, and that while no man who refuses to
walk can be carried with advantage to himself or anyone else, yet that
each at times stumbles or halts, that each at times needs to have the
helping hand outstretched to him. To be permanently effective, aid must
always take the form of helping a man to help himself; and we can all
best help ourselves by joining together in the work that is of common
interest to all.
Our present immigration laws are unsatisfactory. We need every honest
and efficient immigrant fitted to become an American citizen, every
immigrant who comes here to stay, who brings here a strong body, a
stout heart, a good head, and a resolute purpose to do his duty well in
every way and to bring up his children as law-abiding and God-fearing
members of the community. But there should be a comprehensive law
enacted with the object of working a threefold improvement over our
present system. First, we should aim to exclude absolutely not only all
persons who are known to be believers in anarchistic principles or
members of anarchistic societies, but also all persons who are of a low
moral tendency or of unsavory reputation. This means that we should
require a more thorough system of inspection abroad and a more rigid
system of examination at our immigration ports, the former being
especially necessary.
The second object of a proper immigration law ought to be to secure by
a careful and not merely perfunctory educational test some intelligent
capacity to appreciate American institutions and act sanely as American
citizens. This would not keep out all anarchists, for many of them
belong to the intelligent criminal class. But it would do what is also
in point, that is, tend to decrease the sum of ignorance, so potent in
producing the envy, suspicion, malignant passion, and hatred of order,
out of which anarchistic sentiment inevitably springs. Finally, all
persons should be excluded who are below a certain standard of economic
fitness to enter our industrial field as competitors with American
labor. There should be proper proof of personal capacity to earn an
American living and enough money to insure a decent start under
American conditions. This would stop the influx of cheap labor, and the
resulting competition which gives rise to so much of bitterness in
American industrial life; and it would dry up the springs of the
pestilential social conditions in our great cities, where anarchistic
organizations have their greatest possibility of growth.
Both the educational and economic tests in a wise immigration law
should be designed to protect and elevate the general body politic and
social. A very close supervision should be exercised over the steamship
companies which mainly bring over the immigrants, and they should be
held to a strict accountability for any infraction of the law.
There is general acquiescence in our present tariff system as a
national policy. The first requisite to our prosperity is the
continuity and stability of this economic policy. Nothing could be more
unwise than to disturb the business interests of the country by any
general tariff change at this time. Doubt, apprehension, uncertainty
are exactly what we most wish to avoid in the interest of our
commercial and material well-being. Our experience in the past has
shown that sweeping revisions of the tariff are apt to produce
conditions closely approaching panic in the business world. Yet it is
not only possible, but eminently desirable, to combine with the
stability of our economic system a supplementary system of reciprocal
benefit and obligation with other nations. Such reciprocity is an
incident and result of the firm establishment and preservation of our
present economic policy. It was specially provided for in the present
tariff law.
Reciprocity must be treated as the handmaiden of protection. Our first
duty is to see that the protection granted by the tariff in every case
where it is needed is maintained, and that reciprocity be sought for so
far as it can safely be done without injury to our home industries.
Just how far this is must be determined according to the individual
case, remembering always that every application of our tariff policy to
meet our shifting national needs must be conditioned upon the cardinal
fact that the duties must never be reduced below the point that will
cover the difference between the labor cost here and abroad. The
well-being of the wage-worker is a prime consideration of our entire
policy of economic legislation.
Subject to this proviso of the proper protection necessary to our
industrial well-being at home, the principle of reciprocity must
command our hearty support. The phenomenal growth of our export trade
emphasizes the urgency of the need for wider markets and for a liberal
policy in dealing with foreign nations. Whatever is merely petty and
vexatious in the way of trade restrictions should be avoided. The
customers to whom we dispose of our surplus products in the long run,
directly or indirectly, purchase those surplus products by giving us
something in return. Their ability to purchase our products should as
far as possible be secured by so arranging our tariff as to enable us
to take from them those products which we can use without harm to our
own industries and labor, or the use of which will be of marked benefit
to us.
It is most important that we should maintain the high level of our
present prosperity. We have now reached the point in the development of
our interests where we are not only able to supply our own markets but
to produce a constantly growing surplus for which we must find markets
abroad. To secure these markets we can utilize existing duties in any
case where they are no longer needed for the purpose of protection, or
in any case where the article is not produced here and the duty is no
longer necessary for revenue, as giving us something to offer in
exchange for what we ask. The cordial relations with other nations
which are so desirable will naturally be promoted by the course thus
required by our own interests.
The natural line of development for a policy of reciprocity will be in
connection with those of our productions which no longer require all of
the support once needed to establish them upon a sound basis, and with
those others where either because of natural or of economic causes we
are beyond the reach of successful competition.
I ask the attention of the Senate to the reciprocity treaties laid
before it by my predecessor.
The condition of the American merchant marine is such as to call for
immediate remedial action by the Congress. It is discreditable to us as
a Nation that our merchant marine should be utterly insignificant in
comparison to that of other nations which we overtop in other forms of
business. We should not longer submit to conditions under which only a
trifling portion of our great commerce is carried in our own ships. To
remedy this state of things would not .merely serve to build up our
shipping interests, but it would also result in benefit to all who are
interested in the permanent establishment of a wider market for
American products, and would provide an auxiliary force for the Navy.
Ships work for their own countries just as railroads work for their
terminal points. Shipping lines, if established to the principal
countries with which we have dealings, would be of political as well as
commercial benefit. From every standpoint it is unwise for the United
States to continue to rely upon the ships of competing nations for the
distribution of our goods. It should be made advantageous to carry
American goods in American-built ships.
At present American shipping is under certain great disadvantages when
put in competition with the shipping of foreign countries. Many of the
fast foreign steamships, at a speed of fourteen knots or above, are
subsidized; and all our ships, sailing vessels and steamers alike,
cargo carriers of slow speed and mail carriers of high speed, have to
meet the fact that the original cost of building American ships is
greater than is the case abroad; that the wages paid American officers
and seamen are very much higher than those paid the officers and seamen
of foreign competing countries; and that the standard of living on our
ships is far superior to the standard of living on the ships of our
commercial rivals.
Our Government should take such action as will remedy these
inequalities. The American merchant marine should be restored to the
ocean.
The Act of March 14, 1900, intended unequivocally to establish gold as
the standard money and to maintain at a parity therewith all forms of
money medium in use with us, has been shown to be timely and judicious.
The price of our Government bonds in the world's market, when compared
with the price of similar obligations issued by other nations, is a
flattering tribute to our public credit. This condition it is evidently
desirable to maintain.
In many respects the National Banking Law furnishes sufficient liberty
for the proper exercise of the banking function; but there seems to be
need of better safeguards against the deranging influence of commercial
crises and financial panics. Moreover, the currency of the country
should be made responsive to the demands of our domestic trade and
commerce.
The collections from duties on imports and internal taxes continue to
exceed the ordinary expenditures of the Government, thanks mainly to
the reduced army expenditures. The utmost care should be taken not to
reduce the revenues so that there will be any possibility of a deficit;
but, after providing against any such contingency, means should be
adopted which will bring the revenues more nearly within the limit of
our actual needs. In his report to the Congress the Secretary of the
Treasury considers all these questions at length, and I ask your
attention to the report and recommendations.
I call special attention to the need of strict economy in expenditures.
The fact that our national needs forbid us to be niggardly in providing
whatever is actually necessary to our well-being, should make us doubly
careful to husband our national resources, as each of us husbands his
private resources, by scrupulous avoidance of anything like wasteful or
reckless expenditure. Only by avoidance of spending money on what is
needless or unjustifiable can we legitimately keep our income to the
point required to meet our needs that are genuine.
In 1887 a measure was enacted for the regulation of interstate
railways, commonly known as the Interstate Commerce Act. The cardinal
provisions of that act were that railway rates should be just and
reasonable and that all shippers, localities, and commodities should be
accorded equal treatment. A commission was created and endowed with
what were supposed to be the necessary powers to execute the provisions
of this act. That law was largely an experiment. Experience has shown
the wisdom of its purposes, but has also shown, possibly that some of
its requirements are wrong, certainly that the means devised for the
enforcement of its provisions are defective. Those who complain of the
management of the railways allege that established rates are not
maintained; that rebates and similar devices are habitually resorted
to; that these preferences are usually in favor of the large shipper;
that they drive out of business the smaller competitor; that while many
rates are too low, many others are excessive; and that gross
preferences are made, affecting both localities and commodities. Upon
the other hand, the railways assert that the law by its very terms
tends to produce many of these illegal practices by depriving carriers
of that right of concerted action which they claim is necessary to
establish and maintain non-discriminating rates.
The act should be amended. The railway is a public servant. Its rates
should be just to and open to all shippers alike. The Government should
see to it that within its jurisdiction this is so and should provide a
speedy, inexpensive, and effective remedy to that end. At the same time
it must not be forgotten that our railways are the arteries through
which the commercial lifeblood of this Nation flows. Nothing could be
more foolish than the enactment of legislation which would
unnecessarily interfere with the development and operation of these
commercial agencies. The subject is one of great importance and calls
for the earnest attention of the Congress.
The Department of Agriculture during the past fifteen years has
steadily broadened its work on economic lines, and has accomplished
results of real value in upbuilding domestic and foreign trade. It has
gone into new fields until it is now in touch with all sections of our
country and with two of the island groups 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 into localities in the
several States and Territories where they may add materially to our
resources. By scientific attention to soil survey and possible new
crops, to breeding of new varieties of plants, to experimental
shipments, to animal industry and applied chemistry, very practical aid
has been given our farming and stock-growing interests. The products of
the farm have taken an unprecedented place in our export trade during
the year that has just closed.
Public opinion throughout the United States has moved steadily toward a
just appreciation of the value of forests, whether planted or of
natural growth. The great part played by them in the creation and
maintenance of the national wealth is now more fully realized than ever
before.
Wise forest protection does not mean the withdrawal of forest
resources, whether of wood, water, or grass, from contributing their
full share to the welfare of the people, but, on the contrary, gives
the assurance of larger and more certain supplies. The fundamental idea
of forestry is the perpetuation of forests by use. Forest protection is
not an end of itself; it is a means to increase and sustain the
resources of our country and the industries which depend upon them. The
preservation of our forests is an imperative business necessity. We
have come to see clearly that whatever destroys the forest, except to
make way for agriculture, threatens our well being.
The practical usefulness of the national forest reserves to the mining,
grazing, irrigation, and other interests of the regions in which the
reserves lie has led to a widespread demand by the people of the West
for their protection and extension. The forest reserves will inevitably
be of still greater use in the future than in the past. Additions
should be made to them whenever practicable, and their usefulness
should be increased by a thoroughly business-like management.
At present the protection of the forest reserves rests with the General
Land Office, the mapping and description of their timber with the
United States Geological Survey, and the preparation of plans for their
conservative use with the Bureau of Forestry, which is also charged
with the general advancement of practical forestry in the United
States. These various functions should be united in the Bureau of
Forestry, to which they properly belong. The present diffusion of
responsibility is bad from every standpoint. It prevents that effective
co-operation between the Government and the men who utilize the
resources of the reserves, without which the interests of both must
suffer. The scientific bureaus generally should be put under the
Department of Agriculture. The President should have by law the power
of transferring lands for use as forest reserves to the Department of
Agriculture. He already has such power in the case of lands needed by
the Departments of War and the Navy.
The wise administration of the forest reserves will be not less helpful
to the interests which depend on 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 measures production. The
western half of the United States would sustain a population greater
than that of our whole country to-day if the waters that now run to
waste were saved and used for irrigation. The forest and water problems
are perhaps the most vital internal questions of the United States.
Certain of the forest reserves should also be made preserves for the
wild forest creatures. All of the reserves should be better protected
from fires. Many of them need special protection because of the great
injury done by live stock, above all by sheep. The increase in deer,
elk, and other animals in the Yellowstone Park shows what may be
expected when other mountain forests are properly protected by law and
properly guarded. Some of these areas have been so denuded of surface
vegetation by overgrazing that the ground breeding birds, including
grouse and quail, and many mammals, including deer, have been
exterminated or driven away. At the same time the water-storing
capacity of the surface has been decreased or destroyed, thus promoting
floods in times of rain and diminishing the flow of streams between
rains.
In cases where natural conditions have been restored for a few years,
vegetation has again carpeted the ground, birds and deer are coming
back, and hundreds of persons, especially from the immediate
neighborhood, come each summer to enjoy the privilege of camping. Some
at least of the forest reserves should afford perpetual protection to
the native fauna and flora, safe havens of refuge to our rapidly
diminishing wild animals of the larger kinds, and free camping grounds
for the ever-increasing numbers of men and women who have learned to
find rest, health, and recreation in the splendid forests and
flower-clad meadows of our mountains. The forest reserves should be set
apart forever for the use and benefit of our people as a whole and not
sacrificed to the shortsighted greed of a few.
The forests are natural reservoirs. By restraining the streams in flood
and replenishing them in drought they make possible the use of waters
otherwise wasted. They prevent the soil from washing, and so protect
the storage reservoirs from filling up with silt. Forest conservation
is therefore an essential condition of water conservation.
The forests alone cannot, however, fully regulate and conserve the
waters of the arid region. Great storage works are necessary to
equalize the flow of streams and to save the flood waters. Their
construction has been conclusively shown to be an undertaking too vast
for private effort. Nor can it be best accomplished by the individual
States acting alone. Far-reaching interstate problems are involved; and
the resources of single States would often be inadequate. It is
properly a national function, at least in some of its features. It is
as right for the National Government to make the streams and rivers of
the arid region useful by engineering works for water storage as to
make useful the rivers and harbors of the humid region by engineering
works of another kind. The storing of the floods in reservoirs at the
headwaters of our rivers is but an enlargement of our present policy of
river control, under which levees are built on the lower reaches of the
same streams.
The Government should construct and maintain these reservoirs as it
does other public works. Where their purpose is to regulate the flow of
streams, the water should be turned freely into the channels in the dry
season to take the same course under the same laws as the natural flow.
The reclamation of the unsettled arid public lands presents a different
problem. Here it is not enough to regulate the flow of streams. The
object of the Government is to dispose of the land to settlers who will
build homes upon it. To accomplish this object water must be brought
within their reach.
The pioneer settlers on the arid public domain chose their homes along
streams from which they could themselves divert the water to reclaim
their holdings. Such opportunities are practically gone. There remain,
however, vast areas of public land which can be made available for
homestead settlement, but only by reservoirs and main-line canals
impracticable for private enterprise. These irrigation works should be
built by the National Government. The lands reclaimed by them should be
reserved by the Government for actual settlers, and the cost of
construction should so far as possible be repaid by the land reclaimed.
The distribution of the water, the division of the streams among
irrigators, should be left to the settlers themselves in conformity
with State laws and without interference with those laws or with vested
fights. The policy of the National Government should be to aid
irrigation in the several States and Territories in such manner as will
enable the people in the local communities to help themselves, and as
will stimulate needed reforms in the State laws and regulations
governing irrigation.
The reclamation and settlement of the arid lands will enrich every
portion of our country, just as the settlement of the Ohio and
Mississippi valleys brought prosperity to the Atlantic States. The
increased demand for manufactured articles will stimulate industrial
production, while wider home markets and the trade of Asia will consume
the larger food supplies and effectually prevent Western competition
with Eastern agriculture. Indeed, the products of irrigation will be
consumed chiefly in upbuilding local centers of mining and other
industries, which would otherwise not come into existence at all. Our
people as a whole will profit, for successful home-making is but
another name for the upbuilding of the nation.
The necessary foundation has already been laid for the inauguration of
the policy just described. It would be unwise to begin by doing too
much, for a great deal will doubtless be learned, both as to what can
and what cannot be safely attempted, by the early efforts, which must
of necessity be partly experimental in character. At the very beginning
the Government should make clear, beyond shadow of doubt, its intention
to pursue this policy on lines of the broadest public interest. No
reservoir or canal should ever be built to satisfy selfish personal or
local interests; but only in accordance with the advice of trained
experts, after long investigation has shown the locality where all the
conditions combine to make the work most needed and fraught with the
greatest usefulness to the community as a whole. There should be no
extravagance, and the believers in the need of irrigation will most
benefit their cause by seeing to it that it is free from the least
taint of excessive or reckless expenditure of the public moneys.
Whatever the nation does for the extension of irrigation should
harmonize with, and tend to improve, the condition of those now living
on irrigated land. We are not at the starting point of this
development. Over two hundred millions of private capital has already
been expended in the construction of irrigation works, and many million
acres of arid land reclaimed. A high degree of enterprise and ability
has been shown in the work itself; but as much cannot be said in
reference to the laws relating thereto. The security and value of the
homes created depend largely on the stability of titles to water; but
the majority of these rest on the uncertain foundation of court
decisions rendered in ordinary suits at law. With a few creditable
exceptions, the arid States have failed to provide for the certain and
just division of streams in times of scarcity. Lax and uncertain laws
have made it possible to establish rights to water in excess of actual
uses or necessities, and many streams have already passed into private
ownership, or a control equivalent to ownership.
Whoever controls a stream practically controls the land it renders
productive, and the doctrine of private ownership of water apart from
land cannot prevail without causing enduring wrong. The recognition of
such ownership, which has been permitted to grow up in the arid
regions, should give way to a more enlightened and larger recognition
of the rights of the public in the control and disposal of the public
water supplies. Laws founded upon conditions obtaining in humid
regions, where water is too abundant to justify hoarding it, have no
proper application in a dry country.
In the arid States the only right to water which should be recognized
is that of use. In irrigation this right should attach to the land
reclaimed and be inseparable therefrom. Granting perpetual water rights
to others than users, without compensation to the public, is open to
all the objections which apply to giving away perpetual franchises to
the public utilities of cities. A few of the Western States have
already recognized this, and have incorporated in their constitutions
the doctrine of perpetual State ownership of water.
The benefits which have followed the unaided development of the past
justify the nation's aid and co-operation in the more difficult and
important work yet to be accomplished. Laws so vitally affecting homes
as those which control the water supply will only be effective when
they have the sanction of the irrigators; reforms can only be final and
satisfactory when they come through the enlightenment of the people
most concerned. The larger development which national aid insures
should, however, awaken in every arid State the determination to make
its irrigation system equal in justice and effectiveness that of any
country in the civilized world. Nothing could be more unwise than for
isolated communities to continue to learn everything experimentally,
instead of profiting by what is already known elsewhere. We are dealing
with a new and momentous question, in the pregnant years while
institutions are forming, and what we do will affect not only the
present but future generations.
Our aim should be not simply to reclaim the largest area of land and
provide homes for the largest number of people, but to create for this
new industry the best possible social and industrial conditions; and
this requires that we not only understand the existing situation, but
avail ourselves of the best experience of the time in the solution of
its problems. A careful study should be made, both by the Nation and
the States, of the irrigation laws and conditions here and abroad.
Ultimately it will probably be necessary for the Nation to co-operate
with the several arid States in proportion as these States by their
legislation and administration show themselves fit to receive it.
In Hawaii our aim must be to develop the Territory on the traditional
American lines. We do not wish a region of large estates tilled by
cheap labor; we wish a healthy American community of men who themselves
till the farms they own. All our legislation for the islands should be
shaped with this end in view; the well-being of the average home-maker
must afford the true test of the healthy development of the islands.
The land policy should as nearly as possible be modeled on our
homestead system.
It is a pleasure to say that it is hardly more necessary to report as
to Puerto Rico than as to any State or Territory within our continental
limits. The island is thriving as never before, and it is being
administered efficiently and honestly. Its people are now enjoying
liberty and order under the protection of the United States, and upon
this fact we congratulate them and ourselves. Their material welfare
must be as carefully and jealously considered as the welfare of any
other portion of our country. We have given them the great gift of free
access for their products to the markets of the United States. I ask
the attention of the Congress to the need of legislation concerning the
public lands of Puerto Rico.
In Cuba such progress has been made toward putting the independent
government of the island upon a firm footing that before the present
session of the Congress closes this will be an accomplished fact. Cuba
will then start as her own mistress; and to the beautiful Queen of the
Antilles, as she unfolds this new page of her destiny, we extend our
heartiest greetings and good wishes. Elsewhere I have discussed the
question of reciprocity. In the case of Cuba, however, there are
weighty reasons of morality and of national interest why the policy
should be held to have a peculiar application, and I most earnestly ask
your attention to the wisdom, indeed to the vital need, of providing
for a substantial reduction in the tariff duties on Cuban imports into
the United States. Cuba has in her constitution affirmed what we
desired: that she should stand, in international matters, in closer and
more friendly relations with us than with any other power; and we are
bound by every consideration of honor and expediency to pass commercial
measures in the interest of her material well-being.
In the Philippines our problem is larger. They are very rich tropical
islands, inhabited by many varying tribes, representing widely
different stages of progress toward civilization. Our earnest effort is
to help these people upward along the stony and difficult path that
leads to self-government. We hope to make our administration of the
islands honorable to our Nation by making it of the highest benefit to
the Filipinos themselves; and as an earnest of what we intend to do, we
point to what we have done. Already a greater measure of material
prosperity and of governmental honesty and efficiency has been attained
in the Philippines than ever before in their history.
It is no light task for a nation to achieve the temperamental qualities
without which the institutions of free government are but an empty
mockery. Our people are now successfully governing themselves, because
for more than a thousand years they have been slowly fitting
themselves, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously, toward this
end. What has taken us thirty generations to achieve, we cannot expect
to have another race accomplish out of hand, especially when large
portions of that race start very far behind the point which our
ancestors had reached even thirty generations ago. In dealing with the
Philippine people we must show both patience and strength, forbearance
and steadfast resolution. Our aim is high. We do not desire to do for
the islanders merely what has elsewhere been done for tropic peoples by
even the best foreign governments. We hope to do for them what has
never before been done for any people of the tropics--to make them fit
for self-government after the fashion of the really free nations.
History may safely be challenged to show a single instance in which a
masterful race such as ours, having been forced by the exigencies of
war to take possession of an alien land, has behaved to its inhabitants
with the disinterested zeal for their progress that our people have
shown in the Philippines. To leave the islands at this time would mean
that they would fall into a welter of murderous anarchy. Such desertion
of duty on our part would be a crime against humanity. The character of
Governor Taft and of his associates and subordinates is a proof, if
such be needed, of the sincerity of our effort to give the islanders a
constantly increasing measure of self-government, exactly as fast as
they show themselves fit to exercise it. Since the civil government was
established not an appointment has been made in the islands with any
reference to considerations of political influence, or to aught else
Save the fitness of the man and the needs of the service.
In our anxiety for the welfare and progress of the Philippines, may be
that here and there we have gone too rapidly in giving them local
self-government. It is on this side that our error, if any, has been
committed. No competent observer, sincerely desirous of finding out the
facts and influenced only by a desire for the welfare of the natives,
can assert that we have not gone far enough. We have gone to the very
verge of safety in hastening the process. To have taken a single step
farther or faster in advance would have been folly and weakness, and
might well have been crime. We are extremely anxious that the natives
shall show the power of governing themselves. We are anxious, first for
their sakes, and next, because it relieves us of a great burden. There
need not be the slightest fear of our not continuing to give them all
the liberty for which they are fit.
The only fear is test in our overanxiety we give them a degree of
independence for which they are unfit, thereby inviting reaction and
disaster. As fast as there is any reasonable hope that in a given
district the people can govern themselves, self-government has been
given in that district. There is not a locality fitted for
self-government which has not received it. But it may well be that in
certain cases it will have to be withdrawn because the inhabitants show
themselves unfit to exercise it; such instances have already occurred.
In other words, there is not the slightest chance of our failing to
show a sufficiently humanitarian spirit. The danger comes in the
opposite direction.
There are still troubles ahead in the islands. The insurrection has
become an affair of local banditti and marauders, who deserve no higher
regard than the brigands of portions of the Old World. Encouragement,
direct or indirect, to these insurrectors stands on the same footing as
encouragement to hostile Indians in the days when we still had Indian
wars. Exactly as our aim is to give to the Indian who remains peaceful
the fullest and amplest consideration, but to have it understood that
we will show no weakness if he goes on the warpath, so we must make it
evident, unless we are false to our own traditions and to the demands
of civilization and humanity, that while we will do everything in our
power for the Filipino who is peaceful, we will take the sternest
measures with the Filipino who follows the path of the insurrecto and
the ladrone.
The heartiest praise is due to large numbers of the natives of the
islands for their steadfast loyalty. The Macabebes have been
conspicuous for their courage and devotion to the flag. I recommend
that the Secretary of War be empowered to take some systematic action
in the way of aiding those of these men who are crippled in the service
and the families of those who are killed.
The time has come when there should be additional legislation for the
Philippines. Nothing better can be done for the islands than to
introduce industrial enterprises. Nothing would benefit them so much as
throwing them open to industrial development. The connection between
idleness and mischief is proverbial, and the opportunity to do
remunerative work is one of the surest preventatives of war. Of course
no business man will go into the Philippines unless it is to his
interest to do so; and it is immensely to the interest of the islands
that he should go in. It is therefore necessary that the Congress
should pass laws by which the resources of the islands can be
developed; so that franchises (for limited terms of years) can be
granted to companies doing business in them, and every encouragement be
given to the incoming of 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 permitted only under regulations which
will guarantee the islands against any kind of improper exploitation.
But the vast natural wealth of the islands must be developed, and the
capital willing to develop it must be given the opportunity. The field
must be thrown open to individual enterprise, which has been the real
factor in the development of every region over which our flag has
flown. It is urgently necessary to enact suitable laws dealing with
general transportation, mining, banking, currency, homesteads, and the
use and ownership of the lands and timber. These laws will give free
play to industrial enterprise; and the commercial development which
will surely follow will accord to the people of the islands the best
proofs of the sincerity of our desire to aid them.
I call your attention most earnestly to the crying need of a cable to
Hawaii and the Philippines, to be continued from the Philippines to
points in Asia. We should not defer a day longer than necessary the
construction of such a cable. It is demanded not merely for commercial
but for political and military considerations.
Either the Congress should immediately provide for the construction of
a Government cable, or else an arrangement should be made by which like
advantages to those accruing from a Government cable may be secured to
the Government by contract with a private cable company.
No single great material work which remains to be undertaken on this
continent is of such consequence to the American people as the building
of a canal across the Isthmus connecting North and South America. Its
importance to the Nation is by no means limited merely to its material
effects upon our business prosperity; and yet with view to these
effects alone it would be to the last degree important for us
immediately to begin it. While its beneficial effects would perhaps be
most marked upon the Pacific Coast and the Gulf and South Atlantic
States, it would also greatly benefit other sections. It is
emphatically a work which it is for the interest of the entire country
to begin and complete as soon as possible; it is one of those great
works which only a great nation can undertake with prospects of
success, and which when done are not only permanent assets in the
nation's material interests, but standing monuments to its constructive
ability.
I am glad to be able to announce to you that our negotiations on this
subject with Great Britain, conducted on both sides in a spirit of
friendliness and mutual good will and respect, have resulted in my
being able to lay before the Senate a treaty which if ratified will
enable us to begin preparations for an Isthmian canal at any time, and
which guarantees to this Nation every right that it has ever asked in
connection with the canal. In this treaty, the old Clayton-Bulwer
treaty, so long recognized as inadequate to supply the base for the
construction and maintenance of a necessarily American ship canal, is
abrogated. It specifically provides that the United States alone shall
do the work of building and assume the responsibility of safeguarding
the canal and shall regulate its neutral use by all nations on terms of
equality without the guaranty or interference of any outside nation
from any quarter. The signed treaty will at once be laid before the
Senate, and if approved the Congress can then proceed to give effect to
the advantages it secures us by providing for the building of the
canal.
The true end of every great and free people should be self-respecting
peace; and this Nation most earnestly desires sincere and cordial
friendship with all others. Over the entire world, of recent years,
wars between the great civilized powers have become less and less
frequent. Wars with barbarous or semi-barbarous peoples come in an
entirely different category, being merely a most regrettable but
necessary international police duty which must be performed for the
sake of the welfare of mankind. Peace can only be kept with certainty
where both sides wish to keep it; but more and more the civilized
peoples are realizing the wicked folly of war and are attaining that
condition of just and intelligent regard for the rights of others which
will in the end, as we hope and believe, make world-wide peace
possible. The peace conference at The Hague gave definite expression to
this hope and belief and marked a stride toward their attainment.
This same peace conference acquiesced in our statement of the Monroe
Doctrine as compatible with the purposes and aims of the conference.
The Monroe Doctrine should be the cardinal feature of the foreign
policy of all the nations of the two Americas, as it is of the United
States. Just seventy-eight years have passed since President Monroe in
his Annual Message announced that "The American continents are
henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by
any European power." In other words, the Monroe Doctrine is a
declaration that there must be no territorial aggrandizement by any
non-American power at the expense of any American power on American
soil. It is in no wise intended as hostile to any nation in the Old
World. Still less is it intended to give cover to any aggression by one
New World power at the expense of any other. It is simply a step, and a
long step, toward assuring the universal peace of the world by securing
the possibility of permanent peace on this hemisphere.
During the past century other influences have established the
permanence and independence of the smaller states of Europe. Through
the Monroe Doctrine we hope to be able to safeguard like independence
and secure like permanence for the lesser among the New World nations.
This doctrine has nothing to do with the commercial relations of any
American power, save that it in truth allows each of them to form such
as it desires. In other words, it is really a guaranty of the
commercial independence of the Americas. We do not ask under this
doctrine for any exclusive commercial dealings with any other American
state. We do not guarantee any state against punishment if it
misconducts itself, provided that punishment does not take the form of
the acquisition of territory by any non-American power.
Our attitude in Cuba is a sufficient guaranty of our own good faith. We
have not the slightest desire to secure any territory at the expense of
any of our neighbors. We wish to work with them hand in hand, so that
all of us may be uplifted together, and we rejoice over the good
fortune of any of them, we gladly hail their material prosperity and
political stability, and are concerned and alarmed if any of them fall
into industrial or political chaos. We do not wish to see any Old World
military power grow up on this continent, or to be compelled to become
a military power ourselves. The peoples of the Americas can prosper
best if left to work out their own salvation in their own way.
The work of upbuilding the Navy must be steadily continued. No one
point of our policy, foreign or domestic, is more important than this
to the honor and material welfare, and above all to the peace, of our
nation in the future. Whether we desire it or not, we must henceforth
recognize that we have international duties no less than international
rights. Even if our flag were hauled down in the Philippines and Puerto
Rico, even if we decided not to build the Isthmian Canal, we should
need a thoroughly trained Navy of adequate size, or else be prepared
definitely and for all time to abandon the idea that our nation is
among those whose sons go down to the sea in ships. Unless our commerce
is always to be carried in foreign bottoms, we must have war craft to
protect it.
Inasmuch, however, as the American people have no thought of abandoning
the path upon which they have entered, and especially in view of the
fact that the building of the Isthmian Canal is fast becoming one of
the matters which the whole people are united in demanding, it is
imperative that our Navy should be put and kept in the highest state of
efficiency, and should 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 guaranty against war, the cheapest and most
effective peace insurance. The cost of building and maintaining such a
navy represents the very lightest premium for insuring peace which this
nation can possibly pay.
Probably no other great nation in the world is so anxious for peace as
we are. There is not a single civilized power which has anything
whatever to fear from aggressiveness on our part. All we want is peace;
and toward this end we wish to be able to secure the same respect for
our rights from others which we are eager and anxious to extend to
their rights in 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 Doctrine and to insist upon it
as the one sure means of securing the peace of the Western Hemisphere.
The Navy offers us the only means of making our insistence upon the
Monroe Doctrine anything but a subject of derision to whatever nation
chooses to disregard it. We desire the peace which comes as of right to
the just man armed; not the peace granted on terms of ignominy to the
craven and the weakling.
It is not possible to improvise a navy after war breaks out. The ships
must be built and the men trained long in advance. Some auxiliary
vessels can be turned into makeshifts which will do in default of any
better for the minor work, and a proportion of raw men can be mixed
with the highly trained, their shortcomings being made good by the
skill of their fellows; but the efficient fighting force of the Navy
when pitted against an equal opponent will be found almost exclusively
in the war ships that have been regularly built and in the officers and
men who through years of faithful performance of sea duty have been
trained to handle their formidable but complex and delicate weapons
with the highest efficiency. In the late war with Spain the ships that
dealt the decisive blows at Manila and Santiago had been launched from
two to fourteen years, and they were able to do as they did because the
men in the conning towers, the gun turrets, and the engine-rooms had
through long years of practice at sea learned how to do their duty.
Our present Navy was begun in 1882. At that period our Navy consisted
of a collection of antiquated wooden ships, already almost as out of
place against modern war vessels as the galleys of Alcibiades and
Hamilcar--certainly as the ships of Tromp and Blake. Nor at that time
did we have men fit to handle a modern man-of-war. Under the wise
legislation of the Congress and the successful administration of a
succession of patriotic Secretaries of the Navy, belonging to both
political parties, the work of upbuilding the Navy went on, and ships
equal to any in the world of their kind were continually added; and
what was even more important, these ships were exercised at sea singly
and in squadrons until the men aboard them were able to get the best
possible service out of them. The result was seen in the short war with
Spain, which was decided with such rapidity because of the infinitely
greater preparedness of our Navy than of the Spanish Navy.
While awarding the fullest honor to the men who actually commanded and
manned the ships which destroyed the Spanish sea forces in the
Philippines and in Cuba, we must not forget that an equal meed of
praise belongs to those without whom neither blow could have been
struck. The Congressmen who voted years in advance the money to lay
down the ships, to build the guns, to buy the armor-plate; the
Department officials and the business men and wage-workers who
furnished what the Congress had authorized; the Secretaries of the Navy
who asked for and expended the appropriations; and finally the officers
who, in fair weather and foul, on actual sea service, trained and
disciplined the crews of the ships when there was no war in sight--all
are entitled to a full share in the glory of Manila and Santiago, and
the respect accorded by every true American to those who wrought such
signal triumph for our country. It was forethought and preparation
which 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 us instead of triumph; and should this time come, the fault
will rest primarily, not upon those whom the accident of events puts in
supreme command at the moment, but upon those who have failed to
prepare in advance.
There should be no cessation in the work of completing our Navy. So far
ingenuity has been wholly unable to devise a substitute for the great
war craft whose hammering guns beat out the mastery of the high seas.
It is unsafe and unwise not to provide this year for several additional
Battle ships and heavy armored cruisers, with auxiliary and lighter
craft in proportion; for the exact numbers and character I refer you to
the report of the Secretary of the Navy. But there is something we need
even more than additional ships, and this is additional officers and
men. To provide battle ships and cruisers and then lay them up, with
the expectation of leaving them unmanned until they are 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 unless those aboard it
have been trained by years of actual sea service, including incessant
gunnery practice, would be to invite not merely disaster, but the
bitterest shame and humiliation. Four thousand additional seamen and
one thousand additional marines should be provided; and an increase in
the officers should be provided by making a large addition to the
classes at Annapolis. There is one small matter which should be
mentioned in connection with Annapolis. The pretentious and unmeaning
title of "naval cadet" 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 until it wears out, for
only so can it be kept fit to respond to any emergency. The officers
and men alike should be kept as much as possible on blue water, for it
is there only they can learn their duties as they should be learned.
The big vessels should be manoeuvred in squadrons containing not merely
battle ships, but the necessary proportion of cruisers and scouts. The
torpedo boats should be handled by the younger officers in such manner
as will best fit the latter to take responsibility and meet the
emergencies of actual warfare.
Every detail ashore which can be performed by a civilian should be so
performed, the officer being kept for his special duty in the sea
service. Above all, gunnery practice should be unceasing. It is
important to have our Navy of adequate size, but it is even more
important that ship for ship it should equal in efficiency any navy in
the world. This is possible only with highly drilled crews and
officers, and this in turn imperatively demands continuous and
progressive instruction in target practice, ship handling, squadron
tactics, and general discipline. Our ships must be assembled in
squadrons actively cruising away from harbors and never long at anchor.
The resulting wear upon engines and hulls must be endured; a battle
ship worn out in long training of officers and men is well paid for by
the results, while, on the other hand, no matter in how excellent
condition, it is useless if the crew be not expert.
We now have seventeen battle ships appropriated for, of which nine are
completed and have been commissioned for actual service. The remaining
eight will be ready in from two to four years, but it will take at
least that time to recruit and train the men to fight them. It is of
vast concern that we have trained crews ready for the vessels by the
time they are commissioned. Good ships and good guns are simply good
weapons, and the best weapons are useless save in the hands of men who
know how to fight with them. The men must be trained and drilled under
a thorough and well-planned system of progressive instruction, while
the recruiting must be carried on with still greater vigor. Every
effort must be made to exalt the main function of the officer--the
command of men. The leading graduates of the Naval Academy should be
assigned to the combatant branches, the line and marines.
Many of the essentials of success are already recognized by the General
Board, which, as the central office of a growing staff, is moving
steadily toward a proper war efficiency and a proper efficiency of the
whole Navy, under the Secretary. This General Board, by fostering the
creation of a general staff, is providing for the official and then the
general recognition of our altered conditions as a Nation and of the
true meaning 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 of war they will constitute the inner line
of defense. They should receive hearty encouragement from the General
Government.
But in addition we should at once provide for a National Naval Reserve,
organized and trained under the direction of the Navy Department, and
subject to the call of the Chief Executive whenever war becomes
imminent. It should be a real auxiliary to the naval seagoing peace
establishment, and offer material to be drawn on 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 crews of
coast-line steamers, longshore schooners, fishing vessels, and steam
yachts, together with the coast population about such centers as
lifesaving stations and light-houses.
The American people must either build and maintain an adequate navy or
else make up their minds definitely to 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 of courting
national disaster than to be "opulent, aggressive, and unarmed."
It is not necessary to increase our Army beyond its present size at
this time. But it is necessary to keep it at the highest point of
efficiency. The individual units who as officers and enlisted men
compose this Army, are, we have good reason to believe, at least as
efficient as those of any other army in the entire world. It is our
duty to see that their training is of a kind to insure the highest
possible expression of power to these units when acting in combination.
The conditions of modern war are such as to make an infinitely heavier
demand than ever before upon the individual character and capacity of
the officer and the enlisted man, and to make it far more difficult for
men to act together with effect. At present the fighting must be done
in extended order, which means that each man must act for himself and
at the same time act in combination with others with whom he is no
longer in the old-fashioned elbow-to-elbow touch. Under such conditions
a few men of the highest excellence are worth more than many men
without the special skill which is only found as the result of special
training applied to men of exceptional physique and morale. But
nowadays the most valuable fighting man and the most difficult to
perfect is the rifleman who is also a skillful and daring rider.
The proportion of our cavalry regiments has wisely been increased. The
American cavalryman, trained to manoeuvre and fight with equal facility
on foot and on horseback, is the best type of soldier for general
purposes now to be found in the world. The ideal cavalryman of the
present day is a man who can fight on foot as effectively as the best
infantryman, and who is in addition unsurpassed in the care and
management of his horse and in his ability to fight on horseback.
A general staff should be created. As for the present staff and supply
departments, they should be filled by details from the line, the men so
detailed returning after a while to their line duties. It is very
undesirable to have the senior grades of the Army composed of men who
have come to fill the positions by the mere fact of seniority. A system
should be adopted by which there shall be an elimination grade by grade
of those who seem unfit to render the best service in the next grade.
Justice to the veterans of the Civil War who are still in the Army
would seem to require that in the matter of retirements they be given
by law the same privileges accorded to their comrades in the Navy.
The process of elimination of the least fit should be conducted in a
manner that would render it practically impossible to apply political
or social pressure on behalf of any candidate, so that each man may be
judged purely on his own merits. Pressure for the promotion of civil
officials for political reasons is bad enough, but it is tenfold worse
where applied on behalf of officers of the Army or Navy. Every
promotion and every detail under the War Department must be made solely
with regard to the good of the service and to the capacity and merit of
the man himself. No pressure, political, social, or personal, of any
kind, will be permitted to exercise the least effect in any question of
promotion or detail; and if there is reason to believe that such
pressure is exercised at the instigation of the officer concerned, it
will be held to militate against him. In our Army we cannot afford to
have rewards or duties distributed save on the simple ground that those
who by their own merits are entitled to the rewards get them, and that
those who are peculiarly fit to do the duties are chosen to perform
them.
Every effort should be made to bring the Army to a constantly
increasing state of efficiency. When on actual service no work save
that directly in the line of such service should be required. The paper
work in the Army, as in the Navy, should be greatly reduced. What is
needed is proved power of command and capacity to work well in the
field. Constant care is necessary to prevent dry rot in the
transportation and commissary departments.
Our Army is so small and so much scattered that it is very difficult to
give the higher officers (as well as the lower officers and the
enlisted men) a chance to practice manoeuvres in mass and on a
comparatively large scale. In time of need no amount of individual
excellence would avail against the paralysis which would follow
inability to work as a coherent whole, under skillful and daring
leadership. The Congress should provide means whereby it will be
possible to have 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 form of field manoeuvres; or, if on the
Gulf Coast or the Pacific or Atlantic Seaboard, or in the region of the
Great Lakes, the army corps when assembled could be marched from some
inland point to some point on the water, there embarked, disembarked
after a couple of days' journey at some other point, and again marched
inland. Only by actual handling and providing for men in masses while
they are marching, camping, embarking, and disembarking, will it be
possible to train the higher officers to perform their duties well and
smoothly.
A great debt is owing from the public to the men of the Army and Navy.
They should be so treated as to enable them to reach the highest point
of efficiency, so that they may be able to respond instantly to any
demand made upon them to sustain the interests of the Nation and the
honor of the flag. The individual American enlisted man is probably on
the whole a more formidable fighting man than the regular of any other
army. Every consideration should be shown him, and in return the
highest standard of usefulness should be exacted from him. It is well
worth while for the Congress to consider whether the pay of enlisted
men upon second and subsequent enlistments should not be increased to
correspond with the increased value of the veteran soldier.
Much good has already come from the act reorganizing the Army, passed
early in the present year. The three prime reforms, all of them of
literally inestimable value, are, first, the substitution of four-year
details from the line for permanent appointments in the so-called staff
divisions; second, the establishment of a corps of artillery with a
chief at the head; third, the establishment of a maximum and minimum
limit for the Army. It would be difficult to overestimate the
improvement in the efficiency of our Army which these three reforms are
making, and have in part already effected.
The reorganization provided for by the act has been substantially
accomplished. The improved conditions in the Philippines have enabled
the War Department materially to reduce the military charge upon our
revenue and to arrange the number of soldiers so as to bring this
number much nearer to the minimum than to the maximum limit established
by law. There is, however, need of supplementary legislation. Thorough
military education must be provided, and in addition to the regulars
the advantages of this education should be given to the officers of the
National Guard and others in civil life who desire intelligently to fit
themselves for possible military duty. The officers should be given the
chance to perfect themselves by study in the higher branches of this
art. At West Point the education should be of the kind most apt to turn
out men who are good in actual field service; too much stress should
not be laid on mathematics, nor should proficiency therein be held to
establish the right of entry to a corps d'elite. The typical American
officer of the best kind need not be a good mathematician; but he must
be able to master himself, to control others, and to show boldness and
fertility of resource in every emergency.
Action should be taken in reference to the militia and to the raising
of volunteer forces. Our militia law is obsolete and worthless. The
organization and armament of the National Guard of the several States,
which are treated as militia in the appropriations by the Congress,
should be made identical with those provided for the regular forces.
The obligations and duties of the Guard in time of war should be
carefully defined, and a system established by law under which the
method of procedure of raising volunteer forces should be prescribed in
advance. It is utterly impossible in the excitement and haste of
impending war to do this satisfactorily if the arrangements have not
been made long beforehand. Provision should be made for utilizing in
the first volunteer organizations called out the training of those
citizens who have already had experience under arms, and especially for
the selection in advance of the officers of any force which may be
raised; for careful selection of the kind necessary is impossible after
the outbreak of war.
That the Army is not at all a mere instrument of destruction has been
shown during the last three years. In the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto
Rico it has proved itself a great constructive force, a most potent
implement for the upbuilding of a peaceful civilization.
No other citizens deserve so well of the Republic as the veterans, the
survivors of those who saved the Union. They did the one deed which if
left undone would have meant that all else in our history went for
nothing. But for their steadfast prowess in the greatest crisis of our
history, all our annals would be meaningless, and our great experiment
in popular freedom and self-government a gloomy failure. Moreover, they
not only left us a united Nation, but they left us also as a heritage
the memory of the mighty deeds by which the Nation was kept united. We
are now indeed one Nation, one in fact as well as in name; we are
united in our devotion to the flag which is the symbol of national
greatness and unity; and the very completeness of our union enables us
all, in every part of the country, to glory in the valor shown alike by
the sons of the North and the sons of the South in the times that tried
men's souls.
The men who in the last three years have done so well in the East and
the West Indies and on the mainland of Asia have shown that this
remembrance is not lost. In any serious crisis the United States must
rely for the great mass of its fighting men upon the volunteer soldiery
who do not make a permanent profession of the military career; and
whenever such a crisis arises the deathless memories of the Civil War
will give to Americans the lift of lofty purpose which comes to those
whose fathers have stood valiantly in the forefront of the battle.
The merit system of making appointments is in its essence as democratic
and American as the common school system itself. It simply means that
in clerical and other positions where the duties are entirely
non-political, all applicants should have a fair field and no favor,
each standing on his merits as he is able to show them by practical
test. Written competitive examinations offer the only available means
in many cases for applying this system. In other cases, as where
laborers are employed, a system of registration undoubtedly can be
widely extended. There are, of course, places where the written
competitive examination cannot be applied, and others where it offers
by no means an ideal solution, but where under existing political
conditions it is, though an imperfect means, yet the best present means
of getting satisfactory results.
Wherever the conditions have permitted the application of the merit
system in its fullest and widest sense, the gain to the Government has
been immense. The navy-yards and postal service illustrate, probably
better than any other branches of the Government, the great gain in
economy, efficiency, and honesty due to the enforcement of this
principle.
I recommend the passage of a law which will extend the classified
service to the District of Columbia, or will at least enable the
President thus to extend it. In my judgment all laws providing for the
temporary employment of clerks should hereafter contain a provision
that they be selected under the Civil Service Law.
It is important to have this system obtain at home, but it is even more
important to have it applied rigidly in our insular possessions. Not an
office should be filled in the Philippines or Puerto Rico with any
regard to the man's partisan affiliations or services, 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 nothing save
the man's own character and capacity and the needs of the service.
The administration of these islands should be as wholly free from the
suspicion of partisan politics as the administration of the Army and
Navy. All that we ask from the public servant in the Philippines or
Puerto Rico is that he reflect honor on his country by the way in which
he makes that country's rule a benefit to the peoples who have come
under it. This is all that we should ask, and we cannot afford to be
content with less.
The merit system is simply one method of securing honest and efficient
administration of the Government; and in the long run the sole
justification of any type of government lies in its proving itself both
honest and efficient.
The consular service is now organized under the provisions of a law
passed in 1856, which is entirely inadequate to existing conditions.
The interest shown by so many commercial bodies throughout the country
in the reorganization of the service is heartily commended to your
attention. Several bills providing for a new consular service have in
recent years been submitted to the Congress. They are based upon the
just principle that appointments to the service should be made only
after a practical test of the applicant's fitness, that promotions
should be governed by trustworthiness, adaptability, and zeal in the
performance of duty, and that the tenure of office should be unaffected
by partisan considerations.
The guardianship and fostering of our rapidly expanding foreign
commerce, the protection of American citizens resorting to foreign
countries in lawful pursuit of their affairs, and the maintenance of
the dignity of the nation abroad, combine to make it essential that our
consuls should be men of character, knowledge and enterprise. It is
true that the service is now, in the main, efficient, but a standard of
excellence cannot be permanently maintained until the principles set
forth in the bills heretofore submitted to the Congress on this subject
are enacted into law.
In my judgment the time has arrived when we should definitely make up
our minds to recognize the Indian as an individual and not as a member
of a tribe. The General Allotment Act is a mighty pulverizing engine to
break up the tribal mass. It acts directly upon the family and the
individual. Under its provisions some sixty thousand Indians have
already become citizens of the United States. We should now break up
the tribal funds, doing for them what allotment does for the tribal
lands; that is, they should be divided into individual holdings. There
will be a transition period during which the funds will in many cases
have to be held in trust. This is the case also with the lands. A stop
should be put upon the indiscriminate permission to Indians to lease
their allotments. The effort should be steadily to make the Indian work
like any other man on his own ground. The marriage laws of the Indians
should be made the same as those of the whites.
In the schools the education should be elementary and largely
industrial. The need of higher education among the Indians is very,
very limited. On the reservations care should be taken to try to suit
the teaching to the needs of the particular Indian. There is no use in
attempting to induce agriculture in a country suited only for cattle
raising, where the Indian should be made a stock grower. The ration
system, which is merely the corral and the reservation system, is
highly detrimental to the Indians. It promotes beggary, perpetuates
pauperism, and stifles industry. It is an effectual barrier to
progress. It must continue to a greater or less degree as long as
tribes are herded on reservations and have everything in common. The
Indian should be treated as an individual--like the white man. During
the 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 make the change. There should be a continuous
reduction in the number of agencies.
In dealing with the aboriginal races few things are more important than
to preserve them from the terrible physical and moral degradation
resulting from the liquor traffic. We are doing all we can to save our
own Indian tribes from this evil. Wherever by international agreement
this same end can be attained as regards races where we do not possess
exclusive control, every effort should be made to bring it about.
I bespeak the most cordial support from the Congress and the people for
the St. Louis Exposition to commemorate the One Hundredth Anniversary
of the Louisiana Purchase. This purchase was the greatest instance of
expansion in our history. It definitely decided that we were to become
a great continental republic, by far the foremost power in the Western
Hemisphere. It is one of three or four great landmarks in our
history--the great turning points in our development. It is eminently
fitting that all our people should join with heartiest good will in
commemorating it, and the citizens of St. Louis, of Missouri, of all
the adjacent region, are entitled to every aid in making the
celebration a noteworthy event in our annals. We earnestly hope that
foreign nations will appreciate the deep interest our country takes in
this Exposition, and our view of its importance from every standpoint,
and that they will participate in securing its success. The National
Government should be represented by a full and complete set of
exhibits.
The people of Charleston, with great energy and civic spirit, are
carrying on an Exposition which will continue throughout most of the
present session of the Congress. I heartily commend this Exposition to
the good will of the people. It deserves all the encouragement that can
be given it. The managers of the Charleston Exposition have requested
the Cabinet officers to place thereat the Government exhibits which
have been at Buffalo, promising to pay the necessary expenses. I have
taken the responsibility of directing that this be done, for I feel
that it is due to Charleston to help her in her praiseworthy effort. In
my opinion the management should not be required to pay all these
expenses. I earnestly recommend that the Congress appropriate at once
the small sum necessary for this purpose.
The Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo has just closed. Both from the
industrial and the artistic standpoint this Exposition has been in a
high degree creditable and useful, not merely to Buffalo but to the
United States. The terrible tragedy of the President's assassination
interfered materially with its being a financial success. The
Exposition was peculiarly in harmony with the trend of our public
policy, because it represented an effort to bring into closer touch all
the peoples of the Western Hemisphere, and give them an increasing
sense of unity. Such an effort was a genuine service to the entire
American public.
The advancement of the highest interests of national science and
learning and the custody of objects of art and of the valuable results
of scientific expeditions conducted by the United States have been
committed to the Smithsonian Institution. In furtherance of its
declared purpose--for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among
men"--the Congress has from time to time given it other important
functions. Such trusts have been executed by the Institution with
notable fidelity. There should be no halt in the work of the
Institution, in accordance with the plans which its Secretary has
presented, for the preservation of the vanishing races of great North
American animals in the National Zoological Park. The urgent needs of
the National Museum are recommended to the favorable consideration of
the Congress.
Perhaps the most characteristic educational movement of the past fifty
years is that which has created the modern public library and developed
it into broad and active service. There are now over five thousand
public libraries in the United States, the product of this period. In
addition to accumulating material, they are also striving by
organization, by improvement in method, and by co-operation, to give
greater efficiency to the material they hold, to make it more widely
useful, and by avoidance of unnecessary duplication in process to
reduce the cost of its administration.
In these efforts they naturally look for assistance to the Federal
library, which, though still the Library of Congress, and so entitled,
is the one national library of the United States. Already the largest
single collection of books on the Western Hemisphere, and certain to
increase more rapidly than any other through purchase, exchange, and
the operation of the copyright law, this library has a unique
opportunity to render to the libraries of this country--to American
scholarship--service of the highest importance. It is housed in a
building which is the largest and most magnificent yet erected for
library uses. Resources are now being provided which will develop the
collection properly, equip it with the apparatus and service necessary
to its effective use, render its bibliographic work widely available,
and enable it to become, not merely a center of research, but the chief
factor in great co-operative efforts for the diffusion of knowledge and
the advancement of learning.
For the sake of good administration, sound economy, and the advancement
of science, the Census Office as now constituted should be made a
permanent Government bureau. This would insure better, cheaper, and
more satisfactory work, in the interest not only of our business but of
statistic, economic, and social science.
The remarkable growth of the postal service is shown in the fact that
its revenues have doubled and its expenditures have nearly doubled
within twelve years. Its progressive development compels constantly
increasing outlay, but in this period of business energy and prosperity
its receipts grow so much faster than its expenses that the annual
deficit has been steadily reduced from $11,411,779 in 1897 to
$3,923,727 in 1901. Among recent postal advances the success of rural
free 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 population should share in the
improvement of the service. The number of rural routes now in operation
is 6,009, practically all established within three years, and there are
6,000 applications awaiting action. It is expected that the number in
operation at the close of the current fiscal year will reach 8,600. The
mail will then be daily carried to the doors of 5,700,000 of our people
who have heretofore been dependent upon distant offices, and one-third
of all that portion of the country which is adapted to it will be
covered by this kind of service.
The full measure of postal progress which might be realized has long
been hampered and obstructed by the heavy burden imposed on the
Government through the intrenched and well-understood abuses which have
grown up in connection with second-class mail matter. The extent of
this burden appears when it is stated that while the second-class
matter makes nearly three-fifths of the weight of all the mail, it paid
for the last fiscal year only $4,294,445 of the aggregate postal
revenue of $111,631,193. If the pound rate of postage, which produces
the large loss thus entailed, and which was fixed by the Congress with
the purpose of encouraging the dissemination of public information,
were limited to the legitimate newspapers and periodicals actually
contemplated by the law, no just exception could be taken. That expense
would be the recognized and accepted cost of a liberal public policy
deliberately adopted for a justifiable end. But much of the matter
which enjoys the privileged rate is wholly outside of the intent of the
law, and has secured admission only through an evasion of its
requirements or through lax construction. The proportion of such
wrongly included matter is estimated by postal experts to be one-half
of the whole volume of second-class mail. If it be only one-third or
one-quarter, the magnitude of the burden is apparent. The Post-Office
Department has now undertaken to remove the abuses so far as is
possible by a stricter application of the law; and it should be
sustained in its effort.
Owing to the rapid growth of our power and our interests on the
Pacific, whatever happens in China must be of the keenest national
concern to us.
The general terms of the settlement of the questions growing out of the
antiforeign uprisings in China of 1900, having been formulated in a
joint note addressed to China by the representatives of the injured
powers in December last, were promptly accepted by the Chinese
Government. After protracted conferences the plenipotentiaries of the
several powers were able to sign a final protocol with the Chinese
plenipotentiaries on the 7th of last September, setting forth the
measures taken by China in compliance with the demands of the joint
note, and expressing their satisfaction therewith. It will be laid
before the Congress, with a report of the plenipotentiary on behalf of
the United States, Mr. William Woodville Rockhill, to whom high praise
is due for the tact, good judgment, and energy he has displayed in
performing an exceptionally difficult and delicate task.
The agreement reached disposes in a manner satisfactory to the powers
of the various grounds of complaint, and will contribute materially to
better future relations between China and the powers. Reparation has
been made by China for the murder of foreigners during the uprising and
punishment has been inflicted on the officials, however high in rank,
recognized as responsible for or having participated in the outbreak.
Official examinations have been forbidden for a period of five years in
all cities in which foreigners have been murdered or cruelly treated,
and edicts have been issued making all officials directly responsible
for the future safety of foreigners and for the suppression of violence
against them.
Provisions have been made for insuring the future safety of the foreign
representatives in Peking by setting aside for their exclusive use a
quarter of the city which the powers can make defensible and in which
they can if necessary maintain permanent military guards; by
dismantling the military works between the capital and the sea; and by
allowing the temporary maintenance of foreign military posts along this
line. An edict has been issued by the Emperor of China prohibiting for
two years the importation of arms and ammunition into China. China has
agreed to pay adequate indemnities to the states, societies, and
individuals for the losses sustained by them and for the expenses of
the military expeditions sent by the various powers to protect life and
restore order.
Under the provisions of the joint note of December, 1900, China has
agreed to revise the treaties of commerce and navigation and to take
such other steps for the purpose of facilitating foreign trade as the
foreign powers may decide to be needed.
The Chinese Government has agreed to participate financially in the
work of bettering the water approaches to Shanghai and to Tientsin, the
centers of foreign trade in central and northern China, and an
international conservancy board, in which the Chinese Government is
largely represented, has been provided for the improvement of the
Shanghai River and the control of its navigation. In the same line of
commercial advantages a revision of the present tariff on imports has
been assented to for the purpose of substituting specific for ad
valorem duties, and an expert has been sent abroad on the part of the
United States to assist in this work. A list of articles to remain free
of duty, including flour, cereals, and rice, gold and silver coin and
bullion, has also been agreed upon in the settlement.
During these troubles our Government has unswervingly advocated
moderation, and has materially aided in bringing about an adjustment
which tends to enhance the welfare of China and to lead to a more
beneficial intercourse between the Empire and the modern world; while
in the critical period of revolt and massacre we did our full share in
safe-guarding life and property, restoring order, and vindicating the
national interest and honor. It behooves us to continue in these paths,
doing what lies in our power to foster feelings of good will, and
leaving no effort untried to work out the great policy of full and fair
intercourse between China and the nations, on a footing of equal rights
and advantages to all. We advocate the "open door" with all that it
implies; not merely the procurement of enlarged commercial
opportunities on the coasts, but access to the interior by the
waterways with which China has been so extraordinarily favored. Only by
bringing the people of China into peaceful and friendly community of
trade with all the peoples of the earth can the work now auspiciously
begun be carried to fruition. In the attainment of this purpose we
necessarily claim parity of treatment, under the conventions,
throughout the Empire for our trade and our citizens with those of all
other powers.
We view with lively interest and keen hopes of beneficial results the
proceedings of the Pan-American Congress, convoked at the invitation of
Mexico, and now sitting at the Mexican capital. The delegates of the
United States are under the most liberal instructions to cooperate with
their colleagues in all matters promising advantage to the great family
of American commonwealths, as well in their relations among themselves
as in their domestic advancement and in their intercourse with the
world at large.
My predecessor communicated to the Congress the fact that the Weil and
La Abra awards against Mexico have been adjudged by the highest courts
of our country to have been obtained through fraud and perjury on the
part of the claimants, and that in accordance with the acts of the
Congress the money remaining in the hands of the Secretary of State on
these awards has been returned to Mexico. A considerable portion of the
money received from Mexico on these awards had been paid by this
Government to the claimants before the decision of the courts was
rendered. My judgment is that the Congress should return to Mexico an
amount equal to the sums thus already paid to the claimants.
The death of Queen Victoria caused the people of the United States deep
and heartfelt sorrow, to which the Government gave full expression.
When President McKinley died, our Nation in turn received from every
quarter of the British Empire expressions of grief and sympathy no less
sincere. The death of the Empress Dowager Frederick of Germany also
aroused the genuine sympathy of the American people; and this sympathy
was cordially reciprocated by Germany when the President was
assassinated. Indeed, from every quarter of the civilized world we
received, at the time of the President's death, assurances of such
grief and regard as to touch the hearts of our people. In the midst of
our affliction we reverently thank the Almighty that we are at peace
with the nations of mankind; and we firmly intend that our policy shall
be such as to continue unbroken these international relations of mutual
respect and good will.
***
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 undoubtedly the laws under which we
work have been instrumental in creating the conditions which made it
possible, and by unwise legislation it would be easy enough to destroy
it. There will undoubtedly be periods of depression. The wave will
recede; but the tide will advance. This Nation is seated on a continent
flanked by two great oceans. It is composed of men the descendants of
pioneers, or, in a sense, pioneers themselves; of men winnowed out from
among 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 success from fortune.
As a people we have played a large part in the world, and we are bent
upon making our future even larger than the past. In particular, the
events of the last four years have definitely decided that, for woe or
for weal, our place must be great among the nations. We may either fall
greatly or succeed greatly; but we can not avoid the endeavor from
which either great failure or great success must come. Even if we
would, we can not play a small part. If we should try, all that would
follow would be that we should play 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, rejoice in the present and face the
future high of heart and resolute of will. Ours is not the creed of the
weakling and the coward; ours is the gospel of hope and of triumphant
endeavor. We do not shrink from the struggle before us. There are many
problems for us to face at the outset of the twentieth century--grave
problems abroad and still graver at home; but we know that we can solve
them and solve them well, provided only that we bring to the solution
the qualities of head and heart which were shown by the men who, in the
days of Washington, rounded this Government, and, in the days of
Lincoln, preserved it.
No country has ever occupied a higher plane of material well-being than
ours at the present moment. This well-being is due to no sudden or
accidental causes, but to the play of the economic forces in this
country for over a century; to our laws, our sustained and continuous
policies; above all, to the high individual average of our citizenship.
Great fortunes have been won by those who have taken the lead in this
phenomenal industrial development, and most of these fortunes have been
won not by doing evil, but as an incident to action which has benefited
the community as a whole. Never before has material well-being been so
widely diffused among our people. Great fortunes have been accumulated,
and yet in the aggregate these fortunes are small Indeed when compared
to the wealth of the people as a whole. The plain people are better off
than they have ever been before. The insurance companies, which are
practically mutual benefit societies--especially helpful to men of
moderate means--represent accumulations of capital which are among the
largest in this country. There are more deposits in the savings banks,
more owners of farms, more well-paid wage-workers in this country now
than ever before in our history. Of course, when the conditions have
favored the growth of so much that was good, they have also favored
somewhat the growth of what was evil. It is eminently necessary that we
should endeavor to cut out this evil, but let us keep a due sense of
proportion; let us not in fixing our gaze upon the lesser evil forget
the greater good. The evils are real and some of them are menacing, but
they are the outgrowth, not of misery or decadence, but of
prosperity--of the progress of our gigantic industrial development.
This industrial development must not be checked, but side by side with
it should go such progressive regulation as will diminish the evils. We
should fail in our duty if we did not try to remedy the evils, but we
shall succeed only if we proceed patiently, with practical common sense
as well as resolution, separating the good from the bad and holding on
to the former while endeavoring to get rid of the latter.
In my Message to the present Congress at its first session I discussed
at length the question of the regulation of those big corporations
commonly doing an interstate business, often with some tendency to
monopoly, which are popularly known as trusts. The experience of the
past year has emphasized, in my opinion, the desirability of the steps
I then proposed. A fundamental requisite of social efficiency is a high
standard of individual energy and excellence; but this is in no wise
inconsistent with power to act in combination for aims which can not so
well be achieved by the individual acting alone. A fundamental base of
civilization is the inviolability of property; but this is in no wise
inconsistent with the right of society to regulate the exercise of the
artificial powers which it confers upon the owners of property, under
the name of corporate franchises, in such a way as to prevent the
misuse of these powers. Corporations, and especially combinations of
corporations, should be managed under public regulation. Experience has
shown that under our system of government the necessary supervision can
not be obtained by State action. It must therefore be achieved by
national action. Our aim is not to do away with corporations; on the
contrary, these big aggregations are an inevitable development of
modern industrialism, and the effort to destroy them would be futile
unless accomplished in ways that would work the utmost mischief to the
entire body politic. We can do nothing of good in the way of regulating
and supervising these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds
that we are not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away
with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely
determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public
good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth. The
capitalist who, alone or in conjunction with his fellows, performs some
great industrial feat by which he wins money is a welldoer, not a
wrongdoer, provided only he works in proper and legitimate lines. We
wish to favor such a man when he does well. We wish to supervise and
control his actions only to prevent him from doing ill. Publicity can
do no harm to the honest corporation; and we need not be over tender
about sparing the dishonest corporation. In curbing and regulating the
combinations of capital which are, or may become, injurious to the
public we must be careful not to stop the great enterprises which have
legitimately reduced the cost of production, not to abandon the place
which our country has won in the leadership of the international
industrial world, not to strike down wealth with the result of closing
factories and mines, of turning the wage-worker idle in the streets and
leaving the farmer without a market for what he grows. Insistence upon
the impossible means delay in achieving the possible, exactly as, on
the other hand, the stubborn defense alike of what is good and what is
bad in the existing system, the resolute effort to obstruct any attempt
at betterment, betrays blindness to the historic truth that wise
evolution is the sure safeguard against revolution.
No more important subject can come before the Congress than this of the
regulation of interstate business. This country can not afford to sit
supine on the plea that under our peculiar system of government we are
helpless in the presence of the new conditions, and unable to grapple
with them or to cut out whatever of evil has arisen in connection with
them. The power of the Congress to regulate interstate commerce is an
absolute and unqualified grant, and without limitations other than
those prescribed by the Constitution. The Congress has constitutional
authority to make all laws necessary and proper for executing this
power, and I am satisfied that this power has not been exhausted by any
legislation now on the statute books. It is evident, therefore, that
evils restrictive of commercial freedom and entailing restraint upon
national commerce fall within the regulative power of the Congress, and
that a wise and reasonable law would be a necessary and proper exercise
of Congressional authority to the 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 practices which injuriously affect interstate
trade can be prevented under the power of the Congress to "regulate
commerce with foreign nations and among the several States" through
regulations and requirements operating directly upon such commerce, the
instrumentalities thereof, and those engaged therein.
I earnestly recommend this subject to the consideration of the Congress
with a view to the passage of a law reasonable in its provisions and
effective in its operations, upon which the questions can be finally
adjudicated that now raise doubts as to the necessity of constitutional
amendment. If it prove impossible to accomplish the purposes above set
forth by such a law, then, assuredly, we should not shrink from
amending the Constitution so as to secure beyond peradventure the power
sought.
The Congress has not heretofore made any appropriation for the better
enforcement of the antitrust law as it now stands. Very much has been
done by the Department of Justice in securing the enforcement of this
law, but much more could be done if the Congress would make a special
appropriation for this purpose, to be expended under the direction of
the Attorney-General.
One proposition advocated has been the reduction of the tariff as a
means of reaching the evils of the trusts which fall within the
category I have described. Not merely would this be wholly ineffective,
but the diversion of our efforts in such a direction would mean the
abandonment of all intelligent attempt to do away with these evils.
Many of the largest corporations, many of those which should certainly
be included in any proper scheme of regulation, would not be affected
in the slightest degree by a change in the tariff, save as such change
interfered with the general prosperity of the country. The only
relation of the tariff to big corporations as a whole is that the
tariff makes manufactures profitable, and the tariff remedy proposed
would be in effect simply to make manufactures unprofitable. To remove
the tariff as a punitive measure directed against trusts would
inevitably result in ruin to the weaker competitors who are struggling
against them. Our aim should be not by unwise tariff changes to give
foreign products the advantage over domestic products, but by proper
regulation to give domestic competition a fair chance; and this end can
not be reached by any tariff changes which would affect unfavorably all
domestic competitors, good and bad alike. The question of regulation of
the trusts stands apart from the question of tariff revision.
Stability of economic policy must always be the prime economic need of
this country. This stability should not be fossilization. The country
has acquiesced in the wisdom of the protective-tariff principle. It is
exceedingly undesirable that this system should be destroyed or that
there should be violent and radical changes therein. Our past
experience shows that great prosperity in this country has always come
under a protective tariff; and that the country can not prosper under
fitful tariff changes at short intervals. Moreover, if the tariff laws
as a whole work well, and if business has prospered under them and is
prospering, it is better to endure for a time slight inconveniences and
inequalities in some schedules than to upset business by too quick and
too radical changes. It is most earnestly to be wished that we could
treat the tariff from the standpoint solely of our business needs. It
is, perhaps, too much to hope that partisanship may be entirely
excluded from consideration of the subject, but at least it can be made
secondary to the business interests of the country--that is, to the
interests of our people as a whole. Unquestionably these business
interests will best be served if together with fixity of principle as
regards the tariff we combine a system which will permit us from time
to time to make the necessary reapplication of the principle to the
shifting national needs. We must take scrupulous care that the
reapplication shall be made in such a way that it will not amount to a
dislocation of our system, the mere threat of which (not to speak of
the performance) would produce paralysis in the business energies of
the community. The first consideration in making these changes would,
of course, be to preserve the principle which underlies our whole
tariff system--that is, the principle of putting American business
interests at least on a full equality with interests abroad, and of
always allowing a sufficient rate of duty to more than cover the
difference between the labor cost here and abroad. The well-being of
the wage-worker, like the well-being of the tiller of the soil, should
be treated as an essential in shaping our whole economic policy. There
must never be any change which will jeopardize the standard of comfort,
the standard of wages of the American wage-worker.
One way in which the readjustment sought can be reached is by
reciprocity treaties. It is greatly to be desired that such treaties
may be adopted. They can be used to widen our markets and to give a
greater field for the activities of our producers on the one hand, and
on the other hand to secure in practical shape the lowering of duties
when they are no longer needed for protection among our own people, or
when the minimum of damage done may be disregarded for the sake of the
maximum of good accomplished. If it prove impossible to ratify the
pending treaties, and if there seem to be no warrant for the endeavor
to execute others, or to amend the pending treaties so that they can be
ratified, then the same end--to secure reciprocity--should be met by
direct legislation.
Wherever the tariff conditions are such that a needed change can not
with advantage be made by the application of the reciprocity idea, then
it can be made outright by a lowering of duties on a given product. If
possible, such change should be made only after the fullest
consideration by practical experts, who should approach the subject
from a business standpoint, having in view both the particular
interests affected and the commercial well-being of the people as a
whole. The machinery for providing such careful investigation can
readily be supplied. The executive department has already at its
disposal methods of collecting facts and figures; and if the Congress
desires additional consideration to that which will be given the
subject by its own committees, then a commission of business experts
can be appointed whose duty it should be to recommend action by the
Congress after a deliberate and scientific examination of the various
schedules as they are affected by the changed and changing conditions.
The unhurried and unbiased report of this commission would show what
changes should be made in the various schedules, and how far these
changes could go without also changing the great prosperity which this
country is now enjoying, or upsetting its fixed economic policy.
The cases in which the tariff can produce a monopoly are so few as to
constitute an inconsiderable factor in the question; but of course if
in any case it be found that a given rate of duty does promote a
monopoly which works ill, no protectionist would object to such
reduction of the duty as would equalize competition.
In my judgment, the tariff on anthracite coal should be removed, and
anthracite put actually, where it now is nominally, on the free list.
This would have no effect at all save in crises; but in crises it might
be of service to the people.
Interest rates are a potent factor in business activity, and in order
that these rates may be equalized to meet the varying needs of the
seasons and of widely separated communities, and to prevent the
recurrence of financial stringencies which injuriously affect
legitimate business, it is necessary that there should be an element of
elasticity in our monetary system. Banks are the natural servants of
commerce, and upon them should be placed, as far as practicable, the
burden of furnishing and maintaining a circulation adequate to supply
the needs of our diversified industries and of our domestic and foreign
commerce; and the issue of this should be so regulated that a
sufficient supply should be always available for the business interests
of the country.
It would be both unwise and unnecessary at this time to attempt to
reconstruct our financial system, which has been the growth of a
century; but some additional legislation is, I think, desirable. The
mere outline of any plan sufficiently comprehensive to meet these
requirements would transgress the appropriate limits of this
communication. It is suggested, however, that all future legislation on
the subject should be with the view of encouraging the use of such
instrumentalities as will automatically supply every legitimate demand
of productive industries and of commerce, not only in the amount, but
in the character of circulation; and of making all kinds of money
interchangeable, and, at the will of the holder, convertible into the
established gold standard.
I again call your attention to the need of passing a proper immigration
law, covering the points outlined in my Message to you at the first
session of the present Congress; substantially such a bill has already
passed the House.
How to secure fair treatment alike for labor and for capital, how to
hold in check the unscrupulous man, whether employer or employee,
without weakening individual initiative, without hampering and cramping
the industrial development of the country, is a problem fraught with
great difficulties and one which it is of the highest importance to
solve on lines of sanity and far-sighted common 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 through corporations,
and as it is a constant tendency of these corporations to grow larger,
so it is often necessary for laboring men to work in federations, and
these have become important factors of modern industrial life. Both
kinds of federation, capitalistic and labor, can do much good, and as a
necessary corollary they can both do evil. Opposition to each kind of
organization should take the form of opposition to whatever is bad in
the conduct of any given corporation or union--not of attacks upon
corporations as such nor upon unions as such; for some of the most
far-reaching beneficent work for our people has been accomplished
through both corporations and unions. Each must refrain from arbitrary
or tyrannous interference with the rights of others. Organized capital
and organized labor alike should remember that in the long run the
interest of each must be brought into harmony with the interest of the
general public; and the conduct of each must conform to the fundamental
rules of obedience to the law, of individual freedom, and of justice
and fair dealing toward all. Each should remember that in addition to
power it must strive after the realization of healthy, lofty, and
generous ideals. Every employer, every wage-worker, must be guaranteed
his liberty and his right to do as he likes with his property or his
labor so long as he does not infringe upon the rights of others. It is
of the highest importance that employer and employee alike should
endeavor to appreciate each the viewpoint of the other and the sure
disaster that will come upon both in the long run if either grows to
take as habitual an attitude of sour hostility and distrust toward the
other. Few people deserve better of the country than those
representatives both of capital and labor--and there are many such--who
work continually to bring about a good understanding of this kind,
based upon wisdom and upon broad and kindly sympathy between employers
and employed. Above all, we need to remember that any kind of class
animosity in the political world is, if possible, even more wicked,
even more destructive to national welfare, than sectional, race, or
religious animosity. We can get good government only upon condition
that we keep true to the principles upon which this Nation was founded,
and judge each man not as a part of a class, but upon his individual
merits. All that we have a right to ask of any man, rich or poor,
whatever his creed, his occupation, his birthplace, or his residence,
is that he shall act well and honorably by his neighbor and by, his
country. We are neither for the rich man as such nor for the poor man
as such; we are for the upright man, rich or poor. So far as the
constitutional powers of the National Government touch these matters of
general and vital moment to the Nation, they should be exercised in
conformity with the principles above set forth.
It is earnestly hoped that a secretary of commerce may be created, with
a seat in the Cabinet. The rapid multiplication of questions affecting
labor and capital, the growth and complexity of the organizations
through which both labor and capital now find expression, the steady
tendency toward the employment of capital in huge corporations, and the
wonderful strides of this country toward leadership in the
international business world justify an urgent demand for the creation
of such a position. Substantially all the leading commercial bodies in
this country have united in requesting its creation. It is desirable
that some such measure as that which has already passed the Senate be
enacted into law. The creation of such a department would in itself be
an advance toward dealing with and exercising supervision over the
whole subject of the great corporations doing an interstate business;
and with this end in view, the Congress should endow the department
with large powers, which could be increased as experience might show
the need.
I hope soon to submit to the Senate a reciprocity treaty with Cuba. On
May 20 last the United States kept its promise to the island by
formally vacating Cuban soil and turning Cuba over to those whom her
own people had chosen as the first officials of the new Republic.
Cuba lies at our doors, and whatever affects her for good or for ill
affects us also. So much have our people felt this that in the Platt
amendment we definitely took the ground that Cuba must hereafter have
closer political relations with us than with any other power. Thus in a
sense Cuba has become a part of our international political system.
This makes it necessary that in return she should be given some of the
benefits of becoming part of our economic system. It is, from our own
standpoint, a short-sighted and mischievous policy to fail to recognize
this need. Moreover, it is unworthy of a mighty and generous nation,
itself the greatest and most successful republic in history, to refuse
to stretch out a helping hand to a young and weak sister republic just
entering upon its career of independence. We should always fearlessly
insist upon our rights in the face of the strong, and we should with
ungrudging hand do our generous duty by the weak. I urge the adoption
of reciprocity with Cuba not only because it is eminently for our own
interests to control the Cuban market and by every means to foster our
supremacy in the tropical lands and waters south of us, but also
because we, of the giant republic of the north, should make all our
sister nations of the American Continent feel that whenever they will
permit it we desire to show ourselves disinterestedly and effectively
their friend.
A convention with Great Britain has been concluded, which will be at
once laid before the Senate for ratification, providing for reciprocal
trade arrangements between the United States and Newfoundland on
substantially the lines of the convention formerly negotiated by the
Secretary of State, Mr. Blaine. I believe reciprocal trade relations
will be greatly to the advantage of both countries.
As civilization grows warfare becomes less and less the normal
condition of foreign relations. The last century has seen a marked
diminution of wars between civilized powers; wars with uncivilized
powers are largely mere matters of international police duty, essential
for the welfare of the world. Wherever possible, arbitration or some
similar method should be employed in lieu of war to settle difficulties
between civilized nations, although as yet the world has not progressed
sufficiently to render it possible, or necessarily desirable, to invoke
arbitration in every case. The formation of the international tribunal
which sits at The Hague is an event of good omen from which great
consequences for the welfare of all mankind may flow. It is far better,
where possible, to invoke such a permanent tribunal than to create
special arbitrators for a given purpose.
It is a matter of sincere congratulation to our country that the United
States and Mexico should have been the first to use the good offices of
The Hague Court. This was done last summer with most satisfactory
results in the case of a claim at issue between us and our sister
Republic. It is earnestly to be hoped that this first case will serve
as a precedent for others, in which not only the United States but
foreign nations may take advantage of the machinery already in
existence at The Hague.
I commend to the favorable consideration of the Congress the Hawaiian
fire claims, which were the subject of careful investigation during the
last session.
The Congress has wisely provided that we shall build at once an
isthmian canal, if possible at Panama. The Attorney-General reports
that we can undoubtedly acquire good title from the French Panama Canal
Company. Negotiations are now pending with Colombia to secure her
assent to our building the canal. This canal will be one of the
greatest engineering feats of the twentieth century; a greater
engineering feat than has yet been accomplished during the history of
mankind. The work should be carried out as a continuing policy without
regard to change of Administration; and it should be begun under
circumstances which will make it a matter of pride for all
Administrations to continue the policy.
The canal will be of great benefit to America, and of importance to all
the world. It will be of advantage to us industrially and also as
improving our military position. It will be of advantage to the
countries of tropical America. It is earnestly to be hoped that all of
these countries will do as some of them have already done with signal
success, and will invite to their shores commerce and improve their
material conditions by recognizing that stability and order are the
prerequisites of successful development. No independent nation in
America need have the slightest fear of aggression from the United
States. It behoves each one to maintain order within its own borders
and to discharge its just obligations to foreigners. When this is done,
they can rest assured that, be they strong or weak, they have nothing
to dread from outside interference. More and more the increasing
interdependence and complexity of international political and economic
relations render it incumbent on all civilized and orderly powers to
insist on the proper policing of the world.
During the fall of 1901 a communication was addressed to the Secretary
of State, asking whether permission would be granted by the President
to a corporation to lay a cable from a point on the California coast to
the Philippine Islands by way of Hawaii. A statement of conditions or
terms upon which such corporation would undertake to lay and operate a
cable was volunteered.
Inasmuch as the Congress was shortly to convene, and Pacific-cable
legislation had been the subject of consideration by the Congress for
several years, it seemed to me wise to defer action upon the
application until the Congress had first an opportunity to act. The
Congress adjourned without taking any action, leaving the matter in
exactly the same condition in which it stood when the Congress
convened.
Meanwhile it appears that the Commercial Pacific Cable Company had
promptly proceeded with preparations for laying its cable. It also made
application to the President for access to and use of soundings taken
by the U. S. S. Nero, for the purpose of discovering a practicable
route for a trans-Pacific cable, the company urging that with access to
these soundings it could complete its cable much sooner than if it were
required to take soundings upon its own account. Pending consideration
of this subject, it appeared important and desirable to attach certain
conditions to the permission to examine and use the soundings, if it
should be granted.
In consequence of this solicitation of the cable company, certain
conditions were formulated, upon which the President was willing to
allow access to these soundings and to consent to the landing and
laying of the cable, subject to any alterations or additions thereto
imposed by the Congress. This was deemed proper, especially as it was
clear that a cable connection of some kind with China, a foreign
country, was a part of the company's plan. This course was, moreover,
in accordance with a line of precedents, including President Grant's
action in the case of the first French cable, explained to the Congress
in his Annual Message of December, 1875, and the instance occurring in
1879 of the second French cable from Brest to St. Pierre, with a branch
to Cape Cod.
These conditions prescribed, among other things, a maximum rate for
commercial messages and that the company should construct a line from
the Philippine Islands to China, there being at present, as is well
known, a British line from Manila to Hongkong.
The representatives of the cable company kept these conditions long
under consideration, continuing, in the meantime, to prepare for laying
the cable. They have, however, at length acceded to them, and an
all-American line between our Pacific coast and the Chinese Empire, by
way of Honolulu and the Philippine Islands, is thus provided for, and
is expected within a few months to be ready for business.
Among the conditions is one reserving the power of the 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 the prosperity of the
island and the wisdom with which it has been governed have been such as
to make it serve as an example of all that is best in insular
administration.
On July 4 last, on the one hundred and twenty-sixth anniversary of the
declaration of our independence, peace and amnesty were promulgated in
the Philippine Islands. Some trouble has since from time to time
threatened with the Mohammedan Moros, but with the late insurrectionary
Filipinos the war has entirely ceased. Civil government has now been
introduced. Not only does each Filipino enjoy such rights to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as he has never before known
during the recorded history of the islands, but the people taken as a
whole now enjoy a measure of self-government greater than that granted
to any other Orientals by any foreign power and greater than that
enjoyed by any other Orientals under their own governments, save the
Japanese alone. We have not gone too far in granting these rights of
liberty and self-government; but we have certainly gone to the limit
that in the interests of the Philippine people themselves it was wise
or just to go. To hurry matters, to go faster than we are now going,
would entail calamity on the people of the islands. No policy ever
entered into by the American people has vindicated itself in more
signal manner than the policy of holding the Philippines. The triumph
of our arms, above all the triumph of our laws and principles, has come
sooner than we had any right to expect. Too much praise can not be
given to the Army for what it has done in the Philippines both in
warfare and from an administrative standpoint in preparing the way for
civil government; and similar credit belongs to the civil authorities
for the way in which they have planted the seeds of self-government in
the ground thus made ready for them. The courage, the unflinching
endurance, the high soldierly efficiency; and the general
kind-heartedness and humanity of our troops have been strikingly
manifested. There now remain only some fifteen thousand troops in the
islands. All told, over one hundred thousand have been sent there. Of
course, there have been individual instances of wrongdoing among them.
They warred under fearful difficulties of climate and surroundings; and
under the strain of the terrible provocations which they continually
received from their foes, occasional instances of cruel retaliation
occurred. Every effort has been made to prevent such cruelties, and
finally these efforts have been completely successful. Every effort has
also been made to detect and punish the wrongdoers. After making all
allowance for these misdeeds, it remains true that few indeed have been
the instances in which war has been waged by a civilized power against
semicivilized or barbarous forces where there has been so little
wrongdoing by the victors as in the Philippine Islands. On the other
hand, the amount of difficult, important, and beneficent work which has
been done is well-nigh incalculable.
Taking the work of the Army and the civil authorities together, it may
be questioned whether anywhere else in modern times the world has seen
a better example of real constructive statesmanship than our people
have given in the Philippine Islands. High praise should also be given
those Filipinos, in the aggregate very numerous, who have accepted the
new conditions and joined with our representatives to work with hearty
good will for the welfare of the islands.
The Army has been reduced to the minimum allowed by law. It is very
small for the size of the Nation, and most certainly should be kept at
the highest point of efficiency. The senior officers are given scant
chance under ordinary conditions to exercise commands commensurate with
their rank, under circumstances which would fit them to do their duty
in time of actual war. A system of maneuvering our Army in bodies of
some little size has been begun and should be steadily continued.
Without such maneuvers it is folly to expect that in the event of
hostilities with any serious foe even a small army corps could be
handled to advantage. Both our officers and enlisted men are such that
we can take hearty pride in them. No better material can be found. But
they must be thoroughly trained, both as individuals and in the mass.
The marksmanship of the men must receive special attention. In the
circumstances of modern warfare the man must act far more on his own
individual responsibility than ever before, and the high individual
efficiency of the unit is of the utmost importance. Formerly this unit
was the regiment; it is now not the regiment, not even the troop or
company; it is the individual soldier. Every effort must be made to
develop every workmanlike and soldierly quality in both the officer and
the enlisted man.
I urgently call your attention to the need of passing a bill providing
for a general staff and for the reorganization of the supply
departments on the lines of the bill proposed by the Secretary of War
last year. When the young officers enter the Army from West Point they
probably stand above their compeers in any other military service.
Every effort should be made, by training, by reward of merit, by
scrutiny into their careers and capacity, to keep them of the same high
relative excellence throughout their careers.
The measure providing for the reorganization of the militia system and
for securing the highest efficiency in the National Guard, which has
already passed the House, should receive prompt attention and action.
It is of great importance that the relation of the National Guard to
the militia and volunteer forces of the United States should be
defined, and that in place of our present obsolete laws a practical and
efficient system should be adopted.
Provision should be made to enable the Secretary of War to keep cavalry
and artillery horses, worn-out in long performance of duty. Such horses
fetch but a trifle when sold; and rather than turn them out to the
misery awaiting them when thus disposed of, it would be better to
employ them at light work around the posts, and when necessary to put
them painlessly to death.
For the first time in our history naval maneuvers on a large scale are
being held under the immediate command of the Admiral of the Navy.
Constantly increasing attention is being paid to the gunnery of the
Navy, but it is yet far from what it should be. I earnestly urge that
the increase asked for by the Secretary of the Navy in the
appropriation for improving the markmanship be granted. In battle the
only shots that count are the shots that hit. It is necessary to
provide ample funds for practice with the great guns in time of peace.
These funds must provide not only for the purchase of projectiles, but
for allowances for prizes to encourage the gun crews, and especially
the gun pointers, and for perfecting an intelligent system under which
alone it is possible to get good practice.
There should be no halt in the work of building up the Navy, providing
every year additional fighting craft. We are a very rich country, vast
in extent of territory and great in population; a country, moreover,
which has an Army diminutive indeed when compared with that of any
other first-class power. We have deliberately made our own certain
foreign policies which demand the possession of a first-class navy. The
isthmian canal will greatly increase the efficiency of our Navy if the
Navy is of sufficient size; but if we have an inadequate navy, then the
building of the canal would be merely giving a hostage to any power of
superior strength. The Monroe Doctrine should be treated as the
cardinal feature of American foreign policy; but it would be worse than
idle to assert it unless we intended to back it up, and it can be
backed up only by a thoroughly good navy. A good navy is not a
provocative of war. It is the surest guaranty of peace.
Each individual unit of our Navy should be the most efficient of its
kind as regards both material and personnel that is to be found in the
world. I call your special attention to the need of providing for the
manning of the ships. Serious trouble threatens us if we can not do
better than we are now doing as regards securing the services of a
sufficient number of the highest type of sailormen, of sea mechanics.
The veteran seamen of our war ships are of as high a type as can be
found in any navy which rides the waters of the world; they are
unsurpassed in daring, in resolution, in readiness, in thorough
knowledge of their profession. They deserve every consideration that
can be shown them. But there are not enough of them. It is no more
possible to improvise a 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 how brave they were individually,
would be to insure disaster if a foe of average capacity were
encountered. Neither ships nor men can be improvised when war has
begun.
We need a thousand additional officers in order to properly man the
ships now provided for and under construction. The classes at the Naval
School at Annapolis should be greatly enlarged. At the same time that
we thus add the officers where we need them, we should facilitate the
retirement of those at the head of the list whose usefulness has become
impaired. Promotion must be fostered if the service is to be kept
efficient.
The lamentable scarcity of officers, and the large number of recruits
and of unskilled men necessarily put aboard the new vessels as they
have been commissioned, has thrown upon our officers, and especially on
the lieutenants and junior grades, unusual labor and fatigue and has
gravely strained their powers of endurance. Nor is there sign of any
immediate let-up in this strain. It must continue for some time longer,
until more officers are graduated from Annapolis, and until the
recruits become trained and skillful in their duties. In these
difficulties incident upon the development of our war fleet the conduct
of all our officers has been creditable to the service, and the
lieutenants and junior grades in particular have displayed an ability
and a steadfast cheerfulness which entitles them to the ungrudging
thanks of all who realize the disheartening trials and fatigues to
which they are of necessity subjected.
There is not a cloud on the horizon at present. There seems not the
slightest chance of trouble with a foreign power. We most earnestly
hope that this state of things may continue; and the way to insure its
continuance is to provide for a thoroughly efficient navy. The refusal
to maintain such a navy would invite trouble, and if trouble came would
insure disaster. Fatuous self-complacency or vanity, or
short-sightedness in refusing to prepare for danger, is both foolish
and wicked in such a nation as ours; and past experience has shown that
such fatuity in refusing to recognize or prepare for any crisis in
advance is usually succeeded by a mad panic of hysterical fear once the
crisis has actually arrived.
The striking increase in the revenues of the Post-Office Department
shows clearly the prosperity of our people and the increasing activity
of the business of the country.
The receipts of the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ending
June 30 last amounted to $121,848,047.26, an increase of $10,216,853.87
over the preceding year, the largest increase known in the history of
the postal service. The magnitude of this increase will best appear
from the fact that the entire postal receipts for the year 1860
amounted to but $8,518,067.
Rural free-delivery service is no longer in the experimental stage; it
has become a fixed policy. The results following its introduction have
fully justified the Congress in the large appropriations made for its
establishment and extension. The average yearly increase in post-office
receipts in the rural districts of the country is about two per cent.
We are now able, by actual results, to show that where rural
free-delivery service has been established to such an extent as to
enable us to make comparisons the yearly increase has been upward of
ten per cent.
On November 1, 1902, 11,650 rural free-delivery routes had been
established and were in operation, covering about one-third of the
territory of the United States available for rural free-delivery
service. There are now awaiting the action of the Department petitions
and applications for the establishment of 10,748 additional routes.
This shows conclusively the want which the establishment of the service
has met and the need of further extending it as rapidly as possible. It
is justified both by the financial results and by the practical
benefits to our rural population; it brings the men who live on the
soil into close relations with the active business world; it keeps the
farmer in daily touch with the markets; it is a potential educational
force; it enhances the value of farm property, makes farm life far
pleasanter and less isolated, and will do much to check the undesirable
current from country to city.
It is to be hoped that the Congress will make liberal appropriations
for the continuance of the service already established and for its
further extension.
Few subjects of more importance have been taken up by the Congress in
recent years than the inauguration of the system of nationally-aided
irrigation for the arid regions of the far West. A good beginning
therein has been made. Now that this policy of national irrigation has
been adopted, the need of thorough and scientific forest protection
will grow more rapidly than ever throughout the public-land States.
Legislation should be provided for the protection of the game, and the
wild creatures generally, on the forest reserves. The senseless
slaughter of game, which can by judicious protection be permanently
preserved on our national reserves for the people as a whole, should be
stopped at once. It is, for instance, a serious count against our
national good sense to permit the present practice of butchering off
such a stately and beautiful creature as the elk for its antlers or
tusks.
So far as they are available for agriculture, and to whatever extent
they may be reclaimed under the national irrigation law, the remaining
public lands should be held rigidly for the home builder, the settler
who lives on his land, and for no one else. In their actual use the
desert-land law, the timber and stone law, and the commutation clause
of the homestead law have been so perverted from the intention with
which they were enacted as to permit the acquisition of large areas of
the public domain for other than actual settlers and the consequent
prevention of settlement. Moreover, the approaching exhaustion of the
public ranges has of late led to much discussion as to the best manner
of using these public lands in the West which are suitable chiefly or
only for grazing. The sound and steady development of the West depends
upon the building up of homes therein. Much of our prosperity as a
nation has been due to the operation of the homestead law. On the other
hand, we should recognize the fact that in the grazing region the man
who corresponds to the homesteader may be unable to settle permanently
if only allowed to use the same amount of pasture land that his
brother, the homesteader, is allowed to use of arable land. One hundred
and sixty acres of fairly rich and well-watered soil, or a much smaller
amount of irrigated land, may keep a family in plenty, whereas no one
could get a living from one hundred and sixty acres of dry pasture land
capable of supporting at the outside only one head of cattle to every
ten acres. In the past great tracts of the public domain have been
fenced in by persons having no title thereto, in direct defiance of the
law forbidding the maintenance or construction of any such unlawful
inclosure of public land. For various reasons there has been little
interference with such inclosures in the past, but ample notice has now
been given the trespassers, and all the resources at the command of the
Government will hereafter be used to put a stop to such trespassing.
In view of the capital importance of these matters, I commend them to
the earnest consideration of the Congress, and if the Congress finds
difficulty in dealing with them from lack of thorough knowledge of the
subject, I recommend that provision be made for a commission of experts
specially to investigate and report upon the complicated questions
involved.
I especially urge upon the Congress the need of wise legislation for
Alaska. It is not to our credit as a nation that Alaska, which has been
ours for thirty-five years, should still have as poor a system Of laws
as is the case. No country has a more valuable possession--in mineral
wealth, in fisheries, furs, forests, and also in land available for
certain kinds of farming and stockgrowing. It is a territory of great
size and varied resources, well fitted to support a large permanent
population. Alaska needs a good land law and such provisions for
homesteads and pre-emptions as will encourage permanent settlement. We
should shape legislation with a view not to the exploiting and
abandoning of the territory, but to the building up of homes therein.
The land laws should be liberal in type, so as to hold out inducements
to the actual settler whom we most desire to see take possession of the
country. The forests of Alaska should be protected, and, as a secondary
but still important matter, the game also, and at the same time it is
imperative that the settlers should be allowed to cut timber, under
proper regulations, for their own use. Laws should be enacted to
protect the Alaskan salmon fisheries against the greed which would
destroy them. They should be preserved as a permanent industry and food
supply. Their management and control should be turned over to the
Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Alaska should have a Delegate in the
Congress. It would be well if a Congressional committee could visit
Alaska and investigate its needs on the ground.
In dealing with the Indians our aim should be their ultimate absorption
into the body of our people. But in many cases this absorption must and
should be very slow. In portions of the Indian Territory the mixture of
blood has gone on at the same time with progress in wealth and
education, so that there are plenty of men with varying degrees of
purity of Indian blood who are absolutely indistinguishable in point of
social, political, and economic ability from their white associates.
There are other tribes which have as yet made no perceptible advance
toward such equality. To try to force such tribes too fast is to
prevent their going forward at all. Moreover, the tribes live under
widely different conditions. Where a tribe has made considerable
advance and lives on fertile farming soil it is possible to allot the
members lands in severalty much as is the case with white settlers.
There are other tribes where such a course is not desirable. On the
arid prairie lands the effort should be to induce the Indians to lead
pastoral rather than agricultural lives, and to permit them to settle
in villages rather than to force them into isolation.
The large Indian schools situated remote from any Indian reservation do
a special and peculiar work of great importance. But, excellent though
these are, an immense amount of additional work must be done on the
reservations themselves among the old, and above all among the young,
Indians.
The first and most important step toward the absorption of the Indian
is to teach him to earn his living; yet it is not necessarily to be
assumed that in each community all Indians must become either tillers
of the soil or stock raisers. Their industries may properly be
diversified, and those who show special desire or adaptability for
industrial or even commercial pursuits should be encouraged so far as
practicable to follow out each his own bent.
Every effort should be made to develop the Indian along the lines of
natural aptitude, and to encourage the existing native industries
peculiar to certain tribes, such as the various kinds of basket
weaving, canoe building, smith work, and blanket work. Above all, the
Indian boys and girls should be given confident command of colloquial
English, and should ordinarily be prepared for a vigorous struggle with
the conditions under which their people live, rather than for immediate
absorption into some more highly developed community.
The officials who represent the Government in dealing with the Indians
work under hard conditions, and also under conditions which render it
easy to do wrong and very difficult to detect wrong. Consequently they
should be amply paid on the one hand, and on the other hand a
particularly high standard of conduct should be demanded from them, and
where misconduct can be proved the punishment should be exemplary.
In no department of governmental work in recent years has there been
greater success than in that of giving scientific aid to the farming
population, thereby showing them how most efficiently to help
themselves. There is no need of insisting upon its importance, for the
welfare of the farmer is fundamentally necessary to the welfare of the
Republic as a whole. In addition to such work as quarantine against
animal and vegetable plagues, and warring against them when here
introduced, much efficient help has been rendered to the farmer by the
introduction of new plants specially fitted for cultivation under the
peculiar conditions existing in different portions of the country. New
cereals have been established in the semi-arid West. For instance, the
practicability of producing the best types of macaroni wheats in
regions of an annual rainfall of only ten inches or thereabouts has
been conclusively demonstrated. Through the introduction of new rices
in Louisiana and Texas the production of rice in this country has been
made to about equal the home demand. In the South-west the possibility
of 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 our choicest fruits can be stored and
shipped in such a way as to find a profitable market abroad.
I again recommend to the favorable consideration of the Congress the
plans of the Smithsonian Institution for making the Museum under its
charge worthy of the Nation, and for preserving at the National Capital
not only records of the vanishing races of men but of the animals of
this continent which, like the buffalo, will soon become extinct unless
specimens from which their representatives may be renewed are sought in
their native regions and maintained there in safety.
The District of Columbia is the only part of our territory in which the
National Government exercises local or municipal functions, and where
in consequence the Government has a free hand in reference to certain
types of social and economic legislation which must be essentially
local or municipal in their character. The Government should see to it,
for instance, that the hygienic and sanitary legislation affecting
Washington is of a high character. The evils of slum dwellings, whether
in the shape of crowded and congested tenement-house districts or of
the back-alley type, should never be permitted to grow up in
Washington. The city should be a model in every respect for all the
cities of the country. The charitable and correctional systems of the
District should receive consideration at the hands of the Congress to
the end that they may embody the results of the most advanced thought
in these fields. Moreover, while Washington is not a great industrial
city, there is some industrialism here, and our labor legislation,
while it would not be important in itself, might be made a model for
the rest of the Nation. We should pass, for instance, a wise
employer's-liability act for the District of Columbia, and we need such
an act in our navy-yards. Railroad companies in the District ought to
be required by law to block their frogs.
The safety-appliance law, for the better protection of the lives and
limbs of railway employees, which was passed in 1893, went into full
effect on August 1, 1901. It has resulted in averting thousands of
casualties. Experience shows, however, the necessity of additional
legislation to perfect this law. A bill to provide for this passed the
Senate at the last session. It is to be hoped that some such measure
may now be enacted into law.
There is a growing tendency to provide for the publication of masses of
documents for which there is no public demand and for the printing of
which there is no real necessity. Large numbers of volumes are turned
out by the Government printing presses for which there is no
justification. Nothing should be printed by any of the Departments
unless it contains something of permanent value, and the Congress could
with advantage cut down very materially on all the printing which it
has now become customary to provide. The excessive cost of Government
printing is a strong argument against the position of those who are
inclined on abstract grounds to advocate the Government's doing any
work which can with propriety be left in private hands.
Gratifying progress has been made during the year in the extension of
the merit system of making appointments in the Government service. It
should be extended by law to the District of Columbia. It is much to be
desired that our consular system be established by law on a basis
providing for appointment and promotion only in consequence of proved
fitness.
Through a wise provision of the Congress at its last session the White
House, which had become disfigured by incongruous additions and
changes, has now been restored to what it was planned to be by
Washington. In making the restorations the utmost care has been
exercised to come as near as possible to the early plans and to
supplement these plans by a careful study of such buildings as that of
the University of Virginia, which was built by Jefferson. The White
House is the property of the Nation, and so far as is compatible with
living therein it should be kept as it originally was, for the same
reasons that we keep Mount Vernon as it originally was. The stately
simplicity of its architecture is an expression of the character of the
period in which it was built, and is in accord with the purposes it was
designed to serve. It is a good thing to preserve such buildings as
historic monuments which keep alive our sense of continuity with the
Nation's past.
The reports of the several Executive Departments are submitted to the
Congress with this communication.
***
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 of substantial
achievement which has marked the past year both as regards our foreign
and as regards our domestic policy.
With a nation as with a man the most important things are those of the
household, and therefore the country is especially to be congratulated
on what has been accomplished in the direction of providing for the
exercise of supervision over the great corporations and combinations of
corporations engaged in interstate commerce. The Congress has created
the Department of Commerce and Labor, including the Bureau of
Corporations, with for the first time authority to secure proper
publicity of such proceedings of these great corporations as the public
has the right to know. It has provided for the expediting of suits for
the enforcement of the Federal anti-trust law; and by another law it
has secured equal treatment to all producers in the transportation of
their goods, thus taking a long stride forward in making effective the
work of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The establishment of the Department of Commerce and Labor, with the
Bureau of Corporations thereunder, marks a real advance in the
direction of doing all that is possible for the solution of the
questions vitally affecting capitalists and wage-workers. The act
creating Department was approved on February 14, 1903, and two days
later the head of the Department was nominated and confirmed by the
Senate. Since then the work of organization has been pushed as rapidly
as the initial appropriations permitted, and with due regard to
thoroughness and the broad purposes which the Department is designed to
serve. After the transfer of the various bureaus and branches to the
Department at the beginning of the current fiscal year, as provided for
in the act, the personnel comprised 1,289 employees in Washington and
8,836 in the country at large. The scope of the Department's duty and
authority embraces the commercial and industrial interests of the
Nation. It is not designed to restrict or control the fullest liberty
of legitimate business action, but to secure exact and authentic
information which will aid the Executive in enforcing existing laws,
and which will enable the Congress to enact additional legislation, if
any should be found necessary, in order to prevent the few from
obtaining privileges at the expense of diminished opportunities for the
many.
The preliminary work of the Bureau of Corporations in the Department
has shown the wisdom of its creation. Publicity in corporate affairs
will tend to do away with ignorance, and will afford facts upon which
intelligent action may be taken. Systematic, intelligent investigation
is already developing facts the knowledge of which is essential to a
right understanding of the needs and duties of the business world. The
corporation which is honestly and fairly organized, whose managers in
the conduct of its business recognize their obligation to 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 or assail legitimate business, but to aid in bringing about a
better industrial condition--a condition under which there shall be
obedience to law and recognition of public obligation by all
corporations, great or small. The Department of Commerce and Labor will
be not only the clearing house for information regarding the business
transactions of the Nation, but the executive arm of the Government to
aid in strengthening our domestic and foreign markets, in perfecting
our transportation facilities, in building up our merchant marine, in
preventing the entrance of undesirable immigrants, in improving
commercial and industrial conditions, and in bringing together on
common ground those necessary partners in industrial progress--capital
and labor. Commerce between the nations is steadily growing in volume,
and the tendency of the times is toward closer trade relations.
Constant watchfulness is needed to secure to Americans the chance to
participate to the best advantage in foreign trade; and we may
confidently expect that the new Department will justify the expectation
of its creators by the exercise of this watchfulness, as well as by the
businesslike administration of such laws relating to our internal
affairs as are intrusted to its care.
In enacting the laws above enumerated the Congress proceeded on sane
and conservative lines. Nothing revolutionary was attempted; but a
common-sense and successful effort was made in the direction of seeing
that corporations are so handled as to subserve the public good. The
legislation was moderate. It was characterized throughout by the idea
that we were not attacking corporations, but endeavoring to provide for
doing away with any evil in them; that we drew the line against
misconduct, not against wealth; gladly recognizing the great good done
by the capitalist who alone, or in conjunction with his fellows, does
his work along proper and legitimate lines. The purpose of the
legislation, which purpose will undoubtedly be fulfilled, was to favor
such a man when he does well, and to supervise his action only to
prevent him from doing ill. Publicity can do no harm to the honest
corporation. The only corporation that has cause to dread it is the
corporation which shrinks from the light, and about the welfare of such
corporations we need not be oversensitive. The work of the Department
of Commerce and Labor has been conditioned upon this theory, of
securing fair treatment alike for labor and for capital.
The consistent policy of the National Government, so far as it has the
power, is to hold in check the unscrupulous man, whether employer or
employee; but to refuse to weaken individual initiative or to hamper or
cramp the industrial development of the country. We recognize that this
is an era of federation and combination, in which great capitalistic
corporations and labor unions have become factors of tremendous
importance in all industrial centers. Hearty recognition is given the
far-reaching, beneficent work which has been accomplished through both
corporations and unions, and the line as between different
corporations, as between different unions, is drawn as it is between
different individuals; that is, it is drawn on conduct, the effort
being to treat both organized capital and organized labor alike; asking
nothing save that the interest of each shall be brought into harmony
with the interest of the general public, and that the conduct of each
shall conform to the fundamental rules of obedience to law, of
individual freedom, and of justice and fair dealing towards all.
Whenever either corporation, labor union, or individual disregards the
law or acts in a spirit of arbitrary and tyrannous interference with
the rights of others, whether corporations or individuals, then where
the Federal Government has jurisdiction, it will see to it that the
misconduct is stopped, paying not the slightest heed to the position or
power of the corporation, the union or the individual, but only to one
vital fact--that is, the question whether or not the conduct of the
individual or aggregate of individuals is in accordance with the law of
the land. Every man must be guaranteed his liberty and his right to do
as he likes with his property or his labor, so long as he does not
infringe the rights of others. No man is above the law and no man is
below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to
obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a
favor.
We have cause as a nation to be thankful for the steps that have been
so successfully taken to put these principles into effect. The progress
has been by evolution, not by revolution. Nothing radical has been
done; the action has been both moderate and resolute. Therefore the
work will stand. There shall be no backward step. If in the working of
the laws it proves desirable that they shall at any point be expanded
or amplified, the amendment can be made as its desirability is shown.
Meanwhile they are being administered with judgment, but with
insistence upon obedience to them, and their need has been emphasized
in signal fashion by the events of the past year.
From all sources, exclusive of the postal service, the receipts of the
Government for the last fiscal year aggregated $560,396,674. The
expenditures for the same period were $506,099,007, the surplus for the
fiscal year being $54,297,667. The indications are that the surplus for
the present fiscal year will be very small, if indeed there be any
surplus. From July to November the receipts from customs were,
approximately, nine million dollars less than the receipts from the
same source for a corresponding portion of last year. Should this
decrease continue at the same ratio throughout the fiscal year, the
surplus would be reduced by, approximately, thirty million dollars.
Should the revenue from customs suffer much further decrease during the
fiscal year, the surplus would vanish. A large surplus is certainly
undesirable. Two years ago the war taxes were taken off with the
express intention of equalizing the governmental receipts and
expenditures, and though the first year thereafter still showed a
surplus, it now seems likely that a substantial equality of revenue and
expenditure will be attained. Such being the case it is of great moment
both to exercise care and economy in appropriations, and to scan
sharply any change in our fiscal revenue system which may reduce our
income. The need of strict economy in our expenditures is emphasized by
the fact that we can not afford to be parsimonious in providing for
what is essential to our national well-being. Careful economy wherever
possible will alone prevent our income from falling below the point
required in order to meet our genuine needs.
The integrity of our currency is beyond question, and under present
conditions it would be unwise and unnecessary to attempt a
reconstruction of our entire monetary system. The same liberty should
be granted the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit customs receipts as
is granted him in the deposit of receipts from other sources. In my
Message of December 2, 1902, I called attention to certain needs of the
financial situation, and I again ask the consideration of the Congress
for these questions.
During the last session of the Congress at the suggestion of a joint
note from the Republic of Mexico and the Imperial Government of China,
and in harmony with an act of the Congress appropriating $25,000 to pay
the expenses thereof, a commission was appointed to confer with the
principal European countries in the hope that some plan might be
devised whereby a fixed rate of exchange could be assured between the
gold-standard countries and the silver-standard countries. This
commission has filed its preliminary report, which has been made
public. I deem it important that the commission be continued, and that
a sum of money be appropriated sufficient to pay the expenses of its
further labors.
A majority of our people desire that steps be taken in the interests of
American shipping, so that we may once more resume our former position
in the ocean carrying trade. But hitherto the differences of opinion as
to the proper method of reaching this end have been so wide that it has
proved impossible to secure the adoption of any particular scheme.
Having in view these facts, I recommend that the Congress direct the
Secretary of the Navy, the Postmaster-General, and the Secretary of
Commerce and Labor, associated with such a representation from the
Senate and House of Representatives as the Congress in its wisdom may
designate, to serve as a commission for the purpose of investigating
and reporting to the Congress at its next session what legislation is
desirable or necessary for the development of the American merchant
marine and American commerce, and incidentally of a national ocean mail
service of adequate auxiliary naval crusiers and naval reserves. While
such a measure is desirable in any event, it is especially desirable at
this time, in view of the fact that our present governmental contract
for ocean mail with the American Line will expire in 1905. Our ocean
mail act was passed in 1891. In 1895 our 20-knot transatlantic 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 does not, the
commercial public will abandon it. If we are to stay in the business it
ought to be with a full understanding of the advantages to the country
on one hand, and on the other with exact knowledge of the cost and
proper methods of carrying it on. Moreover, lines of cargo ships are of
even more importance than fast mail lines; save so far as the latter
can be depended upon to furnish swift auxiliary cruisers in time of
war. The establishment of new lines of cargo ships to South America, to
Asia, and elsewhere would be much in the interest of our commercial
expansion.
We can not have too much immigration of the right kind, and we should
have none at all of the wrong kind. The need is to devise some system
by which undesirable immigrants shall be kept out entirely, while
desirable immigrants are properly distributed throughout the country.
At present some districts which need immigrants have none; and in
others, where the population is already congested, immigrants come in
such numbers as to depress the conditions of life for those already
there. During the last two years the immigration service at New York
has been greatly improved, and the corruption and inefficiency which
formerly obtained there have been eradicated. This service has just
been investigated by a committee of New York citizens of high standing,
Messrs. Arthur V. Briesen, Lee K. Frankel, Eugene A. Philbin, Thomas W.
Hynes, and Ralph Trautman. Their report deals with the whole situation
at length, and concludes with certain recommendations for
administrative and legislative action. It is now receiving the
attention of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
The special investigation of the subject of naturalization under the
direction of the Attorney-General, and the consequent prosecutions
reveal a condition of affairs calling for the immediate attention of
the Congress. Forgeries and perjuries of shameless and flagrant
character have been perpetrated, not only in the dense centers of
population, but throughout the country; and it is established beyond
doubt that very many so-called citizens of the United States have no
title whatever to that right, and are asserting and enjoying the
benefits of the same through the grossest frauds. It is never to be
forgotten that citizenship is, to quote the words recently used by the
Supreme Court of the United States, an "inestimable heritage," whether
it proceeds from birth within the country or is obtained by
naturalization; and we poison the sources of our national character and
strength at the fountain, if the privilege is claimed and exercised
without right, and by means of fraud and corruption. The body politic
can not be sound and healthy if many of its constituent members claim
their standing through the prostitution of the high right and calling
of citizenship. It should mean something to become a citizen of the
United States; and in the process no loophole whatever should be left
open to fraud.
The methods by which these frauds--now under full investigation with a
view to meting out punishment and providing adequate remedies--are
perpetrated, include many variations of procedure by which false
certificates of citizenship are forged in their entirety; or genuine
certificates fraudulently or collusively obtained in blank are filled
in by the criminal conspirators; or certificates are obtained on
fraudulent statements as to the time of arrival and residence in this
country; or imposition and substitution of another party for the real
petitioner occur in court; or certificates are made the subject of
barter and sale and transferred from the rightful holder to those not
entitled to them; or certificates are forged by erasure of the original
names and the insertion of the names of other persons not entitled to
the same.
It is not necessary for me to refer here at large to the causes leading
to this state of affairs. The desire for naturalization is heartily to
be commended where it springs from a sincere and permanent intention to
become citizens, and a real appreciation of the privilege. But it is a
source of untold evil and trouble where it is traceable to selfish and
dishonest motives, such as the effort by artificial and improper means,
in wholesale fashion to create voters who are ready-made tools of
corrupt politicians, or the desire to evade certain labor laws creating
discriminations against alien labor. All good citizens, whether
naturalized or native born, are equally interested in protecting our
citizenship against fraud in any form, and, on the other hand, in
affording every facility for naturalization to those who in good faith
desire to share alike our privileges and our responsibilities.
The Federal grand jury lately in session in New York City dealt with
this subject and made a presentment which states the situation briefly
and forcibly and contains important suggestions for the consideration
of the Congress. This presentment is included as an appendix to the
report of the Attorney-General.
In my last annual Message, in connection with the subject of the due
regulation of combinations of capital which are or may become injurious
to the public, I recommend a special appropriation for the better
enforcement of the antitrust law as it now stands, to be extended under
the direction of the Attorney-General. Accordingly (by the legislative,
executive, and judicial appropriation act of February 25, 1903, 32
Stat., 854, 904), the Congress appropriated, for the purpose of
enforcing the various Federal trust and interstate-commerce laws, the
sum of five hundred thousand dollars, to be expended under the
direction of the Attorney-General in the employment of special counsel
and agents in the Department of Justice to conduct proceedings and
prosecutions under said laws in the courts of the United States. I now
recommend, as a matter of the utmost importance and urgency, the
extension of the purposes of this appropriation, so that it may be
available, under the direction of the Attorney-General, and until used,
for the due enforcement of the laws of the United States in general and
especially of the civil and criminal laws relating to public lands and
the laws relating to postal crimes and offenses and the subject of
naturalization. Recent investigations have shown a deplorable state of
affairs in these three matters of vital concern. By various frauds and
by forgeries and perjuries, thousands of acres of the public domain,
embracing lands of different character and extending through various
sections of the country, have been dishonestly acquired. It is hardly
necessary to urge the importance of recovering these dishonest
acquisitions, stolen from the people, and of promptly and duly
punishing the offenders. I speak in another part of this Message of the
widespread crimes by which the sacred right of citizenship is falsely
asserted and that "inestimable heritage" perverted to base ends. By
similar means--that is, through frauds, forgeries, and perjuries, and
by shameless briberies--the laws relating to the proper conduct of the
public service in general and to the due administration of the
Post-Office Department have been notoriously violated, and many
indictments have been found, and the consequent prosecutions are in
course of hearing or on the eve thereof. For the reasons thus
indicated, and so that the Government may be prepared to enforce
promptly and with the greatest effect the due penalties for such
violations of law, and to this end may be furnished with sufficient
instrumentalities and competent legal assistance for the investigations
and trials which will be necessary at many different points of the
country, I urge upon the Congress the necessity of making the said
appropriation available for immediate use for all such purposes, to be
expended under the direction of the Attorney-General.
Steps have been taken by the State Department looking to the making of
bribery an extraditable offense with foreign powers. The need of more
effective treaties covering this crime is manifest. The exposures and
prosecutions of official corruption in St. Louis, Mo., and other cities
and States have resulted in a number of givers and takers of bribes
becoming fugitives in foreign lands. Bribery has not been included in
extradition treaties heretofore, as the necessity for it has not
arisen. While there may have been as much official corruption in former
years, there has been more developed and brought to light in the
immediate past than in the preceding century of our country's history.
It should be the policy of the United States to leave no place on earth
where a corrupt man fleeing from this country can rest in peace. There
is no reason why bribery should not be included in all treaties as
extraditable. The recent amended treaty with Mexico, whereby this crime
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 of
the St. Louis bribe givers.
There can be no crime more serious than bribery. Other offenses violate
one law while corruption strikes at the foundation of all law. Under
our form of Government all authority is vested in the people and by
them delegated to those who represent them in official capacity. There
can be no offense heavier than that of him in whom such a sacred trust
has been reposed, who sells it for his own gain and enrichment; and no
less heavy is the offense of the bribe giver. He is worse than the
thief, for the thief robs the individual, while the corrupt official
plunders an entire city or State. He is as wicked as the murderer, for
the murderer may only take one life against the law, while the corrupt
official and the man who corrupts the official alike aim at the
assassination of the commonwealth itself. Government of the people, by
the people, for the people will perish from the face of the earth if
bribery is tolerated. The givers and takers of bribes stand on an evil
pre-eminence of infamy. The exposure and punishment of public
corruption 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 injured by the enforcement of law. As long as public plunderers
when detected can find a haven of refuge in any foreign land and avoid
punishment, just so long encouragement is given them to continue their
practices. If we fail to do all that in us lies to stamp out corruption
we can not escape our share of responsibility for the guilt. The first
requisite of successful self-government is unflinching enforcement of
the law and the cutting out of corruption.
For several years past the rapid development of Alaska and the
establishment of growing American interests in regions theretofore
unsurveyed and imperfectly known brought into prominence the urgent
necessity of a practical demarcation of the boundaries between the
jurisdictions of the United States and Great Britain. Although the
treaty of 1825 between Great Britain and Russia, the provisions of
which were copied in the treaty of 1867, whereby Russia conveyed Alaska
to the United States, was positive as to the control, first by Russia
and later by the United States, of a strip of territory along the
continental mainland from the western shore of Portland Canal to Mount
St. Elias, following and surrounding the indentations of the coast and
including the islands to the westward, its description of the landward
margin of the strip was indefinite, resting on the supposed existence
of a continuous ridge or range of mountains skirting the coast, as
figured in the charts of the early navigators. It had at no time been
possible for either party in interest to lay down, under the authority
of the treaty, a line so obviously exact according to its provisions as
to command the assent of the other. For nearly three-fourths of a
century the absence of tangible local interests demanding the exercise
of positive jurisdiction on either side of the border left the question
dormant. In 1878 questions of revenue administration on the Stikine
River led to the establishment of a provisional demarcation, crossing
the channel between two high peaks on either side about twenty-four
miles above the river mouth. In 1899 similar questions growing out of
the extraordinary development of mining interests in the region about
the head of Lynn Canal brought about a temporary modus vivendi, by
which a convenient separation was made at the watershed divides of the
White and Chilkoot passes and to the north of Klukwan, on the Klehini
River. These partial and tentative adjustments could not, in the very
nature of things, be satisfactory or lasting. A permanent disposition
of the matter became imperative.
After unavailing attempts to reach an understanding through a Joint
High Commission, followed by prolonged negotiations, conducted in an
amicable spirit, a convention between the United States and Great
Britain was signed, January 24, 1903, providing for an examination of
the subject by a mixed tribunal of six members, three on a side, with a
view to its final disposition. Ratifications were exchanged on March 3
last, whereupon the two Governments appointed their respective members.
Those on behalf of the United States were Elihu Root, Secretary of War,
Henry Cabot Lodge, a Senator of the United States, and George Turner,
an ex-Senator of the United States, while Great Britain named the Right
Honourable Lord Alverstone, Lord Chief Justice of England, Sir Louis
Amable Jette, K. C. M. G., retired judge 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 a friendly and
conscientious spirit. The respective cases, counter cases, and
arguments presented the issues clearly and fully. On the 20th of
October a majority of the Tribunal reached and signed an agreement on
all the questions submitted by the terms of the Convention. By this
award the right of the United States to the control of a continuous
strip or border of the mainland shore, skirting all the tide-water
inlets and sinuosities of the coast, is confirmed; the entrance to
Portland Canal (concerning which legitimate doubt appeared) is defined
as passing by Tongass Inlet and to the northwestward of Wales and
Pearse islands; a line is drawn from the head of Portland Canal to the
fifty-sixth degree of north latitude; and the interior border line of
the strip is fixed by lines connecting certain mountain summits lying
between Portland Canal and Mount St. Elias, and running along the crest
of the divide separating the coast slope from the inland watershed at
the only part of the frontier where the drainage ridge approaches the
coast within the distance of ten marine leagues stipulated by the
treaty as the extreme width of the strip around the heads of Lynn Canal
and its branches.
While the line so traced follows the provisional demarcation of 1878 at
the crossing of the Stikine River, and that of 1899 at the summits of
the White and Chilkoot passes, it runs much farther inland from the
Klehini than the temporary line of the later modus vivendi, and leaves
the entire mining district of the Porcupine River and Glacier Creek
within the jurisdiction of the United States.
The result is satisfactory in every way. It is of great material
advantage to our people in the Far Northwest. It has removed from the
field of discussion and possible danger a question liable to become
more acutely accentuated with each passing year. Finally, it has
furnished a signal proof of the fairness and good will with which two
friendly nations can approach and determine issues involving national
sovereignty and by their nature incapable of submission to a third
power for adjudication.
The award is self-executing on the vital points. To make it effective
as regards the others it only remains for the two Governments to
appoint, each on its own behalf, one or more scientific experts, who
shall, with all convenient speed, proceed together to lay down the
boundary line in accordance with the decision of the majority of the
Tribunal. I recommend that the Congress make adequate provision for the
appointment, compensation, and expenses of the members to serve on this
joint boundary commission on the part of the United States.
It will be remembered that during the second session of the last
Congress Great Britain, Germany, and Italy formed an alliance for the
purpose of blockading the ports of Venezuela and using such other means
of pressure as would secure a settlement of claims due, as they
alleged, to certain of their subjects. Their employment of force for
the collection of these claims was terminated by an agreement brought
about through the offices of the diplomatic representatives of the
United States at Caracas and the Government at Washington, thereby
ending a situation which was bound to cause increasing friction, and
which jeoparded the peace of the continent. Under this agreement
Venezuela agreed to set apart a certain percentage of the customs
receipts of two of her ports to be applied to the payment of whatever
obligations might be ascertained by mixed commissions appointed for
that purpose to be due from her, not only to the three powers already
mentioned, whose proceedings against her had resulted in a state of
war, 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 the claims alleged to be due to certain of their
citizens.
A demand was then made by the so-called blockading powers that the sums
ascertained to be due to their citizens by such mixed commissions
should be accorded payment in full before anything was paid upon the
claims of any of the so-called peace powers. Venezuela, on the other
hand, insisted that all her creditors should be paid upon a basis of
exact equality. During the efforts to adjust this dispute it was
suggested by the powers in interest that it should be referred to me
for decision, but I was clearly of the opinion that a far wiser course
would be to submit the question to the Permanent Court of Arbitration
at The Hague. It seemed to me to offer an admirable opportunity to
advance the practice of the peaceful settlement of disputes between
nations and to secure for the Hague Tribunal a memorable increase of
its practical importance. The nations interested in the controversy
were so numerous and in many instances so powerful as to make it
evident that beneficent results would follow from their appearance at
the same time before the bar of that august tribunal of peace.
Our hopes in that regard have been realized. Russia and Austria are
represented in the persons of the learned and distinguished jurists who
compose the Tribunal, while Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain,
Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, Mexico, the United
States, and Venezuela are represented by their respective agents and
counsel. Such an imposing concourse of nations presenting their
arguments to and invoking the decision of that high court of
international justice and international peace can hardly fail to secure
a like submission of many future controversies. The nations now
appearing there will find it far easier to appear there a second time,
while no nation can imagine its just pride will be lessened by
following the example now presented. This triumph of the principle of
international arbitration is a subject of warm congratulation and
offers a happy augury for the peace of the world.
There seems good ground for the belief that there has been a real
growth among the civilized nations of a sentiment which will permit a
gradual substitution of other methods than the method of war in the
settlement of disputes. It is not pretended that as yet we are near a
position in which it will be possible wholly to prevent war, or that a
just regard for national interest and honor will in all cases permit of
the settlement of international disputes by arbitration; but by a
mixture of prudence and firmness with wisdom we think it is possible to
do away with much of the provocation and excuse for war, and at least
in many cases to substitute some other and more rational method for the
settlement of disputes. The Hague Court offers so good an example of
what can be done in the direction of such settlement that it should be
encouraged in every way.
Further steps should be taken. In President McKinley's annual Message
of December 5, 1898, he made the following recommendation:
"The experiences of the last year bring forcibly home to us a sense of
the burdens and the waste of war. We desire in common with most
civilized nations, to reduce to the lowest possible point the damage
sustained in time of war by peaceable trade and commerce. It is true we
may suffer in such cases less than other communities, but all nations
are damaged more or less by the state of uneasiness and apprehension
into which an outbreak of hostilities throws the entire commercial
world. It should be our object, therefore, to minimize, so far as
practicable, this inevitable loss and disturbance. This purpose can
probably best be accomplished by an international agreement to regard
all private property at sea as exempt from capture or destruction by
the forces of belligerent powers. The United States Government has for
many years advocated this humane and beneficent principle, and is now
in a position to recommend it to other powers without the imputation of
selfish motives. I therefore suggest for your consideration that the
Executive be authorized to correspond with the governments of the
principal maritime powers with a view of incorporating into the
permanent law of civilized nations the principle of the exemption of
all 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 say that this Government has
always been, in its views, among the most advanced of the governments
of the world in favor of mitigating, as to all non-combatants, the
hardships and horrors of war. To accomplish that object it has always
advocated those rules which would in most cases do away with the right
to capture the 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 respected on land that it should not be
respected at sea. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that shipping
represents, internationally speaking, a much more generalized species
of private property than is the case with ordinary property on
land--that is, property found at sea is much less apt than is the case
with property found on land really to belong to any one nation. Under
the modern system of corporate ownership the flag of a vessel often
differs from the flag which would mark the nationality of the real
ownership and money control of the vessel; and the cargo may belong to
individuals of yet a different nationality. Much American capital is
now invested in foreign ships; and among foreign nations it often
happens that the capital of one is largely invested in the shipping of
another. Furthermore, as a practical matter, it may be mentioned that
while commerce destroying may cause serious loss and great annoyance,
it can never be more than a subsidiary factor in bringing to terms a
resolute foe. This is now well recognized by all of our naval experts.
The fighting ship, not the commerce destroyer, is the vessel whose
feats add renown to a nation's history, and establish her place among
the great powers of the world.
Last year the Interparliamentary Union for International Arbitration
met at Vienna, six hundred members of the different legislatures of
civilized countries attending. It was provided that the next meeting
should be in 1904 at St. Louis, subject to our Congress extending an
invitation. Like the Hague Tribunal, this Interparliamentary Union is
one of the forces tending towards peace among the nations of the earth,
and it is entitled to our support. I trust the invitation can be
extended.
Early in July, having received intelligence, which happily turned out
to be erroneous, of the assassination of our vice-consul at Beirut, I
dispatched a small squadron to that port for such service as might be
found necessary on arrival. Although the attempt on the life of our
vice-consul had not been successful, yet the outrage was symptomatic of
a state of excitement and disorder which demanded immediate attention.
The arrival of the vessels had the happiest result. A feeling of
security at once took the place of the former alarm and disquiet; our
officers were cordially welcomed by the consular body and the leading
merchants, and ordinary business resumed its activity. The Government
of the Sultan gave a considerate hearing to the representations of our
minister; the official who was regarded as responsible for the
disturbed condition of affairs was removed. Our relations with the
Turkish Government remain friendly; our claims rounded on inequitable
treatment of some of our schools and 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 result of long discussion and negotiation, places our commercial
relations with the great Oriental Empire on a more satisfactory footing
than they have ever heretofore enjoyed. It provides not only for the
ordinary rights and privileges of diplomatic and consular officers, but
also for an important extension of our commerce by increased facility
of access to Chinese ports, and for the relief of trade by the removal
of some of the obstacles which have embarrassed it in the past. The
Chinese Government engages, on fair and equitable conditions, which
will probably be accepted by the principal commercial nations, to
abandon the levy of "liken" and other transit dues throughout the
Empire, and to introduce other desirable administrative reforms. Larger
facilities are to be given to our citizens who desire to carry on
mining enterprises in China. We have secured for our missionaries a
valuable privilege, the recognition of their right to rent and lease in
perpetuity such property as their religious societies may need in all
parts of the Empire. And, what was an indispensable condition for the
advance and development of our commerce in Manchuria, China, by treaty
with us, has opened to foreign commerce the cities of Mukden, the
capital of the province of Manchuria, and An-tung, an important port on
the Yalu River, on the road to Korea. The full measure of development
which our commerce may rightfully expect can hardly be looked for until
the settlement of the present abnormal state of things in the Empire;
but the foundation for such development has at last been laid.
I call your attention to the reduced cost in maintaining the consular
service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, as shown in the
annual report of the Auditor for the State and other Departments, as
compared with the year previous. For the year under consideration the
excess of expenditures over receipts on account of the consular service
amounted to $26,125.12, as against $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 consular service for the past
fourteen years, and the reduction in the cost of the service to the
Government has been made in spite of the fact that the expenditures for
the year in question were more than $20,000 greater than for the
previous year.
The rural free-delivery service has been steadily extended. The
attention of the Congress is asked to the question of the compensation
of the letter carriers and clerks engaged in the postal service,
especially on the new rural free-delivery routes. More routes have been
installed since the first of July last than in any like period in the
Department's history. While a due regard to economy must be kept in
mind in the establishment of new routes, yet the extension of the rural
free-delivery system must be continued, for reasons of sound public
policy. No governmental movement of recent years has resulted in
greater immediate benefit to the people of the country districts. Rural
free delivery, taken in connection with the telephone, the bicycle, and
the trolley, accomplishes much toward lessening the isolation of farm
life and making it brighter and more attractive. In the immediate past
the lack of just such facilities as these has driven many of the more
active and restless young men and women from the farms to the cities;
for they rebelled at loneliness and lack of mental companionship. It is
unhealthy and undesirable for the cities to grow at the expense of the
country; and rural free delivery is not only a good thing in itself,
but is good because it is one of the causes which check this
unwholesome tendency towards the urban concentration of our population
at the expense of the country districts. It is for the same reason that
we sympathize with and approve of the policy of building good roads.
The movement for good roads is one fraught with the greatest benefit to
the country districts.
I trust that the Congress will continue to favor in all proper ways the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition. This Exposition commemorates the
Louisiana purchase, which was the first great step in the expansion
which made us a continental nation. The expedition of Lewis and Clark
across the continent followed thereon, and marked the beginning of the
process of exploration and colonization which thrust our national
boundaries to the Pacific. The acquisition of the Oregon country,
including the present States of Oregon and Washington, was a fact of
immense importance in our history; first giving us our place on the
Pacific seaboard, and making ready the way for our ascendency in the
commerce of the greatest of the oceans. The centennial of our
establishment upon the western coast by the expedition of Lewis and
Clark is to be celebrated at Portland, Oregon, by an exposition in the
summer of 1905, and this event should receive recognition and support
from the National Government.
I call your special attention to the Territory of Alaska. The country
is developing rapidly, and it has an assured future. The mineral wealth
is great and has as yet hardly been tapped. The fisheries, if wisely
handled and kept under national control, will be a business as
permanent as any other, and of the utmost importance to the people. The
forests if properly guarded will form another great source of wealth.
Portions of Alaska are fitted for farming and stock raising, although
the methods must be adapted to the peculiar conditions of the country.
Alaska is situated in the far north; but so are Norway and Sweden and
Finland; and Alaska can prosper and play its part in the New World just
as those nations have 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-land laws should be provided whereby the
coal-land entryman may make his location and secure patent under
methods kindred to those now prescribed for homestead and mineral
entrymen. Salmon hatcheries, exclusively under Government control,
should be established. The cable should be extended from Sitka
westward. Wagon roads and trails should be built, and the building of
railroads promoted in all legitimate ways. Light-houses should be built
along the coast. Attention should be paid to the needs of the Alaska
Indians; provision should be made for an officer, with deputies, to
study their needs, relieve their immediate wants, and help them adapt
themselves to the new conditions.
The commission appointed to investigate, during the season of 1903, the
condition and needs of the Alaskan salmon fisheries, has finished its
work in the field, and is preparing a detailed report thereon. A
preliminary report reciting the measures immediately required for the
protection and preservation of the salmon industry has already been
submitted to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for his attention and
for the needed action.
I recommend that an appropriation be made for building light-houses in
Hawaii, and taking possession of those already built. The Territory
should be reimbursed for whatever amounts it has already expended for
light-houses. The governor should be empowered to suspend or remove any
official appointed by him, without submitting the matter to the
legislature.
Of our insular possessions the Philippines and Porto Rico it is
gratifying to say that their steady progress has been such as to make
it unnecessary to spend much time in discussing them. Yet the Congress
should ever keep in mind that a peculiar obligation rests upon us to
further in every way the welfare of these communities. The Philippines
should be knit closer to us by tariff arrangements. It would, of
course, be impossible suddenly to raise the people of the islands to
the high pitch of industrial prosperity and of governmental efficiency
to which they will in the end by degrees attain; and the caution and
moderation shown in developing them have been among the main reasons
why this development has hitherto gone on so smoothly. Scrupulous care
has been taken in the choice of governmental agents, and the entire
elimination of partisan politics from the public service. The condition
of the islanders is in material things far better than ever before,
while their governmental, intellectual, and moral advance has kept pace
with their material advance. No one people ever benefited another
people more than we have benefited the Filipinos by taking possession
of the islands.
The cash receipts of the General Land Office for the last fiscal year
were $11,024,743.65, an increase of $4,762,816.47 over the preceding
year. Of this sum, approximately, $8,461,493 will go to the credit 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 those having unlawful
inclosures of public land to remove their fences. Nearly two million
acres so inclosed have been thrown open on demand. In but comparatively
few cases has it been necessary to go into court to accomplish this
purpose. This work will be vigorously prosecuted until all unlawful
inclosures have been removed.
Experience has shown that in the western States themselves, as well as
in the rest of the country, there is widespread conviction that certain
of the public-land laws and the resulting administrative practice no
longer meet the present needs. The character and uses of the remaining
public lands differ widely from those of the public lands which
Congress had especially in view when these laws were passed. The
rapidly increasing rate of disposal of the public lands is not followed
by a corresponding increase in home building. There is a tendency to
mass in large holdings public lands, especially timber and grazing
lands, and thereby to retard settlement. I renew and emphasize my
recommendation of last year that so far as they are available for
agriculture in its broadest sense, and to whatever extent they may be
reclaimed under the national irrigation law, the remaining public lands
should be held rigidly for the home builder. The attention of the
Congress is especially directed to the timber and stone law, the
desert-land law, and the commutation clause of the homestead law, which
in their operation have in many respects conflicted with wise
public-land policy. The discussions in the Congress and elsewhere have
made it evident that there is a wide divergence of opinions between
those holding opposite views on these subjects; and that the opposing
sides have strong and convinced representatives of weight both within
and without the Congress; the differences being not only as to matters
of opinion but as to matters of fact. In order that definite
information may be available for the use of the Congress, I have
appointed a commission composed of W. A. Richards, Commissioner of the
General Land Office; Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the Bureau of Forestry
of the Department of Agriculture, and F. H. Newell, Chief Hydrographer
of the Geological Survey, to report at the earliest practicable moment
upon the condition, operation, and effect of the present land laws and
on the use, condition, disposal, and settlement of the public lands.
The commission will report especially what changes in organization,
laws, regulations, and practice affecting the public lands are needed
to effect the largest practicable disposition of the public lands to
actual settlers who will build permanent homes upon them, and to secure
in permanence the fullest and most effective use of the resources of
the public lands; and it will make such other reports and
recommendations as its study of these questions may suggest. The
commission is to report immediately upon those points concerning which
its judgment is clear; on any point upon which it has doubt it will
take the time necessary to make investigation and reach a final
judgment.
The work of reclamation of the arid lands of the West is progressing
steadily and satisfactorily under the terms of the law setting aside
the proceeds from the disposal of public lands. The corps of engineers
known as the Reclamation Service, which is conducting the surveys and
examinations, has been thoroughly organized, especial pains being taken
to secure under the civil-service rules a body of skilled, experienced,
and efficient men. Surveys and examinations are progressing throughout
the arid States and Territories, plans for reclaiming works being
prepared and passed upon by boards of engineers before approval by the
Secretary of the Interior. In Arizona and Nevada, in localities where
such work is pre-eminently needed, construction has already been begun.
In other parts of the arid West various projects are well advanced
towards the drawing up of contracts, these being delayed in part by
necessities of reaching agreements or understanding as regards rights
of way or acquisition of real estate. Most of the works contemplated
for construction are of national importance, involving interstate
questions or the securing of stable, self-supporting communities in the
midst of vast tracts of vacant land. The Nation as a whole is of course
the gainer by the creation of these homes, adding as they do to the
wealth and stability of the country, and furnishing a home market for
the products of the East and South. The reclamation law, while perhaps
not ideal, appears at present to answer the larger needs for which it
is designed. Further legislation is not recommended until the
necessities of change are more apparent.
The study of the opportunities of reclamation of the vast extent of
arid land shows that whether this reclamation is done by individuals,
corporations, or the State, the sources of water supply must be
effectively protected and the reservoirs guarded by the preservation of
the forests at the headwaters of the streams. The engineers making the
preliminary examinations continually emphasize this need and urge that
the remaining public lands at the headwaters of the important streams
of the West be reserved to insure permanency of water supply for
irrigation. Much progress in forestry has been made during the past
year. The necessity for perpetuating our forest resources, whether in
public or private hands, is recognized now as never before. The demand
for forest reserves has become insistent in the West, because the West
must use the water, wood, and summer range which only such reserves can
supply. Progressive lumbermen are striving, through forestry, to give
their business permanence. Other great business interests are awakening
to the need of forest preservation as a business matter. The
Government's forest work should receive from the Congress hearty
support, and especially support adequate for the protection of the
forest reserves against fire. The forest-reserve policy of the
Government has passed beyond the experimental stage and has reached a
condition where scientific methods are essential to its successful
prosecution. The administrative features of forest reserves are at
present unsatisfactory, being divided between three Bureaus of two
Departments. It is therefore recommended that all matters pertaining to
forest reserves, except those involving or pertaining to land titles,
be consolidated in the Bureau of Forestry of the Department of
Agriculture.
The cotton-growing States have recently been invaded by a weevil that
has done much damage and threatens the entire cotton industry. I
suggest to the Congress the prompt enactment of such remedial
legislation as its judgment may approve.
In granting patents to foreigners the proper course for this country to
follow is to give the same advantages to foreigners here that the
countries in which these foreigners dwell extend in return to our
citizens; that is, to extend the benefits of our patent laws on
inventions and the like where in return the articles would be
patentable in the foreign countries concerned--where an American could
get a corresponding patent in such countries.
The Indian agents should not be dependent for their appointment or
tenure of office upon considerations of partisan politics; the practice
of appointing, when possible, ex-army officers or bonded
superintendents to the vacancies that occur is working well. Attention
is invited to the widespread illiteracy due to lack of public schools
in the Indian Territory. Prompt heed should be paid to the need of
education for the children in this Territory.
In my last annual Message the attention of the Congress was called to
the necessity of enlarging the safety-appliance law, and it is
gratifying to note that this law was amended in important respects.
With the increasing railway mileage of the country, the greater number
of men employed, and the use of larger and heavier equipment, the
urgency for renewed effort to prevent the loss of life and limb upon
the railroads of the country, particularly to employees, is apparent.
For the inspection of water craft and the Life-Saving Service upon the
water the Congress has built up an elaborate body of protective
legislation and a thorough method of inspection and is annually
spending large sums of money. It is encouraging to observe that the
Congress is alive to the interests of those who are employed upon our
wonderful arteries of commerce--the railroads--who so safely transport
millions of passengers and billions of tons of freight. The Federal
inspection, of safety appliances, for which the Congress is now making
appropriations, is a service analogous to that which the Government has
upheld for generations in regard to vessels, and it is believed will
prove of great practical benefit, both to railroad employees and the
traveling public. As the greater part of commerce is interstate and
exclusively under the control of the Congress the needed safety and
uniformity must be secured by national legislation.
No other class of our citizens deserves so well of the Nation as those
to whom the Nation owes its very being, the veterans of the civil war.
Special attention is asked to the excellent work of the Pension Bureau
in expediting and disposing of pension claims. During the fiscal year
ending July 1, 1903, the Bureau settled 251,982 claims, an average of
825 claims for each working day of the year. The number of settlements
since July 1, 1903, has been in excess of last year's average,
approaching 1,000 claims for each working day, and it is believed that
the work of the Bureau will be current at the close of the present
fiscal year.
During the year ended June 30 last 25,566 persons were appointed
through competitive examinations under the civil-service rules. This
was 12,672 more than during the preceding year, and 40 per cent of
those who passed the examinations. This abnormal growth was largely
occasioned by the extension of classification to the rural
free-delivery service and the appointment last year of over 9,000 rural
carriers. A revision of the civil-service rules took effect on April 15
last, which has greatly improved their operation. The completion of the
reform of the civil service is recognized by good citizens everywhere
as a matter of the highest public importance, and the success of the
merit system largely depends upon the effectiveness of the rules and
the machinery provided for their enforcement. A very gratifying spirit
of friendly co-operation exists in all the Departments of the
Government in the enforcement and uniform observance of both the letter
and spirit of the civil-service act. Executive orders of July 3, 1902;
March 26, 1903, and July 8, 1903, require that appointments of all
unclassified laborers, both in the Departments at Washington and in the
field service, shall be made with the assistance of the United States
Civil Service Commission, under a system of registration to test the
relative fitness of applicants for appointment or employment. This
system is competitive, and is open to all citizens of the United States
qualified in respect to age, physical ability, moral character,
industry, and adaptability for manual labor; except that in case of
veterans of the Civil War the element of age is omitted. This system of
appointment is distinct from the classified service and does not
classify positions of mere laborer under the civil-service act and
rules. Regulations in aid thereof have been put in operation in several
of the Departments and are being gradually extended in other parts of
the service. The results have been very satisfactory, as extravagance
has been checked by decreasing the number of unnecessary positions and
by increasing the efficiency of the employees remaining.
The Congress, as the result of a thorough investigation of the
charities and reformatory institutions in the District of Columbia, by
a joint select committee of the two Houses which made its report in
March, 1898, created in the act approved June 6, 1900, a board of
charities for the District of Columbia, to consist of five residents of
the District, appointed by the President of the United States, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate, each for a term of three
years, to serve without compensation. President McKinley appointed five
men who had been active and prominent in the public charities in
Washington, all of whom upon taking office July 1, 1900, resigned from
the different charities with which they had been connected. The members
of the board have been reappointed in successive years. The board
serves under the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. The board
gave its first year to a careful and impartial study of the special
problems before it, and has continued that study every year in the
light of the best practice in public charities elsewhere. Its
recommendations in its annual reports to the Congress through the
Commissioners of the District of Columbia "for the economical and
efficient administration of the charities and reformatories of the
District of Columbia," as required by the act creating it, have been
based upon the principles commended by the joint select committee of
the Congress in its report of March, 1898, and approved by the best
administrators of public charities, and make for the desired
systematization and improvement of the affairs under its supervision.
They are worthy of favorable consideration by the Congress.
The effect of the laws providing a General Staff for the Army and for
the more effective use of the National Guard has been excellent. Great
improvement has been made in the efficiency of our Army in recent
years. Such schools as those erected at Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley
and the institution of fall maneuver work accomplish satisfactory
results. The good effect of these maneuvers upon the National Guard is
marked, and ample appropriation should be made to enable the guardsmen
of the several States to share in the benefit. The Government should as
soon as possible secure suitable permanent camp sites for military
maneuvers in the various sections of the country. The service thereby
rendered not only to the Regular Army, but to the National Guard of the
several States, will be so great as to repay many times over the
relatively small expense. We should not rest satisfied with what has
been done, however. The only people who are contented with a system of
promotion by mere seniority are those who are contented with the
triumph of mediocrity over excellence. On the other hand, a system
which encouraged the exercise of social or political favoritism in
promotions would be even worse. But it would surely be easy to devise a
method of promotion from grade to grade in which the opinion of the
higher officers of the service upon the candidates should be decisive
upon the standing and promotion of the latter. Just such a system now
obtains at West Point. The quality of each year's work determines the
standing of that year's class, the man being dropped or graduated into
the next class in the relative position which his military superiors
decide to be warranted by his merit. In other words, ability, energy,
fidelity, and all other similar qualities determine the rank of a man
year after year in West Point, and his standing in the Army when he
graduates from West Point; but from that time on, all effort to find
which man is best or worst, and reward or punish him accordingly, is
abandoned; no brilliancy, no amount of hard work, no eagerness in the
performance of duty, can advance him, and no slackness or indifference
that falls short of a court-martial offense can retard him. Until this
system is changed we can not hope that our officers will 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 Captain Pershing
rendered last spring in the Moro campaign, it ought to be possible
to reward him without at once jumping him to the grade of
brigadier-general.
Shortly after the enunciation of that famous principle of American
foreign policy now known as the "Monroe Doctrine," President Monroe, in
a special Message to Congress on January 30, 1824, spoke as follows:
"The Navy is the arm from which our Government will always derive most
aid in support of our rights. Every power engaged in war will know the
strength of our naval power, the number of our ships of each class,
their condition, and the promptitude with which we may bring them into
service, and will pay due consideration to that argument."
I heartily congratulate the Congress upon the steady progress in
building up the American Navy. We can not afford a let-up in this great
work. To stand still means to go back. There should be no cessation in
adding to the effective units of the fighting strength of the fleet.
Meanwhile the Navy Department and the officers of the Navy are doing
well their part by providing constant service at sea under conditions
akin to those of actual warfare. Our officers and enlisted men are
learning to handle the battleships, cruisers, and torpedo boats with
high efficiency in fleet and squadron formations, and the standard of
marksmanship is being steadily raised. The best work ashore is
indispensable, but the highest duty of a naval officer is to exercise
command at sea.
The establishment of a naval base in the Philippines ought not to be
longer postponed. Such a base is desirable in time of peace; in time of
war it would be indispensable, and its lack would be ruinous. Without
it our fleet would be helpless. Our naval experts are agreed that Subig
Bay is the proper place for the purpose. The national interests require
that the work of fortification and development of a naval station at
Subig Bay be begun at an early date; for under the best conditions it
is a work which will consume much time.
It is eminently desirable, however, that there should be provided a
naval general staff on lines similar to those of the General Staff
lately created for the Army. Within the Navy Department itself the
needs of the service have brought about a system under which the duties
of a general staff are partially performed; for the Bureau of
Navigation has under its direction the War College, the Office of Naval
Intelligence, and the Board of Inspection, and has been in close touch
with the General Board of the Navy. But though under the excellent
officers at their head, these boards and bureaus do good work, they
have not the authority of a general staff, and have not sufficient
scope to insure a proper readiness for emergencies. We need the
establishment by law of a body of trained officers, who shall exercise
a systematic control of the military affairs of the Navy, and be
authorized advisers of the Secretary concerning it.
By the act of June 28, 1902, the Congress authorized the President to
enter into treaty with Colombia for the building of the canal across
the Isthmus of Panama; it being provided that in the event of failure
to secure such treaty after the lapse of a reasonable time, recourse
should be had to building a canal through Nicaragua. It has not been
necessary to consider this alternative, as I am enabled to lay before
the Senate a treaty providing for the building of the canal across the
Isthmus of Panama. This was the route which commended itself to the
deliberate judgment of the Congress, and we can now acquire by treaty
the right to construct the canal over this route. The question now,
therefore, is not by which route the isthmian canal shall be built, for
that question has been definitely and irrevocably decided. The question
is simply whether or not we shall have an isthmian canal.
When the Congress directed that we should take the Panama route under
treaty with Colombia, the essence of the condition, of course, referred
not to the Government which controlled that route, but to the route
itself; to the territory across which the route lay, not to the name
which for the moment the territory bore on the map. The purpose of the
law was to authorize the President to make a treaty with the power in
actual control of the Isthmus of Panama. This purpose has been
fulfilled.
In the year 1846 this Government entered into a treaty with New
Granada, the predecessor upon the Isthmus of the Republic of Colombia
and of the present Republic of Panama, by which treaty it was provided
that the Government and citizens of the United States should always
have free and open right of way or transit across the Isthmus of Panama
by any modes of communication that might be constructed, while in turn
our Government guaranteed the perfect neutrality of the above-mentioned
Isthmus with the view that the free transit from the one to the other
sea might not be interrupted or embarrassed. The treaty vested in the
United States a substantial property right carved out of the rights of
sovereignty and property which New Granada then had and possessed over
the said territory. The name of New Granada has passed away and its
territory has been divided. Its successor, the Government of Colombia,
has ceased to own any property in the Isthmus. A new Republic, that of
Panama, which was at one time a sovereign state, and at another time a
mere department of the successive confederations known as New Granada
and Columbia, has now succeeded to the rights which first one and then
the other formerly exercised over the Isthmus. But as long as the
Isthmus endures, the mere geographical fact of its existence, and the
peculiar interest therein which is required by our position, perpetuate
the solemn contract which binds the holders of the territory to respect
our right to freedom of transit across it, and binds us in return to
safeguard for the Isthmus and the world the exercise of that
inestimable privilege. The true interpretation of the obligations upon
which the United States entered in this treaty of 1846 has been given
repeatedly in the utterances of Presidents and Secretaries of State.
Secretary Cuss in 1858 officially stated the position of this
Government as follows:
"The progress of events has rendered the interoceanic route across the
narrow portion of Central America vastly important to the commercial
world, and especially to the United States, whose possessions extend
along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and demand the speediest and
easiest modes of communication. While the rights of sovereignty of the
states occupying this region should always be respected, we shall
expect that these rights be exercised in a spirit befitting the
occasion and the wants and circumstances that have arisen. Sovereignty
has its duties as well as its rights, and none of these local
governments, even if administered with more regard to the just demands
of other nations than they have been, would be permitted, in a spirit
of Eastern isolation, to close the gates of intercourse on the great
highways of the world, and justify the act by the pretension that these
avenues of trade and travel belong to them and that they choose to shut
them, or, what is almost equivalent, to encumber them with such unjust
relations as would prevent their general use."
Seven years later, in 1865, Mr. Seward in different communications took
the following position:
"The United States have taken and will take no interest in any question
of internal revolution in the State of Panama, or any State of the
United States of Colombia, but will maintain a perfect neutrality in
connection with such domestic altercations. The United States will,
nevertheless, hold themselves ready to protect the transit trade across
the Isthmus against invasion of either domestic or foreign disturbers
of the peace of the State of Panama. Neither the text nor the spirit of
the stipulation in that article by which the United States engages to
preserve the neutrality of the Isthmus of Panama, imposes an obligation
on this Government to comply with the requisition of the President of
the United States of Colombia for a force to protect the Isthmus of
Panama from a body of insurgents of that country. The purpose of the
stipulation was to guarantee the Isthmus against seizure 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 that New Granada invited the
United States to become a party to the intestine troubles of that
Government, nor did the United States become bound to take sides in the
domestic broils of New Granada. The United States did guarantee New
Granada in the sovereignty and property over the territory. This was as
against other and foreign governments."
For four hundred years, ever since shortly after the discovery of this
hemisphere, the canal across the Isthmus has been planned. For two
score years it has been worked at. When made it is to last for the
ages. It is to alter the geography of a continent and the trade routes
of the world. We have shown by every treaty we have negotiated or
attempted to negotiate with the peoples in control of the Isthmus and
with foreign nations in reference thereto our consistent good faith in
observing our obligations; on the one hand to the peoples of the
Isthmus, and on the other hand to the civilized world whose commercial
rights we are safeguarding and guaranteeing by our action. We have done
our duty to others in letter and in spirit, and we have shown the
utmost forbearance in exacting our own rights.
Last spring, under the act above referred to, a treaty concluded
between the representatives of the Republic of Colombia and of our
Government was ratified by the Senate. This treaty was entered into at
the urgent solicitation of the people of Colombia and after a body of
experts appointed by our Government especially to go into the matter of
the routes across the Isthmus had pronounced unanimously in favor of
the Panama route. In drawing up this treaty every concession was 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
question whether we had not gone too far in their interest at the
expense of our own; for in our scrupulous desire to pay all possible
heed, not merely to the real but even 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 drawing
up the treaty. Nevertheless the Government of Colombia not merely
repudiated the treaty, but repudiated it in such manner as to make it
evident by the time the Colombian Congress adjourned that not the
scantiest hope remained of ever getting a satisfactory treaty from
them. The Government of Colombia made the treaty, and yet when the
Colombian Congress was called to ratify it the vote against
ratification was unanimous. It does not appear that the Government made
any real effort to secure ratification.
Immediately after the adjournment of the Congress a revolution broke
out in Panama. The people of Panama had long been discontented with the
Republic of Colombia, and they had been kept quiet only by the prospect
of the conclusion of the treaty, which was to them a matter of vital
concern. When it became evident that the treaty was hopelessly lost,
the people of Panama rose literally as one man. Not a shot was fired by
a single man on the Isthmus in the interest of the Colombian
Government. Not a life was lost in the accomplishment of the
revolution. The Colombian troops stationed on the Isthmus, who had long
been unpaid, made common cause with the people of Panama, and with
astonishing unanimity the new Republic was started. The duty of the
United States in the premises was clear. In strict accordance with the
principles laid down by Secretaries Cass and Seward in the official
documents above quoted, the United States gave notice that it would
permit the landing of no expeditionary force, the arrival of which
would mean chaos and destruction along the line of the railroad and of
the proposed Canal, and an interruption of transit as an inevitable
consequence. The de facto Government of Panama was recognized in the
following telegram to Mr. Ehrman:
"The people of Panama have, by apparently unanimous movement, dissolved
their political connection with the Republic of Colombia and resumed
their independence. When you are satisfied that a de facto government,
republican in form and without substantial opposition from its own
people, has been established in the State of Panama, you will enter
into relations with it as the responsible government of the territory
and look to it for all due action to protect the persons and property
of citizens of the United States and to keep open the isthmian transit,
in accordance with the obligations of existing treaties governing the
relations of the United States to that Territory."
The Government of Colombia was notified of our action by the following
telegram to Mr. Beaupre:
"The people of Panama having, by an apparently unanimous movement,
dissolved their political connection with the Republic of Colombia and
resumed their independence, and having adopted a Government of their
own, republican in form, with which the Government of the United States
of America has entered into relations, the President of the United
States, in accordance with the ties of friendship which have so long
and so happily existed between the respective nations, most earnestly
commends to the Governments of Colombia and of Panama the peaceful and
equitable settlement of all questions at issue between them. He holds
that he is bound not merely by treaty obligations, but by the interests
of civilization, to see that the peaceful traffic of the world across
the Isthmus of Panama shall not longer be disturbed by a constant
succession of unnecessary and wasteful civil wars."
When these events happened, fifty-seven years had elapsed since the
United States had entered into its treaty with New Granada. During that
time the Governments of New Granada and of its successor, Colombia,
have been in a constant state of flux. The following is a partial list
of the disturbances on the Isthmus of Panama during the period in
question as reported to us by our consuls. It is not possible to give a
complete list, and some of the reports that speak of "revolutions" must
mean unsuccessful revolutions. May 22, 1850.--Outbreak; two Americans
killed. War vessel demanded to quell outbreak. October,
1850.--Revolutionary plot to bring about independence of the Isthmus.
July 22, 1851.--Revolution in four southern provinces. November 14,
1851.--Outbreak at Chagres. Man-of-war requested for Chagres. June 27,
1853.--Insurrection at Bogota, and consequent disturbance on Isthmus.
War vessel demanded. May 23, 1854--Political disturbances; war vessel
requested. June 28, 1854.--Attempted revolution. October 24,
1854.--Independence of 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.--Conflict
between two native parties. United States forces landed. December 18,
1858.--Attempted secession of Panama. April, 1859.--Riots. September,
1860.--Outbreak. October 4, 1860.--Landing of United States forces in
consequence. May 23, 1861.--Intervention of the United States forces
required by intendente. October 2, 1861.--Insurrection and civil war.
April 4, 1862.--Measures to prevent rebels crossing Isthmus. June 13,
1862.--Mosquera's troops 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 government inaugurated. August 29,
1868.--Revolution; provisional government overthrown. April,
1871.--Revolution; followed apparently by counter revolution. April,
1873.--Revolution and civil war which lasted to October, 1875. August,
1876.--Civil war 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.--Revolutionary attempt. December, 1884.--Revolutionary attempt.
January, 1885.--Revolutionary disturbances. March, 1885.--Revolution.
April, 1887.--Disturbance on Panama Railroad. November,
1887.--Disturbance on line of canal. January, 1889.--Riot. January,
1895.--Revolution which lasted until April. March, 1895.--Incendiary
attempt. October, 1899.--Revolution. February, 1900, to July,
1900.--Revolution. January, 1901--Revolution. July,
1901.--Revolutionary disturbances. September, 1901.--City of Colon
taken by rebels. March, 1902.--Revolutionary disturbances. July,
1902.--Revolution. The above is only a partial list of the revolutions,
rebellions, insurrections, riots, and other outbreaks that have
occurred during the period in question; yet they number 53 for the 57
years. It will be noted that one of them lasted for nearly three years
before it was quelled; another for nearly a year. In short, the
experience of over half a century has shown Colombia to be utterly
incapable of keeping order on the Isthmus. Only the active interference
of the United States has enabled her to preserve so much as a semblance
of sovereignty. Had it not been for the exercise by the United States
of the police power in her interest, her connection with the Isthmus
would have been sundered long ago. In 1856, in 1860, in 1873, in 1885,
in 1901, and again in 1902, sailors and marines from United States war
ships were forced to land in order to patrol the Isthmus, to protect
life and property, and to see that the transit across the Isthmus was
kept open. In 1861, in 1862, in 1885, and in 1900, the Colombian
Government asked that the United States Government would land troops to
protect its interests and maintain order on the Isthmus. Perhaps the
most extraordinary request is that which has just been received and
which runs as follows:
"Knowing that revolution has already commenced in Panama [an eminent
Colombian] says that if the Government of the United States will land
troops to preserve Colombian sovereignty, and the transit, if requested
by Colombian charge d'affaires, this Government will declare martial
law; and, by virtue of vested constitutional authority, when public
order is disturbed, will approve by decree ratification of the canal
treaty as signed; or, if the Government of the United States prefers,
will call extra session of the Congress--with new and friendly
members--next May to approve the treaty. [An eminent Colombian] has the
perfect confidence of vice-president, he says, and if it became
necessary will go to the Isthmus or send representatives there to
adjust matters along above lines to the satisfaction of the people
there."
This dispatch is noteworthy from two standpoints. Its offer of
immediately guaranteeing the treaty to us is in sharp contrast with the
positive and contemptuous refusal of the Congress which has just closed
its sessions to consider favorably such a treaty; it shows that the
Government which made the treaty really had absolute control over the
situation, but did not choose to exercise this control. The dispatch
further calls on us to restore order and secure Colombian supremacy in
the Isthmus from which the Colombian Government has just by its action
decided to bar us by preventing the construction of the canal.
The control, in the interest of the commerce and traffic of the whole
civilized world, of the means of undisturbed transit across the Isthmus
of Panama has become of transcendent importance to the United States.
We have repeatedly exercised this control by intervening in the course
of domestic dissension, and by protecting the territory from foreign
invasion. In 1853 Mr. Everett assured the Peruvian minister that we
should not hesitate to maintain the neutrality of the Isthmus in the
case of war between Peru and Colombia. In 1864 Colombia, which has
always been vigilant to avail itself of its privileges conferred by the
treaty, expressed its expectation that in the event of war between Peru
and Spain the United States would carry into effect the guaranty of
neutrality. There have been few administrations of the State Department
in which this treaty has not, either by the one side or the other, been
used as a basis of more or less important demands. It was said by Mr.
Fish in 1871 that the Department of State had reason to believe that an
attack upon Colombian sovereignty on the Isthmus had, on several
occasions, been averted by warning from this Government. In 1886, when
Colombia was under the menace of hostilities from Italy in the Cerruti
case, Mr. Bayard expressed the serious concern that the United States
could not but feel, that a European power should resort to force
against a sister republic of this hemisphere, as to the sovereign and
uninterrupted use of a part of whose territory we are guarantors under
the solemn faith of a treaty.
The above recital of facts establishes beyond question: First, that the
United States has for over half a century patiently and in good faith
carried out its obligations under the treaty of 1846; second, that when
for the first time it became possible for Colombia to do anything in
requital of the services thus repeatedly rendered to it for fifty-seven
years by the United States, the Colombian Government peremptorily and
offensively refused thus to do its part, even though to do so would
have been to its advantage and immeasurably to the advantage of the
State of Panama, at that time under its jurisdiction; third, that
throughout this period revolutions, riots, and factional disturbances
of every kind have occurred one after the other in almost uninterrupted
succession, some of them lasting for months and even for years, while
the central government was unable to put them down or to make peace
with the rebels; fourth, that these disturbances instead of showing any
sign of abating have tended to grow more numerous and more serious in
the immediate past; fifth, that the control of Colombia over the
Isthmus of Panama could not be maintained without the armed
intervention and assistance of the United States. In other words, the
Government of Colombia, though wholly unable to maintain order on the
Isthmus, has nevertheless declined to ratify a treaty the conclusion of
which opened the only chance to secure its own stability and to
guarantee permanent peace on, and the construction of a canal across,
the Isthmus.
Under such circumstances the Government of the United States 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
revolution of November 3 last took place in Panama. This great
enterprise of building the interoceanic canal can not be held up to
gratify the whims, or out of respect to the governmental impotence, or
to the even more sinister and evil political peculiarities, of people
who, though they dwell afar off, yet, against the wish of the actual
dwellers on the Isthmus, assert an unreal supremacy over the territory.
The possession of a territory fraught with such peculiar capacities as
the Isthmus in question carries with it obligations to mankind. The
course of events has shown that this canal can not be built by private
enterprise, or by any other nation than our own; therefore it must be
built by the United States.
Every effort has been made by the Government of the United States to
persuade Colombia to follow a course which was essentially not only to
our interests and to the interests of the world, but to the interests
of Colombia itself. These efforts have failed; and Colombia, by her
persistence in repulsing the advances that have been made, has forced
us, for the sake of our own honor, and of the interest and well-being,
not merely of our own people, but of the people of the Isthmus of
Panama and the people of the civilized countries of the world, to take
decisive steps to bring to an end a condition of affairs which had
become intolerable. The new Republic of Panama immediately offered to
negotiate a treaty with us. This treaty I herewith submit. By it our
interests are better safeguarded than in the treaty with Colombia which
was ratified by the Senate at its last session. It is better in its
terms than the treaties offered to us by the Republics of Nicaragua and
Costa Rica. At last the right to begin this great undertaking is made
available. Panama has done her part. All that remains is for the
American Congress to do its part, and forthwith this Republic will
enter upon the execution of a project colossal in its size and of
well-nigh incalculable possibilities for the good of this country and
the nations of mankind.
By the provisions of the treaty the United States guarantees and will
maintain the independence of the Republic of Panama. There is granted
to the United States in perpetuity the use, occupation, and control of
a strip ten miles wide and extending three nautical miles into the sea
at either terminal, with all lands lying outside of the zone necessary
for the construction of the canal or for its auxiliary works, and with
the islands in the Bay of Panama. The cities of Panama 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 limits all the rights, power,
and authority which it would possess were it the sovereign of the
territory to the exclusion of the exercise of sovereign rights by the
Republic. All railway and canal property rights belonging to Panama and
needed for the canal pass to the United States, including any property
of the respective companies in the cities of Panama and Colon; the
works, property, and personnel of the canal and railways are exempted
from taxation as well in the cities of Panama and Colon as in the canal
zone and its dependencies. Free immigration of the personnel and
importation of supplies for the construction and operation of the canal
are granted. Provision is made for the use of military force and the
building of fortifications by the United States for the protection of
the transit. In other details, particularly as to the acquisition of
the interests of the New Panama Canal Company and the Panama Railway by
the United States and the condemnation of private property for the uses
of the canal, the stipulations of the Hay-Herran treaty are closely
followed, while the compensation to be given for these enlarged grants
remains the same, being ten millions of dollars payable on exchange of
ratifications; and, beginning nine years from that date, an annual
payment of $250,000 during the life of the convention.
***
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 the high individual average of our
citizenship, taken together with our great natural resources; but an
important factor therein is the working of our long-continued
governmental policies. The people have emphatically expressed their
approval of the principles underlying these policies, and their desire
that these principles be kept substantially unchanged, although of
course applied in a progressive spirit to meet changing conditions.
The enlargement of scope of the functions of the National Government
required by our development as a nation involves, of course, increase
of expense; and the period of prosperity through which the country is
passing justifies expenditures for permanent improvements far greater
than would be wise in hard times. Battle ships and forts, public
buildings, and improved waterways are investments which should be made
when we have the money; but abundant revenues and a large surplus
always invite extravagance, and constant care should be taken to guard
against unnecessary increase of the ordinary expenses of government.
The cost of doing Government business should be regulated with the same
rigid scrutiny as the cost of doing a private business.
In the vast and complicated mechanism of our modern civilized life the
dominant note is the note of industrialism; and the relations of
capital and labor, and especially of organized capital and organized
labor, to each other and to the public at large come second in
importance only to the intimate questions of family life. Our peculiar
form of government, with its sharp division of authority between the
Nation and the several States, has been on the whole far more
advantageous to our development than a more strongly centralized
government. But it is undoubtedly responsible for much of the
difficulty of meeting with adequate legislation the new problems
presented by the total change in industrial conditions on this
continent during the last half century. In actual practice it has
proved exceedingly difficult, and in many cases impossible, to get
unanimity of wise action among the various States on these subjects.
From the very nature of the case this is especially true of the laws
affecting the employment of capital in huge masses.
With regard to labor the problem is no less important, but it is
simpler. As long as the States retain the primary control of the police
power the circumstances must be altogether extreme which require
interference by the Federal authorities, whether in the way of
safeguarding the rights of labor or in the way of seeing that wrong is
not done by unruly persons who shield themselves behind the name of
labor. If there is resistance to the Federal courts, interference with
the mails, or interstate commerce, or molestation of Federal property,
or if the State authorities in some crisis which they are unable to
face call for help, then the Federal Government may interfere; but
though such interference may be caused by a condition of things arising
out of trouble connected with some question of labor, the interference
itself simply takes the form of restoring order without regard to the
questions which have caused the breach of order--for to keep order is a
primary duty and in a time of disorder and violence all other questions
sink into abeyance until order has been restored. In the District of
Columbia and in the Territories the Federal law covers the entire field
of government; but the labor question is only acute in populous centers
of commerce, manufactures, or mining. Nevertheless, both in the
enactment and in the enforcement of law the Federal Government within
its restricted sphere should set an example to the State governments,
especially in a matter so vital as this affecting labor. I believe that
under modern industrial conditions it is often necessary, and even
where not necessary it is yet often wise, that there should be
organization of labor in order better to secure the rights of the
individual wage-worker. All encouragement should be given to any such
organization so long as it is conducted with a due and decent regard
for the rights of others. There are in this country some labor unions
which have habitually, and other labor unions which have often, been
among the most effective agents in working for good citizenship and for
uplifting the condition of those whose welfare should be closest to our
hearts. But when any labor union seeks improper ends, or seeks to
achieve proper ends by improper means, all good citizens and more
especially all honorable public servants must oppose the wrongdoing as
resolutely as they would oppose the wrongdoing of any great
corporation. Of course any violence, brutality, or corruption, should
not for one moment be tolerated. Wage-workers have an entire right to
organize and by all peaceful and honorable means to endeavor to
persuade their fellows to join with them in organizations. They have a
legal right, which, according to circumstances, may or may not be a
moral right, to refuse to work in company with men who decline to join
their organizations. They have under no circumstances the right to
commit violence upon these, whether capitalists or wage-workers, who
refuse to support their organizations, or who side with those with whom
they are at odds; for mob rule is intolerable in any form.
The wage-workers are peculiarly entitled to the protection and the
encouragement of the law. From the very nature of their occupation
railroad men, for instance, are liable to be maimed in doing the
legitimate work of their profession, unless the railroad companies are
required by law to make ample provision for their safety. The
Administration has been zealous in enforcing the existing law for this
purpose. That law should be amended and strengthened. Wherever the
National Government has power there should be a stringent employer's
liability law, which should apply to the Government itself where the
Government is an employer of labor.
In my Message to the Fifty-seventh Congress, at its second session, I
urged the passage of an employer's liability law for the District of
Columbia. I now renew that recommendation, and further recommend that
the Congress appoint a commission to make a comprehensive study of
employer's liability with the view of extending the provisions of a
great and constitutional law to all employments within the scope of
Federal power.
The Government has recognized heroism upon the water, and bestows
medals of honor upon those persons who by extreme and heroic daring
have endangered their lives in saving, or endeavoring to save, lives
from the perils of the sea in the waters over which the United States
has jurisdiction, or upon an American vessel. This recognition should
be extended to cover cases of conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice in
the saving of life in private employments under the jurisdiction of the
United States, and particularly in the land commerce of the Nation.
The ever-increasing casualty list upon our railroads is a matter of
grave public concern, and urgently calls for action by the Congress. In
the matter of speed and comfort of railway travel our railroads give at
least as good service as those of any other nation, and there is no
reason why this service should not also be as safe as human ingenuity
can make it. Many of our leading roads have been foremost in the
adoption of the most approved safeguards for the protection of
travelers and employees, yet the list of clearly avoidable accidents
continues unduly large. The passage of a law requiring the adoption of
a block-signal system has been proposed to the Congress. I earnestly
concur in that recommendation, and would also point out to the Congress
the urgent need of legislation in the interest of the public safety
limiting the hours of labor for railroad employees in train service
upon railroads engaged in interstate commerce, and providing that only
trained and experienced persons be employed in positions of
responsibility connected with the operation of trains. Of course
nothing can ever prevent accidents caused by human weakness or
misconduct; and there should be drastic punishment for any railroad
employee, whether officer or man, who by issuance of wrong orders or by
disobedience of orders causes disaster. The law of 1901, requiring
interstate railroads to make monthly reports of all accidents to
passengers and employees on duty, should also be amended so as to
empower the Government to make a personal investigation, through proper
officers, of all accidents involving loss of life which seem to require
investigation, with a requirement that the results of such
investigation be made public.
The safety-appliance law, as amended by the act of March 2, 1903, has
proved beneficial to railway employees, and in order that its
provisions may be properly carried out, the force of inspectors
provided for by appropriation should be largely increased. This service
is analogous to the Steamboat-Inspection Service, and deals with even
more important interests. It has passed the experimental stage and
demonstrated its utility, and should receive generous recognition by
the Congress.
There is no objection to employees of the Government forming or
belonging to unions; but the Government can neither discriminate for
nor discriminate against nonunion men who are in its employment, or who
seek to be employed under it. Moreover, it is a very grave impropriety
for Government employees to band themselves together for the purpose of
extorting improperly high salaries from the Government. Especially is
this true of those within the classified service. The letter carriers,
both municipal and rural, are as a whole an excellent body of public
servants. They should be amply paid. But their payment must be obtained
by arguing their claims fairly and honorably before the Congress, and
not by banding together for the defeat of those Congressmen who refuse
to give promises which they can not in conscience give. The
Administration has already taken steps to prevent and punish abuses of
this nature; but it will be wise for the Congress to supplement this
action by legislation.
Much can be done by the Government in labor matters merely by giving
publicity to certain conditions. The Bureau of Labor has done excellent
work of this kind in many different directions. I shall shortly lay
before you in a special message the full report of the investigation of
the Bureau of Labor into the Colorado mining strike, as this was a
strike in which certain very evil forces, which are more or less at
work everywhere under the conditions of modern industrialism, became
startlingly prominent. It is greatly to be wished that the Department
of Commerce and Labor, through the Labor Bureau, should compile and
arrange for the Congress a list of the labor laws of the various
States, and should be given the means to investigate and report to the
Congress upon the labor conditions in the manufacturing and mining
regions throughout the country, both as to wages, as to hours of labor,
as to the labor of women and children, and as to the effect in the
various labor centers of immigration from abroad. In this investigation
especial attention should be paid to the conditions of child labor and
child-labor legislation in the several States. Such an investigation
must necessarily take into account many of the problems with which this
question of child labor is connected. These problems can be actually
met, in most cases, only by the States themselves; but the lack of
proper legislation in one State in such a matter as child labor often
renders it excessively difficult to establish protective restriction
upon the 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 at least to endeavor to secure comprehensive information
as to the conditions of labor of children in the different States. Such
investigation and publication by the National Government would tend
toward the securing of approximately uniform legislation of the proper
character among the several States.
When we come to deal with great corporations the need for the
Government to act directly is far greater than in the case of labor,
because great corporations can become such only by engaging in
interstate commerce, and interstate commerce is peculiarly the field of
the General Government. It is an absurdity to expect to eliminate the
abuses in great corporations by State action. It is difficult to be
patient with an argument that such matters should be left to the States
because more than one State pursues the policy of creating on easy
terms corporations which are never operated within that State at all,
but in other States whose laws they ignore. The National Government
alone can deal adequately with these great corporations. To try to deal
with them in an intemperate, destructive, or demagogic spirit would, in
all probability, mean that nothing whatever would be accomplished, and,
with absolute certainty, that if anything were accomplished it would be
of a harmful nature. The American people need to continue to show the
very qualities that they have shown--that is, moderation, good sense,
the earnest desire to avoid doing any damage, and yet the quiet
determination to proceed, step by step, without halt and without hurry,
in eliminating or at least in minimizing whatever of mischief or evil
there is to interstate commerce in the conduct of great corporations.
They are acting in no spirit of hostility to wealth, either individual
or corporate. They are not against the rich man any more than against
the poor man. On the contrary, they are friendly alike toward rich man
and toward poor man, provided only that each acts in a spirit of
justice and decency toward his fellows. Great corporations are
necessary, and only men of great and singular mental power can manage
such corporations successfully, and such men must have great rewards.
But these corporations should be managed with due regard to the
interest of the public as a whole. Where this can be done under the
present laws it must be done. Where these laws come short others should
be enacted to supplement them.
Yet we must never forget the determining factor in every kind of work,
of head or hand, must be the man's own good sense, courage, and
kindliness. More important than any legislation is the gradual growth
of a feeling of responsibility and forbearance among capitalists, and
wage-workers alike; a feeling of respect on the part of each man for
the rights of others; a feeling of broad community of interest, not
merely of capitalists among themselves, and of wage-workers among
themselves, but of capitalists and wage-workers in their relations to
each other, and of both in their relations to their fellows who with
them make up the body politic. There are many captains of industry,
many labor leaders, who realize this. A recent speech by the president
of one of our great railroad systems to the employees of that system
contains sound common 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 realizing from personal contact we serve but one interest,
that of our mutual prosperity.
"Serious misunderstandings can not occur where personal good will
exists and opportunity for personal explanation is present.
"In my early business life I had experience with men of affairs of a
character to make me desire to avoid creating a like feeling of
resentment to myself and the interests in my charge, should fortune
ever place me in authority, and I am solicitous of a measure of
confidence on the part of the public and our employees that I shall
hope may be warranted by the fairness and good fellowship I intend
shall prevail in our relationship.
"But do not feel I am disposed to grant unreasonable requests, spend
the money of our company unnecessarily or without value received, nor
expect the days of mistakes are disappearing, or that cause for
complaint will not continually occur; simply to correct such abuses as
may be discovered, to better conditions as fast as reasonably may be
expected, constantly striving, with varying success, for that
improvement we all desire, to convince you there is a force at work in
the right direction, all the time making progress--is the disposition
with which I have come among you, asking your good will and
encouragement.
"The day has gone by when a corporation can be handled successfully in
defiance of the public will, even though that will be unreasonable and
wrong. A public may be led, but not driven, and I prefer to go with it
and shape or modify, in a measure, its opinion, rather than be swept
from my bearings, with loss to myself and the interests in my charge.
"Violent prejudice exists towards corporate activity and capital today,
much of it founded in reason, more in apprehension, and a large measure
is due to the personal traits of arbitrary, unreasonable, incompetent,
and offensive men in positions of authority. The accomplishment of
results by indirection, the endeavor to thwart the intention, if not
the expressed letter of the law (the will of the people), a disregard
of the rights of others, a disposition to withhold what is due, to
force by main strength or inactivity a result not justified, depending
upon the weakness of the claimant and his indisposition to become
involved in litigation, has created a sentiment harmful in the extreme
and a disposition to consider anything fair that gives gain to the
individual at the expense of the company.
"If corporations are to continue to do the world's work, as they are
best fitted to, these qualities in their representatives that have
resulted in the present prejudice against them must be relegated to the
background. The corporations must come out into the open and see and be
seen. They must take the public into their confidence and ask for what
they want, and no more, and be prepared to explain satisfactorily what
advantage will accrue to the public if they are given their desires;
for they are permitted to exist not that they may make money solely,
but that they may effectively serve those from whom they derive their
power.
"Publicity, and not secrecy, will win hereafter, and laws be construed
by their intent and not by their letter, otherwise public utilities
will be owned and operated by the public which created them, even
though the service be less efficient and the result less satisfactory
from a financial standpoint."
The Bureau of Corporations has made careful preliminary investigation
of many important corporations. It will make a special report on the
beef industry.
The policy of the Bureau is to accomplish the purposes of its creation
by co-operation, not antagonism; by making constructive legislation,
not destructive prosecution, the immediate object of its inquiries; by
conservative investigation of law and fact, and by refusal to issue
incomplete and hence necessarily inaccurate reports. Its policy being
thus one of open inquiry into, and not attack upon, business, the
Bureau has been able to 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 getting at the cost of
production of our various great staples of commerce.
Of necessity the careful investigation of special corporations will
afford the Commissioner knowledge of certain business facts, the
publication of which might be an improper infringement of private
rights. The method of making public the results of these investigations
affords, under the law, a means for the protection of private rights.
The Congress will have all facts except such as would give to another
corporation information which would injure the legitimate business of a
competitor and destroy the incentive for individual superiority and
thrift.
The Bureau has also made exhaustive examinations into the legal
condition under which corporate business is carried on in the various
States; into all judicial decisions on the subject; and into the
various systems of corporate taxation in use. I call special attention
to the report of the chief of the Bureau; and I earnestly ask that the
Congress carefully consider the report and recommendations of the
Commissioner on this subject.
The business of insurance vitally affects the great mass of the people
of the United States and is national and not local in its application.
It involves a multitude of transactions among the people of the
different States and between American companies and foreign
governments. I urge that the Congress carefully consider whether the
power of the Bureau of Corporations can not constitutionally be
extended to cover interstate transactions in insurance.
Above all else, we must strive to keep the highways of commerce open to
all on equal terms; and to do this it is necessary to put a complete
stop to all rebates. Whether the shipper or the railroad is to blame
makes no difference; the rebate must be stopped, the abuses of the
private car and private terminal-track and side-track systems must be
stopped, and the legislation of the Fifty-eighth Congress which
declares it to be unlawful for any person or corporation to offer,
grant, give, solicit, accept, or receive any rebate, concession, or
discrimination in respect of the transportation of any property in
interstate or foreign commerce whereby such property shall by any
device whatever be transported at a less rate than that named in the
tariffs published by the carrier must be enforced. For some time after
the enactment of the Act to Regulate Commerce it remained a mooted
question whether that act conferred upon the Interstate Commerce
Commission the power, after it had found a challenged rate to be
unreasonable, to declare what thereafter should, prima facie, be the
reasonable maximum rate for the transportation in dispute. The Supreme
Court finally resolved that question in the negative, so that as the
law now stands the Commission simply possess the bare power to denounce
a particular rate as unreasonable. While I am of the opinion that at
present it would be undesirable, if it were not impracticable, finally
to clothe the Commission with general authority to fix railroad rates,
I do believe that, as a fair security to shippers, the Commission
should be vested with the power, where a given rate has been challenged
and after full hearing found to be unreasonable, to decide, subject to
judicial review, what shall be a reasonable rate to take its place; the
ruling of the Commission to take effect immediately, and to obtain
unless and until it is reversed by the court of review. The Government
must in increasing degree supervise and regulate the workings of the
railways engaged in interstate commerce; and such increased supervision
is the only alternative to an increase of the present evils on the one
hand or a still more radical policy on the other. In my judgment the
most important legislative act now needed as regards the regulation of
corporations is this act to confer on the Interstate Commerce
Commission the power to revise rates and regulations, the revised rate
to at once go into effect, and stay in effect unless and until the
court of review reverses it.
Steamship companies engaged in interstate commerce and protected in our
coastwise trade should be held to a strict observance of the interstate
commerce act.
In pursuing the set plan to make the city of Washington an example to
other American municipalities several points should be kept in mind by
the legislators. In the first place, the people of this country should
clearly understand that no amount of industrial prosperity, and above
all no leadership in international industrial competition, can in any
way atone for the sapping of the vitality of those who are usually
spoken of as the working classes. The farmers, the mechanics, the
skilled and unskilled laborers, the small shop keepers, make up the
bulk of the population of any country; and upon their well-being,
generation after generation, the well-being of the country and the race
depends. Rapid development in wealth and industrial leadership is a
good thing, but only if it goes hand in hand with improvement, and not
deterioration, physical and moral. The over-crowding of cities and the
draining of country districts are unhealthy and even dangerous symptoms
in our modern life. We should not permit overcrowding in cities. In
certain European cities it is provided by law that the population of
towns shall not be allowed to exceed a very limited density for a given
area, so that the increase in density must be continually pushed back
into a broad zone around the center of the town, this zone having great
avenues or parks within it. The death-rate statistics show a terrible
increase in mortality, and especially in infant mortality, in
overcrowded tenements. The poorest families in tenement houses live in
one room, and it appears that in these one-room tenements the average
death rate for a number of given cities at home and abroad is about
twice what it is in a two-room tenement, four times what it is in a
three-room tenement, and eight times what it is in a 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 especially of infant
mortality, with the decrease in the number of rooms used by the family
and with the consequent overcrowding is startling. The slum exacts a
heavy total of death from those who dwell therein; and this is the case
not merely in the great crowded slums of high buildings in New York and
Chicago, but in the alley slums of Washington. In Washington people can
not afford to ignore the harm that this causes. No Christian and
civilized community can afford to show a happy-go-lucky lack of concern
for the youth of to-day; for, if so, the community will have to pay a
terrible penalty of financial burden and social degradation in the
to-morrow. There should be severe child-labor and factory-inspection
laws. It is very desirable that married women should not work in
factories. The prime duty of the man is to work, to be the breadwinner;
the prime duty of the woman is to be the mother, the housewife. All
questions of tariff and finance sink into utter insignificance when
compared with the tremendous, the vital importance of trying to shape
conditions so that these two duties of the man and of the woman can be
fulfilled under reasonably favorable circumstances. If a race does not
have plenty of children, or if the children do not grow up, or if when
they grow up they are unhealthy in body and stunted or vicious in mind,
then that race is decadent, and no heaping up of wealth, no splendor of
momentary material prosperity, can avail in any degree as offsets. The
Congress has the same power of legislation for the District of Columbia
which the State legislatures have for the various States. The problems
incident to our highly complex modern industrial civilization, with its
manifold and perplexing tendencies both for good and for evil, are far
less sharply accentuated in the city of Washington than in most other
cities. For this very reason it is easier to deal with the various
phases of these problems in Washington, and the District of Columbia
government should be a model for the other municipal governments of the
Nation, in all such matters as supervision of the housing of the poor,
the creation of small parks in the districts inhabited by the poor, in
laws affecting labor, in laws providing for the taking care of the
children, in truant laws, and in providing schools.
In the vital matter of taking care of children, much advantage could be
gained by a careful study of what has been accomplished in such States
as Illinois and Colorado by the juvenile courts. The work of the
juvenile court is really a work of character building. It is now
generally recognized that young boys and young girls who go wrong
should not be treated as criminals, not even necessarily as needing
reformation, but rather as needing to have their characters formed, and
for this end to have them tested and developed by a system of
probation. Much admirable work has been done in many of our
Commonwealths by earnest men and women who have made a special study of
the needs of those classes of children which furnish the greatest
number of juvenile offenders, and therefore the greatest number of
adult offenders; and by their aid, and by profiting by the experiences
of the different States and cities in these matters, it would be easy
to provide a good code for the District of Columbia.
Several considerations suggest the need for a systematic investigation
into and improvement of housing conditions in Washington. The hidden
residential alleys are breeding grounds of vice and disease, and should
be opened into minor streets. For a number of years influential
citizens have joined with the District Commissioners in the vain
endeavor to secure laws permitting the condemnation of insanitary
dwellings. The local death rates, especially from preventable diseases,
are so unduly high as to suggest that the exceptional wholesomeness of
Washington's better sections is offset by bad conditions in her poorer
neighborhoods. A special "Commission on Housing and Health Conditions
in the National Capital" would not only bring about the reformation of
existing evils, but would also formulate an appropriate building code
to protect the city from mammoth brick tenements and other evils which
threaten to develop here as they have in other cities. That the
Nation's Capital should be made a model for other municipalities is an
ideal which appeals to all patriotic citizens everywhere, and such a
special Commission might map out and organize the city's future
development in lines of civic social service, just as Major L'Enfant
and the recent Park Commission planned the arrangement of her streets
and parks.
It is mortifying to remember that Washington has no compulsory school
attendance law and that careful inquiries indicate the habitual absence
from school of some twenty per cent of all children between the ages of
eight and fourteen. It must be evident to all who consider the problems
of neglected child life or the benefits of compulsory education in
other cities that one of the most urgent needs of the National Capital
is a law requiring the school attendance of all children, this law to
be enforced by attendance agents directed by the board of education.
Public play grounds are necessary means for the development of
wholesome citizenship in modern cities. It is important that the work
inaugurated here through voluntary efforts should be taken up and
extended through Congressional appropriation of funds sufficient to
equip and maintain numerous convenient small play grounds upon land
which can be secured without purchase or rental. It is also desirable
that small vacant places be purchased and reserved as small-park play
grounds in densely settled sections of the city which now have no
public open spaces and are destined soon to be built up solidly. All
these needs should be met immediately. To meet them would entail
expenses; but a corresponding saving could be made by stopping the
building of streets and levelling of ground for purposes largely
speculative in outlying parts of the city.
There are certain offenders, whose criminality takes the 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, while it
may cause hunger and want to the wife and children who have been the
victims of his brutality. Probably some form of corporal punishment
would be the most adequate way of meeting this kind of crime.
The Department of Agriculture has grown into an educational institution
with a faculty of two thousand specialists making 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 Union and 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 of grains, fruits,
grasses, vegetables, trees, and shrubs, suitable to various localities
in our country; and marked benefit to our producers has resulted.
The activities of our age in lines of research have reached the tillers
of the soil and inspired them with ambition to know more of the
principles that govern the forces of nature with which they have to
deal. Nearly half of the people of this country devote their energies
to growing things from the soil. Until a recent date little has been
done to prepare these millions for their life work. In most lines of
human activity college-trained men are the leaders. The farmer had no
opportunity for special training until the Congress made provision for
it forty years ago. During these years progress has been made and
teachers have been prepared. Over five thousand students are in
attendance at our State agricultural colleges. The Federal Government
expends ten millions of dollars annually toward this education and for
research in Washington and in the several States and Territories. The
Department of Agriculture has given facilities for post-graduate work
to five hundred young men during the last seven years, preparing them
for advance lines of work in the Department and in the State
institutions.
The facts concerning meteorology and its relations to plant and animal
life are being systematically inquired into. Temperature and moisture
are controlling factors in all agricultural operations. The seasons of
the cyclones of the Caribbean Sea and their paths are being forecasted
with increasing accuracy. The cold winds that come from the north are
anticipated and 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 countries every year, in addition to
supplying our own people more cheaply and abundantly than any other
nation is able to provide for its people. Successful manufacturing
depends primarily on cheap food, which accounts to a considerable
extent for our growth in this direction. The Department of Agriculture,
by careful inspection of meats, guards the health of our people and
gives clean bills of health to deserving exports; it is prepared to
deal promptly with imported diseases of animals, and maintain the
excellence of our flocks and herds in this respect. There should be 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 foreign countries such grains as are suitable to our varying
localities. Seven years ago we bought three-fourths of our rice; by
helping the rice growers on the Gulf coast to secure seeds from the
Orient suited to their conditions, and by giving them adequate
protection, they now supply home demand and export to the islands of
the Caribbean Sea and to other rice-growing countries. Wheat and other
grains have been imported from light-rainfall countries to our lands in
the West and Southwest that have not grown crops because of light
precipitation, resulting in an extensive addition to our cropping area
and our home-making territory that can not be irrigated. Ten million
bushels of first-class macaroni wheat were grown from these
experimental importations last year. Fruits suitable to our soils and
climates are being imported from all the countries of the Old
World--the fig from Turkey, the almond from Spain, the date from
Algeria, the mango from India. We are helping our fruit growers to get
their crops into European markets by studying methods of preservation
through refrigeration, packing, and handling, which have been quite
successful. We are helping our hop growers by importing varieties that
ripen earlier and later than the kinds they have been raising, thereby
lengthening the harvesting season. The cotton crop of the country is
threatened with root rot, the bollworm, and the boll weevil. Our
pathologists will find immune varieties that will resist the root
disease, and the bollworm can be dealt with, but the boll weevil is a
serious menace to the cotton crop. It is a Central American insect that
has become acclimated in Texas and has done great damage. A scientist
of the Department of Agriculture has found the weevil at home in
Guatemala being kept in check by an ant, which has been brought to our
cotton fields for observation. It is hoped that it may serve a good
purpose.
The soils of the country are getting attention from the farmer's
standpoint, and interesting results are following. We have duplicates
of the soils that grow the wrapper tobacco in Sumatra and the filler
tobacco in Cuba. It will be only a question of time when the large
amounts paid to these countries will be paid to our own people. The
reclamation of alkali lands is progressing, to give object lessons to
our people in methods by which worthless lands may be made productive.
The insect friends and enemies of the farmer are getting attention. The
enemy of the San Jose scale was found near the Great Wall of China, and
is now cleaning up all our orchards. The fig-fertilizing insect
imported from Turkey has helped to establish an industry in California
that amounts to from fifty to one hundred tons of dried figs annually,
and is extending over the Pacific coast. A parasitic fly from South
Africa is keeping in subjection the black scale, the worst pest of the
orange and lemon industry in California.
Careful preliminary work is being done towards producing our own silk.
The mulberry is being distributed in large numbers, eggs are being
imported and distributed, improved reels were imported from Europe last
year, and two expert reelers were brought to Washington to reel the
crop of cocoons and teach the art to our own people.
The crop-reporting system of the Department of Agriculture is being
brought closer to accuracy every year. It has two hundred and fifty
thousand reporters selected from people in eight vocations in life. It
has arrangements with most European countries for interchange of
estimates, so that our people may know as nearly as possible with what
they must compete.
During the two and a half years that have elapsed since the passage of
the reclamation act rapid progress has been made in the surveys and
examinations of the opportunities for reclamation in the thirteen
States and three Territories of the arid West. Construction has already
been begun on the largest and most important of the irrigation works,
and plans are being completed for works which will utilize the funds
now available. The operations are being carried on by the Reclamation
Service, a corps of engineers selected through competitive
civil-service examinations. This corps includes experienced consulting
and constructing engineers as well as various experts in mechanical and
legal matters, and is composed largely of men who have spent most of
their lives in practical affairs connected with irrigation. The larger
problems have been solved and it now remains to execute with care,
economy, and thoroughness the work which has been laid out. All
important details are being carefully considered by boards of
consulting engineers, selected for their thorough knowledge and
practical experience. Each project is taken up on the ground by
competent men and viewed from the standpoint of the creation of
prosperous homes, and of promptly refunding to the Treasury the cost of
construction. The reclamation act has been found to be remarkably
complete and effective, and so broad in its provisions that a wide
range of undertakings has been possible under it. At the same time,
economy is guaranteed by the fact that the funds must ultimately be
returned to be used over again.
It is the cardinal principle of the forest-reserve policy of this
Administration that the reserves are for use. Whatever interferes with
the use of their resources is to be avoided by every possible means.
But these resources must be used in such a way as to make them
permanent.
The forest policy of the Government is just now a subject of vivid
public interest throughout the West and to the people of the United
States in general. The forest reserves themselves are of extreme value
to the present as well as to the future welfare of all the western
public-land States. They powerfully affect the use and disposal of the
public lands. They are of special importance because they preserve the
water supply and the supply of timber for domestic purposes, and so
promote settlement under the reclamation act. Indeed, they are
essential to the welfare of 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. This is their most important use. The
principal users of the water thus preserved are irrigation ranchers and
settlers, cities and towns to whom their municipal water supplies are
of the very first importance, users and furnishers of water power, and
the users of water for domestic, manufacturing, mining, and other
purposes. All these are directly dependent upon the forest reserves.
The second reason for which forest reserves are created is to preserve
the timber supply for various classes of wood users. Among the more
important of these are settlers under the reclamation act and other
acts, for whom a cheap and accessible supply of timber for domestic
uses is absolutely necessary; miners and prospectors, who are in
serious danger of losing their timber supply by fire or through export
by lumber companies when timber lands adjacent to their mines pass into
private ownership; lumbermen, transportation companies, builders, and
commercial interests in general.
Although the wisdom of creating forest reserves is nearly everywhere
heartily recognized, yet in a few localities there has been
misunderstanding and complaint. The following statement is therefore
desirable:
The forest reserve policy can be successful only when it has the full
support of the people of the West. It can not safely, and should not in
any case, be imposed upon them against their will. But neither can we
accept the views of those whose only interest in the forest is
temporary; who are anxious to reap what they have not sown and then
move away, leaving desolation behind them. On the contrary, it is
everywhere and always the interest of the permanent settler and the
permanent business man, the man with a stake in the country, which must
be considered and which must decide.
The making of forest reserves within railroad and wagon-road land-grant
limits will hereafter, as for the past three years, be so managed as to
prevent the issue, under the act of June 4, 1897, of base for exchange
or lieu selection (usually called scrip). In all cases where forest
reserves within areas covered by land grants appear to be essential to
the prosperity of settlers, miners, or others, the Government lands
within such proposed forest reserves will, as in the recent past, be
withdrawn from sale or entry pending the completion of such
negotiations with the owners of the land grants as will prevent the
creation of so-called scrip.
It was formerly the custom to make forest reserves without first
getting definite and detailed information as to the character of land
and timber within their boundaries. This method of action often
resulted in badly chosen boundaries and consequent injustice to
settlers and others. Therefore this Administration adopted the present
method of first withdrawing the land from disposal, followed by careful
examination on the ground and the preparation of detailed maps and
descriptions, before any forest reserve is created.
I have repeatedly called attention to the confusion which exists in
Government forest matters because the work is scattered among three
independent organizations. The United States is the only one of the
great nations in which the forest work of the Government is not
concentrated under one department, in consonance with the plainest
dictates of good administration and common sense. The present
arrangement is bad from every point of view. Merely to mention it is to
prove that it should be terminated at once. As I have repeatedly
recommended, all the forest work of the Government should be
concentrated in the Department of Agriculture, where the larger part of
that work is already done, where practically all of the trained
foresters of the Government are employed, where chiefly in Washington
there is comprehensive first-class knowledge of the problems of the
reserves acquired on the ground, where all problems relating to growth
from the soil are already gathered, and where all the sciences
auxiliary to forestry are at hand for prompt and effective
co-operation. These reasons are decisive in themselves, but it should
be added that the great organizations of citizens whose interests are
affected by the forest-reserves, such as the National Live Stock
Association, the National Wool Growers' Association, the American
Mining Congress, the national Irrigation Congress, and the National
Board of Trade, have uniformly, emphatically, and most of them
repeatedly, expressed themselves in favor of placing all Government
forest work in the Department of Agriculture because of the peculiar
adaptation of that Department for it. It is true, also, that the forest
services of nearly all the great nations of the world are under the
respective departments of agriculture, while in but two of the smaller
nations and in one colony are they under the department of the
interior. This is the result of long and varied experience and it
agrees fully with the requirements of good administration in our own
case.
The creation of a forest service in the Department of Agriculture will
have for its important results:
First. A better handling of all forest work; because it will be under a
single head, and because the vast and indispensable experience of the
Department in all matters pertaining to the forest reserves, to
forestry in general, and to other forms of production from the soil,
will be easily and rapidly accessible.
Second. The reserves themselves, being handled from the point of view
of the man in the field, instead of the man in the office, will be more
easily and more widely useful to the people of the West than has been
the case hitherto.
Third. Within a comparatively short time the reserves will become
self-supporting. This is important, because continually and rapidly
increasing appropriations will be necessary for the proper care of this
exceedingly important interest of the Nation, and they can and should
he offset by returns from the National forests. Under similar
circumstances the forest possessions of other great nations form an
important source of revenue to their governments.
Every administrative officer concerned is convinced of the necessity
for the proposed consolidation of forest work in the Department of
Agriculture, and I myself have urged it more than once in former
messages. Again I commend it to the early and favorable consideration
of the Congress. The interests of the Nation at large and of the West
in particular have suffered greatly because of the delay.
I call the attention of the Congress again to the report and
recommendation of the Commission on the Public Lands forwarded by me to
the second session of the present Congress. The Commission has
prosecuted its investigations actively during the past season, and a
second report is now in an advanced stage of preparation.
In connection with the work of the forest reserves I desire again to
urge upon the Congress the importance of authorizing the President to
set aside certain portions of these reserves or other public lands as
game refuges for the preservation of the bison, the wapiti, and other
large beasts once so abundant in our woods and mountains and on our
great plains, and now tending toward extinction. Every support should
be given to the authorities of the Yellowstone Park in their successful
efforts at preserving the large creatures therein; and at very little
expense portions of the public domain in other regions which are wholly
unsuited to agricultural settlement could be similarly utilized. We owe
it to future generations to keep alive the noble and beautiful
creatures which by their presence add such distinctive character to the
American wilderness. The limits of the Yellowstone Park should be
extended southwards. The Canyon of the Colorado should be made a
national park; and the national-park system should include the Yosemite
and as many as possible of the groves of giant trees in California.
The veterans of the Civil War have a claim upon the Nation such as no
other body of our citizens possess. The Pension Bureau has never in its
history been managed in a more satisfactory manner than is now the
case.
The progress of the Indians toward civilization, though not rapid, is
perhaps all that could be hoped for in view of the circumstances.
Within the past year many tribes have shown, in a degree greater than
ever before, an appreciation of the necessity of work. This changed
attitude is in part due to the policy recently pursued of reducing the
amount of subsistence to the Indians, and thus forcing them, through
sheer necessity, to work for a livelihood. The policy, though severe,
is a useful one, but it is to be exercised only with judgment and with
a full understanding of the conditions which exist in each community
for which it is intended. On or near the Indian reservations there is
usually very little demand for labor, and if the Indians are to earn
their living and when work can not be furnished from outside (which is
always preferable), then it must be furnished by the Government.
Practical instruction of this kind would in a few years result in the
forming of habits of regular industry, which would render the Indian a
producer and would effect a great reduction in the cost of his
maintenance.
It is commonly declared that the slow advance of the Indians is due to
the unsatisfactory character of the men appointed to take immediate
charge of them, and to some extent this is true. While the standard of
the employees in the Indian Service shows great improvement over that
of bygone years, and while actual corruption or flagrant dishonesty is
now the rare exception, it is nevertheless the fact that the salaries
paid Indian agents are not large enough to attract the best men to that
field of work. To achieve satisfactory results the official in charge
of an Indian tribe should possess the high qualifications which are
required in the manager of a large business, but only in exceptional
cases is it possible to secure men of such a type for these positions.
Much better service, however, might be obtained from those now holding
the places were it practicable to get out of them the best that is in
them, and this should be done by bringing them constantly into closer
touch with their superior officers. An agent who has been content to
draw his salary, giving in return the least possible equivalent in
effort and service, may, by proper treatment, by suggestion and
encouragement, or persistent urging, be stimulated to greater effort
and induced to take a more active personal interest in his work.
Under existing conditions an Indian agent in the distant West may be
wholly out of touch with the office of the Indian Bureau. He may very
well feel that no one takes a personal interest in him or his efforts.
Certain routine duties in the way of reports and accounts are required
of him, but there is no one with whom he may intelligently consult on
matters vital to his work, except after long delay. Such a man would be
greatly encouraged and aided by personal contact with some one whose
interest in Indian affairs and whose authority in the Indian Bureau
were greater than his own, and such contact would be certain to arouse
and constantly increase the interest he takes in his work.
The distance which separates the agents--the workers in the field--from
the Indian Office in Washington is a chief obstacle to Indian progress.
Whatever shall more closely unite these two branches of the Indian
Service, and shall enable them to co-operate more heartily and more
effectively, will be for the increased efficiency of the work and the
betterment of the race for whose improvement the Indian Bureau was
established. The appointment of a field assistant to the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs would be certain to insure this good end. Such an
official, if possessed of the requisite energy and deep interest in the
work, would be a most efficient factor in bringing into closer
relationship and a more direct union of effort the Bureau in Washington
and its agents in the field; and with the co-operation of its branches
thus secured the Indian Bureau would, in measure fuller than ever
before, lift up the savage toward that self-help and self-reliance
which constitute the man.
In 1907 there will be held at Hampton Roads the tricentennial
celebration of the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, with which the
history of what has now become the United States really begins. I
commend this to your favorable consideration. It is an event of prime
historic significance, in which all the people of the United States
should feel, and should show, great and general interest.
In the Post-Office Department the service has increased in efficiency,
and conditions as to revenue and expenditure continue satisfactory. The
increase of revenue during 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 increase of about 9 per cent over the previous
year, being thus $8,979,492.36 in excess of the current revenue.
Included in these expenditures was a total appropriation of
$152,956,637.35 for the continuation and extension of the rural
free-delivery service, which was an increase of $4,902,237.35 over the
amount expended for this purpose in the preceding fiscal year. Large as
this expenditure has been the beneficent results attained in extending
the free distribution of mails to the residents of rural districts have
justified the wisdom of the outlay. Statistics brought down to the 1st
of October, 1904, show that on that date there were 27,138 rural routes
established, serving approximately 12,000,000 of people in rural
districts remote from post-offices, and that there were pending at that
time 3,859 petitions for the establishment of new rural routes.
Unquestionably some part of the general increase in receipts is due to
the increased postal facilities which the rural service has afforded.
The revenues have also been aided greatly by amendments in the
classification of mail matter, and the curtailment of abuses of the
second-class mailing privilege. The average increase in the volume of
mail matter for the period beginning with 1902 and ending June, 1905
(that portion for 1905 being estimated), is 40.47 per cent, as compared
with 25.46 per cent for the period immediately preceding, and 15.92 for
the four-year period immediately preceding that.
Our consular system needs improvement. Salaries should be substituted
for fees, and the proper classification, grading, and transfer of
consular officers should be provided. I am not prepared to say that a
competitive system of examinations for appointment would work well; but
by law it should be provided that consuls should be familiar, according
to places for which they apply, with the French, German, or Spanish
languages, and should possess acquaintance with the resources of the
United States.
The collection of objects of art contemplated in section 5586 of the
Revised Statutes should be designated and established as a National
Gallery of Art; and the Smithsonian Institution should be authorized to
accept any additions to said collection that may be received by gift,
bequest, or devise.
It is desirable to enact a proper National quarantine law. It is most
undesirable that a State should on its own initiative enforce
quarantine regulations which are in effect a restriction upon
interstate and international commerce. The question should properly be
assumed by the Government alone. The Surgeon-General of the National
Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service has repeatedly and
convincingly set forth the need for such legislation.
I call your attention to the great extravagance in printing and binding
Government publications, and especially to the fact that altogether too
many of these publications are printed. There is a constant tendency to
increase their number and their volume. It is an understatement to say
that no appreciable harm would be caused by, and substantial benefit
would accrue from, decreasing the amount of printing now done by at
least one-half. Probably the great majority of the Government reports
and the like now printed are never read at all, and furthermore the
printing of much of the material contained in many of the remaining
ones serves no useful purpose whatever.
The attention of the Congress should be especially given to the
currency question, and that the standing committees on the matter in
the two Houses charged with the duty, take up the matter of our
currency and see whether it is not possible to secure an agreement in
the business world for bettering the system; the committees should
consider the question of the retirement of the greenbacks and the
problem of securing in our currency such elasticity as is consistent
with safety. Every silver dollar should be made by law redeemable in
gold at the option of the holder.
I especially commend to your immediate attention the encouragement of
our merchant marine by appropriate legislation.
The growing importance of the Orient as a field for American exports
drew from my predecessor, President McKinley, an urgent request for its
special consideration by the Congress. In his message of 1898 he
stated:
"In this relation, as showing the peculiar volume and value of our
trade with China and the peculiarly favorable conditions which exist
for their expansion in the normal course of trade, I refer to the
communication addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives
by the Secretary of the Treasury on the 14th of last June, with its
accompanying letter of the Secretary of State, recommending an
appropriation for a commission to study the industrial and commercial
conditions in the Chinese Empire and to report as to the opportunities
for and the obstacles to the enlargement of markets in China for the
raw products and manufactures of the United States. Action was not
taken thereon during the last session. I cordially urge that the
recommendation receive at your hands the consideration which its
importance and timeliness merit."
In his annual message of 1889 he again called attention to this
recommendation, quoting it, and stated further:
"I now renew this recommendation, as the importance of the subject has
steadily grown since it was first submitted to you, and no time should
be lost in studying for ourselves the resources of this great field for
American trade and enterprise."
The importance of securing proper information and data with a view to
the enlargement of our trade with Asia is undiminished. Our consular
representatives in China have strongly urged a place for permanent
display of American products in some prominent trade center of that
Empire, under Government control and management, as an effective means
of advancing our export trade therein. I call the attention of the
Congress to the desirability of carrying out these suggestions.
In dealing with the questions of immigration and naturalization it is
indispensable to keep certain facts ever before the minds of those who
share in enacting the laws. First and foremost, let us remember that
the question of being a good American has nothing whatever to do with a
man's birthplace any more than it has to do with his creed. In every
generation from the time this Government was founded men of foreign
birth have stood in the very foremost rank of good citizenship, and
that not merely in one but in every field of American activity; while
to try to draw a distinction between the man whose parents came to this
country and the man whose ancestors came to it several generations back
is a mere absurdity. Good Americanism is a matter of heart, of
conscience, of lofty aspiration, of sound common sense, but not of
birthplace or of creed. The medal of honor, the highest prize to be won
by those who serve in the Army and the Navy of the United States
decorates men born here, and it also decorates men born in Great
Britain and Ireland, in Germany, in Scandinavia, in France, and
doubtless in other countries also. In the field of statesmanship, in
the field of business, in the field of philanthropic endeavor, it is
equally true that among the men of whom we are most proud as Americans
no distinction whatever can be drawn between those who themselves or
whose parents came over in sailing ship or steamer from across the
water and those whose ancestors stepped ashore into the wooded
wilderness at Plymouth or at the mouth of the Hudson, the Delaware, or
the James nearly three centuries ago. No fellow-citizen of ours is
entitled to any peculiar regard because of the way in which he worships
his Maker, or because of the birthplace of himself or his parents, nor
should he be in any way discriminated against therefor. Each must stand
on his worth as a man and each is entitled to be judged solely thereby.
There is no danger of having too many immigrants of the right kind. It
makes no difference from what country they come. If they are sound in
body and in mind, and, above all, if they are of good character, so
that we can rest assured that their children and grandchildren will be
worthy fellow-citizens of our children and grandchildren, then we
should welcome them with cordial hospitality.
But the citizenship of this country should not be debased. It is vital
that we should keep high the standard of well-being among our
wage-workers, and therefore we should not admit masses of men whose
standards of living and whose personal customs and habits are such that
they tend to lower the level of the American wage-worker; and above all
we should not admit any man of an unworthy type, any man concerning
whom we can say that he will himself be a bad citizen, or that his
children and grandchildren will detract from instead of adding to the
sum of the good citizenship of the country. Similarly we should take
the greatest care about naturalization. Fraudulent naturalization, the
naturalization of improper persons, is a curse to our Government; and
it is the affair of every honest voter, wherever born, to see that no
fraudulent voting is allowed, that no fraud in connection with
naturalization is permitted.
In the past year the cases of false, fraudulent, and improper
naturalization of aliens coming to the attention of the executive
branches of the Government have increased to an alarming degree.
Extensive sales of forged certificates of naturalization have been
discovered, as well as many cases of naturalization secured by perjury
and fraud; and in addition, instances have accumulated showing that
many courts issue certificates of naturalization carelessly and upon
insufficient evidence.
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 enacted for that purpose, which have been supplemented in a
few States by State laws having special application. The Federal
statutes permit naturalization by any court of record in the United
States having common-law jurisdiction and a seal and clerk, except the
police court of the District of Columbia, and nearly all these courts
exercise this important function. It results that where so many courts
of such varying grades have jurisdiction, there is lack of uniformity
in the rules applied in conferring naturalization. Some courts are
strict and others lax. An alien who may secure naturalization in one
place might be denied it in another, and the intent of the
constitutional provision is in fact defeated. Furthermore, the
certificates of naturalization issued by the courts differ widely in
wording and appearance, and when they are brought into use in foreign
countries, are frequently subject to suspicion.
There should be a comprehensive revision of the naturalization laws.
The courts having power to naturalize should be definitely named by
national authority; the testimony upon which naturalization may be
conferred should be definitely prescribed; publication of impending
naturalization applications should be required in advance of their
hearing in court; the form and wording of all certificates issued
should be uniform throughout the country, and the courts should be
required to make returns to the Secretary of State at stated periods of
all naturalizations conferred.
Not only are the laws relating to naturalization now defective, but
those relating to citizenship of the United States ought also to be
made the subject of scientific inquiry with a view to probable further
legislation. By what acts expatriation may be assumed to have been
accomplished, how long an American citizen may reside abroad and
receive the protection of our passport, whether any degree of
protection should be extended to one who has made the declaration of
intention to become a citizen of the United States but has not secured
naturalization, are questions of serious import, involving personal
rights and often producing friction between this Government and foreign
governments. Yet upon these question our laws are silent. I recommend
that an examination be made into the subjects of citizenship,
expatriation, and protection of Americans abroad, with a view to
appropriate legislation.
The power of the Government to protect the integrity of the elections
of its own officials is inherent and has been recognized and affirmed
by repeated declarations of the Supreme Court. There is no enemy of
free government more dangerous and none so insidious as the corruption
of the electorate. No one defends or excuses corruption, and it would
seem to follow that none would oppose vigorous measures to eradicate
it. I recommend the enactment of a law directed against bribery and
corruption in Federal elections. The details of such a law may be
safely left to the wise discretion of the Congress, but it should go as
far as under the Constitution it is possible to go, and should include
severe penalties against him who gives or receives a bribe intended to
influence his act or opinion as an elector; and provisions for the
publication not only of the expenditures for nominations and elections
of all candidates but also of all contributions received and
expenditures made by political committees.
No subject is better worthy the attention of the Congress than that
portion of the report of the Attorney-General dealing with the long
delays and the great obstruction to justice experienced in the cases of
Beavers, Green and Gaynor, and Benson. Were these isolated and special
cases, I should not call your attention to them; but the difficulties
encountered as regards these men who have been indicted for criminal
practices are not exceptional; they are precisely similar in kind to
what occurs again and again in the case of criminals who have
sufficient means to enable them to take advantage of a system of
procedure which has grown up in the Federal courts and which amounts in
effect to making the law easy of enforcement against the 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 criminal cases
the writ of the United States should run throughout its borders. The
wheels of justice should not be clogged, as they have been clogged in
the cases above mentioned, where it has proved absolutely impossible to
bring the accused to the place appointed by the Constitution for his
trial. Of recent years there has been grave and increasing complaint of
the difficulty of bringing to justice those criminals whose
criminality, instead of being against one person in the Republic, is
against all persons in the Republic, because it is against the Republic
itself. Under any circumstance and from the very nature of the case it
is often exceedingly difficult to secure proper punishment of those who
have been guilty of wrongdoing against the Government. By the time the
offender can be brought into court the popular wrath against him has
generally subsided; and there is in most instances very slight danger
indeed of any prejudice existing in the minds of the jury against him.
At present the interests of the innocent man are amply safeguarded; but
the interests of the Government, that is, the interests of honest
administration, that is the interests of the people, are not recognized
as they should be. No subject better warrants the attention of the
Congress. Indeed, no subject better warrants the attention of the bench
and the bar throughout the United States.
Alaska, like all our Territorial acquisitions, has proved resourceful
beyond the expectations of those who made the purchase. It has become
the home of 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 comprehended yet in any just measure by our people. We do
know, however, that from a very small beginning its products have grown
until they are a steady and material contribution to the wealth of the
nation. Owing to the immensity of Alaska and its location in the far
north, it is a difficult matter to provide many things essential to its
growth and to the happiness and comfort of its people by private
enterprise alone. It should, therefore, receive reasonable aid from the
Government. The Government has already done excellent work for Alaska
in laying cables and building telegraph lines. This work has been done
in the most economical and 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 could rely I caused an official of the
Department of Justice, in whose judgment I have confidence, to visit
Alaska during the past summer for the purpose of ascertaining how
government is administered there and what legislation is actually
needed at present. A statement of the conditions found to exist,
together with some recommendations and the reasons therefor, in which I
strongly concur, will be found in the annual report of the
Attorney-General. In some instances I feel that the legislation
suggested is so imperatively needed that I am moved briefly to
emphasize the Attorney-General's proposals.
Under the Code of Alaska as it now stands many purely administrative
powers and duties, including by far the most important, devolve upon
the district judges or upon the clerks of the district court acting
under the direction of the judges, while the governor, upon whom these
powers and duties should logically fall, has nothing specific to do
except to make annual reports, issue Thanksgiving Day proclamations,
and appoint Indian policemen and notaries public. I believe it
essential to good government in Alaska, and therefore recommend, that
the Congress divest the district judges and the clerks of their courts
of the administrative or executive functions that they now exercise and
cast them upon the governor. This would not be an innovation; it would
simply conform the government of Alaska to fundamental principles,
making the governorship a real instead of a merely nominal office, and
leaving the judges free to give their entire attention to their
judicial duties and at the same time removing them from a great deal of
the strife that now embarrasses the judicial office in Alaska.
I also recommend that the salaries of the district judges and district
attorneys in Alaska be increased so as to make them equal to those
received by corresponding officers in the United States after deducting
the difference in the cost of living; that the district attorneys
should be prohibited from engaging in private practice; that United
States commissioners be appointed by the governor of the Territory
instead of by the district judges, and that a fixed salary be provided
for them to take the place of the discredited "fee system," which
should be abolished in all offices; that a mounted constabulary be
created to police the territory outside the limits of incorporated
towns--a vast section now wholly without police protection; and that
some provision be made to at least lessen the oppressive delays and
costs that now attend the prosecution of appeals from the district
court of Alaska. There should be a division of the existing judicial
districts, and an increase in the number of judges.
Alaska should have a Delegate in the Congress. Where possible, the
Congress should aid in the construction of needed wagon roads.
Additional light-houses should be provided. In my judgment, it is
especially important to aid in such manner as seems just and feasible
in the construction of a trunk line of railway to connect the Gulf of
Alaska with the Yukon River through American territory. This would be
most beneficial to the development of the resources of the Territory,
and to the comfort and welfare of its people.
Salmon hatcheries should be established in many different streams, so
as to secure the preservation of this valuable food fish. Salmon
fisheries and canneries should be prohibited on certain of the rivers
where the mass of those Indians dwell who live almost exclusively on
fish.
The Alaskan natives are kindly, intelligent, anxious to learn, and
willing to work. Those who have come under the influence of
civilization, even for a limited period, have proved their capability
of becoming self-supporting, self-respecting citizens, and ask only for
the just enforcement of law and intelligent instruction and
supervision. Others, living in more remote regions, primitive, simple
hunters and fisher folk, who know only the life of the woods and the
waters, are daily being confronted with twentieth-century civilization
with all of its complexities. Their country is being overrun by
strangers, the game slaughtered and driven away, the streams depleted
of fish, and hitherto unknown and fatal diseases brought to them, all
of which combine to produce a state of abject poverty and want which
must result in their extinction. Action in their interest is demanded
by every consideration of justice and humanity.
The needs of these people are:
The abolition of the present fee system, whereby the native is
degraded, imposed upon, and taught the injustice of law.
The establishment of hospitals at central points, so that contagious
diseases that are brought to them continually by incoming whites may be
localized and not allowed to become epidemic, to spread death and
destitution over great areas.
The development of the educational system in the form of practical
training in such industries as will assure the Indians self-support
under the changed conditions in which they will have to live.
The duties of the office of the governor should be extended to include
the supervision of Indian affairs, with necessary assistants in
different districts. He should be provided with the means and the power
to protect and advise the native people, to furnish medical treatment
in time of epidemics, and to extend material 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 conditions as given other
inhabitants; and the privilege of citizenship should be given to such
as may be able to meet certain definite requirements. In Hawaii
Congress should give the governor power to remove all the officials
appointed under him. The harbor of Honolulu should be dredged. The
Marine-Hospital Service should be empowered to study leprosy in the
islands. I ask special consideration for the report and recommendation
of the governor of Porto Rico.
In treating of our foreign policy and of the attitude that this great
Nation should assume in the world at large, it is absolutely necessary
to consider the Army and the Navy, and the Congress, through which the
thought of the Nation finds its expression, should keep ever vividly in
mind the fundamental fact that it is impossible to treat our foreign
policy, whether this policy takes shape in the effort to secure justice
for others or justice for ourselves, save as conditioned upon the
attitude we are willing to take toward our Army, and especially toward
our Navy. It is not merely unwise, it is contemptible, for a nation, as
for an individual, to use high-sounding language to proclaim its
purposes, or to take positions which are ridiculous if unsupported by
potential force, and then to refuse to provide this force. If there is
no intention of providing and of keeping the force necessary to back up
a strong attitude, then it is far better not to assume such an
attitude.
The steady aim of this Nation, as of all enlightened nations, should be
to strive to bring ever nearer the day when there shall prevail
throughout the world the peace of justice. There are kinds of peace
which are highly undesirable, which are in the long run as destructive
as any war. Tyrants and oppressors have 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 misled by
false teachings, have shrunk in unmanly fashion from doing duty that
was stern and that needed self-sacrifice, and have sought to hide from
their own minds their shortcomings, their ignoble motives, by calling
them love of peace. The peace of tyrannous terror, the peace of craven
weakness, the peace of injustice, all these should be shunned as we
shun unrighteous war. The goal to set before us as a nation, the goal
which should be set before all mankind, is the attainment of the peace
of justice, of the peace which comes when each nation is not merely
safe-guarded in its own rights, but scrupulously recognizes and
performs its duty toward others. Generally peace tells for
righteousness; but if there is conflict between the two, then our
fealty is due-first to the cause of righteousness. Unrighteous wars are
common, and unrighteous peace is rare; but both should be shunned. The
right of freedom and the responsibility for the exercise of that right
can not be divorced. One of our great poets has well and finely said
that freedom is not a gift that tarries long in the hands of cowards.
Neither does it tarry long in the hands of those too slothful, too
dishonest, or too unintelligent to exercise it. The eternal vigilance
which is the price of liberty must be exercised, sometimes to guard
against outside foes; although of course far more often to guard
against our own selfish or thoughtless shortcomings.
If these self-evident truths are kept before us, and only if they are
so kept before us, we shall have a clear idea of what our foreign
policy in its larger aspects should be. It is our duty to remember that
a nation has no more right to do injustice to another nation, strong or
weak, than an individual has to do injustice to another individual;
that the same moral law applies in one case as in the other. But we
must also remember that it is as much the duty of the Nation to guard
its own rights and its own interests as it is the duty of the
individual so to do. Within the Nation the individual has now delegated
this right to the State, that is, to the representative of all the
individuals, and it is a maxim of the law that for every wrong there is
a remedy. But in international law we have not advanced by any means as
far as we have advanced in municipal law. There is as yet no judicial
way of enforcing a right in international law. When one nation wrongs
another or wrongs many others, there is no tribunal before which the
wrongdoer can be brought. Either it 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 valiantly to stand up for
its rights. Until some method is devised by which there shall be a
degree of international control over offending nations, it would be a
wicked thing for the most civilized powers, for those with most sense
of international obligations and with keenest and most generous
appreciation of the difference between right and wrong, to disarm. If
the great civilized nations of the present day should completely
disarm, the result would mean an immediate recrudescence of barbarism
in one form or another. Under any circumstances a sufficient armament
would have to be kept up to serve the purposes of international police;
and until international cohesion and the sense of international duties
and rights are far more advanced than at present, a nation desirous
both of securing respect for itself and of doing good to others must
have a force adequate for the work which it feels is allotted to it as
its part of the general world duty. Therefore it follows that a
self-respecting, just, and far-seeing nation should on the one hand
endeavor by every means to aid in the development of the various
movements which tend to provide substitutes for war, which tend to
render nations in their actions toward one another, and indeed toward
their own peoples, more responsive to the general sentiment of humane
and civilized mankind; and on the other hand that it should keep
prepared, while scrupulously avoiding wrongdoing itself, to repel any
wrong, and in exceptional cases to take action which in a more advanced
stage of international relations would come under the head of the
exercise of the international police. A great free people owes it to
itself and to all mankind not to sink into helplessness before the
powers of evil.
We are in every way endeavoring to help on, with cordial good will,
every movement which will tend to bring us into more friendly relations
with the rest of mankind. In pursuance of this policy I shall shortly
lay before the Senate treaties of arbitration with all powers which are
willing to enter into these treaties with us. It is not possible at
this period of the world's development to agree to arbitrate all
matters, but there are many matters of possible difference between us
and other nations which can be thus arbitrated. Furthermore, at the
request of the Interparliamentary Union, an eminent body composed of
practical statesmen from all countries, I have asked the Powers to join
with this Government in a second Hague conference, at which it is hoped
that the work already so happily begun at The Hague may be carried some
steps further toward completion. This carries out the desire expressed
by the first Hague conference itself.
It is not true that the United States feels any land hunger or
entertains any projects as regards the other nations of the Western
Hemisphere save such as are for their welfare. All that this country
desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and
prosperous. Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count
upon our hearty friendship. If a nation shows that it knows how to act
with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters,
if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no
interference from the United States. Chronic wrongdoing, or an
impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized
society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention
by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence
of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may 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 would show the progress in stable
and just civilization which with the aid of the Platt amendment Cuba
has shown since our troops left the island, and which so many of the
republics in both Americas are constantly and brilliantly showing, all
question of interference by this Nation with their affairs would be at
an end. Our interests and those of our southern neighbors are in
reality identical. They have great natural riches, and if within their
borders the reign of law and justice obtains, prosperity is sure to
come to them. While they thus obey the primary laws of civilized
society they may rest assured that they will be treated by us in a
spirit of cordial and helpful sympathy. We would interfere with them
only in the last resort, and then only if it became evident that their
inability or unwillingness to do justice at home and abroad had
violated the rights of the United States or had invited foreign
aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations. It
is a mere truism to say that every nation, whether in America or
anywhere else, which desires to maintain its freedom, its independence,
must ultimately realize that the right of such independence can not be
separated from the responsibility of making good use of it.
In asserting the Monroe Doctrine, in taking such steps as we have taken
in regard to Cuba, Venezuela, and Panama, and in endeavoring to
circumscribe the theater of war in the Far East, and to secure the open
door in China, we have acted in our own interest as well as in the
interest of humanity at large. There are, however, cases in which,
while our own interests are not greatly involved, strong appeal is made
to our sympathies. Ordinarily it is very much wiser and more useful for
us to concern ourselves with striving for our own moral and material
betterment here at home than to concern ourselves with trying to better
the condition of things in other nations. We have plenty of sins of our
own to war against, and under ordinary circumstances we can do more for
the general uplifting of humanity by striving with heart and soul to
put a stop to civic corruption, to brutal lawlessness and violent race
prejudices here at home than by passing resolutions about wrongdoing
elsewhere. Nevertheless there are occasional crimes committed on so
vast a scale and of such peculiar horror as to make us doubt whether it
is not our manifest duty to endeavor at least to show our disapproval
of the deed and our sympathy with those who have suffered by it. The
cases must be extreme in which such a course is justifiable. There must
be no effort made to remove the mote from our brother's eye if we
refuse to remove the beam from our own. But in extreme cases action may
be justifiable and proper. What form the action shall take must depend
upon the circumstances of the case; that is, upon the degree of the
atrocity and upon our power to remedy it. The cases in which we could
interfere by force of arms as we interfered to put a stop to
intolerable conditions in Cuba are necessarily very few. Yet it is not
to be expected that a people like ours, which in spite of certain very
obvious shortcomings, nevertheless as a whole shows by its consistent
practice its belief in the principles of civil and religious liberty
and of orderly freedom, 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 in their fundamental rights--it is
inevitable that such a nation should desire eagerly to give expression
to its horror on an occasion like that of the massacre of the Jews in
Kishenef, or when it witnesses such systematic and long-extended
cruelty and oppression as the cruelty and oppression of which the
Armenians have been the victims, and which have won for them the
indignant pity of the civilized world.
Even where it is not possible to secure in other nations the observance
of the principles which we accept as axiomatic, it is necessary for us
firmly to insist upon the rights of our own citizens without regard to
their creed or race; without regard to whether they were born here or
born abroad. It has proved very difficult to secure from Russia the
right for our Jewish fellow-citizens to receive passports and travel
through Russian territory. Such conduct is not only unjust and
irritating toward us, but it is difficult to see its wisdom from
Russia's standpoint. No conceivable good is accomplished by it. If an
American Jew or an American Christian misbehaves himself in Russia he
can at once be driven out; but the ordinary American Jew, like the
ordinary American Christian, would behave just about as he behaves
here, that is, behave as any good citizen ought to behave; and where
this is the case it is a wrong against which we are entitled to protest
to refuse him his passport without regard to his conduct and character,
merely on racial and religious grounds. In Turkey our difficulties
arise less from the way in which our citizens are sometimes treated
than from the indignation inevitably excited in seeing such fearful
misrule as has been witnessed both in Armenia and Macedonia.
The strong arm of the Government in enforcing respect for its just
rights in international matters is the Navy of the United States. I
most earnestly recommend that there be no halt in the work of
upbuilding the American Navy. There is no more patriotic duty before us
a people than to keep the Navy adequate to the needs of this country's
position. We have undertaken to build the Isthmian Canal. We have
undertaken to secure for ourselves our just share in the trade of the
Orient. We have undertaken to protect our citizens from proper
treatment in foreign lands. We continue steadily to insist on the
application of the Monroe Doctrine to the Western Hemisphere. Unless
our attitude in these and all similar matters is to be a mere boastful
sham we can not afford to abandon our naval programme. Our voice is now
potent for peace, and is so potent because we are not afraid of war.
But our protestations upon behalf of peace would neither receive nor
deserve the slightest attention if we were impotent to make them good.
The war which now unfortunately rages in the far East has emphasized in
striking fashion the new possibilities of naval warfare. The lessons
taught are both strategic and tactical, and are political as well as
military. The experiences of the war have shown in conclusive fashion
that while sea-going and sea-keeping torpedo destroyers are
indispensable, and fast lightly armed and armored cruisers very useful,
yet that the main reliance, the main standby, in any navy worthy the
name must be the great battle ships, heavily armored and heavily
gunned. Not a Russian or Japanese battle ship has been sunk by a
torpedo boat, or by gunfire, while among the less protected ships,
cruiser after cruiser has been destroyed whenever the hostile squadrons
have gotten within range of one another's weapons. There will always be
a large field of usefulness for cruisers, especially of the more
formidable type. We need to increase the number of torpedo-boat
destroyers, paying less heed to their having a knot or two extra speed
than to their capacity to keep the seas for weeks, and, if necessary,
for months at a time. It is wise to build submarine torpedo boats, as
under certain circumstances they might be very useful. But most of all
we need to continue building our fleet of battle ships, or ships so
powerfully armed that they can inflict the maximum of damage upon our
opponents, and so well protected that they can suffer a severe
hammering in return without fatal impairment of their ability to fight
and maneuver. Of course ample means must be provided for enabling the
personnel of the Navy to be brought to the highest point of efficiency.
Our great fighting ships and torpedo boats must be ceaselessly trained
and maneuvered in squadrons. The officers and men can only learn their
trade thoroughly by ceaseless practice on the high seas. In the event
of war it would be far better to have no ships at all than to have
ships of a poor and ineffective type, or ships which, however good,
were yet manned by untrained and unskillful crews. The best officers
and men in a poor ship could do nothing against fairly good opponents;
and on the other hand a modern war ship is useless unless the officers
and men aboard her have become adepts in their duties. The marksmanship
in our Navy has improved in an extraordinary degree during the last
three years, and on the whole the types of our battleships are
improving; but much remains to be done. Sooner or later we shall have
to provide for some method by which there will be promotions for merit
as well as for seniority, or else retirement all those who after a
certain age have not advanced beyond a certain grade; while no effort
must be spared to make the service attractive to the enlisted men in
order that they may be kept as long as possible in it. Reservation
public schools should be provided wherever there are navy-yards.
Within the last three years the United States has set an example in
disarmament where disarmament was proper. By law our Army is fixed at a
maximum of one hundred thousand and a minimum of sixty thousand men.
When there was insurrection in the Philippines we kept the Army at the
maximum. Peace came in the Philippines, and now our Army has been
reduced to the minimum at which it is possible to keep it with due
regard to its efficiency. The guns now mounted require twenty-eight
thousand men, if the coast fortifications are to be adequately manned.
Relatively to the Nation, it is not now so large as the police force of
New York or Chicago relatively to the population of either city. We
need more officers; there are not enough to perform the regular army
work. It is very important that the officers of the Army should be
accustomed to handle their men in masses, as it is also important that
the National Guard of the several States should be accustomed to actual
field maneuvering, especially in connection with the regulars. For this
reason we are to be congratulated upon the success of the field
maneuvers at Manassas last fall, maneuvers in which a larger number of
Regulars and National Guard took part than was ever before assembled
together in time of peace. No other civilized nation has, relatively to
its population, such a diminutive Army as ours; and while the Army is
so small we are not to be excused if we fail to keep it at a very high
grade of proficiency. It must be incessantly practiced; the standard
for the enlisted men should be kept very high, while at the same time
the service should be made as attractive as possible; and the standard
for the officers should be kept even higher--which, as regards the
upper ranks, can best be done by introducing some 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 of any body of
troops of like number belonging to any other nation.
Great progress has been made in protecting our coasts by adequate
fortifications with sufficient guns. We should, however, pay much more
heed than at present to the development of an extensive system of
floating mines for use in all our more important harbors. These mines
have been proved to be a most formidable safeguard against hostile
fleets.
I earnestly call the attention of the Congress to the need of amending
the existing law relating to the award of Congressional medals of honor
in the Navy so as to provide that they may be awarded to commissioned
officers and warrant officers as well as to enlisted men. These justly
prized medals are given in the Army alike to the officers and the
enlisted men, and it is most unjust that the commissioned officers and
warrant officers of the Navy should not in this respect have the same
rights as their brethren in the Army and as the enlisted men of the
Navy.
In the Philippine Islands there has been during the past year a
continuation of the steady progress which has obtained ever since our
troops definitely got the upper hand of the insurgents. The Philippine
people, or, to speak more accurately, the many tribes, and even races,
sundered from one another more or less sharply, who go to make up the
people of the Philippine Islands, contain many elements of good, and
some elements which we have a right to hope stand for progress. At
present they are utterly incapable of existing in independence at all
or of building up a civilization of their own. I firmly believe that we
can help them to rise higher and higher in the scale of civilization
and of capacity for self-government, and I most earnestly hope that in
the end they will be able to stand, if not entirely alone, yet in some
such relation to the United States as Cuba now stands. This end is not
yet in sight, and it may be indefinitely postponed if our people are
foolish enough to turn the attention of the Filipinos away from the
problems of achieving moral and material prosperity, of working for a
stable, orderly, and just government, and toward foolish and dangerous
intrigues for a complete independence for which they are as yet totally
unfit.
On the other hand our people must keep steadily before their minds the
fact that the justification for our stay in the Philippines must
ultimately rest chiefly upon the good we are able to do in the islands.
I do not overlook the fact that in the development of our interests in
the Pacific Ocean and along its coasts, the Philippines have played and
will play an important part; and that our interests have been served in
more than one way by the possession of the islands. But our chief
reason for continuing to hold them must be that we ought in good faith
to try to do our share of the world's work, and this particular piece
of work has been imposed upon us by the results of the war with Spain.
The problem presented to us in the Philippine Islands is akin to, but
not exactly like, the problems presented to the other great civilized
powers which have possessions in the Orient. There are points of
resemblance in our work to the work which is being done by the British
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 than any of these powers we are endeavoring to develop the
natives themselves so that they shall take an ever-increasing share in
their own government, and as far as is prudent we are already admitting
their representatives to a governmental equality with our own. There
are commissioners, judges, and governors in the islands who are
Filipinos and who have exactly the same share in the government of the
islands as have their colleagues who 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 experiment of 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 misled by foolish persons here at home into starting an
agitation for their own independence or into any factious or improper
action. In such case they will do themselves no good and will stop for
the time being all further effort to advance them and give them a
greater share in their own government. But if they act with wisdom and
self-restraint, if they show that they are capable of electing a
legislature which in its turn is capable of taking a sane and efficient
part in the actual work of government, they can rest assured that a
full and increasing measure of recognition will be given them. Above
all they should remember that their prime needs are moral and
industrial, not political. It is a good thing to try the experiment of
giving them a legislature; but it is a far better thing to give them
schools, good roads, railroads which 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 dealing
as between man and man, and habits of intelligent industry and thrift.
If they are safeguarded against oppression, and if their real wants,
material and spiritual, are studied intelligently and in a spirit of
friendly sympathy, much more good will be done them than by any effort
to give them political power, though this effort may in its own proper
time and place be proper enough.
Meanwhile our own people should remember that there is need for the
highest standard of conduct among the Americans sent to the Philippine
Islands, not only among the public servants but among the private
individuals who go to them. It is because I feel this so deeply that in
the administration of these islands I have positively refused to permit
any discrimination whatsoever for political reasons and have insisted
that in choosing the public servants consideration should be paid
solely to the worth of the men chosen and to the needs of the islands.
There is no higher body of men in our public service than we have in
the Philippine Islands under Governor Wright and his associates. So far
as possible these men should be given a free hand, and their
suggestions should receive the hearty backing both of the Executive and
of the Congress. There is need of a vigilant and disinterested support
of our public servants in the Philippines by good citizens here in the
United States. Unfortunately hitherto those of our people here at home
who have specially claimed to be the champions of the Filipinos have in
reality been their worst enemies. This will continue to be the case as
long as they strive to make the Filipinos independent, and stop all
industrial development of the islands by crying out against the laws
which would bring it on the ground that capitalists must not "exploit"
the islands. Such proceedings are not only unwise, but are most harmful
to the Filipinos, who do not need independence at all, but who do need
good laws, good public servants, and the industrial development that
can only come if the investment, of American and foreign capital in the
islands is favored in all legitimate ways.
Every measure taken concerning the islands should be taken primarily
with a view to their advantage. We should certainly give them lower
tariff rates on their exports to the United States; if this is not done
it will be a wrong to extend our shipping laws to them. I earnestly
hope for the immediate enactment into law of the legislation now
pending to encourage American capital to seek investment in the islands
in railroads, in factories, in plantations, and in lumbering and
mining.
***
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 great prosperity.
Undoubtedly there will be ebb and flow in such prosperity, and this ebb
and flow will be felt more or less by all members of the community,
both by the deserving and the undeserving. Against the wrath of the
Lord the wisdom of man cannot avail; in time of flood or drought human
ingenuity can but partially repair the disaster. A general failure of
crops would hurt all of us. Again, if the folly of man mars the general
well-being, then those who are innocent of the folly will have to pay
part of the penalty incurred by those who are guilty of the folly. A
panic brought on by the speculative folly of part of the business
community would hurt the whole business community. But such stoppage of
welfare, though it might be severe, would not be lasting. In the long
run the one vital factor in the permanent prosperity of the country is
the high individual character of the average American worker, the
average American citizen, no matter whether his work be mental or
manual, whether he be farmer or wage-worker, business man or
professional man.
In our industrial and social system the interests of all men are so
closely intertwined that in the immense 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 rich by guiding the labor of
many other men does so by enabling them to produce more than they could
produce without his guidance; and both he and they share in the
benefit, which comes also to the public at large. The superficial fact
that the sharing may be unequal must never blind us to the underlying
fact that there is this sharing, and that the benefit comes in some
degree 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 helped by making conditions such that the man of
exceptional business ability receives an exceptional reward for his
ability. Something can be done by legislation to help the general
prosperity; but no such help of a permanently beneficial character can
be given to the less able and less fortunate, save as the results of a
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 benefit which comes to the less able and less fortunate
must of necessity come even more to the more able and more fortunate.
If, therefore, the less fortunate man is moved by envy of his more
fortunate brother to strike at the conditions under which they have
both, though unequally, prospered, the result will assuredly be that
while danger may come to the one struck at, it will visit with an even
heavier load the one who strikes the blow. Taken as a whole we must all
go up or down together.
Yet, while not merely admitting, but insisting upon this, it is also
true that where there is no governmental restraint or supervision some
of the exceptional men use their energies not in ways that are for the
common good, but in ways which tell against this common good. The
fortunes amassed through corporate organization are now so large, and
vest such power in those that wield them, as to make it a matter of
necessity to give to the sovereign--that is, to the Government, which
represents the people as a whole--some effective power of supervision
over their corporate use. In order to insure a healthy social and
industrial life, every big corporation should be held responsible by,
and be accountable to, some sovereign strong enough to control its
conduct. I am in no sense hostile to corporations. This is an age of
combination, and any effort to prevent all combination will be not only
useless, but in the end vicious, because of the contempt for law which
the failure to enforce law inevitably produces. We should, moreover,
recognize in cordial and ample fashion the immense good effected by
corporate agencies in a country such as ours, and the wealth of
intellect, energy, and fidelity devoted to their service, and therefore
normally to the service of the public, by their officers and directors.
The corporation has come to stay, just as the trade union has come to
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
against law and justice.
So long as the finances of the Nation are kept upon an honest basis no
other question of internal economy with which the Congress has the
power to deal begins to approach in importance the matter of
endeavoring to secure proper industrial conditions under which the
individuals--and especially the great corporations--doing an interstate
business are to act. The makers of our National Constitution provided
especially that the regulation of interstate commerce should come
within the sphere of the General Government. The arguments in favor of
their taking this stand were even then overwhelming. But they are far
stronger today, in view of the enormous development of great business
agencies, usually corporate in form. Experience has shown conclusively
that it is useless to try to get any adequate regulation and
supervision of these great corporations by State action. Such
regulation and supervision can only be effectively exercised by a
sovereign whose jurisdiction is coextensive with the field of work of
the corporations--that is, by the National Government. I believe that
this regulation and supervision can be obtained by the enactment of law
by the Congress. If this proves impossible, it will certainly be
necessary ultimately to confer in fullest form such power upon the
National Government by a proper amendment of the Constitution. It would
obviously be unwise to endeavor to secure such an amendment until it is
certain that the result cannot be obtained under the Constitution as it
now is. The laws of the Congress and of the several States hitherto, as
passed upon by the courts, have resulted more often in showing that the
States have no power in the matter than that the National Government
has power; so that there at present exists a very unfortunate condition
of things, under which these great corporations doing an interstate
business occupy the position of subjects without a sovereign, neither
any State Government nor the National Government having effective
control over them. Our steady aim should be by legislation, cautiously
and carefully undertaken, but resolutely persevered in, to assert the
sovereignty of the National Government by affirmative action.
This is only in form an innovation. In substance it is merely a
restoration; for from the earliest time such regulation of industrial
activities has been recognized in the action of the lawmaking bodies;
and all that I propose is to meet the changed conditions in such manner
as will prevent the Commonwealth abdicating the power it has always
possessed not only in this country, but also in England before and
since this country became a separate Nation.
It has been a misfortune that the National laws on this subject have
hitherto been of a negative or prohibitive rather than an affirmative
kind, and still more that they have in part sought to prohibit what
could not be effectively prohibited, and have in part in their
prohibitions confounded what should be allowed and what should not be
allowed. It is generally useless to try to prohibit all restraint on
competition, whether this restraint be reasonable or unreasonable; and
where it is not useless it is generally hurtful. Events have shown that
it is not possible adequately to secure the enforcement of any law of
this kind by incessant appeal to the courts. The Department of Justice
has for the last four years devoted more attention to the enforcement
of the anti-trust legislation than to anything else. Much has been
accomplished, particularly marked has been the moral effect of the
prosecutions; but it is increasingly evident that there will be a very
insufficient beneficial result in the way of economic change. The
successful prosecution of one device to evade the law immediately
develops another device to accomplish the same purpose. What is needed
is not sweeping prohibition of every arrangement, good or bad, which
may tend to restrict competition, but such adequate supervision and
regulation as will prevent any restriction of competition from being to
the detriment of the public--as well as such supervision and regulation
as will prevent other abuses in no way connected with restriction of
competition. Of these abuses, perhaps the chief, although by no means
the only one, is overcapitalization--generally itself the result of
dishonest promotion--because of the myriad evils it brings in its
train; for such overcapitalization often means an inflation that
invites business panic; it always conceals the true relation of the
profit earned to the capital actually invested, and it creates a burden
of interest payments which is a fertile cause of improper reduction in
or limitation of wages; it damages the small investor, discourages
thrift, and encourages gambling and speculation; while perhaps worst of
all is the trickiness and dishonesty which it implies--for harm to
morals is worse than any possible harm to material interests, and the
debauchery of politics and business by great dishonest corporations is
far worse than any actual material evil they do the public. Until the
National Government obtains, in some manner which the wisdom of the
Congress may suggest, proper control over the big corporations engaged
in interstate commerce--that is, over the great majority of the big
corporations--it will be impossible to deal adequately with these
evils.
I am well aware of the difficulties of the legislation that I am
suggesting, and of the need of temperate and cautious action in
securing it. I should emphatically protest against improperly radical
or hasty action. The first thing to do is to deal with the great
corporations engaged in the business of interstate transportation. As I
said in my message of December 6 last, the immediate and most pressing
need, so far as legislation is concerned, is the enactment into law of
some scheme to secure to the agents of the Government such supervision
and regulation of the rates charged by the railroads of the country
engaged in interstate traffic as shall summarily and effectively
prevent the imposition of unjust or unreasonable rates. It must include
putting a complete stop to rebates in every shape and form. This power
to regulate rates, like all similar powers over the business world,
should be exercised with moderation, caution, and self-restraint; but
it should exist, so that it can be effectively exercised when the need
arises.
The first consideration to be kept in mind is that the power should be
affirmative and should be given to 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 with private business more than is necessary. I
do not believe in the Government undertaking any work which can with
propriety be left in private hands. But neither do I believe in the
Government flinching from overseeing any work when it becomes evident
that abuses are sure to obtain therein unless there is governmental
supervision. It is not my province to indicate the exact terms of the
law which should be enacted; but I call the attention of the Congress
to certain existing conditions with which it is desirable to deal, In
my judgment the most important provision which such law should contain
is that conferring upon some competent administrative body the power to
decide, upon the case being brought before it, whether a given rate
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, to prescribe the limit of rate beyond which it shall not be
lawful to go--the maximum reasonable rate, as it is commonly
called--this decision to go into effect within a reasonable time and to
obtain from thence onward, subject to review by the courts. It
sometimes happens at present not that a rate is too high but that a
favored shipper is given too low a rate. In such case the commission
would have the right to fix this already established minimum rate as
the maximum; and it would need only one or two such decisions by the
commission to cure railroad companies of the practice of giving
improper minimum rates. I call your attention to the fact that my
proposal is not to give the commission power to initiate or originate
rates generally, but to regulate a rate already fixed or originated by
the roads, upon complaint and after investigation. A heavy penalty
should be exacted from any corporation which fails to respect an order
of the commission. I regard this power to establish a maximum rate as
being essential to any scheme of real reform in the matter of railway
regulation. The first necessity is to secure it; and unless it is
granted to the commission there is little use in touching the subject
at all.
Illegal transactions often occur under the forms of law. It has often
occurred that a shipper has been told by a traffic officer to buy a
large quantity of some commodity and then after it has been bought an
open reduction is made in the rate to take effect immediately, the
arrangement resulting to the profit of one shipper and the one railroad
and to the damage of all their competitors; for it must not be
forgotten that the big shippers are at least as much to blame as any
railroad in the matter of rebates. The law should make it clear so that
nobody can fail to understand that any kind of commission paid on
freight shipments, whether in this form or in the form of fictitious
damages, or of a concession, a free pass, reduced passenger rate, or
payment of brokerage, is illegal. It is worth while considering whether
it would not be wise to confer on the Government the right of civil
action against the beneficiary of a rebate for at least twice the value
of the rebate; this would help stop what is really blackmail. Elevator
allowances should be stopped, for they have now grown to such an extent
that they are demoralizing and are used as rebates.
The best possible regulation of rates would, of course, be that
regulation secured by an honest agreement among the railroads
themselves to carry out the law. Such a general agreement would, for
instance, at once put a stop to the efforts of any one big shipper or
big railroad to discriminate against or secure advantages over some
rival; and such agreement would make the railroads themselves agents
for enforcing the law. The power vested in the Government to put a stop
to agreements to the detriment of the public should, in my judgment, be
accompanied by power to permit, under specified conditions and careful
supervision, agreements clearly in the interest of the public. But, in
my judgment, the necessity for giving this further power is by no means
as great as the necessity for giving the commission or administrative
body the other powers I have enumerated above; and it may well be
inadvisable to attempt to vest this particular power in the commission
or other administrative body until it already possesses and is
exercising what I regard as by far the most important of all the powers
I recommend--as indeed the vitally important power--that to fix a given
maximum rate, which rate, after the lapse of a reasonable time, goes
into full effect, subject to review by the courts.
All private-car lines, industrial roads, refrigerator charges, and the
like should be expressly put under the supervision of the Interstate
Commerce Commission or some similar body so far as rates, and
agreements practically affecting rates, are concerned. The private car
owners and the owners of industrial railroads are entitled to a fair
and reasonable compensation on their investment, but neither private
cars nor industrial railroads nor spur tracks should be utilized as
devices for securing preferential rates. A rebate in icing charges, or
in mileage, or in a division of the rate for refrigerating charges is
just as pernicious as a rebate in any other way. No lower rate should
apply on goods imported than actually obtains on domestic goods from
the American seaboard to destination except in cases where water
competition is the controlling influence. There should be publicity of
the accounts of common carriers; no common carrier engaged in
interstate business should keep any books or memoranda other than those
reported pursuant to law or regulation, and these books or memoranda
should be open to the inspection of the Government. Only in this way
can violations or evasions of the law be surely detected. A system of
examination of railroad accounts should be provided similar to that now
conducted into the National banks by the bank examiners; a few
first-class railroad accountants, if they had proper direction and
proper authority to inspect books and papers, could accomplish much in
preventing willful violations of the law. It would not be necessary for
them to examine into the accounts of any railroad unless for good
reasons they were directed to do so by the Interstate Commerce
Commission. It is greatly to be desired that some way might be found by
which an agreement as to transportation within a State intended to
operate as a fraud upon the Federal interstate commerce laws could be
brought under the jurisdiction of the Federal authorities. At present
it occurs that large shipments of interstate traffic are controlled by
concessions on purely State business, which of course amounts to an
evasion of the law. The commission should have power to enforce fair
treatment by the great trunk lines of lateral and branch lines.
I urge upon the Congress the need of providing for expeditious action
by the Interstate Commerce Commission in all these matters, whether in
regulating rates for transportation or for storing or for handling
property or commodities in transit. The history of the cases litigated
under the present commerce act shows that its efficacy has been to a
great degree destroyed by the weapon of delay, almost the most
formidable weapon in the hands of those whose purpose it is to violate
the law.
Let me most earnestly say that these recommendations are not made in
any spirit of hostility to the railroads. On ethical grounds, on
grounds of right, such hostility would be intolerable; and on grounds
of mere National self-interest we must remember that such hostility
would tell against the welfare not merely of some few rich men, but of
a multitude of small investors, a multitude of railway employes, wage
workers, and most severely against the interest of the public as a
whole. I believe that on the whole our railroads have done well and not
ill; but the railroad men who wish to do well should not be exposed to
competition with those who have no such desire, and the only way to
secure this end is to give to some Government tribunal the power to see
that justice is done by the unwilling exactly as it is gladly done by
the willing. Moreover, if some Government body is given increased power
the effect will be to furnish authoritative answer on behalf of the
railroad whenever irrational clamor against it is raised, or whenever
charges made against it are disproved. I ask this legislation not only
in the interest of the public but in the interest of the honest
railroad man and the honest shipper alike, for it is they who are
chiefly jeoparded by the practices of their dishonest competitors. This
legislation should be enacted in a spirit as remote as possible from
hysteria and rancor. If we of the American body politic are true to the
traditions we have inherited we shall always scorn any effort to make
us hate any man because he is rich, just as much as we should scorn any
effort to make us look down upon or treat contemptuously any man
because he is poor. We judge a man by his conduct--that is, by his
character--and not by his wealth or 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 admiration for the successful
business man who behaves decently, whether he has made his success by
building or managing a railroad or by shipping goods over that
railroad. The big railroad men and big shippers are simply Americans of
the ordinary type who have developed to an extraordinary degree certain
great business qualities. They are neither better nor worse than their
fellow-citizens of smaller means. They are merely more able in certain
lines and therefore exposed to certain peculiarly strong temptations.
These temptations have not sprung newly into being; the exceptionally
successful among mankind have always been exposed to them; but they
have grown amazingly in power as a result of the extraordinary
development of industrialism along new lines, and under these new
conditions, which the law-makers of old could not foresee and therefore
could not provide against, they have become so serious and menacing as
to demand entirely new remedies. It is in the interest of the best type
of railroad man and the best type of shipper no less than of the public
that there should be Governmental supervision and regulation of these
great business operations, for the same reason that it is in the
interest of the corporation which wishes to treat its employes aright
that there should be an effective Employers' Liability act, or an
effective system of factory laws to prevent the abuse of women and
children. All such legislation frees the corporation that wishes to do
well from being driven into doing ill, in order to compete with its
rival, which prefers to do ill. We desire to set up a moral standard.
There can be no delusion more fatal to the Nation than the delusion
that the standard of profits, of business prosperity, is sufficient in
judging any business or political question--from rate legislation to
municipal government. Business success, whether for the individual or
for the Nation, is a good thing only so far as it is accompanied by and
develops a high standard of conduct--honor, integrity, civic courage.
The kind of business prosperity that blunts the standard of honor, that
puts an inordinate value on mere wealth, that makes a man ruthless and
conscienceless in trade, and weak and cowardly in citizenship, is not a
good thing at all, but a very bad thing for the Nation. This Government
stands for manhood first and for business only as an adjunct of
manhood.
The question of transportation lies at the root of all industrial
success, and the revolution in transportation which has taken place
during the last half century has been the most important factor in the
growth of the new industrial conditions. Most emphatically we do not
wish to see the man of great talents refused the reward for his
talents. Still less do we wish to see him penalized but we do desire to
see the system of railroad transportation so handled that the strong
man shall be given no advantage over the weak man. We wish to insure as
fair treatment for the small town as for the big city; for the small
shipper as for the big shipper. In the old days the highway of
commerce, whether by water or by a road on land, was open to all; it
belonged to the public and the traffic along it was free. At present
the railway is this highway, and we must do our best to see that it is
kept open to all on equal terms. Unlike the old highway it is a very
difficult and complex thing to manage, and it is far better that it
should be managed by private individuals than by the Government. But it
can only be so managed on condition that justice is done the public. It
is because, in my judgment, public ownership of railroads is highly
undesirable and would probably in this country entail far-reaching
disaster, but I wish to see such supervision and regulation of them in
the interest of the public as will make it evident that there is no
need for public ownership. The opponents of Government regulation dwell
upon the difficulties to be encountered and the intricate and involved
nature of the problem. Their contention is 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 plan will bring all
the benefits hoped for by its more optimistic adherents. Moreover,
under any healthy plan, the benefits will develop gradually and not
rapidly. Finally, we must clearly understand that the public servants
who are to do this peculiarly responsible and delicate work must
themselves be of the highest type both as regards integrity and
efficiency. They must be well paid, for otherwise able men cannot in
the long run be secured; and they must possess a lofty probity which
will revolt as quickly at the thought of pandering to any gust of
popular prejudice against rich men as at the thought of anything even
remotely resembling subserviency to rich men. But while I fully admit
the difficulties in the way, I do not for a moment admit that these
difficulties warrant us in stopping in our effort to secure a wise and
just system. They should have no other effect than 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, and which
will in the end achieve good results in this as in other fields of
activity. The task is a great one and underlies the task of dealing
with the whole industrial problem. But the fact that it is a great
problem does not warrant us in shrinking from the attempt to solve it.
At present we face such utter lack of supervision, such freedom from
the restraints of law, that excellent men have often been literally
forced into doing what they deplored because otherwise they were left
at the mercy of unscrupulous competitors. To rail at and assail the men
who have done as they best could under such conditions accomplishes
little. What we need to do is to develop an orderly system, and such a
system can only come through the gradually increased exercise of the
right of efficient Government control.
In my annual message to the Fifty-eighth Congress, at its third
session, I called attention to the necessity for legislation requiring
the use of block signals upon railroads engaged in interstate commerce.
The number of serious collisions upon unblocked roads that have
occurred within the past year adds force to the recommendation then
made. The Congress should provide, by appropriate legislation, for the
introduction of block signals upon all railroads engaged in interstate
commerce at the earliest practicable date, as a measure of increased
safety to the traveling public.
Through decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and the
lower Federal courts in cases brought before them for adjudication the
safety appliance law has been materially strengthened, and the
Government has been enabled to secure its effective enforcement in
almost all cases, with the result that the condition of railroad
equipment throughout the country is much improved and railroad employes
perform their duties under safer conditions than heretofore. The
Government's most effective aid in arriving at this result has been its
inspection service, and that these improved conditions are not more
general is due to the insufficient number of inspectors employed. The
inspection service has fully demonstrated its usefulness, and in
appropriating for its maintenance the Congress should make provision
for an increase in the number of inspectors.
The excessive hours of labor to which railroad employes in train
service are in many cases subjected is also a matter which may well
engage the serious attention of the Congress. The strain, both mental
and physical, upon those who are engaged in the movement and operation
of railroad trains under modern conditions is perhaps greater than that
which exists in any other industry, and if there are any reasons for
limiting by law the hours of labor in any employment, they certainly
apply with peculiar force to the employment of those upon whose
vigilance and alertness in the performance of their duties the safety
of all who travel by rail depends.
In my annual message to the Fifty-seventh Congress, at its second
session, I recommended the passage of an employers' liability law for
the District of Columbia and in our navy yards. I renewed that
recommendation in my message to the Fifty-eighth Congress, at its
second session, and further suggested the appointment of a commission
to make a comprehensive study of employers' liability, with a view to
the enactment of a wise and Constitutional law covering the subject,
applicable to all industries within the scope of the Federal power. I
hope that such a law will be prepared and enacted as speedily as
possible.
The National Government has, as a rule, but little occasion to deal
with the formidable group of problems connected more or less directly
with what is known as the labor question, for in the great majority of
cases these problems must be dealt with by the State and municipal
authorities, and not by the National Government. The National
Government has control of the District of Columbia, however, and it
should see to it that the City of Washington is made a model city in
all respects, both as regards parks, public playgrounds, 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
dealing with truancy and juvenile offenders, a proper handling of the
charitable work of the District. Moreover, there should be proper
factory laws to prevent all abuses in the employment of women and
children in the District. These will be useful chiefly as object
lessons, but even this limited amount of usefulness would be of real
National value.
There has been demand for depriving courts of the power to issue
injunctions in labor disputes. Such special limitation of the equity
powers of our courts would be most unwise. It is true that some judges
have misused this power; but this does not justify a denial of the
power any more than an improper exercise of the power to call a strike
by a labor leader would justify the denial of the right to strike. The
remedy is to regulate the procedure by requiring the judge to give due
notice to the adverse parties before granting the writ, the hearing to
be ex parte if the adverse party does not appear at the time and place
ordered. What is due notice must depend upon the facts of the case; it
should not be used as a pretext to permit violation of law or the
jeopardizing of life or property. Of course, this would not authorize
the issuing of a restraining order or injunction in any case in which
it is not already authorized by existing law.
I renew the recommendation I made in my last annual message for an
investigation by the Department of Commerce and Labor of general labor
conditions, especial attention to be paid to the conditions of child
labor and child-labor legislation in the several States. Such an
investigation should take into account the various problems with which
the question of child labor is connected. It is true that these
problems can be actually met in most cases only by the States
themselves, but it would be well for the Nation to endeavor to secure
and publish comprehensive information as to the conditions of the labor
of children in the different States, so as to spur up those that are
behindhand and to secure approximately uniform legislation of a high
character among the several States. In such a Republic as ours the one
thing that we cannot afford to neglect is the problem of turning out
decent citizens. The future of the Nation depends upon the citizenship
of the generations to come; the children of today are those who
tomorrow will shape the destiny of our land, and we cannot afford to
neglect them. The Legislature of Colorado has recommended that the
National Government provide some general measure for the protection
from abuse of children and dumb animals throughout the United States. I
lay the matter before you for what I trust will be your favorable
consideration.
The Department of Commerce and Labor should also make a thorough
investigation of the conditions of women in industry. Over five million
American women are now engaged in gainful occupations; yet there is an
almost complete dearth of data upon which to base any trustworthy
conclusions as regards a subject as important as it is vast and
complicated. There is need of full knowledge on which to base action
looking toward State and municipal legislation for the protection of
working women. The introduction of women into industry is working
change and disturbance in the domestic and social life of the Nation.
The decrease in marriage, and especially in the birth rate, has been
coincident with it. We must face accomplished facts, and the adjustment
of factory conditions must be made, but surely it can be made with less
friction and less harmful effects on family life than is now the case.
This whole matter in reality forms one of the greatest sociological
phenomena of our time; it is a social question of the first importance,
of far greater importance than any merely political or economic
question can be, and to solve it we need ample data, gathered in a sane
and scientific spirit in the course of an exhaustive investigation.
In any great labor disturbance not only are employer and employe
interested, but a third party--the general public. Every considerable
labor difficulty in which interstate commerce is involved should be
investigated by the Government and the facts officially reported to the
public.
The question of securing a healthy, self-respecting, and mutually
sympathetic attitude as between employer and employe, capitalist and
wage-worker, is a difficult one. All phases of the labor problem prove
difficult when approached. But the underlying principles, the root
principles, in accordance with which the problem must be solved are
entirely simple. We can get justice and right dealing only if we put as
of paramount importance the principle of treating a man on his worth as
a man rather than with reference to his social position, his occupation
or the class to which he belongs. There are selfish and brutal men in
all ranks of life. If they are capitalists their selfishness and
brutality may take the form of hard indifference to suffering, greedy
disregard of every moral restraint which interferes with the
accumulation of wealth, and cold-blooded exploitation of the weak; or,
if they are laborers, the form of laziness, of sullen envy of the more
fortunate, and of willingness to perform deeds of murderous violence.
Such conduct is just as reprehensible in one case as in the other, and
all honest and farseeing men should join in warring against it wherever
it becomes manifest. Individual capitalist and individual wage-worker,
corporation and union, are alike entitled to the protection of 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
sympathy for his neighbor and genuine desire to look at any question
arising between them from the standpoint of that neighbor no less than
from his own, and to this end it is essential that capitalist and
wage-worker should consult freely one with the other, should each
strive to bring closer the day when both shall realize that they are
properly partners and not enemies. To approach the questions which
inevitably arise between them solely from the standpoint which treats
each side in the mass as the enemy of the other side in the mass is
both wicked and foolish. In the past the most direful among the
influences which have brought about the downfall of republics has ever
been the growth of the class spirit, the growth of the spirit which
tends to make a man subordinate the welfare of the public as a whole to
the welfare of the particular class to which he belongs, the
substitution of loyalty to a class for loyalty to the Nation. This
inevitably brings about a tendency to treat each man not on his merits
as an individual, but on his position as belonging to a certain class
in the community. If such a spirit grows up in this Republic it will
ultimately prove fatal to us, as in the past it has proved fatal to
every community in which it has become dominant. Unless we continue to
keep a quick and lively sense of the great fundamental truth that our
concern is with the individual worth of the individual man, this
Government cannot permanently hold the place which it 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 cleavage
which divide occupation from occupation, which divide wage-workers from
capitalists, farmers from bankers, men of small means from men of large
means, men who live in the towns from men who live in the country; for
the vital line of cleavage is the line which divides the honest man who
tries to do well by his neighbor from the dishonest man who does ill by
his neighbor. In other words, the standard we should establish is the
standard of conduct, not the standard of occupation, of means, or of
social position. It is the man's moral quality, his attitude toward the
great questions which concern all humanity, his cleanliness of life,
his power to do his duty toward himself and toward others, which really
count; and if we substitute for the standard of personal judgment which
treats each man according to his merits, another standard in accordance
with which all men of one class are favored and all men of another
class discriminated against, we shall do irreparable damage to the body
politic. I believe that our people are too sane, too self-respecting,
too fit for self-government, ever to adopt such an attitude. This
Government is not and never shall be government by a plutocracy. This
Government is not and never shall be government by a mob. It shall
continue to be in the future what it has been in the past, a Government
based on the theory that each man, rich or poor, is to be treated
simply and solely on his worth as a man, that all his personal and
property rights are to be safeguarded, and that he is neither to wrong
others nor to suffer wrong from others.
The noblest of all forms of government is self-government; but it is
also the most difficult. We who possess this priceless boon, and who
desire to hand it on to our children and our children's children,
should ever bear in mind the thought so finely expressed by Burke: "Men
are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their
disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites; in proportion
as they are disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good in
preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist unless a
controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the
less of it there be within the more there must be without. It is
ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate
minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."
The great insurance companies afford striking examples of corporations
whose business has extended so far beyond the jurisdiction of the
States which created them as to preclude strict enforcement of
supervision and regulation by the parent States. In my last annual
message I recommended "that the Congress carefully consider whether the
power of the Bureau of Corporations cannot constitutionally be extended
to cover interstate transactions in insurance."
Recent events have emphasized the importance of an early and exhaustive
consideration of this question, to see whether it is not possible to
furnish better safeguards than the several States have been able to
furnish against corruption of the flagrant kind which has been exposed.
It has been only too clearly shown that certain of the men at the head
of these large corporations take but small note of the ethical
distinction between honesty and dishonesty; they draw the line only
this side of what may be called law-honesty, the kind of honesty
necessary in order to avoid falling into the clutches of the law. Of
course the only complete remedy for this condition must be found in an
aroused public conscience, a higher sense of ethical conduct in the
community at large, and especially among business men and in the great
profession of the law, and in the growth of a spirit which condemns all
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 only drastic but practical. There is need of a far
stricter and more uniform regulation of the vast insurance interests of
this country. The United States should in this respect follow the
policy of other nations by providing adequate national supervision of
commercial interests which are clearly national in character. My
predecessors have repeatedly recognized that the foreign business of
these companies is an important part of our foreign commercial
relations. During the administrations of Presidents Cleveland,
Harrison, and McKinley the State Department exercised its influence,
through diplomatic channels, to prevent unjust discrimination by
foreign countries against American insurance companies. These
negotiations illustrated the propriety of the Congress recognizing the
National character of insurance, for in the absence of Federal
legislation the State Department could only give expression to the
wishes of the authorities of the several States, whose policy was
ineffective through want of uniformity.
I repeat my previous recommendation that the Congress should also
consider whether the Federal Government has any power or owes any duty
with respect to domestic transactions in insurance of an interstate
character. That State supervision has proved inadequate is generally
conceded. The burden upon insurance companies, and therefore their
policy holders, of conflicting regulations of many States, is
unquestioned, while but little effective check is imposed upon any able
and unscrupulous man who desires to exploit the company in his own
interest at the expense of the policy holders and of the public. The
inability of a State to regulate effectively insurance corporations
created under the laws of other States and transacting the larger part
of their business elsewhere is also clear. As a remedy for this evil of
conflicting, ineffective, and yet burdensome regulations there has been
for many years a widespread demand for Federal supervision. The
Congress has already recognized that interstate insurance may be a
proper subject for Federal legislation, for in creating the Bureau of
Corporations it authorized it to publish and supply useful information
concerning interstate corporations, "including corporations engaged in
insurance." It is obvious that if the compilation of statistics be the
limit of the Federal power it is wholly ineffective to regulate this
form of commercial intercourse between the States, and as the insurance
business has outgrown in magnitude the possibility of adequate State
supervision, the Congress should carefully consider whether further
legislation can be bad. What is said above applies with equal force to
fraternal and benevolent organizations which contract for life
insurance.
There is more need of stability than of the attempt to attain an ideal
perfection in the methods of raising revenue; and the shock and strain
to the business world certain to attend any serious change in these
methods render such change inadvisable unless for grave reason. It is
not possible to lay down any general rule by which to determine the
moment when the reasons for will outweigh the reasons against such a
change. Much must depend, not merely on the needs, but on the desires,
of the people as a whole; for needs and desires are not necessarily
identical. Of course, no change can be made on lines beneficial to, or
desired by, one section or one State only. There must be something like
a general agreement among the citizens of the several States, as
represented in the Congress, that the change is needed and desired in
the interest of the people, as a whole; and there should then be a
sincere, intelligent, and disinterested effort to make it in such shape
as will combine, so far as possible, the maximum of good to the people
at large with the minimum of necessary disregard for the special
interests of localities or classes. But in time of peace the revenue
must on the average, taking a series of years together, equal the
expenditures or else the revenues must be increased. Last year there
was a deficit. Unless our expenditures can be kept within the revenues
then our revenue laws must be readjusted. It is as yet too early to
attempt to outline what shape such a readjustment should take, for it
is as yet too early to say whether there will be need for it. It should
be considered whether it is not desirable that the tariff laws should
provide for applying as against or in favor of any other nation maximum
and minimum tariff rates established by the Congress, so as to secure a
certain reciprocity of treatment between other nations and ourselves.
Having in view even larger considerations of policy than those of a
purely economic nature, it would, in my judgment, be well to endeavor
to bring about closer commercial connections with the other peoples of
this continent. I am happy to be able to announce to you that Russia
now treats us on the most-favored-nation basis.
I earnestly recommend to Congress the need of economy and to this end
of a rigid scrutiny of appropriations. As examples merely, I call your
attention to one or two specific matters. All unnecessary offices
should be abolished. The Commissioner of the General Land Office
recommends the abolishment of the office of Receiver of Public Moneys
for the United States Land Office. This will effect a saving of about a
quarter of a million dollars a year. As the business of the Nation
grows, it is inevitable that there should be from time to time a
legitimate increase in the number of officials, and this fact renders
it all the more important that when offices become unnecessary they
should be abolished. In the public printing also a large saving of
public money can be made. There is a constantly growing tendency to
publish masses of unimportant information. It is probably not unfair to
say that many tens of thousands of volumes are published at which no
human being ever looks and for which there is no real demand whatever.
Yet, in speaking of economy, I must in no wise be understood as
advocating the false economy which is in the end the worst
extravagance. To cut down on the navy, for instance, would be a crime
against the Nation. To fail to push forward all work on the Panama
Canal would be as great a folly.
In my message of December 2, 1902, to the Congress I said:
"Interest rates are a potent factor in business activity, and in order
that these rates may be equalized to meet the varying needs of the
seasons and of widely separated communities, and to prevent the
recurrence of financial stringencies, which injuriously affect
legitimate business, it is necessary that there should be an element of
elasticity in our monetary system. Banks are the natural servants of
commerce, and, upon them should be placed, as far as practicable, the
burden of furnishing and maintaining a circulation adequate to supply
the needs of our diversified industries and of our domestic and foreign
commerce; and the issue of this should be so regulated that a
sufficient supply should be always available for the business interests
of the country."
Every consideration of prudence demands the addition of the element of
elasticity to our currency system. The evil does not consist in an
inadequate volume of money, but in the rigidity of this volume, which
does not respond as it should to the varying needs of communities and
of seasons. Inflation must be avoided; but some provision should be
made that will insure a larger volume of money during the Fall and
Winter months than in the less active seasons of the year; so that the
currency will contract against speculation, and will expand for the
needs of legitimate business. At present the Treasury Department is at
irregularly recurring intervals obliged, in the interest of the
business world--that is, in the interests of the American public--to
try to avert financial crises by providing a remedy which should be
provided by Congressional action.
At various times I have instituted investigations into the organization
and conduct of the business of the executive departments. While none of
these inquiries have yet progressed far enough to warrant final
conclusions, they have already confirmed and emphasized the general
impression that the organization of the departments is often faulty in
principle and wasteful in results, while many of their business methods
are antiquated and inefficient. There is every reason why our executive
governmental machinery should be at least as well planned, economical,
and efficient as the best machinery of the great business
organizations, which at present is not the case. To make it so is a
task of complex detail and essentially executive in its nature;
probably no legislative body, no matter how wise and able, could
undertake it with reasonable prospect of success. I recommend that the
Congress consider this subject with a view to provide by legislation
for the transfer, distribution, consolidation, and assignment of duties
and executive organizations or parts of organizations, and for the
changes in business methods, within or between the several departments,
that will best promote the economy, efficiency, and high character of
the Government work.
In my last annual message I said:
"The power of the Government to protect the integrity of the elections
of its own officials is inherent and has been recognized and affirmed
by repeated declarations of the Supreme Court. There is no enemy of
free government more dangerous and none so insidious as the corruption
of the electorate. No one defends or excuses corruption, and it would
seem to follow that none would oppose vigorous measures to eradicate
it. I recommend the enactment of a law directed against bribery and
corruption in Federal elections. The details of such a law may be
safely left to the wise discretion of the Congress, but it should go as
far as under the Constitution it is possible to go, and should include
severe penalties against him who gives or receives a bribe intended to
influence his act or opinion as an elector; and provisions for the
publication not only of the expenditures for nominations and elections
of all candidates, but also of all contributions received and
expenditures made by political committees."
I desire to repeat this recommendation. In political campaigns in a
country as large and populous as ours it is inevitable that there
should be much expense of an entirely legitimate kind. This, of course,
means that many contributions, and some of them of large size, must be
made, and, as a matter of fact, in any big political contest such
contributions are always made to both sides. It is entirely proper both
to give and receive them, unless there is an improper 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 way
of favor or immunity, then the giving or receiving becomes not only
improper but criminal. It will undoubtedly be difficult, as a matter of
practical detail, to shape an act which shall guard with reasonable
certainty against such misconduct; but if it is possible to secure by
law the full and verified publication in detail of all the sums
contributed to and expended by the candidates or committees of any
political parties, the result cannot but be wholesome. All
contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any
political purpose should be forbidden by law; directors should not be
permitted to use stockholders' money for such purposes; and, moreover,
a prohibition of this kind would be, as far as it went, an effective
method of stopping the evils aimed at in corrupt practices acts. Not
only should both the National and the several State Legislatures forbid
any officer of a corporation from using the money of the corporation in
or about any election, but they should also forbid such use of money in
connection with any legislation save by the employment of counsel in
public manner for distinctly legal services.
The first conference of nations held at The Hague in 1899, being unable
to dispose of all the business before it, recommended the consideration
and settlement of a number of important questions by another conference
to be called subsequently and at an early date. These questions were
the following: (1) The rights and duties of neutrals; (2) the
limitation of the armed forces on land and sea, and of military
budgets; (3) the use of new types and calibres of military and naval
guns; (4) the inviolability of private property at 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 different nations, had reiterated the demand for a
second conference of nations, I issued invitations to all the powers
signatory to The Hague Convention to send delegates to such a
conference, and suggested that it be again held at The Hague. In its
note of December 16, 1904, the United States Government communicated to
the representatives of foreign governments its belief that the
conference could be best arranged under the provisions of the present
Hague treaty.
From all the powers acceptance was received, coupled in some cases with
the condition that we should wait until the end of the war then waging
between Russia and Japan. The Emperor of Russia, immediately after the
treaty of peace which so happily terminated this war, in a note
presented to the President on September 13, through Ambassador Rosen,
took the initiative in recommending that the conference be now called.
The United States Government in response expressed its cordial
acquiescence, and stated that it would, as a matter of course, take
part in the new conference and endeavor to further its aims. We assume
that all civilized governments will support the movement, and that the
conference is now an assured fact. This Government will do everything
in its power to secure the success of the conference, to the end that
substantial progress may be made in the cause of international peace,
justice, and good will.
This renders it proper at this time to say something as to the general
attitude of this Government toward peace. More and more war is coming
to be looked upon as in itself a lamentable and evil thing. A wanton or
useless war, or a war of mere aggression--in short, any war begun or
carried on in a conscienceless spirit, is to be condemned as a
peculiarly atrocious crime against all humanity. We can, however, do
nothing of permanent value for peace unless we keep ever clearly in
mind the ethical element which lies at 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 great and upright
people can never for a moment hesitate to follow the path which leads
toward righteousness, even though that path also leads to war. There
are persons who advocate peace at any price; there are others who,
following a false analogy, think that because it is no longer necessary
in civilized countries for individuals to protect their rights with a
strong hand, it is therefore unnecessary for nations to be ready to
defend their rights. These persons would do irreparable harm to any
nation that adopted their principles, and even as it is they seriously
hamper the cause which they advocate by tending to render it absurd in
the eyes of sensible and patriotic men. There can be no worse foe of
mankind in general, and of his own country in particular, than the
demagogue of war, the man who in mere folly or to serve his own selfish
ends continually rails at and abuses other nations, who seeks to excite
his countrymen against foreigners on insufficient pretexts, who excites
and inflames a perverse and aggressive national vanity, and who may on
occasions wantonly bring on conflict between his nation and some other
nation. But there are demagogues of peace just as there are demagogues
of war, and in any such movement as this for The Hague conference it is
essential not to be misled by one set of extremists any more than by
the other. Whenever it is possible for a nation or an individual to
work for real peace, assuredly it is failure of duty not so to strive,
but if war is necessary and righteous then either the man or the nation
shrinking from it forfeits all title to self-respect. We have scant
sympathy with the sentimentalist who dreads oppression less than
physical suffering, who would prefer a shameful peace to the pain and
toil sometimes lamentably necessary in order to secure a righteous
peace. As yet there is only a partial and imperfect analogy between
international law and internal or municipal law, because there is no
sanction of force for executing the former while there is in the case
of the latter. The private citizen is protected in his rights by the
law, because the law rests in the last resort upon force exercised
through the forms of law. A man does not have to defend his rights with
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
defend him. But there is no such sanction of force for international
law. At present there could be no greater calamity than for the free
peoples, the enlightened, independent, and peace-loving peoples, to
disarm while yet leaving it open to any barbarism or despotism to
remain armed. So long as the world is as unorganized as now the armies
and navies of those peoples who on the whole stand for justice, offer
not only the best, but the only possible, security for a just peace.
For instance, if the United States alone, or in company only with the
other nations that on the whole tend to act justly, disarmed, we might
sometimes avoid bloodshed, but we would cease to be of weight in
securing the peace of justice--the real peace for which the most
law-abiding and high-minded men must at times be willing to fight. As
the world is now, only that nation is equipped for peace that knows how
to fight, and that will not shrink from fighting if ever the conditions
become such that war is demanded in the name of the highest morality.
So much it is emphatically necessary to say in order both that the
position of the United States may not be misunderstood, and that a
genuine effort to bring nearer the day of the peace of justice among
the nations may not be hampered by a folly which, in striving to
achieve the impossible, would render it hopeless to attempt the
achievement of the practical. But, while recognizing most clearly all
above set forth, it remains our clear duty to strive in every
practicable way to bring nearer the time when the sword shall not be
the arbiter among nations. At present the practical thing to do is to
try to minimize the number of cases in which it must be the arbiter,
and to offer, at least to all civilized powers, some substitute for war
which will be available in at least a considerable number of instances.
Very much can be done through another Hague conference in this
direction, and I most earnestly urge that this Nation do all in its
power to try to further the movement and to make the result of the
decisions of The Hague conference effective. I earnestly hope that the
conference may be able to devise some way to make arbitration between
nations the customary way of settling international disputes in all
save a few classes of cases, which should themselves be as sharply
defined and rigidly limited as the present governmental and social
development of the world will permit. If possible, there should be a
general arbitration treaty negotiated among all the nations represented
at the conference. Neutral rights and property should be protected at
sea as they are protected on land. There should be an international
agreement to this purpose and a similar agreement defining contraband
of war.
During the last century there has been a distinct diminution in the
number of wars between the most civilized nations. International
relations have become closer and the development of The Hague tribunal
is not only a symptom of this growing closeness of relationship, but is
a means by which the growth can be furthered. Our aim should be from
time to time to take such steps as may be possible toward creating
something like an organization of the civilized nations, because as the
world becomes more highly organized the need for navies and armies will
diminish. It is not possible to secure anything like an immediate
disarmament, because it would first be necessary to settle what peoples
are on the whole a menace to the rest of mankind, and to provide
against the disarmament of the rest being turned into a movement which
would really chiefly benefit these obnoxious peoples; but it may be
possible to exercise some check upon the tendency to swell indefinitely
the budgets for military expenditure. Of course such an effort could
succeed only if it did not attempt to do too much; and if it were
undertaken in a spirit of sanity as far removed as possible from a
merely hysterical pseudo-philanthropy. It is worth while pointing out
that since the end of the insurrection in the Philippines this Nation
has shown its practical faith in the policy of disarmament by reducing
its little army one-third. But disarmament can never be of prime
importance; there is more need to get rid of the causes of war than of
the implements of war.
I have dwelt much on the dangers to be avoided by steering clear of any
mere foolish sentimentality because my wish for peace is so genuine and
earnest; because I have a real and great desire that this second Hague
conference may mark a long stride forward in the direction of securing
the peace of justice throughout the world. No object is better worthy
the attention of enlightened statesmanship than the establishment of a
surer method than now exists of securing justice as between nations,
both for the protection of the little nations and for the prevention of
war between the big nations. To this aim we should endeavor not only to
avert bloodshed, but, above all, effectively to strengthen the forces
of right. The Golden Rule should be, and as the world grows in morality
it will be, the guiding rule of conduct among nations as among
individuals; though the Golden Rule must not be construed, in fantastic
manner, as forbidding the exercise of the police power. This mighty and
free Republic should ever deal with all other States, great or small,
on a basis of high honor, respecting their rights as jealously as it
safeguards its own.
One of the most effective instruments for peace is the Monroe Doctrine
as it has been and is being gradually developed by this Nation and
accepted by other nations. No other policy could have been as efficient
in promoting peace in the Western Hemisphere and in giving to each
nation thereon the chance to develop along its own lines. If we had
refused to apply the doctrine to changing conditions it would now be
completely outworn, would not meet any of the needs of the present day,
and, indeed, would probably by this time have sunk into complete
oblivion. It is useful at home, and is meeting with recognition abroad
because we have adapted our application of it to meet the growing and
changing needs of the hemisphere. When we announce a policy such as the
Monroe Doctrine we thereby commit 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 yet shirk the responsibility for its
exercise. Not only we, but all American republics who are benefited by
the existence of the doctrine, must recognize the obligations each
nation is under as regards foreign peoples no less than its duty to
insist upon its own rights.
That our rights and interests are deeply concerned in the maintenance
of the doctrine is so clear as hardly to need argument. This is
especially true in view of the construction of the Panama Canal. As a
mere matter of self-defense we must exercise a close watch over the
approaches to this canal; and this means that we must be thoroughly
alive to our interests in the Caribbean Sea.
There are certain essential points which must never be forgotten as
regards the Monroe Doctrine. In the first place we must as a Nation
make it evident that we do not intend to treat it in any shape or way
as an excuse for aggrandizement on our part at the expense of the
republics to the south. We must recognize the fact that in some South
American countries there has been much suspicion lest we should
interpret the Monroe Doctrine as in some way inimical to their
interests, and we must try to convince all the other nations of this
continent once and for all that no just and orderly Government has
anything to fear from us. There are certain republics to the south of
us which have already reached such a point of stability, order, and
prosperity that they themselves, though as yet hardly consciously, are
among the guarantors of this doctrine. These republics we now meet not
only on a basis of entire equality, but in a spirit of frank and
respectful friendship, which we hope is mutual. If all of the republics
to the south of us will only grow as those to which I allude have
already grown, all need for us to be the especial champions of the
doctrine will disappear, for no stable and growing American Republic
wishes to see some great non-American military power acquire territory
in its neighborhood. All that this country desires is that the other
republics on this continent shall be happy and prosperous; and they
cannot be happy and prosperous unless they maintain order within their
boundaries and behave with a just regard for their obligations toward
outsiders. It must be understood that under no circumstances will the
United States use the Monroe Doctrine as a cloak for territorial
aggression. We desire peace with all the world, but perhaps most of all
with the other peoples of the American Continent. There are, of course,
limits to the wrongs which any self-respecting nation can endure. It is
always possible that wrong actions toward this Nation, or toward
citizens of this Nation, in some State unable to keep order among its
own people, unable to secure justice from outsiders, and unwilling to
do justice to those outsiders who treat it well, may result in our
having to take action to protect our rights; but such action will not
be taken with a view to territorial aggression, and it will be taken at
all only with extreme reluctance and when it has become evident that
every other resource has been exhausted.
Moreover, we must make it evident that we do not intend to permit the
Monroe Doctrine to be used by any nation on this Continent as a shield
to protect it from the consequences of its own misdeeds against foreign
nations. If a republic to the south of us commits a tort against a
foreign nation, such as an outrage against a citizen of that nation,
then the Monroe Doctrine does not force us to interfere to prevent
punishment of the tort, save to see that the punishment does not assume
the form of territorial occupation in any shape. The case is more
difficult when it refers to a contractual obligation. Our own
Government has always refused to enforce such contractual obligations
on behalf, of its citizens by an appeal to arms. It is much to be
wished that all foreign governments would take the same view. But they
do not; and in consequence we are liable at any time to be brought face
to face with disagreeable alternatives. On the one hand, this country
would certainly decline to go to war to prevent a foreign government
from collecting a just debt; on the other hand, it is very inadvisable
to permit any foreign power to take possession, even temporarily, of
the custom houses of an American Republic in order to enforce the
payment of its obligations; for such temporary occupation might turn
into a permanent occupation. The only escape from these alternatives
may at any time be that we must ourselves undertake to bring about some
arrangement by which so much as possible of a just obligation shall be
paid. It is far better that this country should put through such an
arrangement, rather than allow any foreign country to undertake it. To
do so insures the defaulting republic from having to pay debt of an
improper character under duress, while it also insures honest creditors
of the republic from being passed by in the interest of dishonest or
grasping creditors. Moreover, for the United States to take such a
position offers the only possible way of insuring us against a clash
with some foreign power. The position is, therefore, in the interest of
peace as well as in the interest of justice. It is of benefit to our
people; it is of benefit to foreign peoples; and most of all it is
really of benefit to the people of the country concerned.
This brings me to what should be one of the fundamental objects of the
Monroe Doctrine. We must ourselves in good faith try to help upward
toward peace and order those of our sister republics which need such
help. Just as there has been a gradual growth of the ethical element in
the relations of one individual to another, so we are, even though
slowly, more and more coming to recognize the duty of bearing one
another's burdens, not only as among individuals, but also as among
nations.
Santo Domingo, in her turn, has now made an appeal to us to help her,
and not only every principle of wisdom but every generous instinct
within us bids us respond to the appeal. It is not of the slightest
consequence whether we grant the aid needed by Santo Domingo as an
incident to the wise development of the Monroe Doctrine or because we
regard the case of Santo Domingo as standing wholly by itself, and to
be treated as such, and not on general principles or with any reference
to the Monroe Doctrine. The important point is to give the needed aid,
and the case is certainly sufficiently peculiar to deserve to be judged
purely on its own merits. The conditions in Santo Domingo have for a
number of years grown from bad to worse until a year ago all society
was on the verge of dissolution. Fortunately, just at this time a ruler
sprang up in Santo Domingo, who, with his colleagues, saw the dangers
threatening their country and appealed to the friendship of the only
great 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 recklessly
incurred debts, and owing to her internal disorders she had ceased to
be able to provide means of paying the debts. The patience of her
foreign creditors had become exhausted, and at least two foreign
nations were on the point of intervention, and were only prevented from
intervening by the unofficial assurance of this Government that it
would itself strive to help Santo Domingo in her hour of need. In the
case of one of these nations, only the actual opening of negotiations
to this end by our Government prevented the seizure of territory in
Santo Domingo by a European power. Of the debts incurred some were
just, while some were not of a character which really renders it
obligatory on or proper for Santo Domingo to pay them in full. But she
could not pay any of them unless some stability was assured her
Government and people.
Accordingly, the Executive Department of our Government negotiated a
treaty under which we are to try to help the Dominican people to
straighten out their finances. This treaty is pending before the
Senate. In the meantime a temporary arrangement has been made which
will last until the Senate has had time to take action upon the treaty.
Under this arrangement the Dominican Government has appointed Americans
to all the important positions in the customs service and they are
seeing to the honest collection of the revenues, turning over 45 per
cent. to the Government for running expenses and putting the other 55
per cent. into a safe depository for equitable division in case the
treaty shall be ratified, among the various creditors, whether European
or American.
The Custom Houses offer well-nigh the only sources of revenue in Santo
Domingo, and the different revolutions usually have as their real aim
the obtaining of these Custom Houses. The mere fact that the Collectors
of Customs are Americans, that they are performing their duties with
efficiency and honesty, and that the treaty is pending in the Senate
gives a certain moral power to the Government of Santo Domingo which it
has not had before. This has completely discouraged all revolutionary
movement, while it has already produced such an increase in the
revenues that the Government is actually getting more from the 45 per
cent. that the American Collectors turn over to it than it got formerly
when it took the entire revenue. It is enabling the poor, harassed
people of Santo Domingo once more to turn their attention to industry
and to be free from the cure of interminable revolutionary disturbance.
It offers to all bona-fide creditors, American and European, the only
really good chance to obtain that to which they are justly entitled,
while it in return gives to Santo Domingo the only opportunity of
defense against claims which it ought not to pay, for now if it meets
the views of the Senate we shall ourselves thoroughly examine all these
claims, whether American or foreign, and see that none that are
improper are paid. There is, of course, opposition to the treaty from
dishonest creditors, foreign and American, and from the professional
revolutionists of the island itself. We have already reason to believe
that some of the creditors who do not dare expose their claims to
honest scrutiny are endeavoring to stir up sedition in the island and
opposition to the treaty. In the meantime, I have exercised the
authority vested in me by the joint resolution of the Congress to
prevent the introduction of arms into the island for revolutionary
purposes.
Under the course taken, stability and order and all the benefits of
peace are at last coming to Santo Domingo, danger of foreign
intervention has been suspended, and there is at last a prospect that
all creditors will get justice, no more and no less. If the arrangement
is terminated by the failure of the treaty chaos will follow; and if
chaos follows, sooner or later this Government may be involved in
serious difficulties with foreign Governments over the island, or else
may be forced itself to intervene in the island in some unpleasant
fashion. Under the proposed treaty the independence of the island is
scrupulously respected, the danger of violation of the Monroe Doctrine
by the intervention of foreign powers vanishes, and the interference of
our Government is minimized, so that we shall only act in conjunction
with the Santo Domingo authorities to secure the proper administration
of the customs, and therefore to secure the payment of just debts and
to secure the Dominican Government against demands for unjust debts.
The proposed method will give the people of Santo Domingo the same
chance to move onward and upward which we have already given to the
people of Cuba. It will be doubly to our discredit as a Nation if we
fail to take advantage of 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 meet the request of Santo Domingo as we
are now trying to meet it.
We cannot consider the question of our foreign policy without at the
same time treating of the Army and the Navy. We now have a very small
army indeed, one well-nigh infinitesimal when compared With the army of
any other large nation. Of course the army we do have should be as
nearly perfect of its kind and for its size as is possible. I do not
believe that any army in the world has a better average of enlisted men
or a better type of junior officer; but the army should be trained to
act effectively in a mass. Provision should be made by sufficient
appropriations for manoeuvers of a practical kind, so that the troops
may learn how to take care of themselves under actual service
conditions; every march, for instance, being made with the soldier
loaded exactly as he would be in active campaign. The Generals and
Colonels would thereby have opportunity of handling regiments,
brigades, and divisions, and the commissary and medical departments
would be tested in the field. Provision should be made for the exercise
at least of a brigade and by preference of a division in marching and
embarking at some point on our coast and disembarking at some other
point and continuing its march. The number of posts in which the army
is kept in time of peace should be materially diminished and the posts
that are left made correspondingly larger. No local interests should be
allowed to stand in the way of assembling the greater part of the
troops which would at need form our field armies in stations of such
size as will permit the best training to be given to the personnel of
all grades, including the high officers and staff officers. To
accomplish this end we must have not company or regimental garrisons,
but brigade and division garrisons. Promotion by mere seniority can
never result in a thoroughly efficient corps of officers in the higher
ranks unless there accompanies it a vigorous weeding-out process. Such
a weeding-out process--that is, such a process of selection--is a chief
feature of the four years' course of the young officer at West Point.
There is no good reason why it should stop immediately upon his
graduation. While at West Point he is dropped unless he comes up to a
certain standard of excellence, and when he graduates he takes rank in
the army according to his rank of graduation. The results are good at
West Point; and there should be in the army itself something that will
achieve the same end. After a certain age has been reached the average
officer is unfit to do good work below a certain grade. Provision
should be made for the promotion of exceptionally meritorious men over
the heads of their comrades and for the retirement of all men who have
reached a given age without getting beyond a given rank; this age of
retirement of course changing from rank to rank. In both the army and
the navy there should be some principle of selection, that is, of
promotion for merit, and there should be a resolute effort to eliminate
the aged officers of reputable character who possess no special
efficiency.
There should be an increase in the coast artillery force, so that our
coast fortifications can be in some degree adequately manned. There is
special need for an increase and reorganization of the Medical
Department of the army. In both the army and navy there must be the
same thorough training for duty in the staff corps as in the fighting
line. Only by such training in advance can we be sure that in actual
war field operations and those at sea will be carried on successfully.
The importance of this was shown conclusively in the Spanish-American
and the Russo-Japanese wars. The work of the medical departments in the
Japanese army and navy is especially worthy of study. I renew my
recommendation of January 9, 1905, as to the Medical Department of the
army and call attention to the equal importance of the needs of the
staff corps of the navy. In the Medical Department of the navy the
first in importance is the reorganization of the Hospital Corps, on the
lines of the Gallinger bill, (S. 3,984, February 1, 1904), and the
reapportionment of the different grades of the medical officers to meet
service requirements. It seems advisable also that medical officers of
the army and navy should have similar rank and pay in their respective
grades, so that their duties can be carried on without friction when
they are brought together. The base hospitals of the navy should be put
in condition to meet modern requirements and hospital ships be
provided. Unless we now provide with ample forethought for the medical
needs of the army and navy appalling suffering of a preventable kind is
sure to occur if ever the country goes to war. It is not reasonable to
expect successful administration in time of war of a department which
lacks a third of the number of officers necessary to perform the
medical service in time of peace. We need men who are not merely
doctors; they must be trained in the administration of military medical
service.
Our navy must, relatively to the navies of other nations, always be of
greater size than our army. We have most wisely continued for a number
of years to build up our navy, and it has now reached a fairly high
standard of efficiency. This standard of efficiency must not only be
maintained, but increased. It does not seem to be necessary, however,
that the navy should--at least in the immediate future--be increased
beyond the present number of units. What is now clearly necessary is to
substitute efficient for 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 a single battleship to our navy each
year, the superseded or outworn vessels being laid up or broken up as
they are thus replaced. The four single-turret monitors built
immediately after the close of the Spanish war, for instance, are
vessels which would be of but little use in the event of war. The money
spent upon them could have been more usefully spent in other ways. Thus
it would have been far better never to have built a single one of these
monitors and to have put the money into an ample supply of reserve
guns. Most of the smaller cruisers and gunboats, though they serve a
useful purpose so far as they are needed for international police work,
would not add to the strength of our navy in a conflict with a serious
foe. There is urgent need of providing a large increase in the number
of officers, and especially in the number of enlisted men.
Recent naval history has emphasized certain lessons which ought not to,
but which do, need emphasis. Seagoing torpedo boats or destroyers are
indispensable, not only for making night attacks by surprise upon an
enemy, but even in battle for finishing already crippled ships. Under
exceptional circumstances submarine boats would doubtless be of use.
Fast scouts are needed. The main strength of the navy, however, lies,
and can only lie, in the great battleships, the heavily armored,
heavily gunned vessels which decide the mastery of the seas.
Heavy-armed cruisers also play a most useful part, and unarmed
cruisers, if swift enough, are very useful as scouts. Between
antagonists of approximately equal prowess the comparative perfection
of the instruments of war will ordinarily determine the fight. But it
is, of course, true that the man behind the gun, the man in the engine
room, and the man in the conning tower, considered not only
individually, but especially with regard to the way in which they work
together, are even more important than the weapons with which they
work. The most formidable battleship is, of course, helpless against
even a light cruiser if the men aboard it are unable to hit anything
with their guns, and thoroughly well-handled cruisers may count
seriously in an engagement with much superior vessels, if the men
aboard the latter are ineffective, whether from lack of training or
from any other cause. Modern warships are most formidable mechanisms
when well handled, but they are utterly useless when not well handled,
and they cannot be handled at all without long and careful training.
This training can under no circumstance be given when once war has
broken out. No fighting ship of the first class should ever be laid up
save for necessary repairs, and her crew should be kept constantly
exercised on the high seas, so that she may stand at the highest point
of perfection. To put a new and untrained crew upon the most powerful
battleship and send it out to meet a formidable enemy is not only to
invite, but to insure, disaster and disgrace. To improvise crews at the
outbreak of a war, so far as the serious fighting craft are concerned,
is absolutely hopeless. If the officers and men are not thoroughly
skilled in, and have not been thoroughly trained to, their duties, it
would be far better to keep the ships in port during hostilities than
to send them against a formidable opponent, for the result could only
be that they would be either sunk or captured. The marksmanship of our
navy is now on the whole in a gratifying condition, and there has been
a great improvement in fleet practice. We need additional seamen; we
need a large store of reserve guns; we need sufficient money for ample
target practice, ample practice of every kind at sea. We should
substitute for comparatively inefficient types--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-boat destroyers should be
substituted for some of the smaller torpedo boats. During the present
Congress there need be no additions to the aggregate number of units of
the navy. Our navy, though very small relatively to the navies of other
nations, is for the present sufficient in point of numbers for our
needs, and while we must constantly strive to make its efficiency
higher, there need be no additions to the total of ships now built and
building, save in the way of substitution as above outlined. I
recommend the report of the Secretary of the Navy to the careful
consideration of the Congress, especially with a view to the
legislation therein advocated.
During the past year evidence has accumulated to confirm the
expressions contained in my last two annual messages as to the
importance of revising by appropriate legislation our system of
naturalizing aliens. I appointed last March a commission to make a
careful examination of our naturalization laws, and to suggest
appropriate measures to avoid the notorious abuses resulting from the
improvident of unlawful granting of citizenship. This commission,
composed of an officer of the Department of State, of the Department of
Justice, and of the Department of Commerce and Labor, has discharged
the duty imposed upon it, and has submitted a report, which will be
transmitted to the Congress for its consideration, and, I hope, for its
favor, able action.
The distinguishing recommendations of the commission are:
First--A Federal Bureau of Naturalization, to be established in the
Department of Commerce and Labor, to supervise the administration of
the naturalization laws and to receive returns of naturalizations
pending and accomplished.
Second--Uniformity of naturalization certificates, fees to be charged,
and procedure.
Third--More exacting qualifications for citizenship.
Fourth--The preliminary declaration of intention to be abolished and no
alien to be naturalized until at least ninety days after the filing of
his petition.
Fifth--Jurisdiction to naturalize aliens to be confined to United
States district courts and to such State courts as have jurisdiction in
civil actions in which the amount in controversy is unlimited; in
cities of over 100,000 inhabitants the United States district courts to
have exclusive jurisdiction in the naturalization of the alien
residents of such cities.
In my last message I asked the attention of the Congress to the urgent
need of action to make our criminal law more effective; and I most
earnestly request that you pay heed to the report of the Attorney
General on this subject. Centuries ago it was especially needful to
throw every safeguard round the accused. The danger then was lest he
should be wronged by the State. The danger is now exactly the reverse.
Our laws and customs tell immensely in favor of the criminal and
against the interests of the public he has wronged. Some antiquated and
outworn rules which once safeguarded the threatened rights of private
citizens, now merely work harm to the general body politic. The
criminal law of the United States stands in urgent need of revision.
The criminal process of any court of the United States should run
throughout the entire territorial extent of our country. The delays of
the criminal law, no less than of the civil, now amount to a very great
evil.
There seems to be no statute of the United States which provides for
the punishment of a United States Attorney or other officer of the
Government who corruptly agrees to wrongfully do or wrongfully refrain
from doing any act when the consideration for such corrupt agreement 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 trust in the
shape of prematurely divulging official secrets by an officer or
employe of the United States, and to provide a suitable penalty
therefor. Such officer or employe owes the duty to the United States to
guard carefully and not to divulge or in any manner use, prematurely,
information which is accessible to the officer or employe by reason of
his official position. Most breaches of public trust are already
covered by the law, and this one should be. It is impossible, no matter
how much care is used, to prevent the occasional appointment to the
public service of a man who when tempted proves unfaithful; but every
means should be provided to detect and every effort made to punish the
wrongdoer. So far as in my power see each and every such wrongdoer
shall be relentlessly hunted down; in no instance in the past has he
been spared; in no instance in the future shall he be spared. His crime
is a crime against every honest man in the Nation, for it is a crime
against the whole body politic. Yet in dwelling on such misdeeds it is
unjust not to add that they are altogether exceptional, and that on the
whole the employes of the Government render upright and faithful
service to the people. There are exceptions, notably in one or two
branches of the service, but at no time in the Nation's history has the
public service of the Nation taken as a whole stood on a higher plane
than now, alike as regards honesty and as regards efficiency.
Once again I call your attention to the condition of the public land
laws. Recent developments have given new urgency to the need for such
changes as will fit these laws to actual present conditions. The honest
disposal and right use of the remaining public lands is of fundamental
importance. The iniquitous methods by which the monopolizing of the
public lands is being brought about under the present laws are becoming
more generally known, but the existing laws do not furnish effective
remedies. The recommendations of the Public Lands Commission upon this
subject are wise and should be given effect.
The creation of small irrigated farms under the Reclamation act is a
powerful offset to the tendency of certain other laws to foster or
permit monopoly of the land. Under that act the construction of great
irrigation works has been proceeding rapidly and successfully, the
lands reclaimed are eagerly taken up, and the prospect that the policy
of National irrigation will accomplish all that was expected of it is
bright. The act should be extended to include the State of Texas.
The Reclamation act derives much of its value from the fact that it
tends to secure the greatest possible number of homes on the land, and
to create communities of freeholders, in part by settlement on public
lands, in part by forcing the subdivision of large private holdings
before they can get water from Government irrigation works. The law
requires that no right to the use of water for land in private
ownership shall be sold for a tract exceeding 160 acres to any one land
owner. This provision has excited active and powerful hostility, but
the success of the law itself depends on the wise and firm enforcement
of it. We cannot afford to substitute tenants for freeholders on the
public domain.
The greater part of the remaining public lands can not be irrigated.
They are at present and will probably always be of greater value for
grazing than for any other purpose. This fact has led to the grazing
homestead of 640 acres in Nebraska and to the proposed extension of it
to other States. It is argued that a family can not be supported on 160
acres of arid grazing land. This is obviously true, but neither can a
family be supported on 640 acres of much of the land to which it is
proposed to apply the grazing homestead. To establish universally any
such arbitrary limit would be unwise at the present time. It would
probably result on the one hand in enlarging the holdings of some of
the great land owners, and on the other in needless suffering and
failure on the part of a very considerable proportion of the bona fide
settlers who give faith to the implied assurance of the Government that
such an area is sufficient. The best use of the public grazing lands
requires the careful examination and classification of these lands in
order to give each settler land enough to support his family and no
more. While this work is being done, and until the lands are settled,
the Government should take control of the open range, under reasonable
regulations suited to local needs, following the general policy already
in successful operation on the forest reserves. It is probable that the
present grazing value of the open public range is scarcely more than
half what it once was or what it might easily be again under careful
regulation.
The forest policy of the Administration appears to enjoy the unbroken
support of the people. The great users of timber are themselves
forwarding the movement for forest preservation. All organized
opposition to the forest preserves in the West has disappeared. Since
the consolidation of all Government forest work in the National Forest
Service there has been a rapid and notable gain in the usefulness of
the forest reserves to the people and in public appreciation of their
value. The National parks within or adjacent to forest reserves should
be transferred to the charge of the Forest Service also.
The National Government already does something in connection with the
construction and maintenance of the great system of levees along the
lower course of the Mississippi; in my judgment it should do much more.
To the spread of our trade in peace and the defense of our flag in war
a great and prosperous merchant marine is indispensable. We should have
ships of our own and seamen of our own to convey our goods to neutral
markets, and in case of need to reinforce our battle line. It cannot
but be a source of regret and uneasiness to us that the lines of
communication with our sister republics of South America should be
chiefly under foreign control. It is not a good thing that American
merchants and manufacturers should have to send their goods and letters
to South America via Europe if they wish security and dispatch. Even on
the Pacific, where our ships have held their own better than on the
Atlantic, our merchant flag is now threatened through the liberal aid
bestowed by other Governments on their own steam lines. I ask your
earnest consideration of the report with which the Merchant Marine
Commission has followed its long and careful inquiry.
I again heartily commend to your favorable consideration the
tercentennial celebration at Jamestown, Va. Appreciating the
desirability of this commemoration, the Congress passed an act, March
3, 1905, authorizing in the year 1907, on and near the waters of
Hampton Roads, 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 have made proclamation of said
celebration, and have issued, in conformity with its instructions,
invitations to all the nations of the earth to participate, by sending
their naval vessels and such military organizations as may be
practicable. This celebration would fail of its full purpose unless it
were enduring in its results and commensurate with the importance of
the event to be celebrated, the event from which our Nation dates its
birth. I earnestly hope that this celebration, already indorsed by the
Congress of the United States, and by the Legislatures of sixteen
States since the action of the Congress, will receive such additional
aid at your hands as will make it worthy of the great event it is
intended to celebrate, and thereby enable the Government of the United
States to make provision for the exhibition of its own resources, and
likewise enable our people who have undertaken the work of such a
celebration to provide suitable and proper entertainment and
instruction in the historic events of our country for all who may visit
the exposition and to whom we have tendered our hospitality.
It is a matter of unmixed satisfaction once more to call attention to
the excellent work of the Pension Bureau; for the veterans of the civil
war have a greater claim 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, President McKinley, stated
that the time had come for the Nation to care for the graves of the
Confederate dead. I recommend that the Congress take action toward this
end. The first need is to take charge of the graves of the Confederate
dead who died in Northern prisons.
The question of immigration is of vital interest to this 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 elapsed there came to this country a greater number of people than
came here during the one hundred and sixty-nine years of our Colonial
life which intervened between the first landing at Jamestown and the
Declaration of Independence. It is clearly shown in the report of the
Commissioner General of Immigration that while much of this enormous
immigration is undoubtedly healthy and natural, a considerable
proportion is undesirable from one reason or another; moreover, a
considerable proportion of it, probably a very large proportion,
including most of the undesirable class, does not come here of its own
initiative, but because of the activity of the agents of the great
transportation companies. These agents are distributed throughout
Europe, and by the offer of all kinds of inducements they wheedle and
cajole many immigrants, often against their best interest, to come
here. The most serious obstacle we have to encounter in the effort to
secure a proper regulation of the immigration to these shores arises
from the determined opposition of the foreign steamship lines who have
no interest whatever in the matter save to increase the returns on
their capital by carrying masses of immigrants hither in the steerage
quarters of their ships.
As I said in my last message to the Congress, we cannot have too much
immigration of the right sort and we should have none whatever of the
wrong sort. Of course, it is desirable that even the right kind of
immigration should be properly distributed in this country. We need
more of such immigration for the South; and special effort should be
made to secure it. Perhaps it would be possible to limit the number of
immigrants allowed to come in any one year to New York and other
Northern cities, while leaving unlimited the number allowed to come to
the South; always provided, however, that a stricter effort is made to
see that only immigrants of the right kind come to our country
anywhere. In actual practice it has proved so difficult to enforce the
migration laws where long stretches of frontier marked by an imaginary
line alone intervene between us and our neighbors that I recommend that
no immigrants be allowed to come in from Canada and Mexico save natives
of the two countries themselves. As much as possible should be done to
distribute the immigrants upon the land and keep them away from the
contested tenement-house districts of the great cities. But
distribution is a palliative, not a cure. The prime need is to keep out
all immigrants who will not make good American citizens. The laws now
existing for the exclusion of undesirable immigrants should be
strengthened. Adequate means should be adopted, enforced by sufficient
penalties, to compel steamship companies engaged in the passenger
business to observe in good faith the law which forbids them to
encourage or solicit immigration to the United States. Moreover, there
should be a sharp limitation imposed upon all vessels coming to our
ports as to the number of immigrants in ratio to the tonnage which each
vessel can carry. This ratio should be high enough to insure the coming
hither of as good a class of aliens as possible. Provision should be
made for the surer punishment of those who induce aliens to come to
this country under promise or assurance of employment. It should be
made possible to inflict a sufficiently heavy penalty on any employer
violating this law to deter him from taking the risk. It seems to me
wise that there should be an international conference held to deal with
this question of immigration, which has more than a merely National
significance; such a conference could, among other things, enter at
length into the method for securing a thorough inspection of would-be
immigrants at the ports from which they desire to embark before
permitting them to embark.
In dealing with this question it is unwise to depart from the old
American tradition and to discriminate for or against any man who
desires to come here and become a citizen, save on the ground of that
man's fitness for citizenship. It is our right and duty to consider his
moral and social quality. His standard of living should be such that he
will not, by pressure of competition, lower the standard of living of
our own wage-workers; for it must ever be a prime object of our
legislation to keep high their standard of living. If the man who seeks
to come here is from the moral and social standpoint of such a
character as to bid fair to add value to the community he should be
heartily welcomed. We cannot afford to pay heed to whether he is of one
creed or another, of one nation, or another. We cannot afford to
consider whether he is Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Gentile; whether
he is Englishman or Irishman, Frenchman or German, Japanese, Italian,
Scandinavian, Slav, or Magyar. What we should desire to find out is the
individual quality of the individual man. In my judgment, with this end
in view, we shall have to prepare through our own agents a far more
rigid inspection in the countries from which the immigrants come. It
will be a great deal better to have fewer immigrants, but all of the
right kind, than a great number of immigrants, many of whom are
necessarily of the wrong kind. As far as possible we wish to limit the
immigration to this country to persons who propose to become citizens
of this country, and we can well afford to insist upon adequate
scrutiny of the character of those who are thus proposed for future
citizenship. There should be an increase in the stringency of the laws
to keep out insane, idiotic, epileptic, and pauper immigrants. But this
is by no means enough. Not merely the Anarchist, but every man of
Anarchistic tendencies, all violent and disorderly people, all people
of bad character, the incompetent, the lazy, the vicious, the
physically unfit, defective, or degenerate should be kept out. The
stocks out of which American citizenship is to be built should be
strong and healthy, sound in body, mind, and character. If it be
objected that the Government agents would not always select well, the
answer is that they would certainly select better than do the agents
and brokers of foreign steamship companies, the people who now do
whatever selection is done.
The questions arising in connection with Chinese immigration stand by
themselves. The conditions in China are such that the entire Chinese
coolie class, that is, the class of Chinese laborers, skilled and
unskilled, legitimately come under the head of undesirable immigrants
to this country, because of their numbers, the low wages for which they
work, and their low standard of living. Not only is it to the interest
of this country to keep them out, but the Chinese authorities do not
desire that they should be admitted. At present their entrance is
prohibited by laws amply adequate to accomplish this purpose. These
laws have been, are being, and will be, thoroughly enforced. The
violations of them are so few in number as to be infinitesimal and can
be entirely disregarded. This is no serious proposal to alter the
immigration law as regards the Chinese laborer, skilled or unskilled,
and there is no excuse for any man feeling or affecting to feel the
slightest alarm on the subject.
But in the effort to carry out the policy of excluding Chinese
laborers, Chinese coolies, grave injustice and wrong have been done by
this Nation to the people of China, and therefore ultimately to this
Nation itself. Chinese students, business and professional men of all
kinds--not only merchants, but bankers, doctors, manufacturers,
professors, travelers, and the like--should be encouraged to come here,
and treated on precisely the same footing that we treat students,
business men, travelers, and the like of other nations. Our laws and
treaties should be framed, not so as to put these people in the
excepted classes, but to state that we will admit all Chinese, except
Chinese of the coolie class, Chinese skilled or unskilled laborers.
There would not be the least danger that any such provision would
result 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 justice and courtesy are shown, as they ought to be shown, to
other Chinese, if the law or treaty is framed as above suggested.
Examinations should be completed at the port of departure from China.
For this purpose there should be provided a more adequate Consular
Service in China than we now have. The appropriations both for the
offices of the Consuls and for the office forces in the consulates
should be increased.
As a people we have talked much of the open door in China, and we
expect, and quite rightly intend to insist upon, justice being shown us
by the Chinese. But we cannot expect to receive equity unless we do
equity. We cannot ask the Chinese to do to us what we are unwilling to
do to them. They would have a perfect right to exclude our laboring men
if our laboring men threatened to come into their country in such
numbers as to jeopardize the well-being of the Chinese population; and
as, mutatis mutandis, these were the conditions with which Chinese
immigration actually brought this people face to face, we had and have
a perfect right, which the Chinese Government in no way contests, to
act as we have acted in the matter of restricting coolie immigration.
That this right exists for each country was explicitly acknowledged in
the last treaty between the two countries. But we must treat the
Chinese student, traveler, and business man in a spirit of the broadest
justice and courtesy if we expect similar treatment to be accorded to
our own people of similar rank who go to China. Much trouble has come
during the past Summer from the organized boycott against American
goods which has been started in China. The main factor in producing
this boycott has been the resentment felt by the students and business
people of China, by all the Chinese leaders, against the harshness of
our law toward educated Chinamen of the professional and business
classes. This Government has the friendliest feeling for China and
desires China's well-being. We cordially sympathize with the announced
purpose of 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 books for twenty-two
years. Every President and a vast majority of heads of departments who
have been in office during that period have favored a gradual extension
of the merit system. The more thoroughly its principles have been
understood, the greater has been the favor with which the law has been
regarded by administration officers. Any attempt to carry on the great
executive departments of the Government without this law would
inevitably result in chaos. The Civil Service Commissioners are doing
excellent work, and their compensation is inadequate considering the
service they perform.
The statement that the examinations are not practical in character is
based on a misapprehension of the practice of the Commission. The
departments are invariably consulted as to the requirements desired and
as to the character of questions that shall be asked. General
invitations are frequently sent out to all heads of departments asking
whether any changes in the scope or character of examinations are
required. In other words, the departments prescribe the requirements
and qualifications desired, and the Civil Service Commission
co-operates with them in securing persons with these qualifications and
insuring open and impartial competition. In a large number of
examinations (as, for example, those for trades positions), there are
no educational requirements whatever, and a person who can neither read
nor write may pass with a high average. Vacancies in the service are
filled with reasonable expedition, and the machinery of the Commission,
which reaches every part of the country, is the best agency that has
yet been devised for finding people with the most suitable
qualifications for the various offices to be filled. Written
competitive examinations do not make an ideal method for filling
positions, but they do represent an immeasurable advance upon the
"spoils" method, under which outside politicians really make the
appointments nominally made by the executive officers, the appointees
being chosen by the politicians in question, in the great majority of
cases, for reasons totally unconnected with the needs of the service or
of the public.
Statistics gathered by the Census Bureau show that the tenure of office
in the Government service does not differ materially from that enjoyed
by employes of large business corporations. Heads of executive
departments and members of the Commission have called my attention to
the fact that the rule requiring a filing of charges and three days'
notice before an employe could be separated from the service for
inefficiency has served no good purpose whatever, because that is not a
matter upon which a hearing of the employe found to be inefficient can
be of any value, and in practice the rule providing for such notice and
hearing has merely resulted in keeping in a certain number of
incompetents, because of the reluctance of the heads of departments and
bureau chiefs to go through the required procedure. Experience has
shown that this rule is wholly ineffective to save any man, if a
superior for improper reasons wishes to remove him, and is mischievous
because it sometimes serves to keep in the service incompetent men not
guilty of specific wrongdoing. Having these facts in view the rule has
been amended by providing that where the inefficiency or incapacity
comes within the personal knowledge of the head of a department the
removal may be made without notice, the reasons therefor being filed
and made a record of the department. The absolute right of the removal
rests where it always has rested, with the head of a department; any
limitation of this absolute right results in grave injury to the public
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 impartially enforced,
and in the large majority of cases complaints of violations of either
the law or rules are discovered to be unfounded. In this respect this
law compares very favorably with any other Federal statute. The
question of politics in the appointment and retention of the men
engaged in merely ministerial work has been practically eliminated in
almost the entire field of Government employment covered by the civil
service law. The action of the Congress in providing the commission
with its own force instead of requiring it to rely on detailed clerks
has been justified by the increased work done at a smaller cost to the
Government. I urge upon the Congress a careful consideration of the
recommendations contained in the annual report of the commission.
Our copyright laws urgently need revision. They are imperfect in
definition, confused and inconsistent in expression; they omit
provision for many articles which, under modern reproductive processes
are entitled to protection; they impose hardships upon the copyright
proprietor which are not essential to the fair protection of the
public; they are difficult for the courts to interpret and impossible
for the Copyright Office to administer with satisfaction to the public.
Attempts to improve them by amendment have been frequent, no less than
twelve acts for the purpose having been passed since the Revised
Statutes. To perfect them by further amendment seems impracticable. A
complete revision of them is essential. Such a revision, to meet modern
conditions, has been found necessary in Germany, Austria, Sweden, and
other foreign countries, and bills embodying it are pending in England
and the Australian colonies. It has been urged here, and proposals for
a commission to undertake it have, from time to time, been pressed upon
the Congress. The inconveniences of the present conditions being so
great, an attempt to frame appropriate legislation has been made by the
Copyright Office, which has called conferences of the various interests
especially and practically concerned with the operation of the
copyright laws. It has secured from them suggestions as to the changes
necessary; it has added from its own experience and investigations, and
it has drafted a bill which embodies such of these changes and
additions as, after full discussion and expert criticism, appeared to
be sound and safe. In form this bill would replace the existing
insufficient and inconsistent laws by one general copyright statute. It
will be presented to the Congress at the coming session. It deserves
prompt consideration.
I recommend that a law be enacted to regulate inter-State commerce in
misbranded and adulterated foods, drinks, and drugs. Such law would
protect legitimate manufacture and commerce, and would tend to secure
the health and welfare of the consuming public. Traffic in food-stuffs
which have been debased or adulterated so as to injure health or to
deceive purchasers should be forbidden.
The law forbidding the emission of dense black or gray smoke in the
city of Washington has been sustained by the courts. Something has been
accomplished under it, but much remains to be done if we would preserve
the capital city from defacement by the smoke nuisance. Repeated
prosecutions under the law have not had the desired effect. I recommend
that it be made more stringent by increasing both the minimum and
maximum fine; by providing for imprisonment in cases of repeated
violation, and by affording the remedy of injunction against the
continuation of the operation of plants which are persistent offenders.
I recommend, also, an increase in the number of inspectors, whose duty
it shall be to detect violations of the act.
I call your attention to the generous act of the State of California in
conferring upon the United States Government the ownership of the
Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove. There should be no
delay in accepting the gift, and appropriations should be made for the
including thereof in the Yosemite National Park, and for the care and
policing of the park. California has acted most wisely, as well as with
great magnanimity, in the matter. There are certain mighty natural
features of our land which should be preserved in perpetuity for our
children and our children's children. In my judgment, the Grand Canyon
of the Colorado should be made into a National park. It is greatly to
be wished that the State of New York should copy as regards Niagara
what the State of California has done as regards the Yosemite. Nothing
should be allowed to interfere with the preservation of Niagara Falls
in all their beauty and majesty. If the State cannot see to this, then
it is earnestly to be wished that she should be willing to turn it over
to the National Government, which should in such case (if possible, in
conjunction with the Canadian Government) assume the burden and
responsibility of preserving unharmed Niagara Falls; just as it should
gladly assume a similar burden and responsibility for the Yosemite
National Park, and as it has already assumed them for the Yellowstone
National Park. Adequate provision should be made by the Congress for
the proper care and supervision of all these National parks. The
boundaries of the Yellowstone National Park should be extended to the
south and east, to take in such portions of the abutting forest
reservations as will enable the Government to protect the elk on their
Winter range.
The most characteristic animal of the Western plains was the great,
shaggy-maned wild ox, the bison, commonly known as buffalo. Small
fragments of herds exist in a domesticated state here and there, a few
of them in the Yellowstone Park. Such a herd as that on the Flat-head
Reservation should not be allowed to go out of existence. Either on
some reservation or on some forest reserve like the Wichita reserve and
game refuge provision should be made for the preservation of such a
herd. I believe that the scheme would be of economic advantage, for the
robe of the buffalo is of high market value, and the same is true of
the robe of the crossbred animals.
I call your especial attention to the desirability of giving to the
members of the Life Saving Service pensions such as are given to
firemen and policemen in all our great cities. The men in the Life
Saving Service continually and in the most matter of fact way do deeds
such as make Americans proud of their country. They have no political
influence, and they live in such remote places that the really heroic
services they continually render receive the scantiest recognition from
the public. It is unjust for a great nation like this to permit these
men to become totally disabled or to meet death in the performance of
their hazardous duty and yet to give them no sort of reward. If one of
them serves thirty years of his life in such a position he should
surely be entitled to retire on half pay, as a fireman or policeman
does, and if he becomes totally incapacitated through accident or
sickness, or loses his health in the discharge of his duty, he or his
family should receive a pension just as any soldier should. I call your
attention with especial earnestness to this matter because it appeals
not only to our judgment but to our sympathy; for the people on whose
behalf I ask it are comparatively few in number, render incalculable
service of a particularly dangerous kind, and have no one to speak for
them.
During the year just past, the phase of the Indian question which has
been most sharply brought to public attention is the larger legal
significance of the Indian's induction into citizenship. This has made
itself manifest not only in a great access of litigation in which the
citizen Indian figures as a party defendant and in a more widespread
disposition to levy local taxation upon his personalty, but in a
decision of the United States Supreme Court which struck away the main
prop on which has hitherto rested the Government's benevolent effort to
protect him against the evils of intemperance. The court holds, in
effect, that when an Indian becomes, by virtue of an allotment of land
to him, a citizen of the State in which his land is situated, he passes
from under Federal control in such matters as this, and the acts of the
Congress prohibiting the sale or gift to him of intoxicants become
substantially inoperative. It is gratifying to note that the States and
municipalities of the West which have most at stake in the welfare of
the Indians are taking up this subject and are trying to supply, in a
measure at least, the abdication of its trusteeship forced upon the
Federal Government. Nevertheless, I would urgently press upon the
attention of the Congress the question whether some amendment of the
internal revenue laws might not be of aid in prosecuting those
malefactors, known in the Indian country as "bootleggers," who are
engaged at once in defrauding the United States Treasury of taxes and,
what is far more important, in debauching the Indians by carrying
liquors illicitly into territory still completely under Federal
jurisdiction.
Among the crying present needs of the Indians are more day schools
situated in the midst of their settlements, more effective instruction
in the industries pursued on their own farms, and a more liberal
tension of the field-matron service, which means the education of the
Indian women in the arts of home making. Until the mothers are well
started in the right direction we cannot reasonably expect much from
the children who are soon to form an integral part of our American
citizenship. Moreover the excuse continually advanced by male adult
Indians for refusing offers of remunerative employment at a distance
from their homes is that they dare not leave their families too long
out of their sight. One effectual remedy for this state of things is to
employ the minds and strengthen the moral fibre of the Indian
women--the end to which the work of the field matron is especially
directed. I trust that the Congress will make its appropriations for
Indian day schools and field matrons as generous as may consist with
the other pressing demands upon its providence.
During the last year the Philippine Islands have been slowly recovering
from the series of disasters which, since American occupation, have
greatly reduced the amount of agricultural products below what was
produced in Spanish times. The war, the rinderpest, the locusts, the
drought, and the cholera have been united as causes to prevent a return
of the prosperity much needed in the islands. The most serious is the
destruction by the rinderpest of more than 75 per cent of the draught
cattle, because it will take several years of breeding to restore the
necessary number of these indispensable aids to agriculture. The
commission attempted to supply by purchase from adjoining countries the
needed cattle, but the experiments made were unsuccessful. Most of the
cattle imported were unable to withstand the change of climate and the
rigors of the voyage and died from other diseases than rinderpest.
The income of the Philippine Government has necessarily been reduced by
reason of the business and agricultural depression in the islands, and
the Government has been obliged to exercise great economy to cut down
its expenses, to reduce salaries, and in every way to avoid a deficit.
It has adopted an internal revenue law, imposing taxes on cigars,
cigarettes, and distilled liquors, and abolishing the old Spanish
industrial taxes. The law has not operated as smoothly as was hoped,
and although its principle is undoubtedly correct, it may need
amendments for the purpose of reconciling the people to its provisions.
The income derived from it has partly made up for the reduction in
customs revenue.
There has been a marked increase in the number of Filipinos employed in
the civil service, and a corresponding decrease in the number of
Americans. The Government in every one of its departments has been
rendered more efficient by elimination of undesirable material and the
promotion of deserving public servants.
Improvements of harbors, roads, and bridges continue, although the
cutting down of the revenue forbids the expenditure of any great amount
from current income for these purposes. Steps are being taken, by
advertisement for competitive bids, to secure the construction and
maintenance of 1,000 miles of railway by private corporations under the
recent enabling legislation of the Congress. The transfer of the friar
lands, in accordance with the contract made some two years ago, has
been completely effected, and the purchase money paid. Provision has
just been made by statute for the speedy settlement in a special
proceeding in the Supreme Court of controversies over the possession
and title of church buildings and rectories arising between the Roman
Catholic Church and schismatics claiming under ancient municipalities.
Negotiations and hearings for the settlement of the amount due to the
Roman Catholic Church for rent and occupation of churches and rectories
by the army of the United States are in progress, and it is hoped a
satisfactory conclusion may be submitted to the Congress before the end
of the session.
Tranquillity has existed during the past year throughout the
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.
The Jolo disturbance was put an end to by several sharp and short
engagements, and now peace prevails in the Moro Province, Cavite, the
mother of ladrones in the Spanish times, is so permeated with the
traditional sympathy of the people for ladronism as to make it
difficult to stamp out the disease. Batangas was only disturbed by
reason of the fugitive ladrones from Cavite, Samar was thrown into
disturbance by the uneducated and partly savage peoples living in the
mountains, who, having been given by the municipal code 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 a
much less price than it was worth, and by their abuses drove their
people into resistance to constituted authority. Cavite and Samar are
instances of reposing too much confidence in the self-governing power
of a people. The disturbances have all now been suppressed, and it is
hoped that with these lessons local governments can be formed which
will secure quiet and peace to the deserving inhabitants. The incident
is another proof of the fact that if there has been any error as
regards giving self-government in the Philippines it has been in the
direction of giving it too quickly, not too slowly. A year from next
April the first legislative assembly for the islands will be held. On
the sanity and self-restraint of this body much will depend so far as
the future self-government of the islands is concerned.
The most encouraging feature of the whole situation has been the very
great interest taken by the common people in education and the great
increase in the number 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 to be the capacity of the government to furnish teachers
and school houses.
The agricultural conditions of the islands enforce more strongly than
ever the argument in favor of reducing the tariff on the products of
the Philippine Islands entering the United States. I earnestly
recommend that the tariff now imposed by the Dingley bill upon the
products of the Philippine Islands be entirely removed, except the
tariff on sugar and tobacco, and that that tariff be reduced to 25 per
cent of the present rates under the Dingley act; that after July 1,
1909, the tariff upon tobacco and sugar produced in the Philippine
Islands be entirely removed, and that free trade between the islands
and the United States in the products of each country then be provided
for by law.
A statute in force, enacted April 15, 1904, suspends the operation of
the coastwise laws of the United States upon the trade between the
Philippine Islands and the United States until July 1, 1906. I
earnestly recommend that this suspension be postponed until July 1,
1909. I think it of doubtful utility to apply the coastwise laws to the
trade between the United States and the Philippines under any
circumstances, because I am convinced that it will do no good whatever
to American bottoms, and will only interfere and be an obstacle to the
trade between the Philippines and the United States, but if the
coastwise law must be thus applied, certainly it ought not to have
effect until free trade is enjoyed between the people of the United
States and the people of the Philippine Islands in their respective
products.
I do not anticipate that free trade between the islands and the United
States will produce a revolution in the sugar and tobacco production of
the Philippine Islands. So primitive are the methods of agriculture in
the Philippine Islands, so slow is capital in going to the islands, so
many difficulties surround a large agricultural enterprise in the
islands, that it will be many, many years before the products of those
islands will have any effect whatever upon the markets of the United
States. The problem of labor is also a formidable one with the sugar
and tobacco producers in the islands. The best friends of the Filipino
people and the people themselves are utterly opposed to the admission
of Chinese coolie labor. Hence the only solution is the training of
Filipino labor, and this will take a long time. The enactment of a law
by the Congress of the United States making provision for free trade
between the islands and the United States, however, will be of great
importance from a political and sentimental standpoint; and, while its
actual benefit has doubtless been exaggerated by the people of the
islands, they will accept this measure of justice as an indication that
the people of the United States are anxious to aid the people of the
Philippine Islands in every way, and especially in the agricultural
development of their archipelago. It will aid the Filipinos without
injuring interests in America.
In my judgment immediate steps should be taken for the fortification of
Hawaii. This is the most important point in the Pacific to fortify in
order to conserve the interests of this country. It would be hard to
overstate the importance of this need. Hawaii is too heavily taxed.
Laws should be enacted setting aside for a period of, say, twenty years
75 per cent of the internal revenue and customs receipts from Hawaii as
a special fund to be expended in the islands for educational and public
buildings, and for harbor improvements and military and naval defenses.
It cannot be too often repeated that our aim must be to develop the
territory of Hawaii on traditional American lines. That territory has
serious commercial and industrial problems to reckon with; but no
measure of relief can be considered which looks to legislation
admitting Chinese and restricting them by statute to field labor and
domestic service. The status of servility can never again be tolerated
on American soil. We cannot concede that the proper solution of its
problems is special legislation admitting to Hawaii a class of laborers
denied admission to the other States and Territories. There are
obstacles, and great obstacles, in the way of building up a
representative American community in the Hawaiian Islands; but it is
not in the American character to give up in the face of difficulty.
Many an American Commonwealth has been built up against odds equal to
those that now confront Hawaii.
No merely half-hearted effort to meet its problems as other American
communities have met theirs can be accepted as final. Hawaii shall
never become a territory in which a governing class of rich planters
exists by means of coolie labor. Even if the rate of growth of the
Territory is thereby rendered slower, the growth must only take place
by the admission of immigrants fit in the end to assume the duties and
burdens of full American citizenship. Our aim must be to develop the
Territory on the same basis of stable citizenship as exists on this
continent.
I earnestly advocate the adoption of legislation which will explicitly
confer American citizenship on all citizens of Porto Rico. There is, in
my judgment, no excuse for failure to do this. The harbor of San Juan
should be dredged and improved. The expenses of the Federal Court of
Porto Rico should be met from the Federal Treasury and not from the
Porto Rican treasury. The elections in Porto Rico should take place
every four years, and the Legislature should meet in session every two
years. The present form of government in Porto Rico, which provides for
the appointment by the President of the members of the Executive
Council or upper house of the Legislature, has proved satisfactory and
has inspired confidence in property owners and investors. I do not deem
it advisable at the present time to change this form in any material
feature. The problems and needs of the island are industrial and
commercial rather than political.
I wish to call the attention of the Congress to one question which
affects our insular possessions generally; namely, the need of an
increased liberality in the treatment of the whole franchise question
in these islands. In the proper desire to prevent the islands being
exploited by speculators and to have them develop in the interests of
their own people an error has been made in refusing to grant
sufficiently liberal terms to induce the investment of American capital
in the Philippines and in Porto Rico. Elsewhere in this message I have
spoken strongly against the jealousy of mere wealth, and especially of
corporate wealth as such. But it is particularly regrettable to allow
any such jealousy to be developed when we are dealing either with our
insular or with foreign affairs. The big corporation has achieved its
present position in the business world simply because it is the most
effective instrument in business competition. In foreign affairs we
cannot afford to put our people at a disadvantage with their
competitors by in any way discriminating against the efficiency of our
business organizations. In the same way we cannot afford to allow our
insular possessions to lag behind in industrial development from any
twisted jealousy of business success. It is, of course, a mere truism
to say that the business interests of the islands will only be
developed if it becomes the financial interest of somebody to develop
them. Yet this development is one of the things most earnestly to be
wished for in the interest of the islands themselves. We have been
paying all possible heed to the political and educational interests of
the islands, but, important though these objects are, it is not less
important that we should favor their industrial development. The
Government can in certain ways help this directly, as by building good
roads; but the fundamental and vital help must be given through the
development of the industries of the islands, and a most efficient
means to this end is to encourage big American corporations to start
industries in them, and this means to make it advantageous for them to
do so. To limit the ownership of mining claims, as has been done in the
Philippines, is absurd. In both the Philippines and Porto Rico the
limit of holdings of land should be largely raised.
I earnestly ask that Alaska be given an elective delegate. Some person
should be chosen who can speak with authority of the needs of the
Territory. The Government should aid in the construction of a railroad
from the Gulf of Alaska to the Yukon River, in American territory. In
my last two messages I advocated certain additional action on behalf of
Alaska. I shall not now repeat those recommendations, but I shall lay
all my stress upon the one recommendation of giving to Alaska some one
authorized to speak for it. I should prefer that the delegate was made
elective, but if this is not deemed wise, then make him appointive. At
any rate, give Alaska some person whose business it shall be to speak
with authority on her behalf to the Congress. The natural resources of
Alaska are great. Some of the chief needs of the peculiarly energetic,
self-reliant, and typically American white population of Alaska were
set forth in my last message. I also earnestly ask your attention to
the needs of the Alaskan Indians. All Indians who are competent should
receive the full rights 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 right to obtain licenses
as captains, pilots, and engineers; the right to enter mining claims,
and to profit by the homestead law. These particular Indians are
civilized and are competent and entitled to be put on the same basis
with the white men round about them.
I recommend that Indian Territory and Oklahoma be admitted as one State
and that New Mexico and Arizona be admitted as one State. There is no
obligation upon us to treat territorial subdivisions, which are matters
of convenience only, as binding us on the question of admission to
Statehood. Nothing has taken up more time in the Congress during the
past few years than the question as to the Statehood to be granted to
the four Territories above mentioned, and after careful consideration
of all that has been developed in the discussions of the question, I
recommend that they be immediately admitted as two States. There is no
justification for further delay; and the advisability of making the
four Territories into two States has been clearly established.
In some of the Territories the legislative assemblies issue licenses
for gambling. The Congress should by law forbid this practice, the
harmful results of which are obvious at a glance.
The treaty between the United States and the Republic of Panama, under
which the construction of the Panama Canal was made possible, went into
effect with its ratification by the United States Senate on February
23, 1904. The canal properties of the French Canal Company were
transferred to the United States on April 23, 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 Admiral Mordecai T.
Endicott, Brig. Gen. Peter C. Hains, and Col. Oswald H. Ernst. John F.
Stevens was appointed Chief Engineer on July 1 last. Active work in
canal construction, mainly preparatory, has been in progress for less
than a year and a half. During that period two points about the canal
have ceased to be open to debate: First, the question of route; the
canal will be built on the Isthmus of Panama. Second, the question of
feasibility; there are no physical obstacles on this route that
American engineering skill will not be able to overcome without serious
difficulty, or that will prevent the completion of the canal within a
reasonable time and at a reasonable cost. This is virtually the
unanimous testimony of the engineers who have investigated the matter
for the Government.
The point which remains unsettled is the question of type, whether the
canal shall be one of several locks above sea level, or at sea level
with a single tide lock. On this point I hope to lay before the
Congress at an early day the findings of the Advisory Board of American
and European Engineers, that at my invitation have been considering the
subject, together with the report of the Commission thereon, and such
comments thereon or recommendations in reference thereto as may seem
necessary.
The American people is pledged to the speediest possible construction
of a canal adequate to meet the demands which the commerce of the world
will make upon it, and I appeal most earnestly to the Congress to aid
in the fulfillment of the pledge. Gratifying progress has been made
during the past year, and especially during the past four months. The
greater part of the necessary preliminary work has been done. Actual
work of excavation could be begun only on a limited scale till the
Canal Zone was made a healthful place to live in and to work in. The
Isthmus had to be sanitated first. This task has been so thoroughly
accomplished that yellow fever has been virtually extirpated from the
Isthmus and general health conditions vastly improved. The same methods
which converted the island of Cuba from a pest hole, which menaced the
health of the world, into a healthful place of abode, have been applied
on the Isthmus with satisfactory results. There is no reason to doubt
that when the plans for water supply, paving, and sewerage of Panama
and Colon and the large labor camps have been fully carried out, the
Isthmus will be, for the tropics, an unusually healthy place of abode.
The work is so far advanced now that the health of all those employed
in canal work is as well guarded as it is on similar work in this
country and elsewhere.
In addition to sanitating the Isthmus, satisfactory quarters are being
provided for employes and an adequate system of supplying them with
wholesome food at reasonable prices has been created. Hospitals have
been established and equipped that are without their superiors of their
kind anywhere. The country has thus been made fit to work in, and
provision has been made for the welfare and comfort of those who are to
do the work. During the past year a large portion of the plant with
which the work is to be done has been ordered. It is confidently
believed that by the middle of the approaching year a sufficient
proportion of this plant will have been installed to enable us to
resume the work of excavation on a large scale.
What is needed now and without delay is an appropriation by the
Congress to meet the current and accruing expenses of the commission.
The first appropriation of $10,000,000, out of the $135,000,000
authorized by the Spooner act, was made three years ago. It is nearly
exhausted. There is barely enough of it remaining to carry the
commission to the end of the year. Unless the Congress shall
appropriate before that time all work must cease. To arrest progress
for any length of time now, when matters are advancing so
satisfactorily, would be deplorable. There will be no money with which
to meet pay roll obligations and none with which to meet bills coming
due for materials and supplies; and there will be demoralization of the
forces, here and on the Isthmus, now working so harmoniously and
effectively, if there is delay in granting an emergency appropriation.
Estimates of the amount necessary will be found in the accompanying
reports of the Secretary of War and the commission.
I recommend more adequate provision than has been made heretofore for
the work of the Department of State. Within a few years there has been
a very great increase in the amount and importance of the work to be
done by that department, both in Washington and abroad. This has been
caused by the great increase of our foreign trade, the increase of
wealth among our people, which enables them to travel more generally
than heretofore, the increase of American capital which is seeking
investment in foreign countries, and the growth of our power and weight
in the councils of the civilized world. There has been no corresponding
increase of facilities for doing the work afforded to the department
having charge of our foreign relations.
Neither at home nor abroad is there a sufficient working force to do
the business properly. In many respects the system which was adequate
to the work of twenty-five years or even ten years ago, is inadequate
now, and should be changed. Our Consular force should be classified,
and appointments should be made to the several classes, with authority
to the Executive to assign the members of each class to duty at such
posts as the interests of the service require, instead of the
appointments being made as at present to specified posts. There should
be an adequate inspection service, so that the department may be able
to inform itself how the business of each Consulate is being done,
instead of depending upon casual private information or rumor. The fee
system should be entirely abolished, and a due equivalent made in
salary to the officers who now eke out their subsistence by means of
fees. Sufficient provision should be made for a clerical force in every
Consulate composed entirely of Americans, instead of the insufficient
provision now made, which compels the employment of great numbers of
citizens of foreign countries whose services can be obtained for less
money. At a large part of our Consulates the office quarters and the
clerical force are inadequate to the performance of the onerous duties
imposed by the recent provisions of our immigration laws as well as by
our increasing trade. In many parts of the world the lack of suitable
quarters for our embassies, legations, and Consulates detracts from the
respect in which our officers ought to be held, and seriously impairs
their weight and influence.
Suitable provision should be made for the expense of keeping our
diplomatic officers more fully informed of what is being done from day
to day in the progress of our diplomatic affairs with other countries.
The lack of such information, caused by insufficient appropriations
available for cable tolls and for clerical and messenger service,
frequently puts our officers at a great disadvantage and detracts from
their usefulness. The salary list should be readjusted. It does not now
correspond either to the importance of the service to be rendered and
the degrees of ability and experience required in the different
positions, or to the differences in the cost of living. In many cases
the salaries are quite inadequate.
***
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 literally unprecedented
prosperity; and it is probable that only reckless speculation and
disregard of legitimate business methods on the part of the business
world can materially mar this prosperity.
No Congress in our time has done more good work of importance than the
present Congress. There were several matters left unfinished at your
last session, however, which I most earnestly hope you will complete
before your adjournment.
I again recommend a law prohibiting all corporations from contributing
to the campaign expenses of any party. Such a bill has already past one
House of Congress. Let individuals contribute as they desire; but let
us prohibit in effective fashion all corporations from making
contributions for any political purpose, directly or indirectly.
Another bill which has just past one House of the Congress and which it
is urgently necessary should be enacted into law is that conferring
upon the Government the right of appeal in criminal cases on questions
of law. This right exists in many of the States; it exists in the
District of Columbia by act of the Congress. It is of course not
proposed that in any case a verdict for the defendant on the merits
should be set aside. Recently in one district where the Government had
indicted certain persons for conspiracy in connection with rebates, the
court sustained the defendant's demurrer; while in another jurisdiction
an indictment for conspiracy to obtain rebates has been sustained by
the court, convictions obtained under it, and two defendants sentenced
to imprisonment. The two cases referred to may not be in real conflict
with each other, but it is unfortunate that there should even be an
apparent conflict. At present there is no way by which the Government
can cause such a conflict, when it occurs, to be solved by an appeal to
a higher court; and the wheels of justice are blocked without any real
decision of the question. I can not too strongly urge the passage of
the bill in question. A failure to pass it will result in seriously
hampering the Government in its effort to obtain justice, especially
against wealthy individuals or corporations who do wrong; and may also
prevent the Government from obtaining justice for wage-workers who are
not themselves able effectively to contest a case where the judgment of
an inferior court has been against them. I have specifically in view a
recent decision by a district judge leaving railway employees without
remedy for violation of a certain so-called labor statute. It seems an
absurdity to permit a single district judge, against what may be the
judgment of the immense majority of his colleagues on the bench,
to declare a law solemnly enacted by the Congress to be
"unconstitutional," and then to deny to the Government the right to
have the Supreme Court definitely decide the question.
It is well to recollect that the real efficiency of the law often
depends not upon the passage of acts as to which there is great public
excitement, but upon the passage of acts of this nature as to which
there is not much public excitement, because there is little public
understanding of their importance, while the interested parties are
keenly alive to the desirability of defeating them. The importance of
enacting into law the particular bill in question is further increased
by the fact that the Government has now definitely begun a policy of
resorting to the criminal law in those trust and interstate commerce
cases where such a course offers a reasonable chance of success. At
first, as was proper, every effort was made to enforce these laws by
civil proceedings; but it has become increasingly evident that the
action of the Government in finally deciding, in certain cases, to
undertake criminal proceedings was justifiable; and though there have
been some conspicuous failures in these cases, we have had many
successes, which have undoubtedly had a deterrent effect upon
evil-doers, whether the penalty inflicted was in the shape of fine or
imprisonment--and penalties of both kinds have already been inflicted
by the courts. Of course, where the judge can see his way to inflict
the penalty of imprisonment the deterrent effect of the punishment on
other offenders is increased; but sufficiently heavy fines accomplish
much. Judge Holt, of the New York district court, in a recent decision
admirably stated the need for treating with just severity offenders of
this kind. His opinion runs in part as follows:
'The Government's evidence to establish the defendant's guilt was
clear, conclusive, and undisputed. The case was a flagrant one. The
transactions which took place under this illegal contract were very
large; the amounts of rebates returned were considerable; and the
amount of the rebate itself was large, amounting to more than one-fifth
of the entire tariff charge for the transportation of merchandise from
this city to Detroit. It is not too much to say, in my opinion, that if
this business was carried on for a considerable time on that
basis--that is, if this discrimination in favor of this particular
shipper was made with an 18 instead of a 23 cent rate and the tariff
rate was maintained as against their competitors--the result might be
and not improbably would be that their competitors would be driven out
of business. This crime is one which in its nature is deliberate and
premeditated. I think over a fortnight elapsed between the date of
Palmer's letter requesting the reduced rate and the answer of the
railroad company deciding to grant it, and then for months afterwards
this business was carried on and these claims for rebates submitted
month after month and checks in payment of them drawn month after
month. Such a violation of the law, in my opinion, in its essential
nature, is a very much more heinous act than the ordinary common,
vulgar crimes which come before criminal courts constantly for
punishment and which arise from sudden passion or temptation. This
crime in this case was committed by men of education and of large
business experience, whose standing in the community was such that they
might have been expected to set an example of obedience to law upon the
maintenance of which alone in this country the security of their
property depends. It was committed on behalf of a great railroad
corporation, which, like other railroad corporations, has received
gratuitously from the State large and valuable privileges for the
public's convenience and its own, which performs quasi public functions
and which is charged with the highest obligation in the transaction of
its business to treat the citizens of this country alike, and not to
carry on its business with unjust discriminations between different
citizens or different classes of citizens. This crime in its nature is
one usually done with secrecy, and proof of which it is very difficult
to obtain. The interstate commerce act was past in 1887, nearly twenty
years ago. Ever since that time complaints of the granting of rebates
by railroads have been common, urgent, and insistent, and although the
Congress has repeatedly past legislation endeavoring to put a stop to
this evil, the difficulty of obtaining proof upon which to bring
prosecution in these cases is so great that this is the first case that
has ever been brought in this court, and, as I am formed, this case and
one recently brought in Philadelphia are the only cases that have ever
been brought in the eastern part of this country. In fact, but few
cases of this kind have ever been brought in this country, East or
West. Now, under these circumstances, I am forced to the conclusion, in
a case in which the proof is so clear and the facts are so flagrant, it
is the duty of the court to fix a penalty which shall in some degree be
commensurate with the gravity of the offense. As between the two
defendants, in my opinion, the principal penalty should be imposed on
the corporation. The traffic manager in this case, presumably, acted
without any advantage to himself and without any interest in the
transaction, either by the direct authority or in accordance with what
he understood to be the policy or the wishes of his employer.
"The sentence of this court in this case is, that the defendant
Pomeroy, for each of the six offenses upon which he has been convicted,
be fined the sum of $1,000, making six fines, amounting in all to the
sum of $6,000; and the defendant, The New York Central and Hudson River
Railroad Company, for each of the six crimes of which it has been
convicted, be fined the sum of $18,000, making six fines amounting in
the aggregate to the sum of $108,000, and judgment to that effect will
be entered in this case."
In connection with this matter, I would like to call attention to the
very unsatisfactory state of our criminal law, resulting in large part
from the habit of setting aside the judgments of inferior courts on
technicalities absolutely unconnected with the merits of the case, and
where there is no attempt to show that there has been any failure of
substantial justice. It would be well to enact a law providing
something to the effect that:
No judgment shall be set aside or new trial granted in any cause, civil
or criminal, on the ground of misdirection of the jury or the improper
admission or rejection of evidence, or for error as to any matter of
pleading or procedure unless, in the opinion of the court to which the
application is made, after an examination of the entire cause, it shall
affirmatively appear that the error complained of has resulted in a
miscarriage of justice.
In my last message I suggested the enactment of a law in connection
with the issuance of injunctions, attention having been sharply drawn
to the matter by the demand that the right of applying injunctions in
labor cases should be wholly abolished. It is at least doubtful whether
a law abolishing altogether the use of injunctions in such cases would
stand the test of the courts; in which case of course the legislation
would be ineffective. Moreover, I believe it would be wrong altogether
to prohibit the use of injunctions. It is criminal to permit sympathy
for criminals to weaken our hands in upholding the law; and if men seek
to destroy life or property by mob violence there should be no
impairment of the power of the courts to deal with them in the most
summary and effective way possible. But so far as possible the abuse of
the power should be provided against by some such law as I advocated
last year.
In this matter of injunctions there is lodged in the hands of the
judiciary a necessary power which is nevertheless subject to the
possibility of grave abuse. It is a power that should be exercised with
extreme care and should be subject to the jealous scrutiny of all men,
and condemnation should be meted out as much to the judge who fails to
use it boldly when necessary as to the judge who uses it wantonly or
oppressively. Of course a judge strong enough to be fit for his office
will enjoin any resort to violence or intimidation, especially by
conspiracy, no matter what his opinion may be of the rights of the
original quarrel. There must be no hesitation in dealing with disorder.
But there must likewise be no such abuse of the injunctive power as is
implied in forbidding laboring men to strive for their own betterment
in peaceful and lawful ways; nor must the injunction be used merely to
aid some big corporation in carrying out schemes for its own
aggrandizement. It must be remembered that a preliminary injunction in
a labor case, if granted without adequate proof (even when authority
can be found to support the conclusions of law on which it is founded),
may often settle the dispute between the parties; and therefore if
improperly granted may do irreparable wrong. Yet there are many judges
who assume a matter-of-course granting of a preliminary injunction to
be the ordinary and proper judicial disposition of such cases; and
there have undoubtedly been flagrant wrongs committed by judges in
connection with labor disputes even within the last few years, although
I think much less often than in former years. Such judges by their
unwise action immensely strengthen the hands of those who are striving
entirely to do away with the power of injunction; and therefore such
careless use of the injunctive process tends to threaten its very
existence, for if the American people ever become convinced that this
process is habitually abused, whether in matters affecting 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 given moment to disregard,
not merely the wishes of individuals of great political or financial
power, but the overwhelming tide of public sentiment; and the judge who
does thus disregard public sentiment when it is wrong, who brushes
aside the plea of any special interest when the pleading is not rounded
on righteousness, performs the highest service to the country. Such a
judge is deserving of all honor; and all honor can not be paid to this
wise and fearless judge if we permit the growth of an absurd convention
which would forbid any criticism of the judge of another type, who
shows himself timid in the presence of arrogant disorder, or who on
insufficient grounds grants an injunction that does grave injustice, or
who in his capacity as a construer, and therefore in part a maker, of
the law, in flagrant fashion thwarts the cause of decent government.
The judge has a power over which no review can be exercised; he himself
sits in review upon the acts of both the executive and legislative
branches of the Government; save in the most extraordinary cases he is
amenable only at the bar of public opinion; and it is unwise to
maintain that public opinion in reference to a man with such power
shall neither be exprest nor led.
The best judges have ever been foremost to disclaim any immunity from
criticism. This has been true since the days of the great English Lord
Chancellor Parker, who said: "Let all people be at liberty to know what
I found my judgment upon; that, so when I have given it in any cause,
others may be at liberty to judge of me." The proprieties of the case
were set forth with singular clearness and good temper by Judge W. H.
Taft, when a United States circuit judge, eleven years ago, in 1895:
"The opportunity freely and publicly to criticize judicial action is of
vastly more importance to the body politic than the immunity of courts
and judges from unjust aspersions and attack. Nothing tends more to
render judges careful in their decisions and anxiously solicitous to do
exact justice than the consciousness that every act of theirs is to be
subjected to the intelligent scrutiny and candid criticism of their
fellow-men. Such criticism is beneficial in 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 the acute
editors of the various law reviews upon judicial decisions are
therefore highly useful. Such critics constitute more or less impartial
tribunals of professional opinion before which each judgment is made to
stand or fall on its merits, and thus exert a strong influence to
secure uniformity of decision. But non-professional criticism also is
by no means without its uses, even if accompanied, as it often is, by a
direct attack upon the judicial fairness and motives of the occupants
of the bench; for if the law is but the essence of common sense, the
protest of many average men may evidence a defect in a judicial
conclusion, though based on the nicest legal reasoning and profoundest
learning. The two important elements of moral character in a judge are
an earnest desire to reach a just conclusion and courage to enforce it.
In so far as fear of public comment does not affect the courage of a
judge, but only spurs him on to search his conscience and to reach the
result which approves itself to his inmost heart such comment serves a
useful purpose. There are few men, whether they are judges for life or
for a shorter term, who do not prefer to earn and hold the respect of
all, and who can not be reached and made to pause and deliberate by
hostile public criticism. In the case of judges having a life tenure,
indeed their very independence makes the right freely to comment on
their decisions of greater importance, because it is the only practical
and available instrument in the hands of a free people to keep such
judges alive to the reasonable demands of those they serve.
"On the other hand, the danger of destroying the proper influence of
judicial decisions by creating unfounded prejudices against the courts
justifies and requires that unjust attacks shall be met and answered.
Courts must ultimately rest their defense upon the inherent strength of
the opinions they deliver as the ground for their conclusions and must
trust to the calm and deliberate judgment of all the people as their
best vindication."
There is one consideration which should be taken into account by the
good people who carry a sound proposition to an excess in objecting to
any criticism of a judge's decision. The instinct of the American
people as a whole is sound in this matter. They will not subscribe to
the doctrine that any public servant is to be above all criticism. If
the best citizens, those most competent to express their judgment in
such matters, and above all those belonging to the great and honorable
profession of the bar, so profoundly influential in American life, take
the position that there shall be no criticism of a judge under any
circumstances, their view will not be accepted by the American people
as a whole. In such event the people will turn to, and tend to accept
as justifiable, the intemperate and improper criticism uttered by
unworthy agitators. Surely it is a misfortune to leave to such critics
a function, right, in itself, which they are certain to abuse. Just and
temperate criticism, when necessary, is a safeguard against the
acceptance by the people as a whole of that intemperate antagonism
towards the judiciary which must be combated by every right-thinking
man, and which, if it became widespread among the people at large,
would constitute a dire menace to the Republic.
In connection with the delays of the law, I call your attention and the
attention of the Nation to the prevalence of crime among us, and above
all to the epidemic of lynching and mob violence that springs up, now
in one part of our country, now in another. Each section, North, South,
East, or West, has its own faults; no section can with wisdom spend its
time jeering at the faults of another section; it should be busy trying
to amend its own shortcomings. To deal with the crime of corruption It
is necessary to have an awakened public conscience, and to supplement
this by whatever legislation will add speed and certainty in the
execution of the law. When we deal with lynching even mote is
necessary. A great many white men are lynched, but the crime is
peculiarly frequent in respect to black men. The greatest existing
cause of lynching is the perpetration, especially by black men, of the
hideous crime of rape--the most abominable in all the category of
crimes, even worse than murder. Mobs frequently avenge the commission
of this crime by themselves torturing to death the man committing it;
thus avenging in bestial fashion a bestial deed, and reducing
themselves to a level with the criminal.
Lawlessness grows by what it feeds upon; and when mobs begin to lynch
for rape they speedily extend the sphere of their operations and lynch
for many other kinds of crimes, so that two-thirds of the lynchings are
not for rape at all; while a considerable proportion of the individuals
lynched are innocent of all crime. Governor Candler, of Georgia, stated
on one occasion some years ago: "I can say of a verity that I have,
within the last month, saved the lives of half a dozen innocent Negroes
who were pursued by the mob, and brought them to trial in a court of
law in which they were acquitted." As Bishop Galloway, of Mississippi,
has finely said: "When the rule of a mob obtains, that which
distinguishes a high civilization is surrendered. The mob which lynches
a negro charged with rape will in a little while lynch a white man
suspected of crime. Every Christian patriot in America needs to lift up
his voice in loud and eternal protest against the mob spirit that is
threatening the integrity of this Republic." Governor Jelks, of
Alabama, has recently spoken as follows: "The lynching of any person
for whatever crime is inexcusable anywhere--it is a defiance of orderly
government; but the killing of innocent people under any provocation is
infinitely more horrible; and yet innocent people are likely to die
when a mob's terrible lust is once aroused. The lesson is this: No good
citizen can afford to countenance a defiance of the statutes, no matter
what the provocation. The innocent frequently suffer, and, it is my
observation, more usually suffer than the guilty. The white people of
the South indict the whole colored race on the ground that even the
better elements lend no assistance whatever in ferreting out criminals
of their own color. The respectable colored people must learn not to
harbor their criminals, but to assist the officers in bringing them to
justice. This is the larger crime, and it provokes such atrocious
offenses as the one at Atlanta. The two races can never get on until
there is an understanding on the part of both to make common cause with
the law-abiding against criminals of any color."
Moreover, where any crime committed by a member of one race against a
member of another race is avenged in such fashion that it seems as if
not the individual criminal, but the whole race, is attacked, the
result is to exasperate to the highest degree race feeling. There is
but one safe rule in dealing with black men as with white men; it is
the same rule that must be applied in dealing with rich men and poor
men; that is, to treat each man, whatever his color, his creed, or his
social position, with even-handed justice on his real worth as a man.
White people owe it quite as much to themselves as to the colored race
to treat well the colored man who shows by his life that he deserves
such treatment; for it is surely the highest wisdom to encourage in the
colored race all those individuals who are honest, industrious,
law-abiding, and who therefore make good and safe neighbors and
citizens. Reward or punish the individual on his merits as an
individual. Evil will surely come in the end to both races if we
substitute for this just rule the habit of treating all the members of
the race, good and bad, alike. There is no question of "social
equality" or "negro domination" involved; only the question of
relentlessly punishing bad men, and of securing to the good man the
right to his life, his liberty, and the pursuit of his happiness as his
own qualities of heart, head, and hand enable him to achieve it.
Every colored man should realize that the worst enemy of his race is
the negro criminal, and above all the negro criminal who commits the
dreadful crime of rape; and it should be felt as in the highest degree
an offense against the whole country, and against the colored race in
particular, for a colored man to fail to help the officers of the law
in hunting down with all possible earnestness and zeal every such
infamous offender. Moreover, in my judgment, the crime of rape should
always be punished with death, as is the case with murder; assault with
intent to commit rape should be made a capital crime, at least in the
discretion of the court; and provision should be made by which the
punishment may follow immediately upon the heels of the offense; while
the trial should be so conducted that the victim need not be wantonly
shamed while giving testimony, and that the least possible publicity
shall be given to the details.
The members of the white race on the other hand should understand that
every lynching represents by just so much a loosening of the bands of
civilization; that the spirit of lynching inevitably throws into
prominence in the community all the foul and evil creatures who dwell
therein. No man can take part in the torture of a human being without
having his own moral nature permanently lowered. Every lynching means
just so much moral deterioration in all the children who have any
knowledge of it, and therefore just so much additional trouble for the
next generation of Americans.
Let justice be both sure and swift; but let it be justice under the
law, and not the wild and crooked savagery of a mob.
There is another matter which has a direct bearing upon this matter of
lynching and of the brutal crime which sometimes calls it forth and at
other times merely furnishes the excuse for its existence. It is out of
the question for our people as a whole permanently to rise by treading
down any of their own number. Even those who themselves for the moment
profit by such maltreatment of their fellows will in the long run also
suffer. No more shortsighted policy can be imagined than, in the
fancied interest of one class, to prevent the education of another
class. The free public school, the chance for each 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 who
need the schools most, would be deprived of them if they only received
school facilities proportioned to the taxes they paid. This is as true
of one portion of our country as of another. It is as true for the
negro as for the white man. The white man, if he is wise, will decline
to allow the Negroes in a mass to grow to manhood and womanhood without
education. Unquestionably education such as is obtained in our public
schools does not do everything towards 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 majority men who have
had either no education or very little; just as they are almost
invariably men who own no property; for the man who puts money by out
of his earnings, like the man who acquires education, is usually lifted
above mere brutal criminality. Of course the best type of education for
the colored man, taken as a whole, is such education as is conferred in
schools like Hampton and Tuskegee; where the boys and girls, the young
men and young women, are trained industrially as well as in the
ordinary public school branches. The graduates of these schools turn
out well in the great majority of cases, and hardly any of them become
criminals, while what little criminality there is never takes the form
of that brutal violence which invites lynch law. Every graduate of
these schools--and for the matter of that every other colored man or
woman--who leads a life so useful and honorable as to win the good will
and respect of those whites whose neighbor he or she is, thereby helps
the whole colored race as it can be helped in no other way; for next to
the negro himself, the man who can do most to help the negro is his
white neighbor who lives near him; and our steady effort should be to
better the relations between the two. Great though the benefit of these
schools has been to their colored pupils and to the colored people, it
may well be questioned whether the benefit, has not been at least as
great to the white people among whom these colored pupils live after
they graduate.
Be it remembered, furthermore, that the individuals who, whether from
folly, from evil temper, from greed for office, or in a spirit of mere
base demagogy, indulge in the inflammatory and incendiary speeches and
writings which tend to arouse mobs and to bring about lynching, not
only thus excite the mob, but also tend by what criminologists call
"suggestion," greatly to increase the likelihood of a repetition of the
very crime against which they are inveighing. When the mob is composed
of the people of one race and the man lynched is of another race, the
men who in their speeches and writings either excite or justify the
action tend, of course, to excite a bitter race feeling and to cause
the people of the opposite race to lose sight of the abominable act of
the criminal himself; and in addition, by the prominence they give to
the hideous deed they undoubtedly tend to excite in other brutal and
depraved natures thoughts of committing it. Swift, relentless, and
orderly punishment under the law is the only way by which criminality
of this type can permanently be supprest.
In dealing with both labor and capital, with the questions affecting
both corporations and trades unions, there is one matter more important
to remember than aught else, and that is the infinite harm done by
preachers of mere discontent. These are the men who seek to excite a
violent class hatred against all men of wealth. They seek to turn wise
and proper movements for the better control of corporations and for
doing away with the abuses connected with wealth, into a campaign of
hysterical excitement and falsehood in which the aim is to inflame to
madness the brutal passions of mankind. The sinister demagogs and
foolish visionaries who are always eager to undertake such a campaign
of destruction sometimes seek to associate themselves with those
working for a genuine reform in governmental and social methods, and
sometimes masquerade as such reformers. In reality they are the worst
enemies of the cause they profess to advocate, just as the purveyors of
sensational slander in newspaper or magazine are the worst enemies of
all men who are engaged in an honest effort to better what is bad in
our social and governmental conditions. To preach hatred of the rich
man as such, to carry on a campaign of slander and invective against
him, to seek to mislead and inflame to madness honest men whose lives
are hard and who have not the kind of mental training which will permit
them to appreciate the danger in the doctrines preached--all this is to
commit a crime against the body politic and to be false to every worthy
principle and tradition of American national life. Moreover, while such
preaching and such agitation may give a livelihood and a certain
notoriety to some of those who take part in it, and may result in the
temporary political success of others, in the long run every such
movement will either fail or else will provoke a violent reaction,
which will itself result not merely in undoing the mischief wrought by
the demagog and the agitator, but also in undoing the good that the
honest reformer, the true upholder of popular rights, has painfully and
laboriously achieved. Corruption is never so rife as in communities
where the demagog and the agitator bear full sway, because in such
communities all moral bands become loosened, and hysteria and
sensationalism replace the spirit of sound judgment and fair dealing as
between man and man. In sheer revolt against the squalid anarchy thus
produced men are sure in the end to turn toward any leader who can
restore order, and then their relief at being free from the intolerable
burdens of class hatred, violence, and demagogy is such that they can
not for some time be aroused to indignation against misdeeds by men of
wealth; so that they permit a new growth of the very abuses which were
in part responsible for the original outbreak. The one hope for success
for our people lies in a resolute and fearless, but sane and
cool-headed, advance along the path marked out last year by this very
Congress. There must be a stern refusal to be misled into following
either that base creature who appeals and panders to the lowest
instincts and passions in order to arouse one set of Americans against
their fellows, or that other creature, equally base but no baser, who
in a spirit of greed, or to accumulate or add to an already huge
fortune, seeks to exploit his fellow Americans with callous disregard
to their welfare of soul and body. The man who debauches others in
order to obtain a high office stands on an evil equality of corruption
with the man who debauches others for financial profit; and when hatred
is sown the crop which springs up can only be evil.
The plain people who think--the mechanics, farmers, merchants, workers
with head or hand, the men to whom American traditions are dear, who
love their country and try to act decently by their neighbors, owe it
to themselves to remember that the most damaging blow that can be given
popular government is to elect an unworthy and sinister agitator on a
platform of violence and hypocrisy. Whenever such an issue is raised in
this country nothing can be gained by flinching from it, for in such
case democracy is itself on trial, popular self-government under
republican forms is itself on trial. The triumph of the mob is just as
evil a thing as the triumph of the plutocracy, and to have escaped one
danger avails nothing whatever if we succumb to the other. In the end
the honest man, whether rich or poor, who earns his own living and
tries to deal justly by his fellows, has as much to fear from the
insincere and unworthy demagog, promising much and performing nothing,
or else performing nothing but evil, who would set on the mob to
plunder the rich, as from the crafty corruptionist, who, for his own
ends, would permit the common people to be exploited by the very
wealthy. If we ever let this Government fall into the hands of men of
either of these two classes, we shall show ourselves false to America's
past. Moreover, the demagog and the corruptionist often work hand in
hand. There are at this moment wealthy reactionaries of such obtuse
morality that they regard the public servant who prosecutes them when
they violate the law, or who seeks to make them bear their proper share
of the public burdens, as being even more objectionable than the
violent agitator who hounds on the mob to plunder the rich. There is
nothing to choose between such a reactionary and such an agitator;
fundamentally they are alike in their selfish disregard of the rights
of others; and it is natural that they should join in opposition to any
movement of which the aim is fearlessly to do exact and even justice to
all.
I call your attention to the need of passing the bill limiting the
number of hours of employment of railroad employees. The measure is a
very moderate one and I can conceive of no serious objection to it.
Indeed, so far as it is in our power, it should be our aim steadily to
reduce the number of hours of labor, with as a goal the general
introduction of an eight-hour day. There are industries in which it is
not possible that the hours of labor should be reduced; just as there
are communities not far enough advanced for such a movement to be for
their good, or, if in the Tropics, so situated that there is no analogy
between their needs and ours in this matter. On the Isthmus of Panama,
for instance, the conditions are in every way so different from what
they 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 as to whether the necessary work is done by
alien black men or by alien yellow men. But the wageworkers of the
United States are of so high a grade that alike from the merely
industrial standpoint and from the civic standpoint it should be our
object to do what we can in the direction of securing the general
observance of an eight-hour day. Until recently the eight-hour law on
our Federal statute books has been very scantily observed. Now,
however, largely through the instrumentality of the Bureau of Labor, it
is being rigidly enforced, and I shall speedily be able to say whether
or not there is need of further legislation in reference thereto; .for
our purpose is to see it obeyed in spirit no less than in letter. Half
holidays during summer should be established for Government employees;
it is as desirable for wageworkers who toil with their hands as for
salaried officials whose labor is mental that there should be a
reasonable amount of holiday.
The Congress at its last session wisely provided for a truant court for
the District of Columbia; a marked step in advance on the path of
properly caring for the children. Let me again urge that the Congress
provide for a thorough investigation of the conditions of child labor
and of the labor of women in the United States. More and more our
people are growing to recognize the fact that the questions which are
not merely of industrial but of social importance outweigh all others;
and these two questions most emphatically come in the category of those
which affect in the most far-reaching way the home life of the Nation.
The horrors incident to the employment of young children in factories
or at work anywhere are a blot on our civilization. It is true that
each. State must ultimately settle the question in its own way; but a
thorough official investigation of the matter, with the results
published broadcast, would greatly help toward arousing the public
conscience and securing unity of State action in the matter. There is,
however, one law on the subject which should be enacted immediately,
because there is no need for an investigation in reference thereto, and
the failure to enact it is discreditable to the National Government. A
drastic and thoroughgoing child-labor law should be enacted for the
District of Columbia and the Territories.
Among the excellent laws which the Congress past at the last session
was an employers' liability law. It was a marked step in advance to get
the recognition of employers' liability on the statute books; but the
law did not go far enough. In spite of all precautions exercised by
employers there are unavoidable accidents and even deaths involved in
nearly every line of business connected with the mechanic arts. This
inevitable sacrifice of life may be reduced to a minimum, but it can
not be completely eliminated. It is a great social injustice to compel
the employee, or rather the family of the killed or disabled victim, to
bear the entire burden of such an inevitable sacrifice. In other words,
society shirks its duty by laying the whole cost on the victim, whereas
the injury comes from what may be called the legitimate risks of the
trade. Compensation for accidents or deaths due in any line of industry
to the actual conditions under which that industry is carried on,
should be paid by that portion of the community for the benefit of
which the industry is carried on--that is, by those who profit by the
industry. If the entire trade risk is placed upon the employer he will
promptly and properly add it to the legitimate cost of production and
assess it proportionately upon the consumers of his commodity. It is
therefore clear to my mind that the law should place this entire "risk
of a trade" upon the employer. Neither the Federal law, nor, as far as
I am informed, the State laws dealing with the question of employers'
liability are sufficiently thoroughgoing. The Federal law should of
course include employees in navy-yards, arsenals, and the like.
The commission appointed by the President October 16, 1902, at the
request of both the anthracite coal operators and miners, to inquire
into, consider, and pass upon the questions in controversy in
connection with the strike in the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania
and the causes out of which the controversy arose, in their report,
findings, and award exprest the belief "that the State and Federal
governments should provide the machinery for what may be called the
compulsory investigation of controversies between employers and
employees when they arise." This expression of belief is deserving of
the favorable consideration of the Congress and the enactment of its
provisions into law. A bill has already been introduced to this end.
Records show that during the twenty years from January 1, 1881, to,
December 31, 1900, there were strikes affecting 117,509 establishments,
and 6,105,694 employees were thrown out of employment. During the same
period there were 1,005 lockouts, involving nearly 10,000
establishments, throwing over one million people out of employment.
These strikes and lockouts involved an estimated loss to employees of
$307,000,000 and to employers of $143,000,000, a total of $450,000,000.
The public suffered directly and indirectly probably as great
additional loss. But the money loss, great as it was, did not measure
the anguish and suffering endured by the wives and children of
employees whose pay stopt when their work stopt, or the disastrous
effect of the strike or lockout upon the business of employers, or the
increase in the cost of products and the inconvenience and loss to the
public.
Many of these strikes and lockouts would not have occurred had the
parties to the dispute been required to appear before an unprejudiced
body representing the nation and, face to face, state the reasons for
their contention. In most instances the dispute would doubtless be
found to be due to a misunderstanding by each of the other's rights,
aggravated by an unwillingness of either party to accept as true the
statements of the other as to the justice or injustice of the matters
in dispute. The exercise of a judicial spirit by a disinterested body
representing the Federal Government, such as would be provided by a
commission on conciliation and arbitration, would tend to create an
atmosphere of friendliness and conciliation between contending parties;
and the giving each side an equal opportunity to present fully its case
in the presence of the other would prevent many disputes from
developing into serious strikes or lockouts, and, in other cases, would
enable the commission to persuade the opposing parties to come to
terms.
In this age of great corporate and labor combinations, neither
employers nor employees should be left completely at the mercy of the
stronger party to a dispute, regardless of the righteousness of their
respective claims. The proposed measure would be in the line of
securing recognition of the fact that in many strikes the public has
itself an interest which can not wisely be disregarded; an interest not
merely of general convenience, for the question of a just and proper
public policy must also be considered. In all legislation of this kind
it is well to advance cautiously, testing each step by the actual
results; the step proposed can surely be safely taken, for the
decisions of the commission would not bind the parties in legal
fashion, and yet would give a chance for public opinion to crystallize
and thus to exert its full force for the right.
It is not wise that the Nation should alienate its remaining coal
lands. I have temporarily withdrawn from settlement all the lands which
the Geological Survey has indicated as containing, or in all
probability containing, coal. The question, however, can be properly
settled only by legislation, which in my judgment should provide for
the withdrawal of these lands from sale or from entry, save in certain
especial circumstances. The ownership would then remain in the United
States, which should not, however, attempt to work them, but permit
them to be worked by private individuals under a royalty system, the
Government keeping such control as to permit it to see that no
excessive price was charged consumers. It would, of course, be as
necessary to supervise the rates charged by the common carriers to
transport the product as the rates charged by those who mine it; and
the supervision must extend to the conduct of the common carriers, so
that they shall in no way favor one competitor at the expense of
another. The withdrawal of these coal lands would constitute a policy
analogous to that which has been followed in withdrawing the forest
lands from ordinary settlement. The coal, like the forests, should be
treated as the property of the public and its disposal should be under
conditions which would inure to the benefit of the public as a whole.
The present Congress has taken long strides in the direction of
securing proper supervision and control by the National Government over
corporations engaged in interstate business and the enormous majority
of corporations of any size are engaged in interstate business. The
passage of the railway rate bill, and only to a less degree the passage
of the pure food bill, and the provision for increasing and rendering
more effective national control over the beef-packing industry, mark an
important advance in the proper direction. In the short session it will
perhaps be difficult to do much further along this line; and it may be
best to wait until the laws have been in operation for a number of
months before endeavoring to increase their scope, because only
operation will show with exactness their merits and their shortcomings
and thus give opportunity to define what further remedial legislation
is needed. Yet in my judgment it will in the end be advisable in
connection with the packing house inspection law to provide for putting
a date on the label and for charging the cost of inspection to the
packers. All these laws have already justified their enactment. The
interstate commerce law, for instance, has rather amusingly falsified
the predictions, both of those who asserted that it would ruin the
railroads and of those who asserted that it did not go far enough and
would accomplish nothing. During the last five months the railroads
have shown increased earnings and some of them unusual dividends; while
during the same period the mere taking effect of the law has produced
an unprecedented, a hitherto unheard of, number of voluntary reductions
in freights and fares by the railroads. Since the founding of the
Commission there has never been a time of equal length in which
anything like so many reduced tariffs have been put into effect. On
August 27, for instance, two days before the new law went into effect,
the Commission received notices of over five thousand separate tariffs
which represented reductions from previous rates.
It must not be supposed, however, that with the passage of these laws
it will be possible to stop progress along the line of increasing the
power of the National Government over the use of capital interstate
commerce. For example, there will ultimately be need of enlarging the
powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission along several different
lines, so as to give it a larger and more efficient control over the
railroads.
It can not too often be repeated that experience has conclusively shown
the impossibility of securing by the actions of nearly half a hundred
different State legislatures anything but ineffective chaos in the way
of dealing with the great corporations which do not operate exclusively
within the limits of any one State. In some method, whether by a
national license law or in other fashion, we must exercise, and that at
an early date, a far more complete control than at present over these
great corporations--a control that will among other things prevent the
evils of excessive overcapitalization, and that will compel the
disclosure by each big corporation of its stockholders and of its
properties and business, whether owned directly or through subsidiary
or affiliated corporations. This will tend to put a stop to the
securing of inordinate profits by favored individuals at the expense
whether of the general public, the stockholders, or the wageworkers.
Our effort should be not so much to prevent consolidation as such, but
so to supervise and control it as to see that it results in no harm to
the people. The reactionary or ultraconservative apologists for the
misuse of wealth assail the effort to secure such control as a step
toward socialism. As a matter of fact it is these reactionaries and
ultraconservatives who are themselves most potent in increasing
socialistic feeling. One of the most efficient methods of averting the
consequences of a dangerous agitation, which is 80 per cent wrong, is
to remedy the 20 per cent of evil as to which the agitation is well
rounded. The best way to avert the very undesirable move for the
government ownership of railways is to secure by the Government on
behalf of the people as a whole such adequate control and regulation of
the great interstate common carriers as will do away with the evils
which give rise to the agitation against them. So the proper antidote
to the dangerous and wicked agitation against the men of wealth as such
is to secure by proper legislation and executive action the abolition
of the grave abuses which actually do obtain in connection with the
business use of wealth under our present system--or rather no
system--of failure to exercise any adequate control at all. Some
persons speak as if the exercise of such governmental control would do
away with the freedom of individual initiative and dwarf individual
effort. This is not a fact. It would be a veritable calamity to fail to
put a premium upon individual initiative, individual capacity and
effort; upon the energy, character, and foresight which it is so
important to encourage in the individual. But as a matter of fact the
deadening and degrading effect of pure socialism, and especially of its
extreme form communism, and the destruction of individual character
which they would bring about, are in part achieved by the wholly
unregulated competition which results in a single individual or
corporation rising at the expense of all others until his or its rise
effectually checks all competition and reduces former competitors to a
position of utter inferiority and subordination.
In enacting and enforcing such legislation as this Congress already has
to its credit, we are working on a coherent plan, with the steady
endeavor to secure the needed reform by the joint action of the
moderate men, the plain men who do not wish anything hysterical or
dangerous, but who do intend to deal in resolute common-sense fashion
with the real and great evils of the present system. The reactionaries
and the violent extremists show symptoms of joining hands against us.
Both assert, for instance, that, if logical, we should go to government
ownership of railroads and the like; the reactionaries, because on such
an issue they think the people would stand with them, while the
extremists care rather to preach discontent and agitation than to
achieve solid results. As a matter of fact, our position is as remote
from that of the Bourbon reactionary as from that of the impracticable
or sinister visionary. We hold that the Government should not conduct
the business of the nation, but that it should exercise such
supervision as will insure its being conducted in the interest of the
nation. Our aim is, so far as may be, to secure, for all decent, hard
working men, equality of opportunity and equality of burden.
The actual working of our laws has shown that the effort to prohibit
all combination, good or bad, is noxious where it is not ineffective.
Combination of capital like combination of labor is a necessary element
of our present industrial system. It is not possible completely to
prevent it; and if it were possible, such complete prevention would do
damage to the body politic. What we need is not vainly to try to
prevent all combination, but to secure such rigorous and adequate
control and supervision of the combinations as to prevent their
injuring the public, or existing in such form as inevitably to threaten
injury--for the mere fact that a combination has secured practically
complete control of a necessary of life would under any circumstances
show that such combination was to be presumed to be adverse to the
public interest. It is unfortunate that our present laws should forbid
all combinations, instead of sharply discriminating between those
combinations which do good and those combinations which do evil.
Rebates, for instance, are as often due to the pressure of big shippers
(as was shown in the investigation of the Standard Oil Company and as
has been shown since by the investigation of the tobacco and sugar
trusts) as to the initiative of big railroads. Often railroads would
like to combine for the purpose of preventing a big shipper from
maintaining improper advantages at the expense of small shippers and of
the general public. Such a combination, instead of being forbidden by
law, should be favored. In other words, it should be permitted to
railroads to make agreements, provided these agreements were sanctioned
by the Interstate Commerce Commission and were published. With these
two conditions complied with it is impossible to see what harm such a
combination could do to the public at large. It is a public evil to
have on the statute books a law incapable of full enforcement because
both judges and juries realize that its full enforcement would destroy
the business of the country; for the result is to make decent railroad
men violators of the law against their will, and to put a premium on
the behavior of the wilful wrongdoers. Such a result in turn tends to
throw the decent man and the wilful wrongdoer into close association,
and in the end to drag down the former to the latter's level; for the
man who becomes a lawbreaker in one way unhappily tends to lose all
respect for law and to be willing to break it in many ways. No more
scathing condemnation could be visited upon a law than is contained in
the words of the Interstate Commerce Commission when, in commenting
upon the fact that the numerous joint traffic associations do
technically violate the law, they say: "The decision of the United
States Supreme Court in the Trans-Missouri case and the Joint Traffic
Association case has produced no practical effect upon the railway
operations of the country. Such associations, in fact, exist now as
they did before these decisions, and with the same general effect. In
justice to all parties, we ought probably to add that it is difficult
to see how our interstate railways could be operated with due regard to
the interest of the shipper and the railway without concerted action of
the kind afforded through these associations."
This means that the law as construed by the Supreme Court is such that
the business of the country can not be conducted without breaking it. I
recommend that you give careful and early consideration to this
subject, and if you find the opinion of the Interstate Commerce
Commission justified, that you amend the law 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 Federal system of government.
Some taxes should on every ground be levied in a small district for use
in that district. Thus the taxation of real estate is peculiarly one
for the immediate locality in which the real estate is found. Again,
there is no more legitimate tax for any State than a tax on the
franchises conferred by that State upon street railroads and similar
corporations which operate wholly within the State boundaries,
sometimes in one and sometimes in several municipalities or other minor
divisions of the State. But there are many kinds of taxes which can
only be levied by the General Government so as to produce the best
results, because, among other reasons, the attempt to impose them in
one particular State too often results merely in driving the
corporation or individual affected to some other locality or other
State. The National Government has long derived its chief revenue from
a tariff on imports and from an internal or excise tax. In addition to
these there is every reason why, when next our system of taxation is
revised, the National Government should impose a graduated inheritance
tax, and, if possible, a graduated income tax. The man of great wealth
owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special
advantages from the mere existence of government. Not only should he
recognize this obligation in the way he leads his daily life and in the
way he earns and spends his money, but it should also be recognized by
the way in which he pays for the protection the State gives him. On the
one hand, it is desirable that he should assume his full and proper
share of the burden of taxation; on the other hand, it is quite as
necessary that in this kind of taxation, where the men who vote the tax
pay but little of it, there should be clear recognition of the danger
of inaugurating any such system save in a spirit of entire justice and
moderation. Whenever we, as a people, undertake to remodel our taxation
system along the lines suggested, we must make it clear beyond
peradventure that our aim is to distribute the burden of supporting the
Government more equitably than at present; that we intend to treat rich
man and poor man on a basis of absolute equality, and that we regard it
as equally fatal to true democracy to do or permit injustice to the one
as to do or permit injustice to the other.
I am well aware that such a subject as this needs long and careful
study in order that the people may become familiar with what is
proposed to be done, may clearly see the necessity of proceeding with
wisdom and self-restraint, and may make up their minds just how far
they are willing to go in the matter; while only trained legislators
can work out the project in necessary detail. But I feel that in the
near future our national legislators should enact a law providing for a
graduated inheritance tax by which a steadily increasing rate of duty
should be put upon all moneys or other valuables coming by gift,
bequest, or devise to any individual or corporation. It may be well to
make the tax heavy in proportion as the individual benefited is remote
of kin. In any event, in my judgment the pro rata of the tax should
increase very heavily with the increase of the amount left to any one
individual after a certain point has been reached. It is most desirable
to encourage thrift and ambition, and a potent source of thrift and
ambition is the desire on the part of the breadwinner to leave his
children well off. This object can be attained by making the tax very
small on moderate amounts of property left; because the prime object
should be to put a constantly increasing burden on the inheritance of
those swollen fortunes which it is certainly of no benefit to this
country to perpetuate.
There can be no question of the ethical propriety of the Government
thus determining the conditions upon 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 devise or
gift of the enormous fortunes in question it is not necessary at
present to discuss. It is wise that progress in this direction should
be gradual. At first a permanent national inheritance tax, while it
might be more substantial than any such tax has hitherto been, need not
approximate, either in amount or in the extent of the increase by
graduation, to what 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, when the makers of the Constitution were alive and
at the head of affairs. It was a graduated tax; though small in amount,
the rate was increased with the amount left to any individual,
exceptions being made in the case of certain close kin. A similar tax
was again imposed by the act of July 1, 1862; a minimum sum of one
thousand dollars in personal property being excepted from taxation, the
tax then becoming progressive according to the remoteness of kin. The
war-revenue act of June 13, 1898, provided for an inheritance tax on
any sum exceeding the value of ten thousand dollars, the rate of the
tax increasing both in accordance with the amounts left and in
accordance with the legatee's remoteness of kin. The Supreme Court has
held that the succession tax imposed at the time of the Civil War was
not a direct tax but an impost or excise which was both constitutional
and valid. More recently the Court, in an opinion delivered by Mr.
Justice White, which contained an exceedingly able and elaborate
discussion of the powers of the Congress to impose death duties,
sustained the constitutionality of the inheritance-tax feature of the
war-revenue act of 1898.
In its incidents, and apart from the main purpose of raising revenue,
an income tax stands on an entirely different footing from an
inheritance tax; because it involves no question of the perpetuation of
fortunes swollen to an unhealthy size. The question is in its essence a
question of the proper adjustment of burdens to benefits. As the law
now stands it is undoubtedly difficult to devise a national income tax
which shall be constitutional. But whether it is absolutely impossible
is another question; and if possible it is most certainly desirable.
The first purely income-tax law was past by the Congress in 1861, but
the most important law dealing with the subject was that of 1894. This
the court held to be unconstitutional.
The question is undoubtedly very intricate, delicate, and troublesome.
The decision of the court was only reached by one majority. It is the
law of the land, and of course is accepted as such and loyally obeyed
by all good citizens. Nevertheless, the hesitation evidently felt by
the court as a whole in coming to a conclusion, when considered
together with the previous decisions on the subject, may perhaps
indicate the possibility of devising a constitutional income-tax law
which shall substantially accomplish the results aimed at. The
difficulty of amending the Constitution is so great that only real
necessity can justify a resort thereto. Every effort should be made in
dealing with this subject, as with the subject of the proper control by
the National Government over the use of corporate wealth in interstate
business, to devise legislation which without such action shall attain
the desired end; but if this fails, there will ultimately be no
alternative to a constitutional amendment.
It would be impossible to overstate (though it is of course difficult
quantitatively to measure) the effect upon a nation's growth to
greatness of what may be called organized patriotism, which necessarily
includes the substitution of a national feeling for mere local pride;
with as a resultant a high ambition for the whole country. No country
can develop its full strength so long as the parts which make up the
whole each put a feeling of loyalty to the part above the feeling of
loyalty to the whole. This is 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, if the best work of
which the country is capable is to be done. It is probable that a
thoroughly efficient system of education comes next to the influence of
patriotism in bringing about national success of this kind. Our federal
form of government, so fruitful of advantage to our people in certain
ways, in other ways undoubtedly limits our national effectiveness. It
is not possible, for instance, for the National Government to take the
lead in technical industrial education, to see that the public school
system of this country develops on all its technical, industrial,
scientific, and commercial sides. This must be left primarily to the
several States. Nevertheless, the National Government has control of
the schools of the District of Columbia, and it should see that these
schools promote and encourage the fullest development of the scholars
in both commercial and industrial training. The commercial training
should in one of its branches deal with foreign trade. The industrial
training is even more important. It should be one of our prime objects
as a Nation, so far as feasible, constantly to work toward putting the
mechanic, the wageworker who works with his hands, on a higher plane of
efficiency and reward, so as to increase his effectiveness in 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 the work in the public schools is in the exactly opposite
direction. If boys and girls are trained merely in literary
accomplishments, to the total exclusion of industrial, manual, and
technical training, the tendency is to unfit them for industrial work
and to make them reluctant to go into it, or unfitted to do well if
they do go into it. This is a tendency which should be strenuously
combated. Our industrial development depends largely upon technical
education, including in this term all industrial education, from that
which fits a man to be a good mechanic, a good carpenter, or
blacksmith, to that which fits a man to do the greatest engineering
feat. The skilled mechanic, the skilled workman, can best become such
by technical industrial education. The far-reaching usefulness of
institutes of technology and schools of mines or of engineering is now
universally acknowledged, and no less far--reaching is the effect of a
good building or mechanical trades school, a textile, or watch-making,
or engraving school. All such training must develop not only manual
dexterity but industrial intelligence. In international rivalry this
country does not have to fear the competition of pauper labor as much
as it has to fear the educated labor of specially trained competitors;
and we should have the education of the hand, eye, and brain which will
fit us to meet such competition.
In every possible way we should help the wageworker who toils with his
hands and who must (we hope in a constantly increasing measure) also
toil with his brain. Under the Constitution the National Legislature
can do but little of direct importance for his welfare save where he is
engaged in work which permits it to act under the interstate commerce
clause of the Constitution; and this is one reason why I so earnestly
hope that both the legislative and judicial branches of the Government
will construe this clause of the Constitution 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 most advanced legislation that can wisely be
enacted for the District of Columbia.
The only other persons whose welfare is as vital to the welfare of the
whole country as is the welfare of the wageworkers are the tillers of
the soil, the farmers. It is a mere truism to say that no growth of
cities, no growth of wealth, no industrial development can atone for
any falling off in the character and standing of the farming
population. During the last few decades this fact has been recognized
with ever-increasing clearness. There is no longer any failure to
realize that farming, at least in certain branches, must become a
technical and scientific profession. This means that there must be open
to farmers the chance for technical and scientific training, not
theoretical merely but of the most severely practical type. The farmer
represents a peculiarly high type of American citizenship, and he must
have the same chance to rise and develop as other American citizens
have. Moreover, it is exactly as true of the farmer, as it is of the
business man and the wageworker, that the ultimate success of the
Nation of which he forms a part must be founded not alone on material
prosperity but upon high moral, mental, and physical development. This
education of the farmer--self-education by preference but also
education from the outside, as with all other men--is peculiarly
necessary here in the United States, where the frontier conditions even
in the newest States have now nearly vanished, where there must be a
substitution of a more intensive system of cultivation for the old
wasteful farm management, and where there must be a better business
organization among the farmers themselves.
Several factors must cooperate in the improvement of the farmer's
condition. He must have the chance to be educated in the widest
possible sense--in the sense which keeps ever in view the intimate
relationship between the theory of education and the facts of life. In
all education we should widen our aims. It is a good thing to produce a
certain number of trained scholars and students; but the education
superintended by the State must seek rather to produce a hundred good
citizens than merely one scholar, and it must be turned now and then
from the class book to the study of the great book of nature itself.
This is especially true of the farmer, as has been pointed out again
and again by all observers most competent to pass practical judgment on
the problems of our country life. All students now realize that
education must seek to train the executive powers of young people and
to confer more real significance upon the phrase "dignity of labor,"
and to prepare the pupils so that, in addition to each developing in
the 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 business
world; and it has accomplished much for good in the world of labor. It
is no less necessary for farmers. Such a movement as the grange
movement is good in itself and is capable of a well-nigh infinite
further extension for good so long as it is kept to its own legitimate
business. The benefits to be derived by the association of farmers for
mutual advantage are partly economic and partly sociological.
Moreover, while in the long run voluntary efforts will prove more
efficacious than government assistance, while the farmers must
primarily do most for themselves, yet the Government can also do much.
The Department of Agriculture has broken new ground in many directions,
and year by year it finds how it can improve its methods and develop
fresh usefulness. Its constant effort is to give the governmental
assistance in the most effective way; that is, through associations of
farmers rather than to or through individual farmers. It is also
striving to coordinate its work with the agricultural departments of
the several States, and so far as its own work is educational to
coordinate it with the work of other educational authorities.
Agricultural education is necessarily based upon general education, but
our agricultural educational institutions are wisely specializing
themselves, making their courses relate to the actual teaching of the
agricultural and kindred sciences to young country people or young city
people who wish to live in the country.
Great progress has already been made among farmers by the creation of
farmers' institutes, of dairy associations, of breeders' associations,
horticultural associations, and the like. A striking example of how the
Government and the farmers can cooperate is shown in connection with
the menace offered to the cotton growers of the Southern States by the
advance of the boll weevil. The Department is doing all it can to
organize the farmers in the threatened districts, just as it has been
doing all it can to organize them in aid of its work to eradicate the
cattle fever tick in the South. The Department can and will cooperate
with all such associations, and it must have their help if its own work
is to be done in the most efficient style.
Much is now being done for the States of the Rocky Mountains and Great
Plains through the development of the national policy of irrigation and
forest preservation; no Government policy for the betterment of our
internal conditions has been more fruitful of good than this. The
forests of the White Mountains and Southern Appalachian regions should
also be preserved; and they can not be unless the people of the States
in which they lie, through their representatives in the Congress,
secure vigorous action by the National Government.
I invite the attention of the Congress to the estimate of the Secretary
of War for an appropriation to enable him to begin the preliminary work
for the construction of a memorial amphitheater at Arlington. The Grand
Army of the Republic in its national encampment has urged the erection
of such an amphitheater as necessary for the proper observance Of
Memorial Day and as a fitting monument to the soldier and sailor dead
buried there. In this I heartily concur and commend the matter to the
favorable consideration of the Congress.
I am well aware of how difficult it is to pass a constitutional
amendment. Nevertheless in my judgment the whole question of marriage
and divorce should be relegated to the authority of the National
Congress. At present the wide differences in the laws of the different
States on this subject result in scandals and abuses; and surely there
is nothing so vitally essential to the welfare of the nation, nothing
around which the nation should so bend itself to throw every safeguard,
as the home life of the average citizen. The change would be good from
every standpoint. In particular it would be good because it would
confer on the Congress the power at once to deal radically and
efficiently with polygamy; and this should be done whether or not
marriage and divorce are dealt with. It is neither safe nor proper to
leave the question of polygamy to be dealt with by the several States.
Power to deal with it should be conferred on the National Government.
When home ties are loosened; when men and women cease to regard a
worthy family life, with all its duties fully performed, and all its
responsibilities lived up to, as the life best worth living; then evil
days for the commonwealth are at hand. There are regions in our land,
and classes of our population, where the birth rate has sunk below the
death rate. Surely it should need no demonstration to show that wilful
sterility is, from the standpoint of the nation, from the standpoint of
the human race, the one sin for which the penalty is national death,
race death; a sin for which there is no atonement; a sin which is the
more dreadful exactly in proportion as the men and women guilty thereof
are in other respects, in character, and bodily and mental powers,
those whom for the sake of the state it would be well to see 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 of life, whether for love of ease and pleasure, or for any other
cause, and retain his or her self-respect.
Let me once again call the attention of the Congress to two subjects
concerning which I have frequently before communicated with them. One
is the question of developing American shipping. I trust that a law
embodying in substance the views, or a major part of the views, exprest
in the report on this subject laid before the House at its last session
will be past. I am well aware that in former years objectionable
measures have been proposed in reference to the encouragement of
American shipping; but it seems to me that the proposed measure is as
nearly unobjectionable as any can be. It will of course benefit
primarily our seaboard States, such as Maine, Louisiana, and
Washington; but what benefits part of our people in the end benefits
all; just as Government aid to irrigation and forestry in the West is
really of benefit, not only to the Rocky Mountain States, but to all
our country. If it prove impracticable to enact a law for the
encouragement of shipping generally, then at least provision should be
made for better communication with South America, notably for fast mail
lines to the chief South American ports. It is discreditable to us that
our business people, for lack of direct communication in the shape of
lines of steamers with South America, should in that great sister
continent be at a disadvantage compared to the business people of
Europe.
I especially call your attention to the second subject, the condition
of our currency laws. The national bank act has ably served a great
purpose in aiding the enormous business development of the country; and
within ten years there has been an increase in circulation per capita
from $21.41 to $33.08. For several years evidence has been accumulating
that additional legislation is needed. The recurrence of each crop
season emphasizes the defects of the present laws. There must soon be a
revision of them, because to leave them as they are means to incur
liability of business disaster. Since your body adjourned there has
been a fluctuation in the interest on call money from 2 per cent to 30
per cent; and the fluctuation was even greater during the preceding six
months. The Secretary of the Treasury had to step in and by wise action
put a stop to the most violent period of oscillation. Even worse than
such fluctuation is the advance in commercial rates and the uncertainty
felt 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 attract money from the interior banks into the
speculative field; this depletes the fund that would otherwise be
available for commercial uses, and commercial borrowers are forced to
pay abnormal rates; so that each fall a 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 present system is
seriously defective. There is need of a change. Unfortunately, however,
many of the proposed changes must be ruled from consideration because
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 materially impair the value of the United States 2 per cent
bonds now pledged to secure circulations, the issue of which was made
under conditions peculiarly creditable to the Treasury. I do not press
any especial plan. Various plans have recently been proposed by expert
committees of bankers. Among the plans which are possibly feasible and
which certainly should receive your consideration is that repeatedly
brought to your attention by the present Secretary of the Treasury, the
essential features of which have been approved by many prominent
bankers and business men. According to this plan national banks should
be permitted to issue a specified proportion of their capital in notes
of a given kind, the issue to be taxed at so high a rate as to drive
the notes back when not wanted in legitimate trade. This plan would not
permit the 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 there is need for the adoption of some system
which shall be automatic and open to all sound banks, so as to avoid
all possibility of discrimination and favoritism. Such a plan would
tend to prevent the spasms of high money and speculation which now
obtain in the New York market; for at present there is too much
currency at certain seasons of the year, and its accumulation at New
York tempts bankers to lend it at low rates for speculative purposes;
whereas at other times when the crops are being moved there is urgent
need for a 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; especially is this true of stockmen, farmers,
and business men in the West; for at present at certain seasons of the
year the difference in interest rates between the East and the West is
from 6 to 10 per cent, whereas in Canada the corresponding difference
is but 2 per cent. Any plan must, of course, guard the interests of
western and southern bankers as carefully as it guards the interests of
New York or Chicago bankers; and must be drawn from the standpoints of
the farmer and the merchant no less than from the standpoints of the
city banker and the country banker.
The law should be amended so as specifically to provide that the funds
derived from customs duties may be treated by the Secretary of the
Treasury as he treats funds obtained under the internal-revenue laws.
There should be a considerable increase in bills of small
denominations. Permission should be given banks, if necessary under
settled restrictions, to retire their circulation to a larger amount
than three millions a month.
I most earnestly hope that the bill to provide a lower tariff for or
else absolute free trade in Philippine products will become a law. No
harm will come to any American industry; and while there will be some
small but real material benefit to the Filipinos, the main benefit will
come by the showing made as to our purpose to do all in our power for
their welfare. So far our action in the Philippines has been abundantly
justified, not mainly and indeed not primarily because of the added
dignity it has given us as a nation by proving that we are capable
honorably and efficiently to bear the international burdens which a
mighty people should bear, but even more because of the immense benefit
that has come to the people of the Philippine Islands. In these islands
we are steadily introducing both liberty and order, to a greater degree
than their people have ever before known. We have secured justice. We
have provided an efficient police force, and have put down ladronism.
Only in the islands of Leyte and Samar is the authority of our
Government resisted and this by wild mountain tribes under the
superstitious inspiration of fakirs and pseudo-religions leaders. We
are constantly increasing the measure of liberty accorded the
islanders, and next spring, if conditions warrant, we shall take a
great stride forward in testing their capacity for self-government by
summoning the first Filipino legislative assembly; and the way in which
they stand this test will largely determine whether the self-government
thus granted will be increased or decreased; for if we have erred at
all in the Philippines it has been in proceeding too rapidly in the
direction of granting a large measure of self-government. We are
building roads. We have, for the immeasurable good of the people,
arranged for the building of railroads. Let us also see to it that they
are given free access to our markets. This nation owes no more
imperative duty to itself and mankind than the duty of managing the
affairs of all the islands under the American flag--the Philippines,
Porto Rico, and Hawaii--so as to make it evident that it is in every
way to their advantage that the flag should fly over them.
American citizenship should be conferred on the citizens of Porto Rico.
The harbor of San Juan in Porto Rico should be dredged and improved.
The expenses of the federal court of Porto Rico should be met from the
Federal Treasury. The administration of the affairs of Porto Rico,
together with those of the Philippines, Hawaii, and our other insular
possessions, should all be directed under one executive department; by
preference the Department of State or the Department of War.
The needs of Hawaii are peculiar; every aid should be given the
islands; and our efforts should be unceasing to develop them along the
lines of a community of small freeholders, not of great planters with
coolie-tilled estates. Situated as this Territory is, in the middle of
the Pacific, there are duties imposed upon this small community which
do not fall in like degree or manner upon any other American community.
This warrants our treating it differently from the way in which we
treat Territories contiguous to or surrounded by sister Territories or
other States, and justifies the setting aside of a portion of our
revenues to be expended for educational and internal improvements
therein. Hawaii is now making an effort to secure immigration fit in
the end to assume the duties and burdens of full American citizenship,
and whenever the leaders in the various industries of those islands
finally adopt our ideals and heartily join our administration in
endeavoring to develop a middle class of substantial citizens, a way
will then be found to deal with the commercial and industrial problems
which now appear to them so serious. The best Americanism is that which
aims for stability and permanency of prosperous citizenship, rather
than immediate returns on large masses of capital.
Alaska's needs have been partially met, but there must be a complete
reorganization of the governmental system, as I have before indicated
to you. I ask your especial attention to this. Our fellow-citizens who
dwell on the shores of Puget Sound with characteristic energy are
arranging to hold in Seattle the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition. Its
special aims include the upbuilding of Alaska and the development of
American commerce on the Pacific Ocean. This exposition, in its
purposes and scope, should appeal not only to the people of the Pacific
slope, but to the people of the United States at large. Alaska since it
was bought has yielded to the Government eleven millions of dollars of
revenue, and has produced nearly three hundred millions of dollars in
gold, furs, and fish. When properly developed it will become in large
degree a land of homes. The countries bordering the Pacific Ocean have
a population more numerous than that of all the countries of Europe;
their annual foreign commerce amounts to over three billions of
dollars, of which the share of the United States is some seven hundred
millions of dollars. If this trade were thoroughly understood and
pushed by our manufacturers and producers, the industries not only of
the Pacific slope, but of all our country, and particularly of our
cotton-growing States, would be greatly benefited. Of course, in order
to get these benefits, we must treat fairly the countries with which we
trade.
It is a mistake, and it betrays a spirit of foolish cynicism, to
maintain that all international governmental action is, and must ever
be, based upon mere selfishness, and that to advance ethical reasons
for such action is always a sign of hypocrisy. This is no more
necessarily true of the action of governments than of the action of
individuals. It is a sure sign of a base nature always to ascribe base
motives for the actions of others. Unquestionably no nation can 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 individual in any really decent community does many actions
with reference to other men in which he is guided, not by
self-interest, but by public spirit, by regard for the rights of
others, by a disinterested purpose to do good to others, and to raise
the tone of the community as a whole. Similarly, a really great nation
must often act, and as a matter of fact often does act, toward other
nations in a spirit not in the least of mere self-interest, but paying
heed chiefly to ethical reasons; and as the centuries go by this
disinterestedness in international action, this tendency of the
individuals comprising a nation to require that nation to act with
justice toward its neighbors, steadily grows and strengthens. It is
neither wise nor right for a nation to disregard its own needs, and it
is foolish--and may be wicked--to think that other nations will
disregard theirs. But it is wicked for a nation only to regard its own
interest, and foolish to believe that such is the sole motive that
actuates any other nation. It should be our steady aim to raise the
ethical standard of national action just as we strive to raise the
ethical standard of individual action.
Not only must we treat all nations fairly, but we must treat with
justice and good will all immigrants who come here under the law.
Whether they are Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Gentile; whether they
come from England or Germany, Russia, Japan, or Italy, matters nothing.
All we have a right to question is the man's conduct. If he is honest
and upright in his dealings with his neighbor and with the State, then
he is entitled to respect and good treatment. Especially do we need to
remember our duty to the stranger within our gates. It is the sure mark
of a low civilization, a low morality, to abuse or discriminate against
or in any way humiliate such stranger who has come here lawfully and
who is conducting himself properly. To remember this is incumbent on
every American citizen, and it is of course peculiarly incumbent on
every Government official, whether of the nation or of the several
States.
I am prompted to say this by the attitude of hostility here and there
assumed toward the Japanese in this country. This hostility is sporadic
and is limited to a very few places. Nevertheless, it is most
discreditable to us as a people, and it may be fraught with the gravest
consequences to the nation. The friendship between the United States
and Japan has been continuous since the time, over half a century ago,
when Commodore Perry, by his expedition to Japan, first opened the
islands to western civilization. Since then the growth of Japan has
been literally astounding. There is not only nothing to parallel it,
but nothing to approach it in the history of civilized mankind. Japan
has a glorious and ancient past. Her civilization is older than that of
the nations of northern Europe--the nations from whom the people of the
United States have chiefly sprung. But fifty years ago Japan's
development was still that of the Middle Ages. During that fifty years
the progress of the country in every walk in life has been a marvel to
mankind, and she now stands as one of the greatest of civilized
nations; great in the arts of war and in the arts of peace; great in
military, in industrial, in artistic development and achievement.
Japanese soldiers and sailors have shown themselves equal in combat to
any of whom history makes note. She has produced great generals and
mighty admirals; her fighting men, afloat and ashore, show all the
heroic courage, the unquestioning, unfaltering loyalty, the splendid
indifference to hardship and death, which marked the Loyal Ronins; and
they show also that they possess the highest ideal of patriotism.
Japanese artists of every kind see their products eagerly sought for in
all lands. The industrial and commercial development of Japan has been
phenomenal; greater than that of any other country during the same
period. At the same time the advance in science and philosophy is no
less marked. The admirable management of the Japanese Red Cross during
the late war, the efficiency and humanity of the Japanese officials,
nurses, and doctors, won the respectful 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 the gift was accepted
with gratitude by our people. The courtesy of the Japanese, nationally
and individually, has become proverbial. To no other country has there
been such an increasing number of visitors from this land as to Japan.
In return, Japanese have come here in great numbers. They are welcome,
socially and intellectually, in all our colleges and institutions of
higher learning, in all our professional and social bodies. The
Japanese have won in a single generation the right to stand abreast of
the foremost and most enlightened peoples of Europe and America; they
have won on their own merits and by their own exertions the right to
treatment on a basis of full and frank equality. The overwhelming mass
of our people cherish a lively regard and respect for the people of
Japan, and in almost every quarter of the Union the stranger from Japan
is treated as he deserves; that is, he is treated as the stranger from
any part of civilized Europe is and deserves to be treated. But here
and there a most unworthy feeling has manifested itself toward the
Japanese--the feeling that has been shown in shutting them out from the
common schools in San Francisco, and in mutterings against them in one
or two other places, because of their efficiency as workers. To shut
them out from the public schools is a wicked absurdity, when there are
no first-class colleges in the land, including the universities and
colleges of California, which do not gladly welcome Japanese students
and on which Japanese students do not reflect credit. We have as much
to learn from Japan as Japan has to learn from us; and no nation is fit
to teach unless it is also willing to learn. Throughout Japan Americans
are well treated, and any failure on the part of Americans at home to
treat the Japanese with a like courtesy and consideration is by just so
much a confession of inferiority in our civilization.
Our nation fronts on the Pacific, just as it fronts on the Atlantic. We
hope to play a constantly growing part in the great ocean of the
Orient. We wish, as we ought to wish, for a great commercial
development in our dealings with Asia; and it is out of the question
that we should permanently have such development unless we freely and
gladly extend to other nations the same measure of justice and good
treatment which we expect to receive in return. It is only a very small
body of our citizens that act badly. Where the Federal Government has
power it will deal summarily with any such. Where the several States
have power I earnestly ask that they also deal wisely and promptly with
such conduct, or else this small body of wrongdoers may bring shame
upon the great mass of their innocent and right-thinking fellows--that
is, upon our nation as a whole. Good manners should be an international
no less than an individual attribute. I ask fair treatment for the
Japanese as I would ask fair treatment for Germans 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
uprightly toward all men.
I recommend to the Congress that an act be past specifically providing
for the naturalization of Japanese who come here intending to become
American citizens. One of the great embarrassments attending the
performance of our international obligations is the fact that the
Statutes of the United States are entirely inadequate. They fail to
give to the National Government sufficiently ample power, through
United States courts and by the use of the Army and Navy, to protect
aliens in the rights secured to them under solemn treaties which are
the law of the land. I therefore earnestly recommend that the criminal
and civil statutes of the United States be so amended and added to as
to enable the President, acting for the United States Government, which
is responsible in our international relations, to enforce the rights of
aliens under treaties. Even as the law now is something can be done by
the Federal Government toward this end, and in the matter now before me
affecting the Japanese everything that it is in my power to do will be
done, and all of the forces, military and civil, of the United States
which I may lawfully employ will be so employed. There should, however,
be no particle of doubt as to the power of the National Government
completely to perform and enforce its own obligations to other nations.
The mob of a single city may at any time perform acts of lawless
violence against some class of foreigners which would plunge us into
war. That city by itself would be powerless to make defense against the
foreign power thus assaulted, and if independent of this Government it
would never venture to perform or permit the performance of the acts
complained of. The entire power and the whole duty to protect the
offending city or the offending community lies in the hands of the
United States Government. It is unthinkable that we should continue a
policy under which a given locality may be allowed to commit a crime
against a friendly nation, and the United States Government limited,
not to preventing the commission of the crime, but, in the last resort,
to defending the people who have committed it against the consequences
of their own wrongdoing.
Last August an insurrection broke out in Cuba which it speedily grew
evident that the existing Cuban Government was powerless to quell. This
Government was repeatedly asked by the then Cuban Government to
intervene, and finally was notified by the President of Cuba that he
intended to resign; that his decision was irrevocable; that none of the
other constitutional officers would consent to carry on the Government,
and that he was powerless to maintain order. It was evident that chaos
was impending, and there was every probability that if steps were not
immediately taken by this Government to try to restore order the
representatives of various European nations in the island would apply
to their respective governments for armed intervention in order to
protect the lives and property of their citizens. Thanks to the
preparedness of our Navy, I was able immediately to send enough ships
to Cuba to prevent the situation from becoming hopeless; and I
furthermore dispatched to Cuba the Secretary of War and the Assistant
Secretary of State, in order that they might grapple with the situation
on the ground. All efforts to secure an agreement between the
contending factions, by which they should themselves come to an
amicable understanding and settle upon some modus vivendi--some
provisional government of their own--failed. Finally the President of
the Republic resigned. The quorum of Congress assembled failed by
deliberate purpose of its members, so that there was no power to act on
his resignation, and the Government came to a halt. In accordance with
the so-called Platt amendment, which was embodied in the constitution
of Cuba, I thereupon proclaimed a provisional government for the
island, the Secretary of War acting as provisional governor until he
could be replaced by Mr. Magoon, the late minister to Panama and
governor of the Canal Zone on the Isthmus; troops were sent to support
them and to relieve the Navy, the expedition being handled with most
satisfactory speed and efficiency. The insurgent chiefs immediately
agreed that their troops should lay down their arms and disband; and
the agreement was carried out. The provisional government has left the
personnel of the old government and the old laws, so far as might be,
unchanged, and will thus administer the island for a few months until
tranquillity can be restored, a new election properly held, and a new
government inaugurated. Peace has come in the island; and the
harvesting of the sugar-cane crop, the great crop of the island, is
about to proceed.
When the election has been held and the new government inaugurated in
peaceful and orderly fashion the provisional government will come to an
end. I take this opportunity of expressing upon behalf of the American
people, with all possible solemnity, our most earnest hope that the
people of Cuba will realize the imperative need of preserving justice
and keeping order in the Island. The United States wishes nothing of
Cuba except that it shall prosper morally and materially, and wishes
nothing of the Cubans save that they shall be able to preserve order
among themselves and therefore to preserve their independence. If the
elections become a farce, and if the insurrectionary habit becomes
confirmed in the Island, it is absolutely out of the question that the
Island should continue independent; and the United States, which has
assumed the sponsorship before the civilized world for Cuba's career as
a nation, would again have to intervene and to see that the government
was managed in such orderly fashion as to secure the safety of life and
property. The path to be trodden by those who exercise self-government
is always hard, and we should have every charity and patience with the
Cubans as they tread this difficult path. I have the utmost sympathy
with, and regard for, them; but I most earnestly adjure them solemnly
to weigh their responsibilities and to see that when their new
government is started it shall run smoothly, and with freedom from
flagrant denial of right on the one hand, and from insurrectionary
disturbances on the other.
The Second International Conference of American Republics, held in
Mexico in the years 1901-2, provided for the holding of the third
conference within five years, and committed the fixing of the time and
place and the arrangements for the conference to the governing board of
the Bureau of American Republics, composed of the representatives of
all the American nations in Washington. That board discharged the duty
imposed upon it with marked fidelity and painstaking care, and upon the
courteous invitation of the United States of Brazil the conference was
held at Rio de Janeiro, continuing from the 23d of July to the 29th of
August last. Many subjects of common interest to all the American
nations were discust by the conference, and the conclusions reached,
embodied in a series of resolutions and proposed conventions, will be
laid before you upon the coming in of the final report of the American
delegates. They contain many matters of importance relating to the
extension of trade, the increase of communication, the smoothing away
of barriers to free intercourse, and the promotion of a better
knowledge and good understanding between the different countries
represented. The meetings of the conference were harmonious and the
conclusions were reached with substantial unanimity. It is interesting
to observe that in the successive conferences which have been held the
representatives of the different American nations have been learning to
work together effectively, for, while the First Conference in
Washington in 1889, and the Second Conference in Mexico in 1901-2,
occupied many months, with much time wasted in an unregulated and
fruitless discussion, the Third Conference at Rio exhibited much of the
facility in the practical dispatch of business which characterizes
permanent deliberative bodies, and completed its labors within the
period of six weeks originally allotted for its sessions.
Quite apart from the specific value of the conclusions reached by the
conference, the example of the representatives of all the American
nations engaging in harmonious and kindly consideration and discussion
of subjects of common interest is itself of great and substantial value
for the promotion of reasonable and considerate treatment of all
international questions. The thanks of this country are due to the
Government of Brazil and to the people of Rio de Janeiro for the
generous hospitality with which our delegates, in common with the
others, were received, entertained, and facilitated in their work.
Incidentally to the meeting of the conference, the Secretary of State
visited the city of Rio de Janeiro and was cordially received by the
conference, of which he was made an honorary president. The
announcement of his intention to make this visit was followed by most
courteous and urgent invitations from nearly all the countries of South
America to visit them as the guest of their Governments. It was deemed
that by the acceptance of these invitations we might appropriately
express the real respect and friendship in which we hold our sister
Republics of the southern continent, and the Secretary, accordingly,
visited Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Panama, and Colombia.
He refrained from visiting Paraguay, Bolivia, and Ecuador only because
the distance of their capitals from the seaboard made it impracticable
with the time at his disposal. He carried with him a message of peace
and friendship, and of strong desire for good understanding and mutual
helpfulness; and he was everywhere received in the spirit of his
message. The members of government, the press, the learned professions,
the men of business, and the great masses of the people united
everywhere in emphatic response to his friendly expressions and in
doing honor to the country and cause which he represented.
In many parts of South America there has been much misunderstanding of
the attitude and purposes of the United States towards the other
American Republics. An idea had become prevalent that our assertion of
the Monroe Doctrine implied, or carried with it, an assumption of
superiority, and of a right to exercise some kind of protectorate over
the countries to whose territory that doctrine applies. Nothing could
be farther from the truth. Yet that impression continued to be a
serious barrier to good understanding, to friendly intercourse, to the
introduction of American capital and the extension of American trade.
The impression was so widespread that apparently it could not be
reached by any ordinary means.
It was part of Secretary Root's mission to dispel this unfounded
impression, and there is just cause to believe that he has succeeded.
In an address to the Third Conference at Rio on the 31st of July--an
address of such note that I send it in, together with this message--he
said:
"We wish for no victories but those of peace; for no territory except
our own; for no sovereignty except the sovereignty over ourselves. We
deem the independence and equal rights of the smallest and weakest
member of the family of nations entitled to as much respect as those of
the greatest empire, and we deem the observance of that respect the
chief guaranty of the weak against the oppression of the strong. We
neither claim nor desire any rights or privileges or powers that we do
not freely concede to every American Republic. 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 way to accomplish this is not to
pull down others and profit by their ruin, but to help all friends to a
common prosperity and a common growth, that we may all become greater
and stronger together. Within a few months for the first time the
recognized possessors of every foot of soil upon the American
continents can be and I hope will be represented with the acknowledged
rights of equal sovereign states in the great World Congress at The
Hague. This will be the world's formal and final acceptance of the
declaration that no part of the American continents is to be deemed
subject to colonization. Let us pledge ourselves to aid each other in
the full performance of the duty to humanity which that accepted
declaration implies, so that in time the weakest and most unfortunate
of our Republics may come to march with equal step by the side of the
stronger and more fortunate. Let us help each other to show that for
all the races of men the liberty for which we have fought and labored
is the twin sister of justice and peace. Let us unite in creating and
maintaining and making effective an all-American public opinion, whose
power shall influence international conduct and prevent international
wrong, and narrow the causes of war, and forever preserve our free
lands from the burden of such armaments as are massed behind the
frontiers of Europe, and bring us ever nearer to the perfection of
ordered liberty. So shall come security and prosperity, production and
trade, wealth, learning, the arts, and happiness for us all."
These words appear to have been received with acclaim in every part of
South America. They have my hearty approval, as I am sure they will
have yours, and I can not be wrong in the conviction that they
correctly represent the sentiments of the whole American people. I can
not better characterize the true attitude of the United States in its
assertion of the Monroe Doctrine than in the words of the distinguished
former minister of foreign affairs of Argentina, Doctor Drago, in his
speech welcoming Mr. Root at Buenos Ayres. He spoke of--
"The traditional policy of the United States (which) without
accentuating superiority or seeking preponderance, condemned the
oppression of the nations of this part of the world and the control of
their destinies by the great Powers of Europe."
It is gratifying to know that in the great city of Buenos Ayres, upon
the arches which spanned the streets, entwined with Argentine and
American flags for the reception of our representative, there were
emblazoned not' only the names of Washington and Jefferson and
Marshall, but also, in appreciative recognition of their services to
the cause of South American independence, the names of James Monroe,
John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Richard Rush. We take especial
pleasure in the graceful courtesy of the Government of Brazil, which
has given to the beautiful and stately building first used for the
meeting of the conference the name of "Palacio Monroe." Our grateful
acknowledgments are due to the Governments and the people of all the
countries visited by the Secretary of State for the courtesy, the
friendship, and the honor shown to our country in their generous
hospitality to him.
In my message to you on the 5th of December, 1905, I called your
attention to the embarrassment that might be caused to this Government
by the assertion by foreign nations of the right to collect by force of
arms contract debts due by American republics to citizens of the
collecting nation, and to the danger that the process of compulsory
collection might result in the occupation of territory tending to
become permanent. I then said:
"Our own Government has always refused to enforce such contractual
obligations on behalf of its citizens by an appeal to arms. It is much
to be wisht that all foreign governments would take the same view."
This subject was one of the topics of consideration at the conference
at Rio and a resolution was adopted by that conference recommending to
the respective governments represented "to consider the advisability of
asking the Second Peace Conference at The Hague to examine the question
of the compulsory collection of public debts, and, in general, means
tending to diminish among nations conflicts of purely pecuniary
origin."
This resolution was supported by the representatives of the United
States in accordance with the following instructions:
"It has long been the established policy of the United States not to
use its armed forces for the collection of ordinary contract debts due
to its citizens by other governments. We have not considered the use of
force for such a purpose consistent with that respect for the
independent sovereignty of other members of the family of nations which
is the most important principle of international law and the chief
protection of weak nations against the oppression of the strong. It
seems to us that the practise is injurious in its general effect upon
the relations of nations and upon the welfare of weak and disordered
states, whose development ought to be encouraged in the interests of
civilization; that it offers frequent temptation to bullying and
oppression and to unnecessary and unjustifiable warfare. We regret that
other powers, whose opinions and sense of justice we esteem highly,
have at times taken a different view and have permitted themselves,
though we believe with reluctance, to collect such debts by force. It
is doubtless true that the non-payment of public debts may be
accompanied by such circumstances of fraud and wrongdoing or violation
of treaties as to justify the use of force. This Government would be
glad to see an international consideration of the subject which shall
discriminate between such cases and the simple nonperformance of a
contract with a private person, and a resolution in favor of reliance
upon peaceful means in cases of the latter class.
"It is not felt, however, that the conference at Rio should undertake
to make such a discrimination or to resolve upon such a rule. Most of
the American countries are still debtor nations, while the countries of
Europe are the creditors. If the Rio conference, therefore, were to
take such action it would have the appearance of a meeting of debtors
resolving how their creditors should act, and this would not inspire
respect. The true course is indicated by the terms of the program,
which proposes to request the Second Hague Conference, where both
creditors and debtors will be assembled, to consider the subject."
Last June trouble which had existed for some time between the Republics
of Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras culminated in war--a war which
threatened to be ruinous to the countries involved and very destructive
to the commercial interests of Americans, Mexicans, and other
foreigners who are taking an important part in the development of these
countries. The thoroughly good understanding which exists between the
United States and Mexico enabled this Government and that of Mexico to
unite in effective mediation between the warring Republics; which
mediation resulted, not without long-continued and patient effort, in
bringing about a meeting of the representatives of the hostile powers
on board a United States warship as neutral territory, and peace was
there concluded; a peace which resulted in the saving of thousands of
lives and in the prevention of an incalculable amount of misery and the
destruction of property and of the means of livelihood. The Rio
Conference past the following resolution in reference to this action:
"That the Third International American Conference shall address to the
Presidents of the United States of America and of the United States of
Mexico a note in which the conference which is being held at Rio
expresses its satisfaction at the happy results of their mediation for
the celebration of peace between the Republics of Guatemala, Honduras,
and Salvador."
This affords an excellent example of one way in which the influence of
the United States can properly be exercised for the benefit of the
peoples of the Western Hemisphere; that is, by action taken in concert
with other American republics and therefore free from those suspicions
and prejudices which might attach if the action were taken by one
alone. In this way it is possible to exercise a powerful influence
toward the substitution of considerate action in the spirit of justice
for the insurrectionary or international violence which has hitherto
been so great a hindrance to the development of many of our neighbors.
Repeated examples of united action by several or many American
republics in favor of peace, by urging cool and reasonable, instead of
excited and belligerent, treatment of international controversies, can
not fail to promote the growth of a general public opinion among the
American nations which will elevate the standards of international
action, strengthen the sense of international duty among governments,
and tell in favor of the peace of mankind.
I have just returned from a trip to Panama and shall report to you at
length later on the whole subject of the Panama Canal.
The Algeciras Convention, which was signed by the United States as well
as by most of the powers of Europe, supersedes the previous convention
of 1880, which was also signed both by the United States and a majority
of the European powers. This treaty confers upon us equal commercial
rights with all European countries and does not entail a single
obligation of any kind upon us, and I earnestly hope it may be speedily
ratified. To refuse to ratify it would merely mean that we forfeited
our commercial rights in Morocco and would not achieve another object
of any kind. In the event of such refusal we would be left for the
first time in a hundred and twenty years without any commercial treaty
with Morocco; and this at a time when we are everywhere seeking new
markets and outlets for trade.
The destruction of the Pribilof Islands fur seals by pelagic sealing
still continues. The herd which, according to the surveys made in 1874
by direction of the Congress, numbered 4,700,000, and which, according
to the survey of both American and Canadian commissioners in 1891,
amounted to 1,000,000, has now been reduced to about 180,000. This
result has been brought about by Canadian and some other sealing
vessels killing the female seals while in the water during their annual
pilgrimage 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, for each skin taken by pelagic sealing, as a rule, three
lives are destroyed--the mother, the unborn offspring, and the nursing
pup, which is left to starve to death. No damage whatever is done to
the herd by the carefully regulated killing on land; the custom of
pelagic sealing is solely responsible for all of the present evil, and
is alike indefensible from the economic standpoint and from the
standpoint of humanity.
In 1896 over 16,000 young seals were found dead from starvation on the
Pribilof Islands. In 1897 it was estimated that since pelagic sealing
began upward of 400,000 adult female seals had been killed at sea, and
over 300,000 young seals had died of starvation as the result. The
revolting barbarity of such a practise, as well as the wasteful
destruction which it involves, needs no demonstration and is its own
condemnation. The Bering Sea Tribunal, which sat in Paris in 1893, and
which decided against the claims of the United States to exclusive
jurisdiction in the waters of Bering Sea and to a property right in the
fur seals when outside of the three-mile limit, determined also upon
certain regulations which the Tribunal considered sufficient for the
proper protection and preservation of the fur seal in, or habitually
resorting to, the Bering Sea. The Tribunal by its regulations
established a close season, from the 1st of May to the 31st of July,
and excluded all killing in the waters within 60 miles around the
Pribilof Islands. They also provided that the regulations which they
had determined upon, with a view to the protection and preservation of
the seals, should be submitted every five years to new examination, so
as to enable both interested Governments to consider whether, in the
light of past experience, there was occasion for any modification
thereof.
The regulations have proved plainly inadequate to accomplish the object
of protection and preservation of the fur seals, and for a long time
this Government has been trying in vain to secure from Great Britain
such revision and modification of the regulations as were contemplated
and provided for by the award of the Tribunal of Paris.
The process of destruction has been accelerated during recent years by
the appearance of a number of Japanese vessels engaged in pelagic
sealing. As these vessels have not been bound even by the inadequate
limitations prescribed by the Tribunal of Paris, they have paid no
attention either to the close season or to the sixty-mile limit imposed
upon the Canadians, and have prosecuted their work up to the very
islands themselves. On July 16 and 17 the crews from several Japanese
vessels made raids upon the island of St. Paul, and before they were
beaten off by the very meager and insufficiently armed guard, they
succeeded in killing several hundred seals and carrying off the skins
of most of them. Nearly all the seals killed were females and the work
was done with frightful barbarity. Many of the seals appear to have
been skinned alive and many were found half skinned and still alive.
The raids were repelled only by the use of firearms, and five of the
raiders were killed, two were wounded, and twelve captured, including
the two wounded. Those captured have since been tried and sentenced to
imprisonment. An attack of this kind had been wholly unlookt for, but
such provision of vessels, arms, and ammunition will now be made that
its repetition will not be found profitable.
Suitable representations regarding the incident have been made to the
Government of Japan, and we are assured that all practicable measures
will be taken by that country to prevent any recurrence of the outrage.
On our part, the guard on the island will be increased and better
equipped and organized, and a better revenue-cutter patrol service
about the islands will be established; next season a United States war
vessel will also be sent there.
We have not relaxed our efforts to secure an agreement with Great
Britain for adequate protection of the seal herd, and negotiations with
Japan for the same purpose are in progress.
The laws for the protection of the seals within the jurisdiction of the
United States need revision and amendment. Only the islands of St. Paul
and St. George are now, in terms, included in the Government
reservation, and the other islands are also to be included. The landing
of aliens as well as citizens upon the islands, without a permit from
the Department of Commerce and Labor, for any purpose except in case of
stress of weather or for water, should be prohibited under adequate
penalties. The approach of vessels for the excepted purposes should be
regulated. The authority of the Government agents on the islands should
be enlarged, and the chief agent should have the powers of a committing
magistrate. The entrance of a vessel into the territorial waters
surrounding the islands with intent to take seals should be made a
criminal offense and cause of forfeiture. Authority for seizures in
such cases should be given and the presence on any such vessel of seals
or sealskins, or the paraphernalia for taking them, should be made
prima facie evidence of such intent. I recommend what 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 this
subject.
In case we are compelled to abandon the hope of making arrangements
with other governments to put an end to the hideous cruelty now
incident to pelagic sealing, it will be a question for your serious
consideration how far we should continue to protect and maintain the
seal herd on land with the result of continuing such a practise, and
whether it is not better to end the practice by exterminating the herd
ourselves in the most humane way possible.
In my last message I advised you that the Emperor of Russia had taken
the initiative in bringing about a second peace conference at The
Hague. Under the guidance of Russia the arrangement of the
preliminaries for such a conference has been progressing during the
past year. Progress has necessarily been slow, owing to the great
number of countries to be consulted upon every question that has
arisen. It is a matter of satisfaction that all of the American
Republics have now, for the first time, been invited to join in the
proposed conference.
The close connection between the subjects to be taken up by the Red
Cross Conference held at Geneva last summer and the subjects which
naturally would come before The Hague Conference made it apparent that
it was desirable to have the work of the Red Cross Conference completed
and considered by the different powers before the meeting at The Hague.
The Red Cross Conference ended its labors on the 6th day of July, and
the revised and amended convention, which was signed by the American
delegates, will be promptly laid before the Senate.
By the special and highly appreciated courtesy of the Governments of
Russia and the Netherlands, a proposal to call The Hague Conference
together at a time which would conflict with the Conference of the
American Republics at Rio de Janeiro in August was laid aside. No other
date has yet been suggested. A tentative program for the conference has
been proposed by the Government of Russia, and the subjects which it
enumerates are undergoing careful examination and consideration in
preparation for the conference.
It must ever be kept in mind that war is not merely justifiable, but
imperative, upon honorable men, upon an honorable nation, where peace
can only be obtained by the sacrifice of conscientious conviction or of
national welfare. Peace is normally a great good, and normally it
coincides with righteousness; but it is righteousness and not peace
which should bind the conscience of a nation as it should bind the
conscience of an individual; and neither a nation nor an individual can
surrender conscience to another's keeping. Neither can a nation, which
is an entity, and which does not die as individuals die, refrain from
taking thought for the interest of the generations that are to come, no
less than for the interest of the generation of to-day; and no public
men have a right, whether from shortsightedness, from selfish
indifference, or from sentimentality, to sacrifice national interests
which are vital in character. A just war is in the long run far better
for a nation's soul than the most prosperous peace obtained by
acquiescence in wrong or injustice. Moreover, though it is criminal for
a nation not to prepare for war, so that it may escape the dreadful
consequences of being defeated in war, yet it must always be remembered
that even to be defeated in war may be far better than not to have
fought at all. As has been well and finely said, a beaten nation is not
necessarily a disgraced nation; but the nation or man is disgraced if
the obligation to defend right is shirked.
We should as a nation do everything in our power for the cause of
honorable peace. It is morally as indefensible for a nation to commit a
wrong upon another nation, strong or weak, as for an individual thus to
wrong his fellows. We should do all in our power to hasten the day when
there shall be peace among the nations--a peace based upon justice and
not upon cowardly submission to wrong. We can accomplish a good deal in
this direction, but we can not accomplish everything, and the penalty
of attempting to do too much would almost inevitably be to do worse
than nothing; for it must be remembered that fantastic extremists are
not in reality leaders of the causes which they espouse, but are
ordinarily those who do most to hamper the real leaders of the cause
and to damage the cause itself. As yet there is no likelihood of
establishing any kind of international power, of whatever sort, which
can effectively check wrongdoing, and in these circumstances it would
be both a foolish and an evil thing for a great and free nation to
deprive itself of the power to protect its own rights and even in
exceptional cases to stand up for the rights of others. Nothing would
more promote iniquity, nothing would further defer the reign upon earth
of peace and righteousness, than for the free and enlightened peoples
which, though with much stumbling and many shortcomings, nevertheless
strive toward justice, deliberately to render themselves powerless
while leaving every despotism and barbarism armed and able to work
their wicked will. The chance for the settlement of disputes
peacefully, by arbitration, now depends mainly upon the possession by
the nations that mean to do right of sufficient armed strength to make
their purpose effective.
The United States Navy is the surest guarantor of peace which this
country possesses. It is earnestly to be wisht that we would profit by
the teachings of history in this matter. A strong and wise people will
study its own failures no less than its triumphs, for there is wisdom
to be learned from the study of both, of the mistake as well as of the
success. For this purpose nothing could be more instructive than a
rational study of the war of 1812, as it is told, for instance, by
Captain Mahan. There was only one way in which that war could have been
avoided. If during the preceding twelve years a navy relatively as
strong as that which this country now has had been built up, and an
army provided relatively as good as that which the country now has,
there never would have been the slightest necessity of fighting the
war; and if the necessity had arisen the war would under such
circumstances have ended with our speedy and overwhelming triumph. But
our people during those twelve years refused to make any preparations
whatever, 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 million they thus saved during the three years of war which
followed--a war which brought untold suffering upon our people, which
at one time threatened the gravest national disaster, and which, in
spite of the necessity of waging it, resulted merely in what was in
effect a drawn battle, while the balance of defeat 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 present strength; and this can be done only if
we replace the obsolete and outworn ships by new and good ones, the
equals of any afloat in any navy. To stop building ships for one year
means that for that year the Navy goes back instead of forward. The old
battle ship Texas, for instance, would now be of little service in a
stand-up fight with a powerful adversary. The old double-turret
monitors have outworn their usefulness, while it was a waste of money
to build the modern single-turret monitors. All these ships should be
replaced by others; and this can be done by a well-settled program of
providing for the building each year of at least one first-class battle
ship equal in size and speed to any that any nation is at the same time
building; the armament presumably to consist of as large a number as
possible of very heavy guns of one caliber, together with smaller guns
to repel 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 have to be built also. All this, be it remembered, would not
increase our Navy, but would merely keep it at its present strength.
Equally of course, the ships will be absolutely useless if the men
aboard them are not so trained that they can get the best possible
service out of the formidable but delicate and complicated mechanisms
intrusted to their care. The marksmanship of our men has so improved
during the last five years that I deem it within bounds to say that the
Navy is more than twice as efficient, ship for ship, as half a decade
ago. The Navy can only attain proper efficiency if enough officers and
men are provided, and if these officers and men are given the chance
(and required to take advantage of it) to stay continually at sea and
to exercise the fleets singly and above all in squadron, the exercise
to be of every kind and to include unceasing practise at the guns,
conducted under conditions that will test marksmanship in time of war.
In both the Army and the Navy there is urgent need that everything
possible should be done to maintain the highest standard for the
personnel, alike as regards the officers and the enlisted men. I do not
believe that in any service there is a finer body of enlisted men and
of junior officer than we have in both the Army and the Navy, including
the Marine Corps. All possible encouragement to the enlisted men should
be given, in pay and otherwise, and everything practicable done to
render the service attractive to men of the right type. They should be
held to the strictest discharge of their duty, and in them a spirit
should be encouraged which demands not the mere performance of duty,
but the performance of far more than duty, if it conduces to the honor
and the interest of the American nation; and in return the amplest
consideration should be theirs.
West Point and Annapolis already turn out excellent officers. We do not
need to have these schools made more scholastic. On the contrary we
should never lose sight of the fact that the aim of each school is to
turn out a man who shall be above everything else a fighting man. In
the Army in particular it is not necessary that either the cavalry or
infantry officer should have special mathematical ability. Probably in
both schools the best part of the education is the high standard of
character and of professional morale which it confers.
But in both services there is urgent need for the establishment of a
principle of selection which will eliminate men after a certain age if
they can not be promoted from the subordinate ranks, and which will
bring into the higher ranks fewer men, and these at an earlier age.
This principle of selection will be objected to by good men of mediocre
capacity, who are fitted to do well while young in the lower positions,
but who are not fitted to do well when at an advanced age they come
into positions of command and of great responsibility. But the desire
of these men to be promoted to positions which they are not competent
to fill should not weigh against the interest of the Navy and the
country. At present our men, especially in the Navy, are kept far too
long in the junior grades, and then, at much too advanced an age, are
put quickly through the senior grades, often not attaining to these
senior grades until they are too old to be of real use in them; and if
they are of real use, being put through them so quickly that little
benefit to the Navy comes from their having been in them at all.
The Navy has one great advantage over the Army in the fact that the
officers of high rank are actually trained in the continual performance
of their duties; that is, in the management of the battle ships and
armored cruisers gathered into fleets. This is not true of the army
officers, who rarely have corresponding chances to exercise command
over troops under service conditions. The conduct of the Spanish war
showed the lamentable loss of life, the useless extravagance, and the
inefficiency certain to result, if during peace the high officials of
the War and Navy Departments are praised and rewarded only if they save
money at no matter what cost to the efficiency of the service, and if
the higher officers are given no chance whatever to exercise and
practise command. For years prior to the Spanish war the Secretaries of
War were praised chiefly if they practised economy; which economy,
especially in connection with the quartermaster, commissary, and
medical departments, was directly responsible for most of the
mismanagement that occurred in the war itself--and parenthetically be
it observed that the very people who clamored for the misdirected
economy in the first place were foremost to denounce the mismanagement,
loss, and suffering which were primarily due to this same misdirected
economy and to the lack of preparation it involved. There should soon
be an increase in the number of men for our coast defenses; these men
should be of the right type and properly trained; and there should
therefore be an increase of pay for certain skilled grades, especially
in the coast artillery. Money should be appropriated to permit troops
to be massed in body and exercised in maneuvers, particularly in
marching. Such exercise during the summer just past has been of
incalculable benefit to the Army and should under no circumstances be
discontinued. If on these practise marches and in these maneuvers
elderly officers prove unable to bear the strain, they should be
retired at once, for the fact is conclusive as to their unfitness for
war; that is, for the only purpose because of which they should be
allowed to stay in the service. It is a real misfortune to have scores
of small company or regimental posts scattered throughout the country;
the Army should be gathered in a few brigade or division posts; and the
generals should be practised in handling the men in masses. Neglect to
provide for all of this means to incur the risk of future disaster and
disgrace.
The readiness and efficiency of both the Army and Navy in dealing with
the recent sudden crisis in Cuba illustrate afresh their value to the
Nation. This readiness and efficiency would have been very much less
had it not been for the existence of the General Staff in the Army and
the General Board in the Navy; both are essential to the proper
development and 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 ready
for immediate service, several of its organizations hardly remaining in
Havana over night before splitting up into detachments and going to
their several posts, It was a fine demonstration of the value and
efficiency of the General Staff. Similarly, it was owing in large part
to the General Board that the Navy was able at the outset to meet the
Cuban crisis with such instant efficiency; ship after ship appearing on
the shortest notice at any threatened point, while the Marine Corps in
particular performed indispensable service. The Army and Navy War
Colleges are of incalculable value to the two services, and they
cooperate with constantly increasing efficiency and importance.
The Congress has most wisely provided for a National Board for the
promotion of rifle practise. Excellent results have already come from
this law, but it does not go far enough. Our Regular Army is so small
that in any great war we should have to trust mainly to volunteers; and
in such event these volunteers should already know how to shoot; for if
a soldier has the fighting edge, and ability to take care of himself in
the open, his efficiency on the line of battle is almost directly
Proportionate to excellence in marksmanship. We should establish
shooting galleries in all the large public and military schools, should
maintain national target ranges in different parts of the country, and
should in every way encourage the formation of rifle clubs throughout
all parts of the land. The little Republic of Switzerland offers us an
excellent example in all matters connected with building up an
efficient citizen soldiery.
***
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 think it can be
truthfully said that the citizens of no nation possess greater energy
and industrial ability. In no nation are the fundamental business
conditions sounder than in ours at this very moment; and it is foolish,
when such is the case, for people to hoard money instead of keeping it
in sound banks; for it is such hoarding that is the immediate occasion
of money stringency. Moreover, as a rule, the business of our people is
conducted with honesty and probity, and this applies alike to farms and
factories, to railroads and banks, to all our legitimate commercial
enterprises.
In any large body of men, however, there are certain to be some who are
dishonest, and if the conditions are such that these men prosper or
commit their misdeeds with impunity, their example is a very evil thing
for the community. Where these men are business men of great sagacity
and of temperament both unscrupulous and reckless, and where the
conditions are such that they act without supervision or control and at
first without effective check from public opinion, they delude many
innocent people into making investments or embarking in kinds of
business that are really unsound. When the misdeeds of these
successfully dishonest men are discovered, suffering comes not only
upon them, 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 are apt to forget that the longer it was
deferred the more painful it would be. In the effort to punish the
guilty it is both wise and proper to endeavor so far as possible to
minimize the distress of those who have been misled by the guilty. Yet
it is not possible to refrain because of such distress from striving to
put an end to the misdeeds that are the ultimate causes of the
suffering, and, as a means to this end, where possible to punish those
responsible for them. There may be honest differences of opinion as to
many governmental policies; but surely there can be no such differences
as to the need of unflinching perseverance 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 have to pay part of the penalty incurred by
those who are guilty of the folly. A panic brought on by the
speculative folly of part of the business community would hurt the
whole business community; but such stoppage of welfare, though it might
be severe, would not be lasting. In the long run, the one vital factor
in the permanent prosperity of the country is the high individual
character of the average American worker, the average American citizen,
no matter whether his work be mental or manual, whether he be farmer or
wage-worker, business man or professional man.
"In our industrial and social system the interests of all men are so
closely intertwined that in the immense 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 rich by guiding the labor of
many other men does so by enabling them to produce more than they could
produce without his guidance; and both he and they share in the
benefit, which comes also to the public at large. The superficial fact
that the sharing may be unequal must never blind us to the underlying
fact that there is this sharing, and that the benefit comes in some
degree 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 helped by making conditions such that the man of
exceptional business ability receives an exceptional reward for his
ability Something can be done by legislation to help the general
prosperity; but no such help of a permanently beneficial character can
be given to the less able and less fortunate save as the results of a
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 benefit which comes to the less able and less fortunate
must of necessity come even more to the more able and more fortunate.
If, therefore, the less fortunate man is moved by envy of his more
fortunate brother to strike at the conditions under which they have
both, though unequally, prospered, the result will assuredly be that
while damage may come to the one struck at, it will visit with an even
heavier load the one who strikes the blow. Taken as a whole, we must
all go up or go down together.
"Yet, while not merely admitting, but insisting upon this, it is also
true that where there is no governmental restraint or supervision some
of the exceptional men use their energies, not in ways that are for the
common good, but in ways which tell against this common good. The
fortunes amassed through corporate organization are now so large, and
vest such power in those that wield them, as to make it a matter of
necessity to give to the sovereign--that is, to the Government, which
represents the people as a whole--some effective power of supervision
over their corporate use. In order to insure a healthy social and
industrial life, every big corporation should be held responsible by,
and be accountable to, some sovereign strong enough to control its
conduct. I am in no sense hostile to corporations. This is an age of
combination, and any effort to prevent all combination will be not only
useless, but in the end vicious, because of the contempt for law which
the failure to enforce law inevitably produces. We should, moreover,
recognize in cordial and ample fashion the immense good effected by
corporate agencies in a country such as ours, and the wealth of
intellect, energy, and fidelity devoted to their service, and therefore
normally to the service of the public, by their officers and directors.
The corporation has come to stay, just as the trade union has come to
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
against law and justice.
"The makers of our National Constitution provided especially that the
regulation of interstate commerce should come within the sphere of the
General Government. The arguments in favor of their taking this stand
were even then overwhelming. But they are far stronger to-day, in view
of the enormous development of great business agencies, usually
corporate in form. Experience has shown conclusively that it is useless
to try to get any adequate regulation and supervision of these great
corporations by State action. Such regulation and supervision can only
be effectively exercised by a sovereign whose jurisdiction is
coextensive with the field of work of the corporations--that is, by the
National Government. I believe that this regulation and supervision can
be obtained by the enactment of law by the Congress. Our steady aim
should be by legislation, cautiously and carefully undertaken, but
resolutely persevered in, to assert the sovereignty of the National
Government by affirmative action.
"This is only in form an innovation. In substance it is merely a
restoration; for from the earliest time such regulation of industrial
activities has been recognized in the action of the lawmaking bodies;
and all that I propose is to meet the changed conditions in such manner
as will prevent the Commonwealth abdicating the power it has always
possessed, not only in this country, but also in England before and
since this country became a separate nation.
"It has been a misfortune that the National laws on this subject have
hitherto been of a negative or prohibitive rather than an affirmative
kind, and still more that they have in part sought to prohibit what
could not be effectively prohibited, and have in part in their
prohibitions confounded what should be allowed and what should not be
allowed. It is generally useless to try to prohibit all restraint on
competition, whether this restraint be reasonable or unreasonable; and
where it is not useless it is generally hurtful. The successful
prosecution of one device to evade the law immediately develops another
device to accomplish the same purpose. What is needed is not sweeping
prohibition of every arrangement, good or bad, which may tend to
restrict competition, but such adequate supervision and regulation as
will prevent any restriction of competition from being to the detriment
of the public, as well as such supervision and regulation as will
prevent other abuses in no way connected with restriction of
competition."
I have called your attention in these quotations to what I have already
said because I am satisfied that it is the duty of the National
Government to embody in action the principles thus expressed.
No small part of the trouble that we have comes from carrying to an
extreme the national virtue of self-reliance, of independence in
initiative and action. It is wise to conserve this virtue and to
provide for its fullest exercise, compatible with seeing that liberty
does not become a liberty to wrong others. Unfortunately, this is the
kind of liberty that the lack of all effective regulation inevitably
breeds. The founders of the Constitution provided that the National
Government should have complete and sole control of interstate
commerce. There was then practically no interstate business save such
as was conducted by water, and this the National Government at once
proceeded to regulate in thoroughgoing and effective fashion.
Conditions have now so wholly changed that the interstate commerce by
water is insignificant compared with the amount that goes by land, and
almost all big business concerns are now engaged in interstate
commerce. As a result, it can be but partially and imperfectly
controlled or regulated by the action of any one of the several States;
such action inevitably tending to be either too drastic or else too
lax, and in either case ineffective for purposes of justice. Only the
National Government can in thoroughgoing fashion exercise the needed
control. This does not mean that there should be any extension of
Federal authority, for such authority already exists under the
Constitution in amplest and most far-reaching form; but it does mean
that there should be an extension of Federal activity. This is not
advocating centralization. It is merely looking facts in the face, and
realizing that centralization in business has already come and can not
be avoided or undone, and that the public at large can only protect
itself from certain evil effects of this business centralization by
providing better methods for the exercise of control through the
authority already centralized in the National Government by the
Constitution itself. There must be no ball in the healthy constructive
course of 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 and the administration of the law by the
Department of Justice. The most vital need is in connection with the
railroads. As to these, in my judgment there should now be either a
national incorporation act or a law licensing railway companies to
engage in interstate commerce upon certain conditions. The law should
be so framed as to give to the Interstate Commerce Commission power to
pass upon the future issue of securities, while ample means should be
provided to enable the Commission, whenever in its judgment it is
necessary, to make a physical valuation of any railroad. As I stated in
my Message to the Congress a year ago, railroads should be given power
to enter into agreements, subject to these agreements being made public
in minute detail and to the consent of the Interstate Commerce
Commission being first obtained. Until the National Government assumes
proper control of interstate commerce, in the exercise of the authority
it already possesses, it will be impossible either to give to or to get
from the railroads full justice. The railroads and all other great
corporations will do well to recognize that this control must come; the
only question is as to what governmental body can most wisely exercise
it. The courts will determine the limits within which the Federal
authority can exercise it, and there will still remain ample work
within each State for the railway commission of that State; and the
National Interstate Commerce Commission will work in harmony with the
several State commissions, each within its own province, to achieve the
desired end.
Moreover, in my judgment there should be additional legislation looking
to the proper control of the great business concerns engaged in
interstate business, this control to be exercised for their own benefit
and prosperity no less than for the protection of investors and of the
general public. As I have repeatedly said in Messages to the Congress
and elsewhere, experience has definitely shown not merely the unwisdom
but the futility of endeavoring to put a stop to all business
combinations. Modern industrial conditions are such that combination is
not only necessary but inevitable. It is so in the world of business
just as it is so in the world of labor, and it is as idle to desire to
put an end to all corporations, to all big combinations of capital, as
to desire to put an end to combinations of labor. Corporation and labor
union alike have come to stay. Each if properly managed is a source of
good and not evil. Whenever in either there is evil, it should be
promptly held to account; but it should receive hearty encouragement so
long as it is properly managed. It is profoundly immoral to put or keep
on the statute books a law, nominally in the interest of public
morality that really puts a premium upon public immorality, by
undertaking to forbid honest men from doing what must be done under
modern business conditions, so that the law itself provides that its
own infraction must be the condition precedent upon business success.
To aim at the accomplishment of too much usually means the
accomplishment of too little, and often the doing of positive damage.
In my Message to the Congress a year ago, in speaking of the antitrust
laws, I said:
"The actual working of our laws has shown that the effort to prohibit
all combination, good or bad, is noxious where it is not ineffective.
Combination of capital, like combination of labor, is a necessary
element in our present industrial system. It is not possible completely
to prevent it; and if it were possible, such complete prevention would
do damage to the body politic. What we need is not vainly to try to
prevent all combination, but to secure such rigorous and adequate
control and supervision of the combinations as to prevent their
injuring the public, or existing in such forms as inevitably to
threaten injury. It is unfortunate that our present laws should forbid
all combinations instead of sharply discriminating between those
combinations which do evil. Often railroads would like to combine for
the purpose of preventing a big shipper from maintaining improper
advantages at the expense of small shippers and 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 a law
incapable of full enforcement, because both judges and juries realize
that its full enforcement would destroy the business of the country;
for the result is to make decent men violators of the law against their
will, and to put a premium on the behavior of the willful wrongdoers.
Such a result in turn tends to throw the decent man and the willful
wrongdoer into close association, and in the end to drag down the
former to the latter's level; for the man who becomes a lawbreaker in
one way unhappily tends to lose all respect for law and to be willing
to break it in many ways. No more scathing condemnation could be
visited upon a law than is contained in the words of the Interstate
Commerce Commission when, in commenting upon the fact that the numerous
joint traffic associations do technically violate the law, they say:
The decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Trans-Missouri
case and the Joint Traffic Association case has produced no practical
effect upon the railway operations of the country. Such associations,
in fact, exist now as they did before these decisions, and with the
same general effect. In justice to all parties, we ought probably to
add that it is difficult to see how our interstate railways could be
operated with due regard to the interest of the shipper and the railway
without concerted action of the kind afforded through these
associations.
"This means that the law as construed by the Supreme Court is such that
the business of the country can not be conducted without breaking it."
As I have elsewhere said:
"All this is substantially what I have said over and over again. Surely
it ought not to be necessary to say that it in no shape or way
represents any hostility to corporations as such. On the contrary, it
means a frank recognition of the fact that combinations of capital,
like combinations of labor, are a natural result of modern conditions
and of our National development. As far as in my ability lies my
endeavor is and will be to prevent abuse of power by either and to
favor both so long as they do well. The aim of the National Government
is quite as much to favor and protect honest corporations, honest
business men of wealth, as to bring to justice those individuals and
corporations representing dishonest methods. Most certainly there will
be no relaxation by the Government authorities in the effort to get at
any great railroad wrecker--any man who by clever swindling devices
robs investors, oppresses wage-workers, and does injustice to the
general public. But any such move as this is in the interest of honest
railway operators, of honest corporations, and of those who, when they
invest their small savings in stocks and bonds, wish to be assured that
these will represent money honestly expended for legitimate business
purposes. To confer upon the National Government the power for which I
ask would be a check upon overcapitalization and 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
bonds of law-abiding, honestly managed railroads, and would render it
far easier to market their securities. I believe in proper publicity.
There has been complaint of some of the investigations recently carried
on, but those who complain should put the blame where it belongs--upon
the misdeeds which are done in darkness and not upon the investigations
which brought them to light. The Administration is responsible for
turning on the light, but it is not responsible for what the light
showed. I ask for full power to be given the Federal Government,
because no single State can by legislation effectually cope with these
powerful corporations engaged in interstate commerce, and, while doing
them full justice, exact from them in return full justice to others.
The conditions of railroad activity, the conditions of our immense
interstate commerce, are such as to make the Central Government alone
competent to exercise full supervision and control.
"The grave abuses in individual cases of railroad management in the
past represent wrongs not merely to the general public, but, above all,
wrongs to fair-dealing and honest corporations and men of wealth,
because they excite a popular anger and distrust which from the very
nature of the case tends to include in the sweep of its resentment good
and bad alike. From the standpoint of the public I can not too
earnestly say that as soon as the natural and proper resentment aroused
by these abuses becomes indiscriminate and unthinking, it also becomes
not merely unwise and unfair, but calculated to defeat the very ends
which those feeling it have in view. There has been plenty of dishonest
work by corporations in the past. There will not be the slightest
let-up in the effort to hunt down and punish every dishonest man. But
the bulk of our business is honestly done. In the natural indignation
the people feel over the dishonesty, it is essential that they should
not lose their heads and get drawn into an indiscriminate raid upon all
corporations, all people of wealth, whether they do well or ill. Out of
any such wild movement good will not come, can not come, and never has
come. On the contrary, the surest way to invite reaction is to follow
the lead of either demagogue or visionary in a sweeping assault upon
property values and upon public confidence, which would work
incalculable damage in the business world and would produce such
distrust of the agitators that in the revulsion the distrust would
extend to honest men who, in sincere and same fashion, are trying to
remedy the evils."
The antitrust law should not be repealed; but it should be made both
more efficient and more in harmony with actual conditions. It should be
so amended as to forbid only the kind of combination which does harm to
the general public, such amendment to be accompanied by, or to be an
incident of, a grant of supervisory power to the Government over these
big concerns engaged in interstate business. This should be accompanied
by provision for the compulsory publication of accounts and the
subjection of books and papers to the inspection of the Government
officials. A beginning has already been made for such supervision by
the establishment of the Bureau of Corporations.
The antitrust law should not prohibit combinations that do no injustice
to the public, still less those the existence of which is on the whole
of benefit to the public. But even if this feature of the law were
abolished, there would remain as an equally objectionable feature the
difficulty and delay now incident to its enforcement. The Government
must now submit to irksome and repeated delay before obtaining a final
decision of the courts upon proceedings instituted, and even a
favorable decree may mean an empty victory. Moreover, to attempt to
control these corporations by lawsuits means to impose upon both the
Department of Justice and the courts an impossible burden; it is not
feasible to carry on more than a limited number of such suits. Such a
law to be really effective must of course be administered by an
executive body, and not merely by means of lawsuits. The design should
be to prevent the abuses incident to the creation of unhealthy and
improper combinations, instead of waiting until they are in existence
and then attempting to destroy them by civil or criminal proceedings.
A combination should not be tolerated if it abuse the power acquired by
combination to the public detriment. No corporation or association of
any kind should be permitted to engage in foreign or interstate
commerce that is formed for the purpose of, or whose operations create,
a monopoly or general control of the production, sale, or distribution
of any one or more of the prime necessities of life or articles of
general use and necessity. Such combinations are against public policy;
they violate the common law; the doors of the courts are closed to
those who are parties to them, and I believe the Congress can close the
channels of interstate commerce against them for its protection. The
law should make its prohibitions and permissions as clear and definite
as possible, leaving the least possible room for arbitrary action, or
allegation of such action, on the part of the Executive, or of
divergent interpretations by the courts. Among the points to be aimed
at should be the prohibition of unhealthy competition, such as by
rendering service at an actual loss for the purpose of crushing out
competition, the prevention of inflation of capital, and the
prohibition of a corporation's making exclusive trade with itself a
condition of having any trade with itself. Reasonable agreements
between, or combinations of, corporations should be permitted, provided
they are submitted to and approved by some appropriate Government body.
The Congress has the power to charter corporations to engage in
interstate and foreign commerce, and a general law can be enacted under
the provisions of which existing corporations could take out Federal
charters and new Federal corporations could be created. An essential
provision of such a law should be a method of predetermining by some
Federal board or commission whether the applicant for a Federal charter
was an association or combination within the restrictions of the
Federal law. Provision should also be made for complete publicity in
all matters affecting the public and complete protection to the
investing public and the shareholders in the matter of issuing
corporate securities. If an incorporation law is not deemed advisable,
a license act for big interstate corporations might be enacted; or a
combination of the two might be tried. The supervision established
might be analogous to that now exercised over national banks. At least,
the antitrust act should be supplemented by specific prohibitions of
the methods which experience has shown have been of most service in
enabling monopolistic combinations to crush out competition. The real
owners of a corporation should be compelled to do business in their own
name. The right to hold stock in other corporations should hereafter be
denied to interstate corporations, unless on approval by the Government
officials, and a prerequisite to such approval should be the listing
with the Government of all owners and stockholders, both by the
corporation owning such stock and by the corporation in which such
stock is owned.
To confer upon the National Government, in connection with the
amendment I advocate in the antitrust law, power of supervision over
big business concerns engaged in interstate commerce, would benefit
them as it has benefited the national banks. In the recent business
crisis it is noteworthy that the institutions which failed were
institutions which were not under the supervision and control of the
National Government. Those which were under National control stood the
test.
National control of the kind above advocated would be to the benefit of
every well-managed railway. From the standpoint of the public there is
need for additional tracks, additional terminals, and improvements in
the actual handling of the railroads, and all this as rapidly as
possible. Ample, safe, and speedy transportation facilities are even
more necessary than cheap transportation. Therefore, there is need for
the investment of money which will provide for all these things while
at the same time securing as far as is possible better wages and
shorter hours for their employees. Therefore, while there must be just
and reasonable regulation of rates, we should be the first to protest
against any arbitrary and unthinking movement to cut them down without
the fullest and most careful consideration of all interests concerned
and of the actual needs of the situation. Only a special body of men
acting for the National Government under authority conferred upon it by
the Congress is competent to pass judgment on such a matter.
Those who fear, from any reason, the extension of Federal activity will
do well to study the history not only of the national banking act but
of the pure-food law, and notably the meat inspection law recently
enacted. The pure-food law was opposed so violently that its passage
was delayed for a decade; yet it has worked unmixed and immediate good.
The meat inspection law was even more violently assailed; and the same
men who now denounce the attitude of the National Government in seeking
to oversee and control the workings of interstate common carriers and
business concerns, then asserted that we were "discrediting and ruining
a great American industry." Two years have not elapsed, and already it
has become evident that the great benefit the law confers upon the
public is accompanied by an equal benefit to the reputable packing
establishments. The latter are better off under the law than they were
without it. The benefit to interstate common carriers and business
concerns from the legislation I advocate would be equally marked.
Incidentally, in the passage of the pure-food law the action of the
various State food and dairy commissioners showed in striking fashion
how much good for the whole people results from the hearty cooperation
of the Federal and State officials in securing a given reform. It is
primarily to the action of these State commissioners that we owe the
enactment of this law; for they aroused the people, first to demand the
enactment and enforcement of State laws on the subject, and then the
enactment of the Federal law, without which the State laws were largely
ineffective. There must be the closest cooperation between the National
and State governments in administering these laws.
In my Message to the Congress a year ago I spoke as follows of the
currency:
"I especially call your attention to the condition of our currency
laws. The national-bank act has ably served a great purpose in aiding
the enormous business development of the country, and within ten years
there has been an increase in circulation per capita from $21.41 to
$33.08. For several years evidence has been accumulating that
additional legislation is needed. The recurrence of each crop season
emphasizes the defects of the present laws. There must soon be a
revision of them, because to leave them as they are means to incur
liability of business disaster. Since your body adjourned there has
been a fluctuation in the interest on call money from 2 per cent to 30
percent, and the fluctuation was even greater during the preceding six
months. The Secretary of the Treasury had to step in and by wise action
put a stop to the most violent period of oscillation. Even worse than
such fluctuation is the advance in commercial rates and the uncertainty
felt 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 attract money from the interior banks into the
speculative field. This depletes the fund that would otherwise be
available for commercial uses, and commercial borrowers are forced to
pay abnormal rates, so that each fall a tax, in the shape of increased
interest charges, is placed on the whole commerce of the country.
"The mere statement of these facts shows that our present system is
seriously defective. There is need of a change. Unfortunately, however,
many of the proposed changes must be ruled from consideration because
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 materially impair the value of the United States 2 per cent
bonds now pledged to secure circulation, the issue of which was made
under conditions peculiarly creditable to the Treasury. I do not press
any especial plan. Various plans have recently been proposed by expert
committees of bankers. Among the plans which are possibly feasible and
which certainly should receive your consideration is that repeatedly
brought to your attention by the present Secretary of the Treasury, the
essential features of which have been approved by many prominent
bankers and business men. According to this plan national banks should
be permitted to issue a specified proportion of their capital in notes
of a given kind, the issue to be taxed at so high a rate as to drive
the notes back when not wanted in legitimate trade. This plan would not
permit the 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 there is need for the adoption of some system
which shall be automatic and open to all sound banks, so as to avoid
all possibility of discrimination and favoritism. Such a plan would
tend to prevent the spasms of high money and speculation which now
obtain in the New York market; for at present there is too much
currency at certain seasons of the year, and its accumulation at New
York tempts bankers to lend it at low rates for speculative purposes;
whereas at other times when the crops are being moved there is urgent
need for a 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; especially is this true of stockmen, farmers,
and business men in the West; for at present at certain seasons of the
year the difference in interest rates between the East and the West is
from 6 to 10 per cent, whereas in Canada the corresponding difference
is but 2 per cent. Any plan must, of course, guard the interests of
western and southern bankers as carefully as it guards the interests of
New York or Chicago bankers, and must be drawn from the standpoints of
the farmer and the merchant no less than from the standpoints of the
city banker and the country banker."
I again urge on the Congress the need of immediate attention to this
matter. We need a greater elasticity in our currency; provided, of
course, that we recognize the even greater need of a safe and secure
currency. There must always be the most rigid examination by the
National authorities. Provision should be made for an emergency
currency. The emergency issue should, of course, be made with an
effective guaranty, and upon conditions carefully prescribed by the
Government. Such emergency issue must be based on adequate securities
approved by the Government, and must be issued under a heavy tax. This
would permit currency being issued when the demand for it was urgent,
while securing its requirement as the demand fell off. It is worth
investigating to determine whether officers and directors of national
banks should ever be allowed to loan to themselves. Trust companies
should be subject to the same supervision as banks; legislation to this
effect should be enacted for the District of Columbia and the
Territories.
Yet we must also remember that even the wisest legislation on the
subject can only accomplish a certain amount. No legislation can by any
possibility guarantee the business community against the results of
speculative folly any more than it can guarantee an individual against
the results of his extravagance. When an individual mortgages his house
to buy an automobile he invites disaster; and when wealthy men, or men
who pose as such, or are unscrupulously or foolishly eager to become
such, indulge in reckless speculation--especially if it is accompanied
by dishonesty--they jeopardize not only their own future but the future
of all their innocent fellow-citizens, for the expose the whole
business community to panic and distress.
The income account of the Nation is in a most satisfactory condition.
For the six fiscal years ending with the 1st of July last, the total
expenditures and revenues of the National Government, exclusive of the
postal revenues and expenditures, were, in round numbers, revenues,
$3,465,000,0000, and expenditures, $3,275,000,000. The net excess of
income over expenditures, including in the latter the fifty millions
expended for the Panama Canal, was one hundred and ninety million
dollars for the six years, an average of about thirty-one millions a
year. This represents an approximation between income and outgo which
it would be hard to improve. The satisfactory working of the present
tariff law has been chiefly responsible for this excellent showing.
Nevertheless, there is an evident and constantly growing feeling among
our people that the time is rapidly approaching when our system of
revenue legislation must be revised.
This country is definitely committed to the protective system and any
effort to uproot it could not but cause widespread industrial disaster.
In other words, the principle of the present tariff law could not with
wisdom be changed. But in a country of such phenomenal growth as ours
it is probably well that every dozen years or so the tariff laws should
be carefully scrutinized so as to see that no excessive or improper
benefits are conferred thereby, that proper revenue is provided, and
that our foreign trade is encouraged. There must always be as a minimum
a tariff which will not only allow for the collection of an ample
revenue but which will at least make good the difference in cost of
production here and abroad; that is, the difference in the labor cost
here and abroad, for the well-being of the wage-worker must ever be a
cardinal point of American policy. The question should be approached
purely from a business standpoint; both the time and the manner of the
change being such as to arouse the minimum of agitation and disturbance
in the business world, and to give the least play for selfish and
factional motives. The sole consideration should be to see that the sum
total of changes represents the public good. This means that the
subject can not with wisdom be dealt with in the year preceding a
Presidential election, because as a matter of fact experience has
conclusively shown that at such a time it is impossible to get men to
treat it from the standpoint of the public good. In my judgment the
wise time to deal with the matter is immediately after such election.
When our tax laws are revised the question of an income tax and an
inheritance tax should receive the careful attention of our
legislators. In my judgment both of these taxes should be part of our
system of Federal taxation. I speak diffidently about the income tax
because one scheme for an income tax was declared unconstitutional by
the Supreme Court; while in addition it is a difficult tax to
administer in its practical working, and great care would have to be
exercised to see that it was not evaded by the very men whom it was
most desirable to have taxed, for if so evaded it would, of course, be
worse than no tax at all; as the least desirable of all taxes is the
tax which bears heavily upon the honest as compared with the dishonest
man. Nevertheless, a graduated income tax of the proper type would be a
desirable feature of Federal taxation, and it is to be hoped that one
may be devised which the Supreme Court will declare constitutional. The
inheritance tax, however, is both a far better method of taxation, and
far more important for the purpose of having the fortunes of the
country bear in proportion to their increase in size a corresponding
increase and burden of taxation. The Government has the absolute right
to decide as to the terms upon which a man shall receive a bequest or
devise from another, and this point in the devolution of property is
especially appropriate for the imposition of a tax. Laws imposing such
taxes have repeatedly been placed upon the National statute books and
as repeatedly declared constitutional by the courts; and these laws
contained the progressive principle, that is, after a certain amount is
reached the bequest or gift, in life or death, is increasingly burdened
and the rate of taxation is increased in proportion to the remoteness
of blood of the man receiving the bequest. These principles are
recognized already in the leading civilized nations of the world. In
Great Britain all the estates worth $5,000 or less are practically
exempt from death duties, while the increase is such that when an
estate exceeds five millions of dollars in value and passes to a
distant kinsman or stranger in blood the Government receives all told
an amount equivalent to nearly a fifth of the whole estate. In France
so much of an inheritance as exceeds $10,000,000 pays over a fifth to
the State if it passes to a distant relative. The German law is
especially interesting to us because it makes the inheritance tax an
imperial measure while allotting to the individual States of the Empire
a portion of the proceeds and permitting them to impose taxes in
addition to those imposed by the Imperial Government. Small
inheritances are exempt, but the tax is so sharply progressive that
when the inheritance is still not very large, provided it is not an
agricultural or a forest land, it is taxed at the rate of 25 per cent
if it goes to distant relatives. There is no reason why in the United
States the National Government should not impose inheritance taxes in
addition to those imposed by the States, and when we last had an
inheritance tax about one-half of the States levied such taxes
concurrently with the National Government, making a combined maximum
rate, in some cases as high as 25 per cent. The French law has one
feature which is to be heartily commended. The progressive principle is
so applied that each higher rate is imposed only on the excess above
the amount subject to the next lower rate; so that each increase of
rate will apply only to a certain amount above a certain maximum. The
tax should if possible be made to bear more heavily upon those residing
without the country than within it. A heavy progressive tax upon a very
large fortune is in no way such a tax upon thrift or industry as a like
would be on a small fortune. No advantage comes either to the country
as a whole or to the individuals inheriting the money by permitting the
transmission in their entirety of the enormous fortunes which would be
affected by such a tax; and as an incident to its function of revenue
raising, such a tax would help to preserve a measurable equality of
opportunity for the people of the generations growing to manhood. We
have not the slightest sympathy with that socialistic idea which would
try to put laziness, thriftlessness and inefficiency on a par with
industry, thrift and efficiency; which would strive to break up not
merely private property, but what is far more important, the home, the
chief prop upon which our whole civilization stands. Such a theory, if
ever adopted, would mean the ruin of the entire country--a ruin which
would bear heaviest upon the weakest, upon those least able to shift
for themselves. But proposals for legislation such as this herein
advocated are directly 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 men are obviously not equal; but also to
insist that there should be an equality of self-respect and of mutual
respect, an equality of rights before the law, and at least an
approximate equality in the conditions under which each man obtains the
chance to show the stuff that is in him when compared to his fellows.
A few years ago there was loud complaint that the law could not be
invoked against wealthy offenders. There is no such complaint now. The
course of the Department of Justice during the last few years has been
such as to make it evident that no man stands above the law, that no
corporation is so wealthy that it can not be held to account. The
Department of Justice has been as prompt to proceed against the
wealthiest malefactor whose crime was one of greed and cunning as to
proceed against the agitator who incites to brutal violence. Everything
that can be done under the existing law, and with the existing state of
public opinion, which so profoundly influences both the courts and
juries, has been done. But the laws themselves need strengthening in
more than one important point; they should be made more definite, so
that no honest man can be led unwittingly to break them, and so that
the real wrongdoer can be readily punished.
Moreover, there must be the public opinion back of the laws or the laws
themselves will be of no avail. At present, while the average juryman
undoubtedly wishes to see trusts broken up, and is quite ready to fine
the corporation itself, he is very reluctant to find the facts proven
beyond a reasonable doubt when it comes to sending to jail a member of
the business community for indulging in practices which are profoundly
unhealthy, but which, unfortunately, the business community has grown
to recognize as well-nigh normal. Both the present condition of the law
and the present temper of juries render it a task of extreme difficulty
to get at the real wrongdoer in any such case, especially by
imprisonment. Yet it is from every standpoint far preferable to punish
the prime offender by imprisonment rather than to fine the corporation,
with the attendant damage to stockholders.
The two great evils in the execution of our criminal laws to-day are
sentimentality and technicality. For the latter the remedy must come
from the hands of the legislatures, the courts, and the lawyers. The
other must depend for its cure upon the gradual growth of a sound
public opinion which shall insist that regard for the law and the
demands of reason shall control all other influences and emotions in
the jury box. Both of these evils must be removed or public discontent
with the criminal law will continue.
Instances of abuse in the granting of injunctions in labor disputes
continue to occur, and the resentment in the minds of those who feel
that their rights are being invaded and their liberty of action and of
speech unwarrantably restrained continues likewise to grow. Much of the
attack on the use of the process of injunction is wholly without
warrant; but I am constrained to express the belief that for some of it
there is warrant. This question is becoming more and more one of prime
importance, and unless the courts will themselves deal with it in
effective manner, it is certain ultimately to demand some form of
legislative action. It would be most unfortunate for our social welfare
if we should permit many honest and law-abiding citizens to feel that
they had just cause for regarding our courts with hostility. I
earnestly commend to the attention of the Congress this matter, so that
some way may be devised which will limit the abuse of injunctions and
protect those rights which from time to time it unwarrantably invades.
Moreover, discontent is often expressed with the use of the process of
injunction by the courts, not only in labor disputes, but where State
laws are concerned. I refrain from discussion of this question as I am
informed that it will soon receive the consideration of the Supreme
Court.
The Federal courts must of course decide ultimately what are the
respective spheres of State and Nation in connection with any law,
State or National, and they must decide definitely and finally in
matters affecting individual citizens, not only as to the rights and
wrongs of labor but as to the rights and wrongs of capital; and the
National Government must always see that the decision of the court is
put into effect. The process of injunction is an essential adjunct of
the court's doing its work well; and as preventive measures are always
better than remedial, the wise use 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 very men who are
properly anxious to prevent any effort to shear the courts of this
necessary power. The court's decision must be final; the protest is
only against the conduct of individual judges in needlessly
anticipating such final decision, or in the tyrannical use of what is
nominally a temporary injunction to accomplish what is in fact a
permanent decision.
The loss of life and limb from railroad accidents in this country has
become appalling. It is a subject of which the National Government
should take supervision. It might be well to begin by providing for a
Federal inspection of interstate railroads somewhat along the lines of
Federal inspection of steamboats, although not going so far; perhaps at
first all that it would be necessary to have would be some officer
whose duty would be to investigate all accidents on interstate
railroads and report in detail the causes thereof. Such an officer
should make it his business to get into close touch with railroad
operating men so as to become thoroughly familiar with every side of
the question, the idea being to work along the lines of the present
steamboat inspection law.
The National Government should be a model employer. It should demand
the highest quality of service from each of its employees and it should
care for all of them properly in return. Congress should adopt
legislation providing limited but definite compensation for accidents
to all workmen within the scope of the Federal power, including
employees of navy yards and arsenals. In other words, a model
employers' liability act, far-reaching and thoroughgoing, should be
enacted which should apply to all positions, public and private, over
which the National Government has jurisdiction. The number of accidents
to wage-workers, including those that are preventable and those that
are not, has become appalling in the mechanical, manufacturing, and
transportation operations of the day. It works grim hardship to the
ordinary wage-worker and his family to have the effect of such an
accident fall solely upon him; and, on the other hand, there are whole
classes of attorneys who exist only by inciting men who may or may not
have been wronged to undertake suits for negligence. As a matter of
fact a suit for negligence is generally an inadequate remedy for the
person injured, while it often causes altogether disproportionate
annoyance to the employer. The law should be made such that the payment
for accidents by the employer would be automatic instead of being a
matter for lawsuits. Workmen should receive certain and definite
compensation for all accidents in industry irrespective of negligence.
The employer is the agent of the public and on his own responsibility
and for his own profit he serves the public. When he starts in motion
agencies which create risks for others, he should take all the ordinary
and extraordinary risks involved; and the risk he thus at the moment
assumes will ultimately be assumed, as it ought to be, by the general
public. Only in this way can the shock of the accident be diffused,
instead of falling upon the man or woman least able to bear it, as is
now the case. The community at large should share the burdens as well
as the benefits of industry. By the proposed law, employers would gain
a desirable certainty of obligation and get rid of litigation to
determine it, while the workman and his family would be relieved from a
crushing load. With such a policy would come increased care, and
accidents would be reduced in number. The National laws providing for
employers' liability on railroads engaged in interstate commerce and
for safety appliances, as well as for diminishing the hours any
employee of a railroad should be permitted to work, should all be
strengthened wherever in actual practice they have shown weakness; they
should be kept on the statute books in thoroughgoing form.
The constitutionality of the employers' liability act passed by the
preceding Congress has been carried before the courts. In two
jurisdictions the law has been declared unconstitutional, and in three
jurisdictions its constitutionality has been affirmed. The question has
been carried to the Supreme Court, the case has been heard by that
tribunal, and a decision is expected at an early date. In the event
that the court should affirm the constitutionality of the act, I urge
further legislation along the lines advocated in my Message to the
preceding Congress. The practice of putting the entire burden of loss
to life or limb upon the victim or the victim's family is a form of
social injustice in which the United States stands in unenviable
prominence. In both our Federal and State legislation we have, with few
exceptions, scarcely gone farther than the repeal of the fellow-servant
principle of the old law of liability, and in some of our States even
this slight modification of a completely outgrown principle has not yet
been secured. The legislation of the rest of the industrial world
stands out in striking contrast to our backwardness in this respect.
Since 1895 practically every country of Europe, together with Great
Britain, New Zealand, Australia, British Columbia, and the Cape of Good
Hope has enacted legislation embodying in one form or another the
complete recognition of the principle which places upon the employer
the entire trade risk in the various lines of industry. I urge upon the
Congress the enactment of a law which will at the same time bring
Federal legislation up to the standard already established by all the
European countries, and which will serve as a stimulus to the various
States to perfect their legislation in this regard.
The Congress should consider the extension of the eight-hour law. The
constitutionality of the present law has recently been called into
question, and the Supreme Court has decided that the existing
legislation is unquestionably within the powers of the Congress. The
principle of the eight-hour day should as rapidly and as far as
practicable be extended to the entire work carried on by the
Government; and the present law should be amended to embrace contracts
on those public works which the present wording of the act has been
construed to exclude. The general introduction of the eight-hour day
should be the goal toward which we should steadily tend, and the
Government should set the example in this respect.
Strikes and lockouts, with their attendant loss and suffering, continue
to increase. For the five years ending December 31, 1905, the number of
strikes was greater than those in any previous ten years and was double
the number in the preceding five years. These figures indicate the
increasing need of providing some machinery to deal with this class of
disturbance in the interest alike of the employer, the employee, and
the general public. I renew my previous recommendation that the
Congress favorably consider the matter of creating the machinery for
compulsory investigation of such industrial controversies as are of
sufficient magnitude and of sufficient concern to the people of the
country as a whole to warrant the Federal Government in taking action.
The need for some provision for such investigation was forcibly
illustrated during the past summer. A strike of telegraph operators
seriously interfered with telegraphic communication, causing great
damage to business interests and serious inconvenience to the general
public. Appeals were made to me from many parts of the country, from
city councils, from boards of trade, from chambers of commerce, and
from labor organizations, urging that steps be taken to terminate the
strike. Everything that could with any propriety be done by a
representative of the Government was done, without avail, and for weeks
the public stood by and suffered without recourse of any kind. Had the
machinery existed and had there been authority for compulsory
investigation of the dispute, the public would have been placed in
possession of the merits of the controversy, and public opinion would
probably have brought about a prompt adjustment.
Each successive step creating machinery for the adjustment of 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 chairman of the
Interstate Commerce Commission and the Commissioner of Labor a board of
mediation in controversies between interstate railroads and their
employees has, for the first time, been subjected to serious tests
within the past year, and the wisdom of the experiment has been fully
demonstrated. The creation of a board for compulsory investigation in
cases where mediation fails and arbitration is rejected is the next
logical step in a progressive program.
It is certain that for some time to come there will be a constant
increase absolutely, and perhaps relatively, of those among our
citizens who dwell in cities or towns of some size and who work for
wages. This means that there will be an ever-increasing need to
consider the problems inseparable from a great industrial civilization.
Where an immense and complex business, especially in those branches
relating to manufacture and transportation, is transacted by a large
number of capitalists who employ a very much larger number of
wage-earners, the former tend more and more to combine into
corporations and the latter into unions. The relations of the
capitalist and wage-worker to one another, and of each to the general
public, are not always easy to adjust; and to put them and keep them on
a satisfactory basis is one of the most important and one of the most
delicate tasks before our whole civilization. Much of the work for the
accomplishment of this end must be done by the individuals concerned
themselves, whether singly or in combination; and the one fundamental
fact that must never be lost track of is that the character of the
average man, whether he be a man of means or a man who works with his
hands, is the most important factor in solving the problem aright. But
it is almost equally important to remember that without good laws it is
also impossible to reach the proper solution. It is idle to hold that
without good laws evils such as child labor, as the over-working of
women, as the failure to protect employees from loss of life or limb,
can be effectively reached, any more than the evils of rebates and
stock-watering can be reached without good laws. To fail to stop these
practices by legislation means to force honest men into them, because
otherwise the dishonest who surely will take advantage of them will
have everything their own way. If the States will correct these evils,
well and good; but the Nation must stand ready to aid them.
No question growing out of our rapid and complex industrial development
is more important than that of the employment of women and children.
The presence of women in industry reacts with extreme directness upon
the character of the home and upon family life, and the conditions
surrounding the employment of children bear a vital relation to our
future citizenship. Our legislation in those areas under the control of
the Congress is very much behind the legislation of our more
progressive States. A thorough and comprehensive measure should be
adopted at this session of the Congress relating to the employment of
women and children in the District of Columbia and the Territories. The
investigation into the condition of women and children wage-earners
recently authorized and directed by the Congress is now being carried
on in the various States, and I recommend that the appropriation made
last year for beginning this work be renewed, in order that we may have
the thorough and comprehensive investigation which the subject demands.
The National Government has as an ultimate resort for control of child
labor the use of the interstate commerce clause to prevent the products
of child labor from entering into interstate commerce. But before using
this it ought certainly to enact model laws on the subject for the
Territories under its own immediate control.
There is one fundamental proposition which can be laid down as regards
all these matters, namely: While honesty by itself will not solve the
problem, yet the insistence upon honesty--not merely technical honesty,
but honesty in purpose and spirit--is an 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 should be
just as severe in condemnation of the vice which hides itself behind
class or professional loyalty, or which denies that it is vice if it
can escape conviction in the courts. The public and the representatives
of the public, the high officials, whether on the bench or in executive
or legislative positions, need to remember that often the most
dangerous criminals, so far as the life of the Nation is concerned, are
not those who commit the crimes known to and condemned by the popular
conscience for centuries, but those who commit crimes only rendered
possible by the complex conditions of our modern industrial life. It
makes not a particle of difference whether these crimes are committed
by a capitalist or by a laborer, by a leading banker or manufacturer or
railroad man, or by a leading representative of a labor union.
Swindling in stocks, corrupting legislatures, making fortunes by the
inflation of securities, by wrecking railroads, by destroying
competitors through rebates--these forms of wrongdoing in the
capitalist, are far more infamous than any ordinary form of
embezzlement or forgery; yet it is a matter of extreme difficulty to
secure the punishment of the man most guilty of them, most responsible
for them. The business man who condones such conduct stands on a level
with the labor man who deliberately supports a corrupt demagogue and
agitator, 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
first kind of wrongdoing, are no more dangerous to the community, but
are morally even worse, than the labor men who are guilty of the second
type of wrongdoing, because less is to be pardoned those who have no
such excuse as is furnished either by ignorance or by dire need. When
the Department of Agriculture was founded there was much sneering as to
its usefulness. No Department of the Government, however, has more
emphatically vindicated its usefulness, and none save the Post-Office
Department comes so continually and intimately into touch with the
people. The two citizens whose welfare is in the aggregate most vital
to the welfare of the Nation, and therefore to the welfare of all other
citizens, are the wage-worker who does manual labor and the tiller of
the soil, the farmer. There are, of course, kinds of labor where the
work must be purely mental, and there are other kinds of labor where,
under existing conditions, very little demand indeed is made upon the
mind, though I am glad to say that the proportion of men engaged in
this kind of work is diminishing. But in any community with the solid,
healthy qualities which make up a really great nation the bulk of the
people should do work which calls for the exercise of both body and
mind. Progress can not permanently exist in the abandonment of physical
labor, but in the development of physical labor, so that it shall
represent more and more the work of the trained mind in the trained
body. Our school system is gravely defective in so far as it puts a
premium upon mere literary training and tends therefore to train the
boy away from the farm and the workshop. Nothing is more needed than
the best type of industrial school, the school for mechanical
industries in the city, the school for practically teaching agriculture
in the country. The calling of the skilled tiller of the soil, the
calling of the skilled mechanic, should alike be recognized as
professions, just as emphatically as the callings of lawyer, doctor,
merchant, or clerk. The schools recognize this fact and it should
equally be recognized in popular opinion. The young man who has the
farsightedness and courage to recognize it and to get over the idea
that it makes a difference whether what he earns is called salary or
wages, and who refuses to enter the crowded field of the so-called
professions, and takes to constructive industry instead, is reasonably
sure of an ample reward in earnings, in health, in opportunity to marry
early, and to establish a home with a fair amount of freedom from
worry. It should be one of our prime objects to put both the farmer and
the mechanic on a higher plane of efficiency and reward, so as to
increase their effectiveness in the economic world, and therefore the
dignity, the remuneration, and the power of their positions in the
social world.
No growth of cities, no growth of wealth, can make up for any loss in
either the number or the character of the farming population. We of the
United States should realize this above almost all other peoples. We
began our existence as a nation of farmers, and in every great crisis
of the past a peculiar dependence has 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 agriculture is permitted to sink in
the scale as compared with other employments. We can not afford to lose
that preeminently typical American, the farmer who owns his own
medium-sized farm. To have his place taken by either a class of small
peasant proprietors, or by a class of great landlords with
tenant-farmed estates would be a veritable calamity. The growth of our
cities is a good thing but only in so far as it does not mean a growth
at the expense of the country farmer. We must welcome the rise of
physical sciences in their application to agricultural practices, and
we must do all we can to render country conditions more easy and
pleasant. There are forces which now tend to bring about both these
results, but they are, as yet, in their infancy. The National
Government through the Department of Agriculture should do all it can
by joining with the State governments and with independent associations
of farmers to encourage the growth in the open farming country of such
institutional and social movements as will meet the demand of the best
type of farmers, both for the improvement of their 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 cooperating with and teaching
the farmers through their associations, on their own soil, how to
increase their income by managing their farms better than they were
hitherto managed. The farmer must not lose his independence, his
initiative, his rugged self-reliance, yet he must learn to work in the
heartiest cooperation with his fellows, exactly as the business man has
learned to work; and he must prepare to use to constantly better
advantage the knowledge that can be obtained from agricultural
colleges, while he must insist upon a practical curriculum in the
schools in which his children are taught. The Department of Agriculture
and the Department of Commerce and Labor both deal with the fundamental
needs of our people in the production of raw material and its
manufacture and distribution, and, therefore, with the welfare of those
who produce it in the raw state, and of those who manufacture and
distribute it. The Department of Commerce and Labor has but recently
been founded but has already justified its existence; while the
Department of Agriculture yields to no other in the Government in the
practical benefits which it produces in proportion to the public money
expended. It must continue in the future to deal with growing crops as
it has dealt in the past, but it must still further extend its field of
usefulness hereafter by dealing with live men, through a far-reaching
study and treatment of the problems of farm life alike from the
industrial and economic and social standpoint. Farmers must cooperate
with one another and with the Government, and the Government can best
give its aid through associations of farmers, so as to deliver to the
farmer the large body of agricultural knowledge which has been
accumulated by the National and State governments and by the
agricultural colleges and schools.
The grain producing industry of the country, one of the most important
in the United States, deserves special consideration at the hands of
the Congress. Our grain is sold almost exclusively by grades. To secure
satisfactory results in our home markets and to facilitate our trade
abroad, these grades should approximate the highest degree of
uniformity and certainty. The present diverse methods of inspection and
grading throughout the country under different laws and boards, result
in confusion and lack of uniformity, destroying that confidence which
is necessary for healthful trade. Complaints against the present
methods have continued for years and they are growing in volume and
intensity, not only in this country but abroad. I therefore suggest to
the Congress the advisability of a National system of inspection and
grading of grain entering into interstate and foreign commerce as a
remedy for the present evils.
The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use
constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other
problem of our National life. We must maintain for our civilization the
adequate material basis without which that civilization can not exist.
We must show foresight, we must look ahead. As a nation we not only
enjoy a wonderful measure of present prosperity but if this prosperity
is used aright it is an earnest of future success such as no other
nation will have. The reward of foresight for this Nation is great and
easily foretold. But there must be the look ahead, there must be a
realization of the fact that to waste, to destroy, our natural
resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to
increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our
children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to
them amplified and developed. For the last few years, through several
agencies, the Government has been endeavoring to get our people to look
ahead and to substitute a planned and orderly development of our
resources in place of a haphazard striving for immediate profit. Our
great river systems should be developed as National water highways, the
Mississippi, with its tributaries, standing first in importance, and
the Columbia second, although there are many others of importance on
the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Gulf slopes. The National Government
should undertake this work, and I hope a beginning will be made in the
present Congress; and the greatest of all our rivers, the Mississippi,
should receive especial attention. From the Great Lakes to the mouth of
the Mississippi there should be a deep waterway, with deep waterways
leading from it to the East and the West. Such a waterway would
practically mean the extension of our coast line into the very heart of
our country. It would be of incalculable benefit to our people. If
begun at once it can be carried through in time appreciably to relieve
the congestion of our great freight-carrying lines of railroads. The
work should be systematically and continuously carried forward in
accordance with some well-conceived plan. The main streams should be
improved to the highest point of efficiency before the improvement of
the branches is attempted; and the work should be kept free from every
faint of recklessness or jobbery. The inland waterways which lie just
back of the whole eastern and southern coasts should likewise be
developed. Moreover, the development of our waterways involves many
other important water problems, all of which should be considered as
part of the same general scheme. The Government dams should be used to
produce hundreds of thousands of horsepower as an incident to improving
navigation; for the annual value of the unused water-power of the
United States perhaps exceeds the annual value of the products of all
our mines. As an incident to creating the deep waterways down the
Mississippi, the Government should build along its whole lower length
levees which taken together with the control of the headwaters, will at
once and forever put a complete stop to all threat of floods in the
immensely fertile Delta region. The territory lying adjacent to the
Mississippi along its lower course will thereby become one of the most
prosperous and populous, as it already is one of the most fertile,
farming regions in all the world. I have appointed an Inland Waterways
Commission to study and outline a comprehensive scheme of development
along all the lines indicated. Later I shall lay its report before the
Congress.
Irrigation should be far more extensively developed than at present,
not only in the States of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, but
in many others, as, for instance, in large portions of the South
Atlantic and Gulf States, where it should go hand in hand with the
reclamation of swamp land. The Federal Government should seriously
devote itself to this task, realizing that utilization of waterways and
water-power, forestry, irrigation, and the reclamation of lands
threatened with overflow, are all interdependent parts of the same
problem. The work of the Reclamation Service in developing the larger
opportunities of the western half of our country for irrigation is more
important than almost any other movement. The constant purpose of the
Government in connection with the Reclamation Service has been to use
the water resources of the public lands for the ultimate greatest good
of the greatest number; in other words, to put upon the land permanent
home-makers, to use and develop it for themselves and for their
children and children's children. There has been, of course, opposition
to this work; opposition from some interested men who desire to exhaust
the land for their own immediate profit without regard to the welfare
of the next generation, and opposition from honest and well-meaning men
who did not fully understand the subject or who did not look far enough
ahead. This opposition is, I think, dying away, and our people are
understanding that it would be utterly wrong to allow a few individuals
to exhaust for their own temporary personal profit the resources which
ought to be developed through use so as to be conserved for the
permanent common advantage of the people as a whole.
The effort of the Government to deal with the public land has been
based upon the same principle as that of the Reclamation Service. The
land law system which was designed to meet the needs of the fertile and
well-watered regions of the Middle West has largely broken down when
applied to the dryer regions of the Great Plains, the mountains, and
much of the Pacific slope, where a farm of 160 acres is inadequate for
self-support. In these regions the system lent itself to fraud, and
much land passed out of the hands of the Government without passing
into the hands of the home-maker. The Department of the Interior and
the Department of Justice joined in prosecuting the offenders against
the law; and they have accomplished much, while where the
administration of the law has been defective it has been changed. But
the laws themselves are defective. Three years ago a public lands
commission was appointed to scrutinize the law, and defects, and
recommend a remedy. Their examination specifically showed the existence
of great fraud upon the public domain, and their recommendations for
changes in the law were made with the design of conserving the natural
resources of every part of the public lands by putting it to its best
use. Especial attention was called to the prevention of settlement by
the passage of great areas of public land into the hands of a few men,
and to the enormous waste caused by unrestricted grazing upon the open
range. The recommendations of the Public Lands Commission are sound,
for they are especially in the interest of the actual homemaker; and
where the small home-maker can not at present utilize the land they
provide that the Government shall keep control of it so that it may not
be monopolized by a few men. The Congress has not yet acted upon these
recommendations; but they are so just and proper, so essential to our
National welfare, that I feel confident, if the Congress will take time
to consider them, that they will ultimately be adopted.
Some such legislation as that proposed is essential in order to
preserve the great stretches of public grazing land which are unfit for
cultivation under present methods and are valuable only for the forage
which they supply. These stretches amount in all to some 300,000,000
acres, and are open to the free grazing of cattle, sheep, horses and
goats, without restriction. Such a system, or lack of system, means
that the range is not so much used as wasted by abuse. As the West
settles the range becomes more and more over-grazed. Much of it can not
be used to advantage unless it is fenced, for fencing is the only way
by which to keep in check the owners of nomad flocks which roam hither
and thither, utterly destroying the pastures and leaving a waste behind
so that their presence is incompatible with the presence of
home-makers. The existing fences are all illegal. Some of them
represent the improper exclusion of actual settlers, actual
home-makers, from territory which is usurped by great cattle companies.
Some of them represent what is in itself a proper effort to use the
range for those upon the land, and to prevent its 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 is an outrage
that the law should necessitate such action on the part of the
Administration. The unlawful fencing of public lands for private
grazing must be stopped, but the necessity which occasioned it must be
provided for. The Federal Government should have control of the range,
whether by permit or lease, as local necessities may determine. Such
control could secure the great benefit of legitimate fencing, while at
the same time securing and promoting the settlement of the country. In
some places it may be that the tracts of range adjacent to the
homesteads of actual settlers should be allotted to them severally or
in common for the summer grazing of their stock. Elsewhere it may be
that a lease system would serve the purpose; the leases to be temporary
and subject to the rights of settlement, and the amount charged being
large enough merely to permit of the efficient and beneficial control
of the range by the Government, and of the payment to the county of the
equivalent of what it would otherwise receive in taxes. The destruction
of the public range will continue until some such laws as these are
enacted. Fully to prevent the fraud in the public lands which, through
the joint action of the Interior Department and the Department of
Justice, we have been endeavoring to prevent, there must be further
legislation, and especially a sufficient appropriation to permit the
Department of the Interior to examine certain classes of entries on the
ground before they pass into private ownership. The Government should
part with its title only to the actual home-maker, not to the
profit-maker who does not care to make a home. Our prime object is to
secure the rights and guard the interests of the small ranchman, the
man who plows and pitches hay for himself. It is this small ranchman,
this actual settler and homemaker, who in the long run is most hurt by
permitting thefts of the public land in whatever form.
Optimism is a good characteristic, but if carried to an excess it
becomes foolishness. We are prone to 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 reproduce
itself, and therefore is certain to be exhausted ultimately; and
wastefulness in dealing with it to-day means that our descendants will
feel the exhaustion a generation or two before they otherwise would.
But there are certain other forms of waste which could be entirely
stopped--the waste of soil by washing, for instance, which is among the
most dangerous of all wastes now in progress in the United States, is
easily preventable, so that this present enormous loss of fertility is
entirely unnecessary. The preservation or replacement of the forests is
one of the most important means of preventing this loss. We have made a
beginning in forest preservation, but it is only a beginning. At
present lumbering is the fourth greatest industry in the United States;
and yet, so rapid has been the rate of exhaustion of timber in the
United States in the past, and so rapidly is the remainder being
exhausted, that the country is unquestionably on the verge of a timber
famine which will be felt in every household in the land. There has
already been a rise in the price of lumber, but there is certain to be
a more rapid and heavier rise in the future. The present annual
consumption of lumber is certainly three times as great as the annual
growth; and if the consumption and growth continue unchanged,
practically all our lumber will be exhausted in another generation,
while long before the limit to complete exhaustion is reached the
growing scarcity will make itself felt in many blighting ways upon our
National welfare. About 20 per cent of our forested territory is now
reserved in National forests; but these do not include the most
valuable timber lauds, and in any event the proportion is too small to
expect that the reserves can accomplish more than a mitigation of the
trouble which is ahead for the nation. Far more drastic action is
needed. Forests can be lumbered so as to give to the public the full
use of their mercantile timber without the slightest detriment to the
forest, any more than it is a detriment to a farm to furnish a harvest;
so that there is no parallel between forests and mines, which can only
be completely used by exhaustion. But forests, if used as all our
forests have been used in the past and as most of them are still used,
will be either wholly destroyed, or so damaged that many decades have
to pass before effective use can be made of them again. All these facts
are so obvious that it is extraordinary that it should be necessary to
repeat them. Every business man in the land, every writer in the
newspapers, every man or woman of an ordinary school education, ought
to be able to see that immense quantities of timber are 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
comparatively soon, and that the effects of it will be felt severely in
the every-day life of our people. Surely, when these facts are so
obvious, there should be no delay in taking preventive measures. Yet we
seem as a nation to be willing to proceed in this matter with
happy-go-lucky indifference even to the immediate future. It is this
attitude which permits the self-interest of a very few persons to weigh
for more than the ultimate interest of all our people. There are
persons who find it to their immense pecuniary benefit to destroy the
forests by lumbering. They are to be blamed for thus sacrificing the
future of the Nation as a whole to their own self-interest of the
moment; but heavier blame attaches to the people at large for
permitting such action, whether in the White Mountains, in the southern
Alleghenies, or in the Rockies and Sierras. A big lumbering company,
impatient for immediate returns and not caring to look far enough
ahead, will often deliberately destroy all the good timber in a region,
hoping afterwards to move on to some new country. The shiftless man of
small means, who does not care to become an actual home-maker but would
like immediate profit, will find it to his advantage to take up timber
land simply to turn it over to such a big company, and leave it
valueless for future settlers. A big mine owner, anxious only to
develop his mine at the moment, will care only to cut all the timber
that he wishes without regard to the future--probably net looking ahead
to the condition of the country when the forests are exhausted, any
more than he does to the condition when the mine is worked out. I do
not blame these men nearly as much as I blame the supine public
opinion, the indifferent public opinion, which permits their action to
go unchecked. Of course to check the waste of timber means that there
must be on the part of the public the acceptance of a temporary
restriction in the lavish use of the timber, in order to prevent the
total loss of this use in the future. There are plenty of men in public
and private life who actually advocate the continuance of the present
system of unchecked and wasteful extravagance, using as an argument the
fact that to check it will of course mean interference with the ease
and comfort of certain people who now get lumber at less cost than they
ought to pay, at the expense of the future generations. Some of these
persons actually demand that the present forest reserves be thrown open
to destruction, because, forsooth, they think that thereby the price of
lumber could be put down again for two or three or more years. Their
attitude is precisely like that of an agitator protesting against the
outlay of money by farmers on manure and in taking care of their farms
generally. Undoubtedly, if the average farmer were content absolutely
to ruin his farm, he could for two or three years avoid spending any
money on it, and yet make a good deal of money out of it. But only a
savage would, in his private affairs, show such reckless disregard of
the future; yet it is precisely this reckless disregard of the future
which the opponents of the forestry system are now endeavoring to get
the people of the United States to show. The only trouble with the
movement for the preservation of our forests is that it has not gone
nearly far enough, and was not begun soon enough. It is a most
fortunate thing, however, that we began it when we did. We should
acquire in the Appalachian and White Mountain regions all the forest
lands that it is possible to acquire for the use of the Nation. These
lands, because they form a National asset, are as emphatically national
as the rivers which they feed, and which flow through so many States
before they reach the ocean.
There should be no tariff on any forest product grown in this country;
and, in especial, there should be no tariff on wood pulp; due notice of
the change being of course given to those engaged in the business so as
to enable them to adjust themselves to the new conditions. The repeal
of the duty on wood pulp should if possible be accompanied by an
agreement with Canada that there shall be no export duty on Canadian
pulp wood.
In the eastern United States the mineral fuels have already passed into
the hands of large private owners, and those of the West are rapidly
following. It is obvious that these fuels should be conserved and not
wasted, and it would be well to protect the people against unjust and
extortionate prices, so far as that can still be done. What has been
accomplished in the great oil fields of the Indian Territory by the
action of the Administration, offers a striking example of the good
results of such a policy. In my judgment the Government should have the
right to keep the fee of the coal, oil, and gas fields in its own
possession and to lease the rights to develop them under proper
regulations; or else, if the Congress will not adopt this method, the
coal deposits should be sold under limitations, to conserve them as
public utilities, the right to mine coal being separated from the title
to the soil. The regulations should permit coal lands to be worked in
sufficient quantity by the several corporations. The present
limitations have been absurd, excessive, and serve no useful purpose,
and often render it necessary that there should be either fraud or
close abandonment of the work of getting out the coal.
Work on the Panama Canal is proceeding in a highly satisfactory manner.
In March last, John F. Stevens, chairman of the Commission and chief
engineer, resigned, and the Commission was reorganized and constituted
as follows: Lieut. Col. George W. Goethals, Corps. of Engineers, U. S.
Army, chairman and chief engineer; 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 effect
on April 1, without causing a perceptible check to the progress of the
work. In March the total excavation in the Culebra Cut, where effort
was chiefly concentrated, was 815,270 cubic yards. In April this was
increased to 879,527 cubic yards. There was a considerable decrease in
the output for May and June owing partly to the advent of the rainy
season and partly to temporary trouble with the steam shovel men over
the question of wages. This trouble was settled satisfactorily to all
parties and in July the total excavation advanced materially and in
August the grand total from all points in the canal prism by steam
shovels and dredges exceeded all previous United States records,
reaching 1,274,404 cubic yards. In September this record was eclipsed
and a total of 1,517,412 cubic yards was removed. Of this amount
1,481,307 cubic yards were from the canal prism and 36,105 cubic yards
were from accessory works. These results were achieved in the rainy
season with a rainfall in August of 11.89 inches and in September of
11.65 inches. Finally, in October, the record was again eclipsed, the
total excavation being 1,868,729 cubic yards; a truly extraordinary
record, especially in view of the heavy rainfall, which was 17.1
inches. In fact, experience during the last two rainy seasons
demonstrates that the rains are a less serious obstacle to progress
than has hitherto been supposed.
Work on the locks and dams at Gatun, which began actively in March
last, has advanced so far that it is thought that masonry work on the
locks can be begun within fifteen months. In order to remove all doubt
as to the satisfactory character of the foundations for the locks of
the Canal, the Secretary of War requested three eminent civil
engineers, of special experience in such construction, Alfred Noble,
Frederic P. Stearns and John R. Freeman, to visit the Isthmus and make
thorough personal investigations of the sites. These gentlemen went to
the Isthmus in April and by means of test pits which had been dug for
the purpose, they inspected the proposed foundations, and also examined
the borings that had been made. In their report to 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 rock of such
character that it will furnish a safe and stable foundation."
Subsequent new borings, conducted by the present Commission, have fully
confirmed this verdict. They show that the locks will rest on rock for
their entire length. The cross section of the dam and method of
construction will be such as to insure against any slip or sloughing
off. Similar examination of the foundations of the locks and dams on
the Pacific side are in progress. I believe that the locks should be
made of a width of 120 feet.
Last winter bids were requested and received for doing the work of
canal construction by contract. None of them was found to be
satisfactory and all were rejected. It is the unanimous opinion of the
present Commission that the work can be done better, more cheaply, and
more quickly by the Government than by private contractors. Fully 80
per cent of the entire plant needed for construction has been purchased
or contracted for; machine shops have been erected and equipped for
making all needed repairs to the plant; many thousands of employees
have been secured; an effective organization has been perfected; a
recruiting system is in operation which is capable of furnishing more
labor than can be used advantageously; employees are well sheltered and
well fed; salaries paid are satisfactory, and the work is not only
going forward smoothly, but it is producing results far in advance of
the most sanguine anticipations. Under these favorable conditions, a
change in the method of prosecuting the work would be unwise and
unjustifiable, for it would inevitably disorganize existing conditions,
check progress, and increase the cost and lengthen the time of
completing the Canal.
The chief engineer and all his professional associates are firmly
convinced that the 85 feet level lock canal which they are constructing
is the best that could be desired. Some of them had doubts on this
point when they went to the Isthmus. As the plans have developed under
their direction their doubts have been dispelled. While they may decide
upon changes in detail as construction advances they are in hearty
accord in approving the general plan. They believe that it provides a
canal not only adequate to all demands that will be made upon it but
superior in every way to a sea level canal. I concur in this belief.
I commend to the favorable consideration of the Congress a postal
savings bank system, as recommended by the Postmaster-General. The
primary object is to encourage among our people economy and thrift and
by the use of postal savings banks to give them an opportunity to
husband their resources, particularly those who have not the facilities
at hand for depositing their money in savings banks. Viewed, however,
from the experience of the past few weeks, it is evident that the
advantages of such an institution are till more far-reaching. Timid
depositors have withdrawn their savings for the time being from
national banks, trust companies, and savings banks; individuals have
hoarded their cash and the workingmen their earnings; all of which
money has been withheld and kept in hiding or in safe deposit box to
the detriment of prosperity. Through the agency of the postal savings
banks such money would be restored to the channels of trade, to the
mutual benefit of capital and labor.
I further commend to the Congress the consideration of the
Postmaster-General's recommendation for an extension of the parcel
post, especially on the rural routes. There are now 38,215 rural
routes, serving nearly 15,000,000 people who do not have the advantages
of the inhabitants of cities in obtaining their supplies. These
recommendations have been drawn up to benefit the farmer and the
country storekeeper; otherwise, I should not favor them, for I believe
that it is good policy for our Government to do everything possible to
aid the small town and the country district. It is desirable that the
country merchant should not be crushed out.
The fourth-class postmasters' convention has passed a very strong
resolution in favor of placing the fourth-class postmasters under the
civil-service law. The Administration has already put into effect the
policy of refusing to remove any fourth-class postmasters save for
reasons connected with the good of the service; and it is endeavoring
so far as possible to remove them from the domain of partisan politics.
It would be a most desirable thing to put the fourth-class postmasters
in the classified service. It is possible that this might be done
without Congressional action, but, as the matter is debatable, I
earnestly recommend that the Congress enact a law providing that they
be included under the civil-service law and put in the classified
service.
Oklahoma has become a State, standing on a full equality with her elder
sisters, and her future is assured by her great natural resources. The
duty of the National Government to guard the personal and property
rights of the Indians within her borders remains of course unchanged.
I reiterate my recommendations of last year as regards Alaska. Some
form of local self-government should be provided, as simple and
inexpensive as possible; it is impossible for the Congress to devote
the necessary time to all the little details of necessary Alaskan
legislation. Road building and railway building should be encouraged.
The Governor of Alaska should be given an ample appropriation wherewith
to organize 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 meet the peculiar needs of the Territory. This should be
attended to at once; for the present laws permit individuals to locate
large areas of the public domain for speculative purposes; and cause an
immense amount of trouble, fraud, and litigation. There should be
another judicial division established. As early as possible lighthouses
and buoys should be established as aids to navigation, especially in
and about Prince William Sound, and the survey of the coast completed.
There is need of liberal appropriations for lighting and buoying the
southern coast and improving the aids to navigation in southeastern
Alaska. One of the great industries of Alaska, as of Puget Sound and
the Columbia, is salmon fishing. Gradually, by reason of lack of proper
laws, this industry is being ruined; it should now be taken in charge,
and effectively protected, by the United States Government.
The courage and enterprise of the citizens of the far north-west in
their projected Alaskan-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, to be held in 1909,
should receive liberal encouragement. This exposition is not
sentimental in its conception, but seeks to exploit the natural
resources of Alaska and to promote the commerce, trade, and industry of
the Pacific States with their neighboring States and with our insular
possessions and the neighboring countries of the Pacific. The
exposition asks no loan from the Congress but seeks appropriations for
National exhibits and exhibits of the western dependencies of the
General Government. The State of Washington and the city of Seattle
have shown the characteristic western enterprise in large donations for
the conduct of this exposition in which other States are lending
generous assistance.
The unfortunate failure of the shipping bill at the last session of the
last Congress was followed by the taking off of certain Pacific
steamships, which has greatly hampered the movement of passengers
between Hawaii and the mainland. Unless the Congress is prepared by
positive encouragement to secure proper facilities in the way of
shipping between Hawaii and the mainland, then the coastwise shipping
laws should be so far relaxed as to prevent Hawaii suffering as it is
now suffering. I again call your attention to the capital importance
from every standpoint of making Pearl Harbor available for the largest
deep water 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 on the islands.
I again recommend that the rights of citizenship be conferred upon the
people of Porto Rico.
A bureau of mines should be created under the control and direction of
the Secretary of the Interior; the bureau to have power to collect
statistics and make investigations in all matters pertaining to mining
and particularly to the accidents and dangers of the industry. If this
can not now be done, at least additional appropriations should be given
the Interior Department to be used for the study of mining conditions,
for the prevention of fraudulent mining schemes, for carrying on the
work of mapping the mining districts, for studying methods for
minimizing the accidents and dangers in the industry; in short, to aid
in all proper ways the development of the mining industry.
I strongly recommend to the Congress to provide funds for keeping up
the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson; these funds to be used
through the existing Hermitage Association for the preservation of a
historic building which should ever be dear to Americans.
I further recommend that a naval monument be established in the
Vicksburg National Park. This national park gives a unique opportunity
for commemorating the deeds of those gallant men who fought on water,
no less than of those who fought on land, in the great civil War.
Legislation should be enacted at the present session of the Congress
for the Thirteenth Census. The establishment of the permanent Census
Bureau affords the opportunity for a better census than we have ever
had, but in order to realize the full advantage of the permanent
organization, ample time must be given for preparation.
There is a constantly growing interest in this country in the question
of the public health. At last the public mind is awake to the fact that
many diseases, notably tuberculosis, are National scourges. The work of
the State and city boards of health should be supplemented by a
constantly increasing interest on the part of the National Government.
The Congress has already provided a bureau of public health and has
provided for a hygienic laboratory. There are other valuable laws
relating to the public health connected with the various departments.
This whole branch of the Government should be strengthened and aided in
every way.
I call attention to two Government commissions which I have appointed
and which have already done excellent work. The first of these has to
do with the organization of the scientific work of the Government,
which has grown up wholly without plan and is in consequence so
unwisely distributed among the Executive Departments that much of its
effect is lost for the lack of proper coordination. This commission's
chief object is to introduce a planned and orderly development and
operation in the place of the ill-assorted and often ineffective
grouping and methods of work which have prevailed. This can not be done
without legislation, nor would it be feasible to deal in detail with so
complex an administrative problem by specific provisions of law. I
recommend that the President be given authority to concentrate related
lines of work and reduce duplication by Executive order through
transfer and consolidation of lines of work.
The second committee, that on Department methods, was instructed to
investigate and report upon the changes needed to place the conduct of
the executive force of the Government on the most economical and
effective basis in the light of the best modern business practice. The
committee has made very satisfactory progress. Antiquated practices and
bureaucratic ways have been abolished, and a general renovation of
departmental methods has been inaugurated. All that can be done by
Executive order has already been accomplished or will be put into
effect in the near future. The work of the main committee and its
several assistant committees has produced a wholesome awakening on the
part of the great body of officers and employees engaged in Government
work. In nearly every Department and office there has been a careful
self-inspection for the purpose of remedying any defects before they
could be made the subject of adverse criticism. This has led
individuals to a wider study of the work on which they were engaged,
and this study has resulted in increasing their efficiency in their
respective lines of work. There are recommendations of special
importance from the committee on the subject of personnel and the
classification of salaries which will require legislative action before
they can be put into effect. It is my intention to submit to the
Congress in the near future a special message on those subjects.
Under our form of government voting is not merely a right but a duty,
and, moreover, a fundamental and necessary duty if a man is to be a
good citizen. It is well to provide that corporations shall not
contribute to Presidential or National campaigns, and furthermore to
provide for the publication of both contributions and expenditures.
There is, however, always danger in laws of this kind, which from their
very nature are difficult of enforcement; the danger being lest they be
obeyed only by the honest, and disobeyed by the unscrupulous, so as to
act only as a penalty upon honest men. Moreover, no such law would
hamper an unscrupulous man of unlimited means from buying his own way
into office. There is a very radical measure which would, I believe,
work a substantial improvement in our system of conducting a campaign,
although I am well aware that it will take some time for people so to
familiarize themselves with such a proposal as to be willing to
consider its adoption. The need for collecting large campaign funds
would vanish if Congress provided an appropriation for the proper and
legitimate expenses of each of the great national parties, an
appropriation ample enough to meet the necessity for thorough
organization and machinery, which requires a large expenditure of
money. Then the stipulation should be made that no party receiving
campaign funds from the Treasury should accept more than a fixed amount
from any individual subscriber or donor; and the necessary publicity
for receipts and expenditures could without difficulty be provided.
There should be a National gallery of art established in the capital
city of this country. This is important not merely to the artistic but
to the material welfare of the country; and the people are to be
congratulated on the fact that the movement to establish such a gallery
is taking definite form under the guidance of the Smithsonian
Institution. So far from there being a tariff on works of art brought
into the country, their importation should be encouraged in every way.
There have been no sufficient collections of objects of art by the
Government, and what collections have been acquired are scattered and
are generally placed in unsuitable and imperfectly lighted galleries.
The Biological Survey is quietly working for the good of our
agricultural interests, and is an excellent example of a Government
bureau which conducts original scientific research the findings of
which are of much practical utility. For more than twenty years it has
studied the food habits of birds and mammals that are injurious or
beneficial to agriculture, horticulture, and forestry; has distributed
illustrated bulletins on the subject, and has labored to secure
legislative protection for the beneficial species. The cotton
boll-weevil, which has recently overspread the cotton belt 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 birds prey upon this
destructive insect. It has discovered that 57 species of birds feed
upon scale-insects--dreaded enemies of the fruit grower. It has shown
that woodpeckers as a class, by destroying the larvae of wood-boring
insects, are so essential to tree life that it is doubtful if our
forests could exist without them. It has shown that cuckoos and orioles
are the natural enemies of the leaf-eating caterpillars that destroy
our shade and fruit trees; that our quails and sparrows consume
annually hundreds of tons of seeds 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 catching grasshoppers,
mice, and other pests that prey upon the products of husbandry. It has
conducted field experiments for the purpose of devising and perfecting
simple methods for holding in check the hordes of destructive
rodents--rats, mice, rabbits, gophers, prairie dogs, and ground
squirrels--which annually destroy crops worth many millions of dollars;
and it has published practical directions for the destruction of wolves
and coyotes on the stock ranges of the West, resulting during the past
year in an estimated saving of cattle and sheep valued at upwards of a
million dollars.
It has inaugurated a system of inspection at the principal ports of
entry on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts by means of which the
introduction of noxious mammals and birds is prevented, thus keeping
out the mongoose and certain birds which are as much to be dreaded as
the previously introduced English sparrow and the house rats and mice.
In the interest of game protection it has cooperated with local
officials in every State in the Union, has striven to promote uniform
legislation in the several States, has rendered important service in
enforcing the Federal law regulating interstate traffic in game, and
has shown how game protection may be made to yield a large revenue to
the State--a revenue amounting in the case of Illinois to $128,000 in a
single year.
The Biological Survey has explored the faunas and floras of America
with reference to the distribution of animals and plants; it has
defined and mapped the natural life areas--areas in which, by reason of
prevailing climatic conditions, certain kinds of animals and plants
occur--and has pointed out the adaptability of these areas to the
cultivation of particular crops. The results of these investigations
are not only of high educational value but are worth each year to the
progressive farmers of the country many times the cost of maintaining
the Survey, which, it may be added, is exceedingly small. I recommend
to Congress that this bureau, whose usefulness is seriously handicapped
by lack of funds, be granted an appropriation in some degree
commensurate with the importance of the work it is doing.
I call your especial attention to the unsatisfactory condition of our
foreign mail service, which, because of the lack of American steamship
lines is now largely done through foreign lines, and which,
particularly so far as South and Central America are concerned, is done
in a manner which constitutes a serious barrier to the extension of our
commerce.
The time has come, in my judgment, to set to work seriously to make our
ocean mail service correspond more closely with our recent commercial
and political development. A beginning was made by the ocean mail act
of March 3, 1891, but even at that time the act 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
lesser islands in the Pacific. We are steadily prosecuting the great
work of uniting at the Isthmus the waters of the Atlantic and the
Pacific. To a greater extent than seemed probable even a dozen years
ago, we may look to an American future on the sea worthy of the
traditions of our past. As the first step in that direction, and the
step most feasible at the present time, I recommend the extension of
the ocean mail act of 1891. This act has stood for some years free from
successful criticism of its principle and purpose. It was based on
theories of the obligations of a great maritime nation, undisputed in
our own land and followed by other nations since the beginning of steam
navigation. Briefly those theories are, that it is the duty of a
first-class Power so far as practicable to carry its ocean mails under
its own flag; that the fast ocean steamships and their crews, required
for such mail service, are valuable auxiliaries to the sea power of a
nation. Furthermore, the construction of such steamships insures the
maintenance in an efficient condition of the shipyards in which our
battleships must be built.
The expenditure of public money for the Performance of such necessary
functions of government is certainly warranted, nor is it necessary to
dwell upon the incidental benefits to our foreign commerce, to the
shipbuilding industry, and to ship owning and navigation which will
accompany the discharge of these urgent public duties, though they,
too, should have weight.
The only serious question is whether at this time we can afford to
improve our ocean mail service as it should be improved. All doubt on
this subject is removed by the reports of the Post-Office Department.
For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1907, that Department estimates that
the postage collected on the articles exchanged with foreign countries
other than Canada and Mexico amounted to $6,579,043.48, or
$3,637,226.81 more than the net cost of the service exclusive of the
cost of transporting the articles between the United States exchange
post-offices and the United States 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 for the people,
making a profit of over $3,600,000 by rendering a cheap and inefficient
service. That profit I believe should be devoted to strengthening
maritime power in those directions where it will best promote our
prestige. The country is familiar with 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 lost our
only American line of steamers to Australasia, and that loss on the
Pacific has become a serious embarrassment to the people of Hawaii, and
has wholly cut off the Samoan islands from regular communication with
the Pacific coast. Puget Sound, in the year, has lost over half (four
out of seven) of its American steamers trading with the Orient.
We now pay under the act of 1891 $4 a statute mile outward to 20-knot
American mail steamships, built according to naval plans, available as
cruisers, and manned by Americans. Steamships of that speed are
confined exclusively to trans-Atlantic trade with New York. To
steamships of 16 knots or over only $2 a mile can be paid, and it is
steamships of this speed and type which are needed to meet the
requirements of mail service to South America, Asia (including the
Philippines), and Australia. I strongly recommend, therefore, a simple
amendment to the ocean mail act of 1891 which shall authorize the
Postmaster-General in his discretion to enter into contracts for the
transportation of mails to the Republics of South America, to Asia, the
Philippines, and Australia at a rate not to exceed $4 a mile for
steamships of 16 knots speed or upwards, subject to the restrictions
and obligations of the act of 1891. The profit of $3,600,000 which has
been mentioned will fully cover the maximum annual expenditure involved
in this recommendation, and it is believed will in time establish the
lines so urgently needed. The proposition involves no new principle,
but permits the efficient discharge of public functions now
inadequately performed or not performed at all.
Not only there is not now, but there never has been, any other nation
in the world so wholly free from the evils of militarism as is ours.
There never has been any other large nation, not even China, which for
so long a period has had relatively to its numbers so small a regular
army as has ours. Never at any time in our history has this Nation
suffered from militarism or been in the remotest danger of suffering
from militarism. Never at any time of our history has the Regular Army
been of a size which caused the slightest appreciable tax upon the
tax-paying citizens of the Nation. Almost always it has been too small
in size and underpaid. Never in our entire history has the Nation
suffered in the least particular because too much care has been given
to the Army, too much prominence given it, too much money spent upon
it, or because it has been too large. But again and again we have
suffered because enough care has not been given to it, because it has
been too small, because there has not been sufficient preparation in
advance for possible war. Every foreign war in which we have engaged
has cost us many times the amount which, if wisely expended during the
preceding years of peace on the Regular Army, would have insured the
war ending in but a fraction of the time and but for a fraction of the
cost that was actually the case. As a Nation we have always been
shortsighted in providing for the efficiency of the Army in time of
peace. It is nobody's especial interest to make such provision 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
niggardliness, can be practiced at the expense of the Army with the
certainty that those practicing it will not be called to account
therefor, but that the price will be paid by the unfortunate persons
who happen to be in office when a war does actually come.
I think it is only lack of foresight that troubles us, not any
hostility to the Army. There are, of course, foolish people who
denounce any care of the Army or Navy as "militarism," but I do not
think that these people are numerous. This country has to contend now,
and has had to contend in the past, with many evils, and there is ample
scope for all who would work for reform. But there is not one evil that
now exists, or that ever has existed in this country, which is, or ever
has been, owing in the smallest part to militarism. Declamation against
militarism has no more serious place in an earnest and intelligent
movement for righteousness in this country than declamation against the
worship of Baal or Astaroth. It is declamation against a non-existent
evil, one which never has existed in this country, and which has not
the slightest chance of appearing here. We are glad to help in any
movement for international peace, but this is because we sincerely
believe that it is our duty to help all such movements provided they
are sane and rational, and not because there is any tendency toward
militarism on our part which needs to be cured. The evils we have to
fight are those in connection with industrialism, not militarism.
Industry is always necessary, just as war is sometimes necessary. Each
has its price, and industry in the United States now exacts, and has
always exacted, a far heavier toll of death than all our wars put
together. The statistics of the railroads of this country for the year
ended June 30, 1906, the last contained in the annual statistical
report of the Interstate Commerce Commission, show in that one year a
total of 108,324 casualties to persons, of which 10,618 represent the
number of persons killed. In that wonderful hive of human activity,
Pittsburg, the deaths due to industrial accidents in 1906 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 to industrial
accidents aggregate in the neighborhood of twenty thousand a year. Such
a record makes the death rate in all our foreign wars utterly trivial
by comparison. The number of deaths in battle in all the foreign wars
put together, for the last century and a quarter, aggregate
considerably less than one year's death record for our industries. A
mere glance at these figures is sufficient to show the absurdity of the
outcry against militarism.
But again and again in the past our little Regular Army 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
higher now than ever in the past. But it is too small. There are not
enough officers; and it is impossible to secure enough enlisted men. We
should maintain in peace a fairly complete skeleton of a large army. A
great and long-continued war would have to be fought by volunteers. But
months would pass before any large body of efficient volunteers could
be put in the field, and our Regular Army should be large enough to
meet any immediate need. In particular it is essential that we should
possess a number of extra officers trained in peace to perform
efficiently the duties urgently required upon the breaking out of war.
The Medical Corps should be much larger than the needs of our Regular
Army in war. Yet at present it is smaller than the needs of the service
demand even in peace. The Spanish war occurred less than ten years ago.
The chief loss we suffered in it was by disease among the regiments
which never left the country. At the moment the Nation seemed deeply
impressed by this fact; yet seemingly it has already been forgotten,
for not the slightest effort has been made to prepare a medical corps
of sufficient size to prevent the repetition of the same disaster on a
much larger scale if we should ever be engaged in a serious conflict.
The trouble in the Spanish war was not with the then existing officials
of the War Department; it was with the representatives of the people as
a whole who, for the preceding thirty years, had declined to make the
necessary provision for the Army. Unless ample provision is now made by
Congress to put the Medical Corps where it should be put disaster in
the next war is inevitable, and the responsibility will not lie with
those then in charge of the War Department, but with those who now
decline to make the necessary provision. A well organized medical
corps, thoroughly trained before the advent of war in all the important
administrative duties of a military sanitary corps, is essential to the
efficiency of any large army, and especially of a large volunteer army.
Such knowledge of medicine and surgery as is possessed by the medical
profession generally will not alone suffice to make an efficient
military surgeon. He must have, in addition, knowledge of the
administration and sanitation of large field hospitals and camps, in
order to safeguard the health and lives of men intrusted in great
numbers to his care. A bill has long been pending before the Congress
for the reorganization of the Medical Corps; its passage is urgently
needed.
But the Medical Department is not the only department for which
increased provision should be made. The rate of pay for the officers
should be greatly increased; there is no higher type of citizen than
the American regular officer, and he should have a fair reward for his
admirable work. There should be a relatively even greater increase in
the pay for the enlisted men. In especial provision should be made for
establishing grades equivalent to those of warrant officers in the Navy
which should be open to the enlisted men who serve sufficiently long
and who do their work well. Inducements should be offered sufficient to
encourage really good men to make the Army a life occupation. The prime
needs of our present Army is to secure and retain competent
noncommissioned officers. This difficulty rests fundamentally on the
question of pay. The noncommissioned officer does not correspond with
an unskilled laborer; he corresponds to the best type of skilled
workman or to the subordinate official in civil institutions. Wages
have greatly increased in outside occupations in the last forty years
and the pay of the soldier, like the pay of the officers, should be
proportionately increased. The first sergeant of a company, if a good
man, must be one of such executive and administrative ability, and such
knowledge of his trade, as to be worth far more than we at present pay
him. The same is true of the regimental sergeant major. These men
should be men who had fully resolved to make the Army a life occupation
and they should be able to look forward to ample reward; while only men
properly qualified should be given a chance to secure these final
rewards. The increase over the present pay need not be great in the
lower grades for the first one or two enlistments, but the increase
should be marked for the noncommissioned officers of the upper grades
who serve long enough to make it evident that they intend to stay
permanently in the Army, while additional pay should be given for high
qualifications in target practice. The position of warrant officer
should be established and there should be not only an increase of pay,
but an increase of privileges and allowances and dignity, so as to make
the grade open to noncommissioned officers capable of filling them
desirably from every standpoint. The rate of desertion in our Army now
in time of peace is alarming. The deserter should be treated by public
opinion as a man guilty of the greatest crime; while on the other hand
the man who serves steadily in the Army should be treated as what he
is, that is, as preeminently one of the best citizens of this Republic.
After twelve years' service in the Army, my own belief is that the man
should be given a preference according to his ability for certain types
of office over all civilian applicants without examination. This should
also apply, of course, to the men who have served twelve years in the
Navy. A special corps should be provided to do the manual labor now
necessarily demanded of the privates themselves.
Among the officers there should be severe examinations to weed out the
unfit up to the grade of major. From that position on appointments
should be solely by selection and it should be understood that a man of
merely average capacity could never get beyond the position of major,
while every man who serves in any grade a certain length of time prior
to promotion to the next grade without getting the promotion to the
next grade should be forthwith retired. The practice marches and field
maneuvers of the last two or three years have been invaluable to the
Army. They should be continued and extended. A rigid and not a
perfunctory examination of physical capacity has been provided for the
higher grade officers. This will work well. Unless an officer has a
good physique, unless he can stand hardship, ride well, and walk
fairly, he is not fit for any position, even after he has become a
colonel. Before he has become a colonel the need for physical fitness
in the officers is almost as great as in the enlisted man. I hope
speedily to see introduced into the Army a far more rigid and
thoroughgoing test of horsemanship for all field officers than at
present. There should be a Chief of Cavalry just as there is a Chief of
Artillery.
Perhaps the most important of all legislation needed for the benefit of
the Army is a law to equalize and increase the pay of officers and
enlisted men of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Revenue-Cutter
Service. Such a bill has been prepared, which it is hoped will meet
with your favorable consideration. The next most essential measure is
to authorize a number of extra officers as mentioned above. To make the
Army more attractive to enlisted men, it is absolutely essential to
create a service corps, such as exists in nearly every modern army in
the world, to do the skilled and unskilled labor, inseparably connected
with military administration, which is now exacted, without just
compensation, of enlisted men who voluntarily entered the Army to do
service of an altogether different kind. There are a number of other
laws necessary to so organize the Army as to promote its efficiency and
facilitate its rapid expansion in time of war; but the above are the
most important.
It was hoped The Hague Conference might deal with the question of the
limitation of armaments. But even before it had assembled informal
inquiries had developed that as regards naval armaments, the only ones
in which this country had any interest, it was hopeless to try to
devise any plan for which there was the slightest possibility of
securing the assent of the nations gathered at The Hague. No plan was
even proposed which would have had the assent of more than one first
class Power outside of the United States. The only plan that seemed at
all feasible, 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 hope of securing peace on any international
agreement as to the limitations of armaments. Such being the fact it
would be most unwise for us to stop the upbuilding of our Navy. To
build one battleship of the best and most advanced type a year would
barely keep our fleet up to its present force. This is not enough. In
my judgment, we should this year provide for four battleships. But it
is idle to build battleships unless in addition to providing the men,
and the means for thorough training, we provide the auxiliaries for
them, unless we provide docks, the coaling stations, the colliers and
supply ships that they need. We are extremely deficient in coaling
stations and docks on the Pacific, and this deficiency should not
longer be permitted to exist. Plenty of torpedo boats and destroyers
should be built. Both on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts,
fortifications of the best type should be provided for all our greatest
harbors.
We need always to remember that in time of war the Navy is not to be
used to defend harbors and sea-coast cities; 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 our own
coast against the possible action of a foreign navy is by destroying
that foreign navy. For defense against a hostile fleet which actually
attacks them, the coast cities must depend upon their forts, mines,
torpedoes, submarines, and torpedo boats and destroyers. All of these
together are efficient for defensive purposes, but they in no way
supply the place of a thoroughly efficient navy capable of acting on
the offensive; for parrying never yet won a fight. It can only be won
by hard hitting, and an aggressive sea-going navy alone can do this
hard hitting of the offensive type. But the forts and the like are
necessary so that the Navy may be footloose. In time of war there is
sure to be demand, under pressure, of fright, for the ships to be
scattered so as to defend all kind of ports. Under penalty of terrible
disaster, this demand must be refused. The ships must be kept together,
and their objective made the enemies' fleet. If fortifications are
sufficiently strong, no modern navy will venture to attack them, so
long as the foe has in existence a hostile navy of anything like the
same size or efficiency. But unless there exists such a navy then the
fortifications are powerless by themselves to secure the victory. For
of course the mere deficiency means that any resolute enemy can at his
leisure combine all his forces upon one point with the certainty that
he can take it.
Until our battle fleet is much larger than at present it should never
be split into detachments so far apart that they could not in event of
emergency be speedily united. Our coast line is on the Pacific just as
much as on the Atlantic. The interests of California, Oregon, and
Washington are as emphatically the interests of the whole Union as
those of Maine and 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 the battle fleet from one ocean to the other will be
comparatively easy. Until it is built I earnestly hope that the battle
fleet will be thus shifted between the two oceans every year or two.
The marksmanship on all our ships has improved phenomenally during the
last five years. Until within the last two or three years it was not
possible to train a battle fleet in squadron maneuvers under service
conditions, and it is only during these last two or three years that
the training under these conditions has become really effective.
Another and most necessary stride in advance is now being taken. The
battle fleet is about starting by the Straits of Magellan to visit the
Pacific coast.. Sixteen battleships are going under the command of
Rear-Admiral Evans, while eight armored cruisers and two other
battleships will meet him at San Francisco, whither certain torpedo
destroyers are also going. No fleet of such size has ever made such a
voyage, and it will be of very great educational use to all engaged in
it. The only way by which to teach officers and men how to handle the
fleet so as to meet every possible strain and emergency in time of war
is to have them practice under similar conditions in time of peace.
Moreover, the only way to find out our actual needs is to perform in
time of peace whatever maneuvers might be necessary in time of war.
After war is declared it is too late to find out the needs; that means
to invite disaster. This trip to the Pacific will show what some of our
needs are and will enable us to provide for them. The proper place for
an officer to learn his duty is at sea, and the only way in which a
navy can ever be made efficient is by practice at sea, under all the
conditions which would have to be met if war existed.
I bespeak the most liberal treatment for the officers and enlisted men
of the Navy. It is true of them, as likewise of the officers and
enlisted men of the Army, that they form a body whose interests should
be close to the heart of every good American. In return the most rigid
performance of duty should be exacted from them. The reward should be
ample when they do their best; and nothing less than their best should
be tolerated. It is idle to hope for the best results when the men in
the senior grades come to those grades late in life and serve too short
a time in them. Up to the rank of lieutenant-commander promotion in the
Navy should be as now, by seniority, subject, however, to such
rigid tests as would eliminate the 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 that only the
conspicuously fit would remain, and sea service should be a principal
test of fitness. Those who are passed by should, after a certain length
of service in their respective grades, be retired. Of a given number of
men it may well be that almost all would make good lieutenants and most
of them good lieutenant-commanders, while only a minority be fit to be
captains, and but three or four to be admirals. Those who object to
promotion otherwise than by mere seniority should reflect upon the
elementary fact that no business in private life could be successfully
managed if those who enter at the lowest rungs of the ladder should
each in turn, if he lived, become the head of the firm, its active
director, and retire after he had held the position a few months. On
its face such a scheme is an absurdity. Chances for improper favoritism
can be minimized by a properly formed board; such as the board of last
June, which did 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 last three annual Messages, and in a special
Message to the last Congress, the necessity for legislation that will
cause officers of the line of the Navy to reach the grades of captain
and rear-admiral at less advanced ages and which will cause them to
have more sea training and experience in the highly responsible duties
of those grades, so that they may become thoroughly skillful in
handling battleships, divisions, squadrons, and fleets in action, has
been fully explained and urgently recommended. Upon this subject the
Secretary of the Navy has submitted detailed and definite
recommendations which have received my approval, and which, if enacted
into law, will accomplish what is immediately necessary, and will, as
compared with existing law, make a saving of more than five millions of
dollars during the next seven years. The navy personnel act of 1899 has
accomplished all that was expected of it in providing satisfactory
periods of service in the several subordinate grades, from the grade of
ensign to the grade of lieutenant-commander, but the law is inadequate
in the upper grades and will continue to be inadequate on account of
the expansion of the personnel since its enactment. Your attention is
invited to the following quotations from the report of the personnel
board of 1906, of which the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was
president:
"Congress has authorized a considerable increase in the number of
midshipmen at the Naval Academy, and these midshipmen upon graduation
are promoted to ensign and lieutenant (junior-grade). But no provision
has been made for a corresponding increase in the upper grades, the
result being that the lower grades will become so congested that a
midshipman now in one of the lowest classes at Annapolis may possibly
not be promoted to lieutenant until he is between 45 and 50 years of
age. So it will continue under the present law, congesting at the top
and congesting at the bottom. The country fails to get from the
officers of the service the best that is in them by not providing
opportunity for their normal development and training. The board
believes that this works a serious detriment to the efficiency of the
Navy and 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 the present conditions of the higher
commissioned personnel is rectified by judicious legislation the future
of our Navy will be gravely compromised." It is also urgently necessary
to increase the efficiency of the Medical Corps of the Navy. Special
legislation to this end has already been proposed; and I trust it may
be enacted without delay.
It must be remembered that everything done in the Navy to fit it to do
well in time of war must be done in time of peace. Modern wars are
short; they do not last the length of time requisite to build a
battleship; and it takes longer to train the officers and men to do
well on a battleship than it takes to build it. Nothing effective can
be done for the Navy once war has begun, and the result of the war, if
the combatants are otherwise equally matched, will depend upon which
power has prepared best in time of peace. The United States Navy is the
best guaranty the Nation has that its honor and interest will not be
neglected; and in addition it offers by far the best insurance for
peace that can by human ingenuity be devised.
I call attention to the report of the official Board of Visitors to the
Naval Academy at Annapolis which has been forwarded to the Congress.
The report contains this paragraph:
"Such revision should be made of the courses of study and methods of
conducting and marking examinations as will develop and bring out the
average all-round ability of the midshipman rather than to give him
prominence in any one particular study. The fact should be kept in mind
that the Naval Academy is not a university but a school, the primary
object of which is to educate boys to be efficient naval officers.
Changes in curriculum, therefore, should be in the direction of making
the course of instruction less theoretical and more practical. No
portion of any future class should be graduated in advance of the full
four years' course, and under no circumstances should the standard of
instruction be lowered. The Academy in almost all of its departments is
now magnificently equipped, and it would be very unwise to make the
course of instruction less exacting than it is to-day."
Acting upon this suggestion I designated three seagoing officers, Capt.
Richard Wainwright, Commander Robert S. Griffin, and Lieut. Commander
Albert L. Key, all graduates of the Academy, to investigate conditions
and to recommend to me the best method of carrying into effect this
general recommendation. These officers performed the duty promptly and
intelligently, and, under the personal direction of Capt. Charles J.
Badger, Superintendent of the Academy, such of the proposed changes as
were deemed to be at present advisable were put into effect at the
beginning of the 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 policy is to behave toward
other nations as a strong and self-respecting man should behave toward
the other men with whom he is brought into contact. In other words, our
aim is disinterestedly to help other nations where such help can be
wisely given without the appearance of meddling with what does not
concern us; to be careful to act as a good neighbor; and at the same
time, in good-natured fashion, to make it evident that we do not intend
to be imposed upon.
The Second International Peace Conference was convened at The Hague on
the 15th of June last and remained in session until the 18th of
October. For the first time the representatives of practically all the
civilized countries of the world united in a temperate and kindly
discussion of the methods by which the causes of war might be narrowed
and its injurious effects reduced.
Although the agreements reached in the Conference did not in any
direction go to the length hoped for by the more sanguine, yet in many
directions important steps were taken, and upon every subject on the
programme there was such full and considerate discussion as to justify
the belief that substantial progress has been made toward further
agreements in the future. Thirteen conventions were agreed upon
embodying the definite conclusions which had been reached, and
resolutions were adopted marking the progress made in matters upon
which agreement was not yet sufficiently complete to make conventions
practicable.
The delegates of the United States were instructed to favor an
agreement for obligatory arbitration, the establishment of a permanent
court of arbitration to proceed judicially in the hearing and decision
of international causes, the prohibition of force for the collection of
contract debts alleged to be due from governments to citizens of other
countries until after arbitration as to the justice and amount of the
debt and the time and manner of payment, the immunity of private
property at sea, the better definition of the rights of neutrals, and,
in case any measure to that end should be introduced, the limitation of
armaments.
In the field of peaceful disposal of international differences several
important advances were made. First, as to obligatory arbitration.
Although the Conference failed to secure a unanimous agreement upon the
details of a convention for obligatory arbitration, it did resolve as
follows;
"It is unanimous: (1) In accepting the principle for obligatory
arbitration; (2) In declaring that certain differences, and notably
those relating to the interpretation and application of international
conventional stipulations are susceptible of being submitted to
obligatory arbitration without any restriction."
In view of the fact that as a result of the discussion the vote upon
the definite treaty of obligatory arbitration, which was proposed,
stood 32 in favor to 9 against the adoption of the treaty, there can be
little doubt that the great majority of the countries of the world have
reached a point where they are now ready to apply practically the
principles thus unanimously agreed upon by the Conference.
The second advance, and a very great one, is the agreement which
relates to the use of force for the collection of contract debts. Your
attention is invited to the paragraphs upon this subject in my Message
of December, 1906, and to the resolution of the Third American
Conference at Rio in the summer of 1906. The convention upon this
subject adopted by the Conference substantially as proposed by the
American delegates is as follows:
"In order to avoid between nations armed conflicts of a purely
pecuniary origin arising from contractual debts claimed of the
government of one country by the government of another country to be
due to its nationals, the signatory Powers agree not to have recourse
to armed force for the collection of such contractual debts.
"However, this stipulation shall not be applicable when the debtor
State refuses or leaves unanswered an 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 award
rendered.
"It is further agreed that arbitration here contemplated shall be in
conformity, as to procedure, with Chapter III of the Convention for the
Pacific Settlement of International Disputes adopted at The Hague, and
that it shall determine, in so far as there shall be no agreement
between the parties, the justice and the amount of the debt, the time
and mode of payment thereof."
Such a provision would have prevented much injustice and extortion in
the past, and I cannot doubt that its effect in the future will be most
salutary.
A third advance has been made in amending and perfecting the convention
of 1899 for the voluntary settlement of international disputes, and
particularly the extension of those parts of that convention which
relate to commissions of inquiry. The existence of those provisions
enabled the Governments of Great Britain and Russia to avoid war,
notwithstanding great public excitement, at the time of the Dogger Bank
incident, and the new convention agreed upon by the Conference gives
practical effect to the experience gained in that inquiry.
Substantial progress was also made towards the creation of a permanent
judicial tribunal for the determination of international causes. There
was very full discussion of the proposal for such a court and a general
agreement was finally reached in favor of its creation. The Conference
recommended to the signatory Powers the adoption of a draft upon which
it agreed for the organization of the court, leaving to be determined
only the method by which the judges should be selected. This remaining
unsettled question is plainly one which time and good temper will
solve.
A further agreement of the first importance was that for the creation
of an international prize court. The constitution, organization and
procedure of such a tribunal were provided for in detail. Anyone who
recalls the injustices under which this country suffered as a neutral
power during the early part of the last century can not fail to see in
this provision for an international prize court the great advance which
the world is making towards the substitution of the rule of reason and
justice in place of simple force. Not only will the international prize
court be the means of protecting the interests of neutrals, but it is
in itself a step towards the creation of the more general court for the
hearing of international controversies to which reference has just been
made. The organization and action of such a prize court can not fail to
accustom the different countries to the submission of international
questions to the decision of an international tribunal, and we may
confidently expect the results of such submission to bring about a
general agreement upon the enlargement of the practice.
Numerous provisions were adopted for reducing the evil effects of war
and for defining the rights and duties of neutrals.
The Conference also provided for the holding of a third Conference
within a period similar to that which elapsed between the First and
Second Conferences.
The delegates of the United States worthily represented the spirit of
the American people and maintained with fidelity and ability the policy
of our Government upon all the great questions discussed in the
Conference.
The report of the delegation, together with authenticated copies of the
conventions signed, when received, will be laid before the Senate for
its consideration.
When we remember how difficult it is for one of our own legislative
bodies, composed of citizens of the same country, speaking the same
language, living under the same laws, and having the same customs, to
reach an agreement, or even to secure a majority upon any difficult and
important subject which is proposed for legislation, it becomes plain
that the representatives of forty-five different countries, speaking
many different languages, accustomed to different methods of procedure,
with widely diverse interests, who discussed so many different subjects
and reached agreements upon so many, are entitled to grateful
appreciation for the wisdom, patience, and moderation with which they
have discharged their duty. The example of this temperate discussion,
and the agreements and the efforts to agree, among representatives of
all the nations of the earth, acting with universal recognition of the
supreme obligation to promote peace, can not fail to be a powerful
influence for good in future international relations.
A year ago in consequence of a revolutionary movement in Cuba which
threatened the immediate return to chaos of the island, the United
States intervened, sending down an army and establishing a provisional
government under Governor Magoon. Absolute quiet and prosperity have
returned to the island because of this action. We are now taking steps
to provide for elections in the island and our expectation is within
the coming year to be able to turn the island over again to government
chosen by the people thereof. Cuba is at our doors. It is not possible
that this Nation should permit Cuba again to sink into the condition
from which we rescued it. All that we ask of the Cuban people is that
they be prosperous, that they govern themselves so as to bring content,
order and progress to their island, the Queen of the Antilles; and our
only interference has been and will be to help them achieve these
results.
An invitation has been extended by Japan to the Government and people
of the United States to participate in a great national exposition to
be held at Tokyo from April 1 to October 31, 1912, and in which the
principal countries of the world are to be invited to take part. This
is an occasion of special interest to all the nations of the world, and
peculiarly so to us; for it is the first instance in which such a great
national exposition has been held by a great power dwelling on the
Pacific; and all the nations of Europe and America will, I trust, join
in helping to success this first great exposition ever held by a great
nation of Asia. The geographical relations of Japan and the United
States as the possessors of such large portions of the coasts of the
Pacific, the intimate trade relations already existing between the two
countries, the warm friendship which has been maintained between them
without break since the opening of Japan to intercourse with the
western nations, and her increasing wealth and production, which we
regard with hearty goodwill and wish to make the occasion of mutually
beneficial commerce, all unite in making it eminently desirable that
this invitation should be accepted. I heartily recommend such
legislation as will provide in generous fashion for the representation
of this Government and its people in the proposed exposition. Action
should be taken now. We are apt to underestimate the time necessary for
preparation in such cases. The invitation to the French Exposition of
1900 was brought to the attention of the Congress by President
Cleveland in December, 1895; and so many are the delays necessary to
such proceedings that the period of font years and a half which then
intervened before the exposition proved none too long for the proper
preparation of the exhibits.
The adoption of a new tariff by Germany, accompanied by conventions for
reciprocal tariff concessions between that country and most of the
other countries of continental Europe, led the German Government to
give the notice necessary to terminate the reciprocal commercial
agreement with this country proclaimed July 13, 1900. The notice was to
take effect on the 1st of March, 1906, and in default of some other
arrangements this would have left the exports from the United States to
Germany subject to the general German tariff duties, from 25 to 50 per
cent higher than the conventional duties imposed upon the goods of most
of our competitors for German trade.
Under a special agreement made between the two Governments in February,
1906, the German Government postponed the operation of their notice
until the 30th of June, 1907. In the meantime, deeming it to be my duty
to make every possible effort to prevent a tariff war between the
United States and Germany arising from misunderstanding by either
country of the conditions existing in the other, and acting upon the
invitation of the German Government, I sent to Berlin a commission
composed of competent experts in the operation and administration of
the customs tariff, from the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce
and Labor. This commission was engaged for several mouths in conference
with a similar commission appointed by the German Government, under
instructions, so far as practicable, to reach a common understanding as
to all the facts regarding the tariffs of the United States and Germany
material and relevant to the trade relations between the two countries.
The commission reported, and upon the basis of the report, a further
temporary commercial agreement was entered into by the two countries,
pursuant to which, in the exercise of the authority conferred upon the
President by the third section of the tariff act of July 24, 1897, I
extended the reduced tariff rates provided for in that section to
champagne and all other sparkling wines, and pursuant to which the
German conventional or minimum tariff rates were extended to about 96
1/2 per cent of all the exports from the United States to Germany. This
agreement is to remain in force until the 30th of June, 1908, and until
six months after notice by either party to terminate it.
The agreement and the report of the commission on which it is based
will be laid before the Congress for its information.
This careful examination into the tariff relations between the United
States and Germany involved an inquiry into certain of our methods of
administration which had been the cause of much complaint on the part
of German exporters. In this inquiry I became satisfied that certain
vicious and unjustifiable practices had grown up in our customs
administration, notably the practice of determining values of imports
upon detective reports never disclosed to the persons whose interests
were affected. The use of detectives, though often necessary, tends
towards abuse, and should be carefully guarded. Under our practice as I
found it to exist in this case, the abuse had become gross and
discreditable. Under it, instead of seeking information as to the
market value of merchandise from the well-known and respected members
of the commercial community in the country of its production, secret
statements were obtained from informers and discharged employees and
business rivals, and upon this kind of secret evidence the values of
imported goods were frequently raised and heavy penalties were
frequently imposed upon importers who were never permitted to know what
the evidence was and who never had an opportunity to meet it. It is
quite probable that this system tended towards an increase of the
duties collected upon imported goods, but I conceive it to be a
violation of law to exact more duties than the law provides, just as it
is a violation to admit goods upon the payment of less than the legal
rate of duty. This practice was repugnant to the spirit of American law
and to American sense of justice. In the judgment of the most competent
experts of the Treasury Department and the Department of Commerce and
Labor it was wholly unnecessary for the due collection of the customs
revenues, and the attempt to defend it merely illustrates the
demoralization which naturally follows from a long continued course of
reliance upon such methods. I accordingly caused the regulations
governing this branch of the customs service to be modified so that
values are determined upon a hearing in which all the parties
interested have an opportunity to be heard and to know the evidence
against them. Moreover our Treasury agents are accredited to the
government of the country in which they seek information, and in
Germany receive the assistance of the quasi-official chambers of
commerce in determining the actual market value of goods, in accordance
with what I am advised to be the true construction of the law.
These changes of regulations were adapted to the removal of such
manifest abuses that I have not felt that they ought to be confined to
our relations with Germany; and I have extended their operation to all
other countries which have expressed a desire to enter into similar
administrative relations.
I ask for authority to reform the agreement with China under which the
indemnity of 1900 was fixed, by remitting and cancelling the obligation
of China for the payment of all that part of the stipulated indemnity
which is in excess of the sum of eleven million, six hundred and
fifty-five thousand, four hundred and ninety-two dollars and sixty-nine
cents, and interest at four per cent. After the rescue of the foreign
legations in Peking during the Boxer troubles in 1900 the Powers
required from China the payment of equitable indemnities to the several
nations, and the final protocol under which the troops were withdrawn,
signed at Peking, September 7, 1901, fixed the amount of this indemnity
allotted to the United States at over $20,000,000, and China paid, up
to and including the 1st day of June last, a little over $6,000,000. It
was the first intention of this Government at the proper time, when all
claims had been presented and all expenses ascertained as fully as
possible, to revise the estimates and account, and as a proof of
sincere friendship for China voluntarily to release that country from
its legal liability for all payments in excess of the sum which should
prove to be necessary for actual indemnity to the United States and its
citizens.
This Nation should help in every practicable way in the education of
the Chinese people, so that the vast and populous Empire of China may
gradually adapt itself to modern conditions. One way of doing this is
by promoting the coming of Chinese students to this country and making
it attractive to them to take courses at our universities and higher
educational institutions. Our educators should, so far as possible,
take concerted action toward this end.
On the courteous invitation of the President of Mexico, the Secretary
of State visited that country in September and October and was received
everywhere with the greatest kindness and hospitality.
He carried from the Government of the United States to our southern
neighbor a message of respect and good will and of desire for better
acquaintance and increasing friendship. The response from the
Government and the people of Mexico was hearty and sincere. No pains
were spared to manifest the most friendly attitude and feeling toward
the United States.
In view of the close neighborhood of the two countries the relations
which exist between Mexico and the United States are just cause for
gratification. We have a common boundary of over 1,500 miles from the
Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. Much of it is marked only by the
shifting waters of the Rio Grande. Many thousands of Mexicans are
residing upon our side of the line and it is estimated that over 40,000
Americans are resident in Mexican territory and that American
investments in Mexico amount to over seven hundred million dollars. The
extraordinary industrial and commercial prosperity of Mexico has been
greatly promoted by American enterprise, and Americans are sharing
largely in its results. The foreign trade of the Republic already
exceeds $240,000,000 per annum, and of this two-thirds both of exports
and imports are exchanged with the United States. Under these
circumstances numerous questions necessarily arise between the two
countries. These questions are always approached and disposed of in a
spirit of mutual courtesy and fair dealing. Americans carrying on
business in Mexico testify uniformly to the kindness and consideration
with which they are treated and their sense of the security of their
property and enterprises under the wise administration of the great
statesman who has so long held the office of Chief Magistrate of that
Republic.
The two Governments have been uniting their efforts for a considerable
time past to aid Central America in attaining the degree of peace and
order which have made possible the prosperity of the northern ports of
the Continent. After the peace between Guatemala, Honduras, and
Salvador, celebrated under the circumstances described in my last
Message, a new war broke out between the Republics of Nicaragua,
Honduras, and Salvador. The effort to compose this new difficulty has
resulted in the acceptance of the joint suggestion of the Presidents of
Mexico and of the United States for a general peace conference between
all the countries of Central America. On the 17th day of September last
a protocol was signed between the representatives of the five Central
American countries accredited to this Government agreeing upon a
conference to be held in the City of Washington "in order to devise the
means of preserving the good relations among said Republics and
bringing about permanent peace in those countries." The protocol
includes the expression of a wish that the Presidents of the United
States and Mexico should appoint "representatives to lend their good
and impartial offices in a purely friendly way toward the realization
of the objects of the conference." The conference is now in session and
will have our best wishes and, where it is practicable, our friendly
assistance.
One of the results of the Pan American Conference at Rio Janeiro in the
summer of 1906 has been a great increase in the activity and usefulness
of the International Bureau of American Republics. That institution,
which includes all the American Republics in its membership and brings
all their representatives together, is doing a really valuable work in
informing the people of the United States about the other Republics and
in making the United States known to them. Its action is now limited by
appropriations determined when it was doing a work on a much smaller
scale and rendering much less valuable service. I recommend that the
contribution of this Government to the expenses of the Bureau be made
commensurate with its increased work.
***
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 present time is excellent,
and the financial management of the Nation's interests by the
Government during the last seven years has shown the most satisfactory
results. But our currency system is imperfect, and it is earnestly to
be hoped that the Currency Commission will be able to propose a
thoroughly good system which will do away with the existing defects.
During the period from July 1, 1901, to September 30, 1908, there was
an increase in the amount of money in circulation of $902,991,399. The
increase in the per capita during this period was $7.06. Within this
time there were several occasions when it was necessary for the
Treasury Department to come to the relief of the money market by
purchases or redemptions of United States bonds; by increasing deposits
in national banks; by stimulating additional issues of national bank
notes, and by facilitating importations from abroad of gold. Our
imperfect currency system has made these proceedings necessary, and
they were effective until the monetary disturbance in the fall of 1907
immensely increased the difficulty of ordinary methods of relief. By
the middle of November the available working balance in the Treasury
had been reduced to approximately $5,000,000. Clearing house
associations throughout the country had been obliged to resort to the
expedient of issuing clearing house certificates, to be used as money.
In this emergency it was determined to invite subscriptions for
$50,000,000 Panama Canal bonds, and $100,000,000 three per cent
certificates of indebtedness authorized by the act of June 13, 1898. It
was proposed to re-deposit in the national banks the proceeds of these
issues, and to permit their use as a basis for additional circulating
notes of national banks. The moral effect of this procedure was so
great that it was necessary to issue only $24,631,980 of the Panama
Canal bonds and $15,436,500 of the certificates of indebtedness.
During the period from July 1, 1901, to September 30, 1908, the balance
between the net ordinary receipts and the net ordinary expenses of the
Government showed a surplus in the four years 1902, 1903, 1906 and
1907, and a deficit in the years 1904, 1905, 1908 and a fractional part
of the fiscal year 1909. The net result was a surplus of
$99,283,413.54. The financial operations of the Government during this
period, based upon these differences between receipts and expenditures,
resulted in a net reduction of the interest-bearing debt of the United
States from $987,141,040 to $897,253,990, notwithstanding that there
had been two sales of Panama Canal bonds amounting in the aggregate to
$54,631,980, and an issue of three per cent certificates of
indebtedness under the act of June 13, 1998, amounting to $15,436,500.
Refunding operations of the Treasury Department under the act of March
14, 1900, resulted in the conversion into two per cent consols of 1930
of $200,309,400 bonds bearing higher rates of interest. A decrease of
$8,687,956 in the annual interest charge resulted from these
operations.
In short, during the seven years and three months there has been a net
surplus of nearly one hundred millions of receipts over expenditures, a
reduction of the interest-bearing debt by ninety millions, in spite of
the extraordinary expense of the Panama Canal, and a saving of nearly
nine millions on the annual interest charge. This is an exceedingly
satisfactory showing, especially in view of the fact that during this
period the Nation has never hesitated to undertake any 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; there has
been a reduction of taxation.
CORPORATIONS.
As regards the great corporations engaged in interstate business, and
especially the railroad, I can only repeat what I have already again
and again said in my messages to the Congress, I believe that under the
interstate clause of the Constitution the United States has complete
and paramount right to control all agencies of interstate commerce, and
I believe that the National Government alone can exercise this right
with wisdom and effectiveness so as both to secure justice from, and to
do justice to, the great corporations which are the most important
factors in modern business. I believe that it is worse than folly to
attempt to prohibit all combinations as is done by the Sherman
anti-trust law, because such a law can be enforced only imperfectly and
unequally, and its enforcement works almost as much hardship as good. I
strongly advocate that instead of an unwise effort to prohibit all
combinations there shall be substituted a law which shall expressly
permit combinations which are in the interest of the public, but shall
at the same time give to some agency of the National Government full
power of control and supervision over them. One of the chief features
of this control should be securing entire publicity in all matters
which the public has a right to know, and furthermore, the power, not
by judicial but by executive action, to prevent or put a stop to every
form of improper favoritism or other wrongdoing.
The railways of the country should be put completely under the
Interstate Commerce Commission and removed from the domain of the
anti-trust law. The power of the Commission should be made
thoroughgoing, so that it could exercise complete supervision and
control over the issue of securities as well as over the raising and
lowering of rates. As regards rates, at least, this power should be
summary. The power to investigate the financial operations and accounts
of the railways has been one of the most valuable features in recent
legislation. Power to make combinations and traffic agreements should
be explicitly conferred upon the railroads, the permission of the
Commission being first gained and the combination or agreement being
published in all its details. In the interest of the public the
representatives of the public should have complete power to see that
the railroads do their duty by the public, and as a matter of course
this power should also be exercised so as to see that no injustice is
done to the railroads. The shareholders, the employees and the shippers
all have interests that must be guarded. It is to the interest of all
of them that no swindling stock speculation should be allowed, and that
there should be no improper issuance of securities. The guiding
intelligences necessary for the successful building and successful
management of railroads should receive ample remuneration; but no man
should be allowed to make money in connection with railroads out of
fraudulent over-capitalization and kindred stock-gambling performances;
there must be no defrauding of investors, oppression of the farmers and
business men who ship freight, or callous disregard of the rights and
needs of the employees. In addition to this the interests of the
shareholders, of the employees, and of the shippers should all be
guarded as against one another. To give any one of them undue and
improper consideration is to do injustice to the others. Rates must be
made as low as is compatible with giving proper returns to all the
employees of the railroad, from the highest to the lowest, and proper
returns to the shareholders; but they must not, for instance, be
reduced in such fashion as to necessitate a cut in the wages of the
employees or the abolition of the proper and legitimate profits of
honest shareholders.
Telegraph and telephone companies engaged in interstate business should
be put under the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
It is very earnestly to be wished that our people, through their
representatives, should act in this matter. It is hard to say whether
most damage to the country at large would come from entire failure on
the part of the public to supervise and control the actions of the
great corporations, or from the exercise of the necessary governmental
power in a way 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 initiative and business sagacity, are advocating
policies that would be fraught with the gravest harm to the whole
country. To permit every lawless capitalist, every law-defying
corporation, to take any action, no matter how iniquitous, in the
effort to secure an improper profit and to build up privilege, would be
ruinous to the Republic and would mark the abandonment of the effort to
secure in the industrial world the spirit of democratic fair dealing.
On the other hand, to attack these wrongs in that spirit of demagogy
which can see wrong only when committed by the man of wealth, and is
dumb and blind in the presence of wrong committed against men of
property or by men of no property, is exactly as evil as corruptly to
defend the wrongdoing of men of wealth. The war we wage must be waged
against misconduct, against wrongdoing wherever it is found; and we
must stand heartily for the rights of every decent man, whether he be a
man of great wealth or a man who earns his livelihood as a wage-worker
or a tiller of the soil.
It is to the interest of all of us that there should be a premium put
upon individual initiative and individual capacity, and an ample reward
for the great directing intelligences alone competent to manage the
great business operations of to-day. It is well to keep in mind that
exactly as the anarchist is the worst enemy of liberty and the
reactionary the worst enemy of order, so the men who defend the rights
of property have most to fear from the wrongdoers of great wealth, and
the men who are championing popular rights have most to fear from the
demagogues who in the name of popular rights would do wrong to and
oppress honest business men, honest men of wealth; for the success of
either type of wrongdoer necessarily invites a violent reaction against
the cause the wrongdoer nominally upholds. In point of danger to the
Nation there is nothing to choose between on the one hand the
corruptionist, the bribe-giver, the bribe-taker, the man who employs
his great talent to swindle his fellow-citizens on a large scale, and,
on the other hand, the preacher of class hatred, the man who, whether
from ignorance or from willingness to sacrifice his country to his
ambition, persuades well-meaning but wrong-headed men to try to destroy
the instruments upon which our prosperity mainly rests. Let each group
of men beware of and guard against the shortcomings to which that group
is itself most liable. Too often we see the business community in a
spirit of unhealthy class consciousness deplore the effort to hold to
account under the law the wealthy men who in their management of great
corporations, whether railroads, street railways, or other industrial
enterprises, have behaved in a way that revolts the conscience of the
plain, decent people. Such an attitude can not be condemned too
severely, for men of property should recognize that they jeopardize the
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 control on behalf of the public, through the State, of these
great corporations, and of the wealth engaged on a giant scale in
business operations, must ever keep in mind that unless they do
scrupulous justice to the corporation, unless they permit ample profit,
and cordially encourage capable men of business so long as they act
with honesty, they are striking at the root of our national well-being;
for in the long run, under the mere pressure of material distress, the
people as a whole would probably go back to the reign of an
unrestricted individualism rather than submit to a control by the State
so drastic and so foolish, conceived in a spirit of such unreasonable
and narrow hostility to wealth, as to prevent business operations from
being profitable, and therefore to bring ruin upon the entire business
community, and ultimately upon the entire body of citizens.
The opposition to Government control of these great corporations makes
its most effective effort in the shape of an appeal to the old doctrine
of State's rights. Of course there are many sincere men who now believe
in unrestricted individualism in business, just as there were formerly
many sincere men who believed in slavery--that is, in the unrestricted
right of an individual to own another individual. These men do not by
themselves have great weight, however. The effective fight against
adequate Government control and supervision of individual, and
especially of corporate, wealth engaged in interstate business is
chiefly done under cover; and especially under cover of an appeal to
State's rights. It is not at all infrequent to read in the same speech
a denunciation of predatory wealth fostered by special privilege and
defiant of both the public welfare and law of the land, and a
denunciation of centralization in the Central Government of the power
to deal with this centralized and organized wealth. Of course the
policy set forth in such twin denunciations amounts to absolutely
nothing, for the first half is nullified by the second half. The chief
reason, among the many sound and compelling reasons, that led to the
formation of the National Government was the absolute need that the
Union, and not the several States, should deal with interstate and
foreign commerce; and the power to deal with interstate commerce was
granted absolutely and plenarily to the Central Government and was
exercised completely as regards the only instruments of interstate
commerce known in those days--the waterways, the highroads, as well as
the partnerships of individuals who then conducted all of what business
there was. Interstate commerce is now chiefly conducted by railroads;
and the great corporation has supplanted the mass of small partnerships
or individuals. The proposal to make the National Government supreme
over, and therefore to give it complete control over, the railroads and
other instruments of interstate commerce is merely a proposal to carry
out to the letter one of the prime purposes, if not the prime purpose,
for which the Constitution was rounded. It does not represent
centralization. It represents merely the acknowledgment of the patent
fact that centralization has already come in business. If this
irresponsible outside business power is to be controlled in the
interest of the general public it can only be controlled in one way--by
giving adequate power of control to the one sovereignty capable of
exercising such power--the National Government. Forty or fifty separate
state governments can not exercise that power over corporations doing
business in most or all of them; first, because they absolutely lack
the authority to deal with interstate business in any form; and second,
because of the inevitable conflict of authority sure to arise in the
effort to enforce different kinds of state regulation, often
inconsistent with one another and sometimes oppressive in themselves.
Such divided authority can not regulate commerce with wisdom and
effect. The Central Government is the only power which, without
oppression, can nevertheless thoroughly and adequately control and
supervise the large corporations. To abandon the effort for National
control means to abandon the effort for all adequate control and yet to
render likely continual bursts of action by State legislatures, which
can not achieve the purpose sought for, but which can do a great deal
of damage to the corporation without conferring any real benefit on the
public.
I believe that the more farsighted corporations are themselves coming
to recognize the unwisdom of the violent hostility they have displayed
during the last few years to regulation and control by the National
Government of combinations engaged in interstate business. The truth is
that we who believe in this movement of asserting and exercising a
genuine control, in the public interest, over these great corporations
have to contend against two sets of enemies, who, though nominally
opposed to one another, are really allies in preventing a proper
solution of the problem. There are, first, the big corporation men, and
the extreme individualists among business men, who genuinely believe in
utterly unregulated business that is, in the reign of plutocracy; and,
second, the men who, being blind to the economic movements of the day,
believe in a movement of repression rather than of regulation of
corporations, and who denounce both the power of the railroads and the
exercise of the Federal power which alone can really control the
railroads. Those who believe in efficient national control, on the
other hand, do not in the least object to combinations; do not in the
least object to concentration in business administration. On the
contrary, they favor both, with the all important proviso that there
shall be such publicity about their workings, and such thoroughgoing
control over them, as to insure their being in the interest, and not
against the interest, of the general public. We do not object to the
concentration of wealth and administration; but we do believe in the
distribution of the wealth in profits to the real owners, and in
securing to the public the full benefit of the concentrated
administration. We believe that with concentration in administration
there can come both be advantage of a larger ownership and of a more
equitable distribution of profits, and at the same time a better
service to the commonwealth. We believe that the administration should
be for the benefit of the many; and that greed and rascality, practiced
on a large scale, should be punished as relentlessly as if practiced on
a small scale.
We do not for a moment believe that the problem will be solved by any
short and easy method. The solution will come only by pressing various
concurrent remedies. Some of these remedies must lie outside the domain
of all government. Some must lie outside the domain of the Federal
Government. But there is legislation which the Federal Government alone
can enact and which is absolutely vital in order to secure the
attainment of our purpose. Many laws are needed. There should be
regulation by the National Government of the great interstate
corporations, including a simple method of account keeping, publicity,
supervision of the issue securities, abolition of rebates, and of
special privileges. There should be short time franchises for all
corporations engaged in public business; including the corporations
which get power from water rights. There should be National as well as
State guardianship of mines and forests. The labor legislation
hereinafter referred to should concurrently be enacted into law.
To accomplish this, means of course a certain increase in the use
of--not the creation of--power, by the Central Government. The power
already exists; it does not have to be created; the only question is
whether it shall be used or left idle--and meanwhile the corporations
over which the power ought to be exercised will not remain idle. Let
those who object to this increase in the use of the only power
available, the national power, be frank, and admit openly that they
propose to abandon any effort to control the great business
corporations and to exercise supervision over the accumulation and
distribution of wealth; for such supervision and control can only come
through this particular kind of increase of power. We no more believe
in that empiricism which demand, absolutely unrestrained individualism
than we do in that empiricism which clamors for a deadening socialism
which would destroy all individual initiative and would ruin the
country with a completeness that not even an unrestrained individualism
itself could achieve. The danger to American democracy lies not in the
least in the concentration of administrative power in responsible and
accountable hands. It lies in having the power insufficiently
concentrated, so that no one can be held responsible to the people for
its use. Concentrated power is palpable, visible, responsible, easily
reached, quickly held to account. Power scattered through many
administrators, many legislators, many men who work behind and through
legislators and administrators, is impalpable, is unseen, is
irresponsible, can not be reached, can not be held to account.
Democracy is in peril wherever the administration of political power is
scattered among a variety of men who work in secret, whose very names
are unknown to the common people. It is not in peril from any man who
derives authority from the people, who exercises it in sight of the
people, and who is from time to time compelled to give an account of
its exercise to the people.
LABOR.
There are many matters affecting labor and the status of the
wage-worker to which I should like to draw your attention, but an
exhaustive discussion of the problem 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 problem depends upon the
action of the States as much as upon the action of the Nation.
Nevertheless, there are certain considerations which I wish to set
before you, because I hope that our people will more and more keep them
in mind. A blind and ignorant resistance to every effort for the reform
of abuses and for the readjustment of society to modern industrial
conditions represents not true conservatism, but an incitement to the
wildest radicalism; for wise radicalism and wise conservatism go hand
in hand, one bent on progress, the other bent on seeing that no change
is made unless in the right direction. I believe in a steady effort, or
perhaps it would be more accurate to say in steady efforts in many
different directions, to bring about a condition of affairs under which
the men who work with hand or with brain, the laborers, the
superintendents, the men who produce for the market and the men who
find a market for the articles produced, shall own a far greater share
than at present of the wealth they produce, and be enabled to invest it
in the tools and instruments by which all work is carried on. As far as
possible I hope to see a frank recognition of the advantages conferred
by machinery, organization, and division of labor, accompanied by an
effort to bring about a larger share in the ownership by wage-worker of
railway, mill and factory. In farming, this simply means that we wish
to see the farmer own his own land; we do not wish to see the farms so
large that they become the property of absentee landlords who farm them
by tenants, nor yet so small that the farmer becomes like a European
peasant. Again, the depositors in our savings banks now number over
one-tenth of our entire population. These are all capitalists, who
through the savings banks loan their money to the workers--that is, in
many cases to themselves--to carry on their various industries. The
more we increase their number, the more we introduce the principles of
cooperation into our industry. Every increase in the number of small
stockholders in corporations is a good thing, for the same reasons; and
where the employees are the stockholders the result is particularly
good. Very much of this movement must be outside of anything that can
be accomplished by legislation; but legislation can do a good deal.
Postal savings banks will make it easy for the poorest to keep their
savings in absolute safety. The regulation of the national highways
must be such that they shall serve all people with equal justice.
Corporate finances must be supervised so as to make it far safer than
at present for the man of small means to invest his money in stocks.
There must be prohibition of child labor, diminution of woman labor,
shortening of hours of all mechanical labor; stock watering should be
prohibited, and stock gambling so far as is possible discouraged. There
should be a progressive inheritance tax on large fortunes. Industrial
education should be encouraged. As far as possible we should lighten
the burden of taxation on the small man. We should put a premium upon
thrift, hard work, and business energy; but these qualities cease to be
the main factors in accumulating a fortune long before that fortune
reaches a point where it would be seriously affected by any inheritance
tax such as I propose. It is eminently right that the Nation should fix
the terms upon which the great fortunes are inherited. They rarely do
good and they often do harm to those who inherit them in their
entirety.
PROTECTION FOR WAGEWORKERS.
The above is the merest sketch, hardly even a sketch in outline, of the
reforms for which we should work. But there is one matter with which
the Congress should deal at this session. There should no longer be any
paltering with the question of taking care of the wage-workers who,
under our present industrial system, become killed, crippled, or worn
out as part of the regular incidents of a given business. The majority
of wageworkers must have their rights secured for them by State action;
but the National Government should legislate in thoroughgoing and
far-reaching fashion not only for all employees of the National
Government, but for all persons engaged in interstate commerce. The
object sought for could be achieved to a measurable degree, as far as
those killed or crippled are concerned, by proper employers' liability
laws. As far as concerns those who have been worn out, I call your
attention to the fact that definite steps toward providing old-age
pensions have been taken in many of our private industries. These may
be indefinitely extended through voluntary association and contributory
schemes, or through the agency of savings banks, as under the recent
Massachusetts plan. To strengthen these practical measures should be
our immediate duty; it is not at present necessary to consider the
larger and more general governmental schemes that most European
governments have found themselves obliged to adopt.
Our present system, or rather no system, works dreadful wrong, and is
of benefit to only one class of people--the lawyers. When a workman is
injured what he needs is not an expensive and doubtful lawsuit, but the
certainty of relief through immediate administrative action. The number
of accidents which result in the death or crippling of wageworkers, in
the Union at large, is simply appalling; in a very few years it runs up
a total far in excess of the aggregate of the dead and wounded in any
modern war. No academic theory about "freedom of contract" or
"constitutional liberty to contract" should be permitted to interfere
with this and similar movements. Progress in civilization has
everywhere meant a limitation and regulation of contract. I call your
especial attention to the bulletin of the Bureau of Labor which gives a
statement of the methods of treating the unemployed in European
countries, as this is a subject which in Germany, for instance, is
treated in connection with making provision for worn-out and crippled
workmen.
Pending a thoroughgoing investigation and action there is certain
legislation which should be enacted at once. The law, passed at the
last session of the Congress, granting compensation to certain classes
of employees of the Government, should be extended to include all
employees of the Government and should be made more liberal in its
terms. There is no good ground for the distinction made in the law
between those engaged in hazardous occupations and those not so
engaged. If a man is injured or killed in any line of work, it was
hazardous in his case. Whether 1 per cent or 10 per cent of those
following a given occupation actually suffer injury or death ought not
to have any bearing on the question of their receiving compensation. It
is a grim logic which says to an injured employee or to the dependents
of one killed that he or they are entitled to no compensation because
very few people other than he have been injured or killed in that
occupation. Perhaps one of the most striking omissions in the law is
that it does not embrace peace officers and others whose lives may be
sacrificed in enforcing the laws of the United States. The terms of the
act providing compensation should be made more liberal than in the
present act. A year's compensation is not adequate for a wage-earner's
family in the event of his death by accident in the course of his
employment. And in the event of death occurring, say, ten or eleven
months after the accident, the family would only receive as
compensation the equivalent of one or two months' earnings. In this
respect the generosity of the United States towards its employees
compares most unfavorably with that of every country in Europe--even
the poorest.
The terms of the act are also a hardship in prohibiting payment in
cases where the accident is in any way due to the negligence of the
employee. It is inevitable that daily familiarity with danger will lead
men to take chances that can be construed into negligence. So well is
this recognized that in practically all countries in the civilized
world, except the United States, only a great degree of negligence acts
as a bar to securing compensation. Probably in no other respect is our
legislation, both State and National, so far behind practically the
entire civilized world as in the matter of liability and compensation
for accidents in industry. It is humiliating that at European
international congresses on accidents the United States should be
singled out as the most belated among the nations in respect to
employers' liability legislation. This Government is itself a large
employer of labor, and in its dealings with its employees it should set
a standard in this country which would place it on a par with the most
progressive countries in Europe. The laws of the United States in this
respect and the laws of European countries have been summarized in a
recent Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, and no American who reads this
summary can fail to be struck by the great contrast between our
practices and theirs--a contrast not in any sense to our credit.
The Congress should without further delay pass a model employers'
liability law for the District of Columbia. The employers' liability
act recently declared unconstitutional, on account of apparently
including in its provisions employees engaged in intrastate commerce as
well as those engaged in interstate commerce, has been held by the
local courts to be still in effect so far as its provisions apply to
District of Columbia. There should be no ambiguity on this point. If
there is any doubt on the subject, the law should be reenacted with
special reference to the District of Columbia. This act, however,
applies only to employees of common carriers. In all other occupations
the liability law of the District is the old common law. The severity
and injustice of the common law in this matter has been in some degree
or another modified in the majority of our States, and the only
jurisdiction under the exclusive control of the Congress should be
ahead and not behind the States of the Union in this respect. A
comprehensive employers' liability law should be passed for the
District of Columbia.
I renew my recommendation made in a previous message that half-holidays
be granted during summer to all wageworkers in Government employ.
I also renew my recommendation that the principle of the eight-hour day
should as rapidly and as far as practicable be extended to the entire
work being carried on by the Government; the present law should be
amended to embrace contracts on those public works which the present
wording of the act seems to exclude.
THE COURTS.
I most earnestly urge upon the Congress the duty of increasing the
totally inadequate salaries now given to our Judges. On the whole there
is no body of public servants who do as valuable work, nor whose
moneyed reward is so inadequate compared to their work. Beginning with
the Supreme Court, the Judges should have their salaries doubled. It is
not befitting the dignity of the Nation that its most honored public
servants should be paid sums so small compared to what they would earn
in private life that the performance of public service by them implies
an exceedingly heavy pecuniary sacrifice.
It is earnestly to be desired that some method should be devised for
doing away with the long delays which now obtain in the administration
of justice, and which operate with peculiar severity against persons of
small means, and favor only the very criminals whom it is most
desirable to punish. These long delays in the final decisions of cases
make in the aggregate a crying evil; and a remedy should be devised.
Much of this intolerable delay is due to improper regard paid to
technicalities which are a mere hindrance to justice. In some noted
recent cases this over-regard for technicalities has resulted in a
striking denial of justice, and flagrant wrong to the body politic.
At the last election certain leaders of organized labor made a violent
and sweeping attack upon the entire judiciary of the country, an attack
couched in such terms as to include the most upright, honest and
broad-minded judges, no less than those of narrower mind and more
restricted outlook. It was the kind of attack admirably fitted to
prevent any successful attempt to reform abuses of the judiciary,
because it gave the champions of the unjust judge their eagerly desired
opportunity to shift their ground into a championship of just judges
who were unjustly assailed. Last year, before the House Committee on
the Judiciary, these same labor leaders formulated their demands,
specifying the bill that contained them, refusing all compromise,
stating they wished the principle of that bill or nothing. They
insisted on a provision that in a labor dispute no injunction should
issue except to protect a property right, and specifically provided
that the right to carry on business should not be construed as a
property right; and in a second provision their bill made legal in a
labor dispute any act or agreement by or between two or more persons
that would not have been unlawful if done by a single person. In other
words, this bill legalized blacklisting and boycotting in every form,
legalizing, for instance, those forms of the secondary boycott which
the anthracite coal strike commission so unreservedly condemned; while
the right to carry on a business was explicitly taken out from under
that protection which the law throws over property. The demand was made
that there should be trial by jury in contempt cases, thereby most
seriously impairing the authority of the courts. All this represented a
course of policy which, if carried out, would mean the enthronement of
class privilege in its crudest and most brutal form, and the
destruction of one of the most essential functions of the judiciary in
all civilized lands.
The violence of the crusade for this legislation, and its complete
failure, illustrate two truths which it is essential our people should
learn. In the first place, they ought to teach the workingman, the
laborer, the wageworker, that by demanding what is improper and
impossible he plays into the hands of his foes. Such a crude and
vicious attack upon the courts, even if it were temporarily successful,
would inevitably in the end cause a violent reaction and would band the
great mass of citizens together, forcing them to stand by all the
judges, competent and incompetent alike, rather than to see the wheels
of justice stopped. A movement of this kind can ultimately result in
nothing but damage to those in whose behalf it is nominally undertaken.
This is a most healthy truth, which it is wise for all our people to
learn. Any movement based on that class hatred which at times assumes
the name of "class consciousness" is certain ultimately to fail, and if
it temporarily succeeds, to do far-reaching damage. "Class
consciousness," where it is merely another name for the odious vice of
class selfishness, is equally noxious whether in an employer's
association or in a workingman's association. The movement in question
was one in which the appeal was made to all workingmen to vote
primarily, not as American citizens, but as individuals of a certain
class in society. Such an appeal in the first place revolts the more
high-minded and far-sighted among the persons to whom it is addressed,
and in the second place tends to arouse a strong antagonism among all
other classes of citizens, whom it therefore tends to unite against the
very organization on whose behalf it is issued. The result is therefore
unfortunate from every standpoint. This healthy truth, by the way, will
be learned by the socialists if they ever succeed in establishing in
this country an important national party based on such class
consciousness and selfish class interest.
The wageworkers, the workingmen, the laboring men of the country, by
the way in which they repudiated the effort to get them to cast their
votes in response to an appeal to class hatred, have emphasized their
sound patriotism and Americanism. The whole country has cause to fell
pride in this attitude of sturdy independence, in this uncompromising
insistence upon acting simply as good citizens, as good Americans,
without regard to fancied--and improper--class interests. Such an
attitude is an object-lesson in good citizenship to the entire nation.
But the extreme reactionaries, the persons who blind themselves to the
wrongs now and then committed by the courts on laboring men, should
also think seriously as to what such a movement as this portends. The
judges who have shown themselves able and willing effectively to check
the dishonest activity of the very rich man who works iniquity by the
mismanagement of corporations, who have shown themselves alert to do
justice to the wageworker, and sympathetic with the needs of the mass
of our people, so that the dweller in the tenement houses, the man who
practices a dangerous trade, the man who is crushed by excessive hours
of labor, feel that their needs are understood by the courts--these
judges are the real bulwark of the courts; these judges, the judges of
the stamp of the president-elect, who have been fearless in opposing
labor when it has gone wrong, but fearless also in holding to strict
account corporations that work iniquity, and far-sighted in seeing that
the workingman gets his rights, are the men of all others to whom we
owe it that the appeal for such violent and mistaken legislation has
fallen on deaf ears, that the agitation for its passage proved to be
without substantial basis. The courts are jeopardized primarily by the
action of those Federal and State judges who show inability or
unwillingness to put a stop to the wrongdoing of very rich men under
modern industrial conditions, and inability or unwillingness to give
relief to men of small means or wageworkers who are crushed down by
these modern industrial conditions; who, in other words, fail to
understand and apply the needed remedies for the new wrongs produced by
the new and highly complex social and industrial civilization which has
grown up in the last half century.
The rapid changes in our social and industrial life which have attended
this rapid growth have made it necessary that, in applying to concrete
cases the great rule of right laid down in our Constitution, there
should be a full understanding and appreciation of the new conditions
to which the rules are to be applied. What would have been an
infringement upon liberty half a century ago may be the necessary
safeguard of liberty to-day. What would have been an injury to property
then may be necessary to the enjoyment of property now. Every judicial
decision involves two terms--one, as interpretation of the law; the
other, the understanding of the facts to which it is to be applied. The
great mass of our judicial officers are, I believe, alive to those
changes of conditions which so materially affect the performance of
their judicial duties. Our judicial system is sound and effective at
core, and it remains, and must ever be maintained, as the safeguard of
those principles of liberty and justice which stand at the foundation
of American institutions; for, as Burke finely said, when liberty and
justice are separated, neither is safe. There are, however, some
members of the judicial body who have lagged behind in their
understanding of these great and vital changes in the body politic,
whose minds have never been opened to the new applications of the old
principles made necessary by the new conditions. Judges of this stamp
do lasting harm by their decisions, because they convince poor men in
need of protection that the courts of the land are profoundly ignorant
of and out of sympathy with their needs, and profoundly indifferent or
hostile to any proposed remedy. To such men it seems a cruel mockery to
have any court decide against them on the ground that it desires to
preserve "liberty" in a purely technical form, by withholding liberty
in any real and constructive sense. It is desirable that the
legislative body should possess, and wherever necessary exercise, the
power to determine whether in a given case employers and employees are
not on an equal footing, so that the necessities of the latter compel
them to submit to such exactions as to hours and conditions of labor as
unduly to tax their strength; and only mischief can result when such
determination is upset on the ground that there must be no
"interference with the liberty to contract"--often a merely academic
"liberty," the exercise of which is the negation of real liberty.
There are certain decisions by various courts which have been
exceedingly detrimental to the rights of wageworkers. This is true of
all the decisions that decide that men and women are, by the
Constitution, "guaranteed their liberty" to contract to enter a
dangerous occupation, or to work an undesirable or improper number of
hours, or to work in unhealthy surroundings; and therefore can not
recover damages when maimed in that occupation and can not be forbidden
to work what the legislature decides is an excessive number of hours,
or to carry on the work under conditions which the legislature decides
to be unhealthy. The most dangerous occupations are often the poorest
paid and those where the hours of work are longest; and in many cases
those who go into them are driven by necessity so great that they have
practically no alternative. Decisions such as those alluded to above
nullify the legislative effort to protect the wage-workers who most
need protection from those employers who take advantage of their
grinding need. They halt or hamper the movement for securing better and
more equitable conditions of labor. The talk about preserving to the
misery-hunted beings who make contracts for such service their
"liberty" to make them, is either to speak in a spirit of heartless
irony or else to show an utter lack of knowledge of the conditions of
life among the great masses of our fellow-countrymen, a lack which
unfits a judge to do good service just as it would unfit any executive
or legislative officer.
There is also, I think, ground for the belief that substantial
injustice is often suffered by employees in consequence of the custom
of courts issuing temporary injunctions without notice to them, and
punishing them for contempt of court in instances where, as a matter of
fact, they have no knowledge of any proceedings. Outside of organized
labor there is a widespread feeling that this system often works great
injustice to wageworkers when their efforts to better their working
condition result in industrial disputes. A temporary injunction
procured ex parte may as a matter of fact have all the effect of a
permanent injunction in causing disaster to the wageworkers' side in
such a dispute. Organized labor is chafing under the unjust restraint
which comes from repeated resort to this plan of procedure. Its
discontent has been unwisely expressed, and often improperly expressed,
but there is a sound basis for it, and the orderly and law-abiding
people of a community would be in a far stronger position for upholding
the courts if the undoubtedly existing abuses could be provided
against.
Such proposals as those mentioned above as advocated by the extreme
labor leaders contain the vital error of being class legislation of the
most offensive kind, and even if enacted into law I believe that the
law would rightly be held unconstitutional. Moreover, the labor people
are themselves now beginning to invoke the use of the power of
injunction. During the last ten years, and within my own knowledge, at
least fifty injunctions have been obtained by labor unions in New York
City alone, most of them being to protect the union label (a "property
right"), but some being obtained for other reasons against employers.
The power of injunction is a great equitable remedy, which should on no
account be destroyed. But safeguards should be erected against its
abuse. I believe that some such provisions as those I advocated a year
ago for checking the abuse of the issuance of temporary injunctions
should be adopted. In substance, provision should be made that no
injunction or temporary restraining order issue otherwise than on
notice, except where irreparable injury would otherwise result; and in
such case a hearing on the merits of the order should be had within a
short fixed period, and, if not then continued after hearing, it should
forthwith lapse. Decisions should be rendered immediately, and the
chance of delay minimized in every way. Moreover, I believe that the
procedure should be sharply defined, and the judge required minutely to
state the particulars both of his action and of his reasons therefor,
so that the Congress can, if it desires, examine and investigate the
same.
The chief lawmakers in our country may be, and often are, the judges,
because they are the final seat of authority. Every time they interpret
contract, property, vested rights, due process of law, liberty, they
necessarily enact into law parts of a system of social philosophy, and
as such interpretation is fundamental, they give direction to all
law-making. The decisions of the courts on economic and social
questions depend upon their economic and social philosophy; and for the
peaceful progress of our people during the twentieth century we shall
owe most to those judges who hold to a twentieth century economic and
social philosophy and not to a long outgrown philosophy, which was
itself the product of primitive economic conditions. Of course a
judge's views on progressive social philosophy are entirely second in
importance to his possession of a high and fine character; which means
the possession of such elementary virtues as honesty, courage, and
fair-mindedness. The judge who owes his election to pandering to
demagogic sentiments or class hatreds and prejudices, and the judge who
owes either his election or his appointment to the money or the favor
of a great corporation, are alike unworthy to sit on the bench, are
alike traitors to the people; and no profundity of legal learning, or
correctness of abstract conviction on questions of public policy, can
serve as an offset to such shortcomings. But it is also true that
judges, like executives and legislators, should hold sound views on the
questions of public policy which are of vital interest to the people.
The legislators and executives are chosen to represent the people in
enacting and administering the laws. The judges are not chosen to
represent the people in this sense. Their function is to interpret the
laws. The legislators are responsible for the laws; the judges for the
spirit in which they interpret and enforce the laws. We stand aloof
from the reckless agitators who would make the judges mere pliant tools
of popular prejudice and passion; and we stand aloof from those equally
unwise partisans of reaction and privilege who deny the proposition
that, inasmuch as judges are chosen to serve the interests of the whole
people, they should strive to find out what those interests are, and,
so far as they conscientiously can, should strive to give effect to
popular conviction when deliberately and duly expressed by the
lawmaking body. The courts are to be highly commended and staunchly
upheld when they set their faces against wrongdoing or tyranny by a
majority; but they are to be blamed when they fail to recognize under a
government like ours the deliberate judgment of the majority as to a
matter of legitimate policy, when duly expressed by the legislature.
Such lawfully expressed and deliberate judgment should be given effect
by the courts, save in the extreme and exceptional cases where there
has been a clear violation of a constitutional provision. Anything like
frivolity or wantonness in upsetting such clearly taken governmental
action is a grave offense against the Republic. To protest against
tyranny, to protect minorities from oppression, to nullify an act
committed in a spasm of popular fury, is to render a service to the
Republic. But for the courts to arrogate to themselves functions which
properly belong to the legislative bodies is all wrong, and in the end
works mischief. The people should not be permitted to pardon evil and
slipshod legislation on the theory that the court will set it right;
they should be taught that the right way to get rid of a bad law is to
have the legislature repeal it, and not to have the courts by ingenious
hair-splitting nullify it. A law may be unwise and improper; but it
should not for these reasons be declared unconstitutional by a strained
interpretation, for the result of such action is to take away from the
people at large their sense of responsibility and ultimately to destroy
their capacity for orderly self restraint and self government. Under
such a popular government as ours, rounded on the theory that in the
long run the will of the people is supreme, the ultimate safety of the
Nation can only rest in training and guiding the people so that what
they will shall be right, and not in devising means to defeat their
will by the technicalities of strained construction.
For many of the shortcomings of justice in our country our people as a
whole are themselves to blame, and the judges and juries merely bear
their share together with the public as a whole. It is discreditable to
us as a people that there should be difficulty in convicting murderers,
or in bringing to justice men who as public servants have been guilty
of corruption, or who have profited by the corruption of public
servants. The result is equally unfortunate, whether due to
hairsplitting technicalities in the interpretation of law by judges, to
sentimentality and class consciousness on the part of juries, or to
hysteria and sensationalism in the daily press. For much of this
failure of justice no responsibility whatever lies on rich men as such.
We who make up the mass of the people can not shift the responsibility
from our own shoulders. But there is an important part of the failure
which has specially to do with inability to hold to proper account men
of wealth who behave badly.
The chief breakdown is in dealing with the new relations that arise
from the mutualism, the interdependence of our time. Every new social
relation begets a new type of wrongdoing--of sin, to use an
old-fashioned word--and many years always elapse before society is able
to turn this sin into crime which can be effectively punished at law.
During the lifetime of the older men now alive the social relations
have changed far more rapidly than in the preceding two centuries. The
immense growth of corporations, of business done by associations, and
the extreme strain and pressure of modern life, have produced
conditions which render the public confused as to who its really
dangerous foes are; and among the public servants who have not only
shared this confusion, but by some of their acts have increased it, are
certain judges. Marked inefficiency has been shown in dealing with
corporations and in re-settling the proper attitude to be taken by the
public not only towards corporations, but towards labor and towards the
social questions arising out of the factory system and the enormous
growth of our great cities.
The huge wealth that has been accumulated by a few individuals of
recent years, in what has amounted to a social and industrial
revolution, has been as regards some of these individuals made possible
only by the improper use of the modern corporation. A certain type of
modern corporation, with its officers and agents, its many issues of
securities, and its constant consolidation with allied undertakings,
finally becomes an instrument so complex as to contain a greater number
of elements that, under various judicial decisions, lend themselves to
fraud and oppression than any device yet evolved in the human brain.
Corporations are necessary instruments of modern business. They have
been permitted to become a menace largely because the governmental
representatives of the people have worked slowly in providing for
adequate control over them.
The chief offender in any given case may be an executive, a
legislature, or a judge. Every executive head who advises violent,
instead of gradual, action, or who advocates ill-considered and
sweeping measures of reform (especially if they are tainted with
vindictiveness and disregard for the rights of the minority) is
particularly blameworthy. The several legislatures are responsible for
the fact that our laws are often prepared with slovenly haste and lack
of consideration. Moreover, they are often prepared, and still more
frequently amended during passage, at the suggestion of the very
parties against whom they are afterwards enforced. Our great clusters
of corporations, huge trusts and fabulously wealthy multi-millionaires,
employ the very best lawyers they can obtain to pick flaws in these
statutes after their passage; but they also employ a class of secret
agents who seek, under the advice of experts, to render hostile
legislation innocuous by making it unconstitutional, often through the
insertion of what appear on their face to be drastic and sweeping
provisions against the interests of the parties inspiring them; while
the demagogues, the corrupt creatures who introduce blackmailing
schemes to "strike" corporations, and all who demand extreme, and
undesirably radical, measures, show themselves to be the worst enemies
of the very public whose loud-mouthed champions they profess to be. A
very striking illustration of the consequences of carelessness in the
preparation of a statute was the employers' liability law of 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 held that its subject-matter was within the province of
congressional action; and four of the nine justices held it valid. It
was, however, adjudged unconstitutional by a bare majority of the
court--five to four. It was surely a very slovenly piece of work to
frame the legislation in such shape as to leave the question open at
all.
Real damage has been done by the manifold and conflicting
interpretations of the interstate commerce law. Control over the great
corporations doing interstate business can be effective only if it is
vested with full power in an administrative department, a branch of the
Federal executive, carrying out a Federal law; it can never be
effective if a divided responsibility is left in both the States and
the Nation; it can never be effective if left in the hands of the
courts to be decided by lawsuits.
The courts hold a place of peculiar and deserved sanctity under our
form of government. Respect for the law is essential to the permanence
of our institutions; and respect for the law is largely conditioned
upon respect for the courts. It is an offense against the Republic to
say anything which can weaken this respect, save for the gravest reason
and in the most carefully guarded manner. Our judges should be held in
peculiar honor; and the duty of respectful and truthful comment and
criticism, which should be binding when we speak of anybody, should be
especially binding when we speak of them. On an average they stand
above any other servants of the community, and the greatest judges have
reached the high level held by those few greatest patriots whom the
whole country delights to honor. But we must face the fact that there
are wise and unwise judges, just as there are wise and unwise
executives and legislators. When a president or a governor behaves
improperly or unwisely, the remedy is easy, for his term is short; the
same is true with the legislator, although not to the same degree, for
he is one of many who belong to some given legislative body, and it is
therefore less easy to fix his personal responsibility and hold him
accountable therefor. With a judge, who, being human, is also likely to
err, but whose tenure is for life, there is no similar way of holding
him to responsibility. Under ordinary conditions the only forms of
pressure to which he is in any way amenable are public opinion and the
action of his fellow judges. It is the last which is most immediately
effective, and to which we should look for the reform of abuses. Any
remedy applied from without is fraught with risk. It is far better,
from every standpoint, that the remedy should come from within. In no
other nation in the world do the courts wield such vast and
far-reaching power as in the United States. All that is necessary is
that the courts as a whole should exercise this power with the
farsighted wisdom already shown by those judges who scan the future
while they act in the present. Let them exercise this great power not
only honestly and bravely, but with wise insight into the needs and
fixed purposes of the people, so that they may do justice and work
equity, so that they may protect all persons in their rights, and yet
break down the barriers of privilege, which is the foe of right.
FORESTS.
If there is any one duty which more than another we owe it to our
children and our children's children to perform at once, it is to save
the forests of this country, for they constitute the first and most
important element in the conservation of the natural resources of the
country. There are of course two kinds of natural resources, One is the
kind which can only be used as part of a process of exhaustion; this is
true of mines, natural oil and gas wells, and the like. The other, and
of course ultimately by far the most important, includes the resources
which can be improved in the process of wise use; the soil, the rivers,
and the forests come under this head. Any really civilized nation will
so use all of these three great national assets that the nation will
have their benefit in the future. Just as a farmer, after all his life
making his living from his farm, will, if he is an expert farmer, leave
it as an asset of increased value to his son, so we should leave our
national domain to our children, increased in value and not worn out.
There are small sections of our own country, in the East and the West,
in the Adriondacks, the White Mountains, and the Appalachians, and in
the Rocky Mountains, where we can already see for ourselves the damage
in the shape of permanent injury to the soil and the river systems
which comes from reckless deforestation. It matters not whether this
deforestation is due to the actual reckless cutting of timber, to the
fires that inevitably follow such reckless cutting of timber, or to
reckless and uncontrolled grazing, especially by the great migratory
bands of sheep, the unchecked wandering of which over the country means
destruction to forests and disaster to the small home makers, the
settlers of limited means.
Shortsighted persons, or persons blinded to the future by desire to
make money in every way out of the present, sometimes speak as if no
great damage would be done by the reckless destruction of our forests.
It is difficult to have patience with the arguments of these persons.
Thanks to our own recklessness in the use of our splendid forests, we
have already crossed the verge of a timber famine in this country, and
no measures that we now take can, at least for many years, undo the
mischief that has already been done. But we can prevent further
mischief being done; and it would be in the highest degree
reprehensible to let any consideration of temporary convenience or
temporary cost interfere with such action, especially as regards the
National Forests which the nation can now, at this very moment,
control.
All serious students of the question are aware of the great damage that
has been done in the Mediterranean countries of Europe, Asia, and
Africa by deforestation. The similar damage that has been done in
Eastern Asia is less well known. A recent investigation into conditions
in North China by Mr. Frank N. Meyer, of the Bureau of Plant Industry
of the United States Department of Agriculture, has incidentally
furnished in very striking fashion proof of the ruin that comes from
reckless deforestation of mountains, and of the further fact that the
damage once done may prove practically irreparable. So important are
these investigations that I herewith attach as an appendix to my
message certain photographs showing present conditions in China. They
show in vivid fashion the appalling desolation, taking the shape of
barren mountains and gravel and sand-covered plains, which immediately
follows and depends upon the deforestation of the mountains. Not many
centuries ago the country of northern China was one of the most fertile
and beautiful spots in the entire world, and was heavily forested. We
know this not only from the old Chinese records, but from the accounts
given by the traveler, Marco Polo. He, for instance, mentions that in
visiting the provinces of Shansi and Shensi he observed many
plantations of mulberry trees. Now there is hardly a single mulberry
tree in either of these provinces, and the culture of the silkworm has
moved farther south, to regions of atmospheric moisture. As an
illustration of the complete change in the rivers, we may take Polo's
statement that a certain river, the Hun Ho, was so large and deep that
merchants ascended it from the sea with heavily laden boats; today this
river is simply a broad sandy bed, with shallow, rapid currents
wandering hither and thither across it, absolutely unnavigable. But we
do not have to depend upon written records. The dry wells, and the
wells with water far below the former watermark, bear testimony to the
good days of the past and the evil days of the present. Wherever the
native vegetation has been allowed to remain, as, for instance, here
and there around a sacred temple or imperial burying ground, there are
still huge trees and tangled jungle, fragments of the glorious ancient
forests. The thick, matted forest growth formerly covered the mountains
to their summits. All natural factors favored this dense forest growth,
and as long as it was permitted to exist the plains at the foot of the
mountains were among the most fertile on the globe, and the whole
country was a garden. Not the slightest effort was made, however, to
prevent the unchecked cutting of the trees, or to secure reforestation.
Doubtless for many centuries the tree-cutting by the inhabitants of the
mountains worked but slowly in bringing about the changes that have now
come to pass; doubtless for generations the inroads were scarcely
noticeable. But there came a time when the forest had shrunk
sufficiently to make each year's cutting a serious matter, and from
that time on the destruction proceeded with appalling rapidity; for of
course each year of destruction rendered the forest less able to
recuperate, less able to resist next year's inroad. Mr. Meyer describes
the ceaseless progress of the destruction even now, when there is so
little left to destroy. Every morning men and boys go out armed with
mattox or axe, scale the steepest mountain sides, and cut down and grub
out, root and branch, the small trees and shrubs still to be found. The
big trees disappeared centuries ago, so that now one of these is never
seen save in the neighborhood of temples, where they are artificially
protected; and even here it takes all the watch and care of the
tree-loving priests to prevent their destruction. Each family, each
community, where there is no common care exercised in the interest of
all of them to prevent deforestation, finds its profit in the immediate
use of the fuel which would otherwise be used by some other family or
some other community. In the total absence of regulation of the matter
in the interest of the whole people, each small group is inevitably
pushed into a policy of destruction which can not afford to take
thought for the morrow. This is just one of those matters which it is
fatal to leave to unsupervised individual control. The forest can only
be protected by the State, by the Nation; and the liberty of action of
individuals must be conditioned upon what the State or Nation
determines to be necessary for the common safety.
The lesson of deforestation in China is a lesson which mankind should
have learned many times already from what has occurred in other places.
Denudation leaves naked soil; then gullying cuts down to the bare rock;
and meanwhile the rock-waste buries the bottomlands. When the soil is
gone, men must go; and the process does not take long.
This ruthless destruction of the forests in northern China has brought
about, or has aided in bringing about, desolation, just as the
destruction of the forests in central Asia aid in bringing ruin to the
once rich central Asian cities; just as the destruction of the forest
in northern Africa helped towards the ruin of a region that was a
fertile granary in Roman days. Shortsighted man, whether barbaric,
semi-civilized, or what he mistakenly regards as fully civilized, when
he has destroyed the forests, has rendered certain the ultimate
destruction of the land itself. In northern China the mountains are now
such as are shown by the accompanying photographs, absolutely barren
peaks. Not only have the forests been destroyed, but because of their
destruction the soil has been washed off the naked rock. The terrible
consequence is that it is impossible now to undo the damage that has
been done. Many centuries would have to pass before soil would again
collect, or could be made to collect, in sufficient quantity once more
to support the old-time forest growth. In consequence the Mongol Desert
is practically extending eastward over northern China. The climate has
changed and is still changing. It has changed even within the last half
century, as the work of tree destruction has been consummated. The
great masses of arboreal vegetation on the mountains formerly absorbed
the heat of the sun and sent up currents of cool air which brought the
moisture-laden clouds lower and forced them to precipitate in rain a
part of their burden of water. Now that there is no vegetation, the
barren mountains, scorched by the sun, send up currents of heated air
which drive away instead of attracting the rain clouds, and cause their
moisture to be disseminated. In consequence, instead of the regular and
plentiful rains which existed in these regions of China when the
forests were still in evidence, the unfortunate inhabitants of the
deforested lands now see their crops wither for lack of rainfall, while
the seasons grow more and more irregular; and as the air becomes dryer
certain crops refuse longer to grow at all. That everything dries out
faster than formerly is shown by the fact that the level of the wells
all over the land has sunk perceptibly, many of them having become
totally dry. In addition to the resulting agricultural distress, the
watercourses have changed. Formerly they were narrow and deep, with an
abundance of clear water the year around; for the roots and humus of
the forests caught the rainwater and let it escape by slow, regular
seepage. They have now become broad, shallow stream beds, in which
muddy water trickles in slender currents during the dry seasons, while
when it rains there are freshets, and roaring muddy torrents come
tearing down, bringing disaster and destruction everywhere. Moreover,
these floods and freshets, which diversify the general dryness, wash
away from the mountain sides, and either wash away or cover in the
valleys, the rich fertile soil which it took tens of thousands of years
for Nature to form; and it is lost forever, and until the forests grow
again it can not be replaced. The sand and stones from the mountain
sides are washed loose and come rolling down to cover the arable lands,
and in consequence, throughout this part of China, many formerly rich
districts are now sandy wastes, useless for human cultivation and even
for pasture. The cities have been of course seriously affected, for the
streams have gradually ceased to be navigable. There is testimony that
even within the memory of men now living there has been a serious
diminution of the rainfall of northeastern China. The level of the
Sungari River in northern Manchuria has been sensibly lowered during
the last fifty years, at least partly as the result of the
indiscriminate rutting of the forests forming its watershed. Almost all
the rivers of northern China have become uncontrollable, and very
dangerous to the dwellers along their banks, as a direct result of the
destruction of the forests. The journey from Pekin to Jehol shows in
melancholy fashion how the soil has been washed away from whole
valleys, so that they have been converted into deserts.
In northern China this disastrous process has gone on so long and has
proceeded so far that no complete remedy could be applied. There are
certain mountains in China from which the soil is gone so utterly that
only the slow action of the ages could again restore it; although of
course much could be done to prevent the still further eastward
extension of the Mongolian Desert if the Chinese Government would act
at once. The accompanying cuts from photographs show the inconceivable
desolation of the barren mountains in which certain of these rivers
rise--mountains, be it remembered, which formerly supported dense
forests of larches and firs, now unable to produce any wood, and
because of their condition a source of danger to the whole country. The
photographs also show the same rivers after they have passed through
the mountains, the beds having become broad and sandy because of the
deforestation of the mountains. One of the photographs shows a caravan
passing through a valley. Formerly, when the mountains were forested,
it was thickly peopled by prosperous peasants. Now the floods have
carried destruction all over the land and the valley is a stony desert.
Another photograph shows a mountain road covered with the stones and
rocks that are brought down in the rainy season from the mountains
which have already been deforested by human hands. Another shows a
pebbly river-bed in southern Manchuria where what was once a great
stream has dried up owing to the deforestation in the mountains. Only
some scrub wood is left, which will disappear within a half century.
Yet another shows the effect of one of the washouts, destroying an
arable mountain side, these washouts being due to the removal of all
vegetation; yet in this photograph the foreground shows that
reforestation is still a possibility in places.
What has thus happened in northern China, what has happened in Central
Asia, in Palestine, in North Africa, in parts of the Mediterranean
countries of Europe, will surely happen in our country if we do not
exercise that wise forethought which should be one of the chief marks
of any people calling itself civilized. Nothing should be permitted to
stand in the way of the preservation of the forests, and it is criminal
to permit individuals to purchase a little gain for themselves through
the destruction of forests when this destruction is fatal to the
well-being of the whole country in the future.
INLAND WATERWAYS.
Action should be begun forthwith, during the present session of the
Congress, for the improvement of our inland waterways--action which
will result in giving us not only navigable but navigated rivers. We
have spent hundreds of millions of dollars upon these waterways, yet
the traffic on nearly all of them is steadily declining. This condition
is the direct result of the absence of any comprehensive and far-seeing
plan of waterway improvement, Obviously we can not continue thus to
expend the revenues of the Government without return. It is poor
business to spend money for inland navigation unless we get it.
Inquiry into the condition of the Mississippi and its principal
tributaries reveals very many instances of the utter waste caused by
the methods which have hitherto obtained for the so-called
"improvement" of navigation. A striking instance is supplied by the
"improvement" of the Ohio, which, begun in 1824, was continued under a
single plan for half a century. In 1875 a new plan was adopted and
followed for a quarter of a century. In 1902 still a different plan was
adopted and has since been pursued at a rate which only promises a
navigable river in from twenty to one hundred years longer.
Such shortsighted, vacillating, and futile methods are accompanied by
decreasing water-borne commerce and increasing traffic congestion on
land, by increasing floods, and by the waste of public money. The
remedy lies in abandoning the methods which have so signally failed and
adopting new ones in keeping with the needs and demands of our people.
In a report on a measure introduced at the first session of the present
Congress, the Secretary of War said: "The chief defect in the methods
hitherto pursued lies in the absence of executive authority for
originating comprehensive plans covering the country or natural
divisions thereof." In this opinion I heartily concur. The present
methods not only fail to give us inland navigation, but they are
injurious to the army as well. What is virtually a permanent detail of
the corps of engineers to civilian duty necessarily impairs the
efficiency of our military establishment. The military engineers have
undoubtedly done efficient work in actual construction, but they are
necessarily unsuited by their training and traditions to take the broad
view, and to gather and transmit to the Congress the commercial and
industrial information and forecasts, upon which waterway improvement
must always so largely rest. Furthermore, they have failed to grasp the
great underlying fact that every stream is a unit from its source to
its mouth, and that all its uses are interdependent. Prominent officers
of the Engineer Corps have recently even gone so far as to assert in
print that waterways are not dependent upon the conservation of the
forests about their headwaters. This position is opposed to all the
recent work of the scientific bureaus of the Government and to the
general experience of mankind. A physician who disbelieved in
vaccination would not be the right man to handle an epidemic of
smallpox, nor should we leave a doctor skeptical about the transmission
of yellow fever by the Stegomyia mosquito in charge of sanitation at
Havana or Panama. So with the improvement of our rivers; it is no
longer wise or safe to leave this great work in the hands of men who
fail to grasp the essential relations between navigation and general
development and to assimilate and use the central facts about our
streams.
Until the work of river improvement is undertaken in a modern way it
can not have results that will meet the needs of this modern nation.
These needs should be met without further dilly-dallying or delay. The
plan which promises the best and quickest results is that of a
permanent commission authorized to coordinate the work of all the
Government departments relating to waterways, and to frame and
supervise the execution of a comprehensive plan. Under such a
commission the actual work of construction might be entrusted to the
reclamation service; or to the military engineers acting with a
sufficient number of civilians to continue the work in time of war; or
it might be divided between the reclamation service and the corps of
engineers. Funds should be provided from current revenues if it is
deemed wise--otherwise from the sale of bonds. The essential thing is
that the work should go forward under the best possible plan, and with
the least possible delay. We should have a new type of work and a new
organization for planning and directing it. The time for playing with
our waterways is past. The country demands results.
NATIONAL PARKS.
I urge that all our National parks adjacent to National forests be
placed completely under the control of the forest service of the
Agricultural Department, instead of leaving them as they now are, under
the Interior Department and policed by the army. The Congress should
provide for superintendents with adequate corps of first-class civilian
scouts, or rangers, and, further, place the road construction under the
superintendent instead of leaving it with the War Department. Such a
change in park management would result in economy and avoid the
difficulties of administration which now arise from having the
responsibility of care and protection divided between different
departments. The need for this course is peculiarly great in the
Yellowstone Park. This, like the Yosemite, is a great wonderland, and
should be kept as a national playground. In both, all wild things
should be protected and the scenery kept wholly unmarred.
I am happy to say that I have been able to set aside in various parts
of the country small, well-chosen tracts of ground to serve as
sanctuaries and nurseries for wild creatures.
DENATURED ALCOHOL.
I had occasion in my message of May 4, 1906, to urge the passage of
some law putting alcohol, used in the arts, industries, and
manufactures, upon the free list--that is, to provide for the
withdrawal free of tax of alcohol which is to be denatured for those
purposes. The law of June 7, 1906, and its amendment of March 2, 1907,
accomplished what was desired in that respect, and the use of denatured
alcohol, as intended, is making a fair degree of progress and is
entitled to further encouragement and support from the Congress.
PURE FOOD.
The pure food legislation has already worked a benefit difficult to
overestimate.
INDIAN SERVICE.
It has been my purpose from the beginning of my administration to take
the Indian Service completely out of the atmosphere of political
activity, and there has been steady progress toward that end. The last
remaining stronghold of politics in that service was the agency system,
which had seen its best days and was gradually falling to pieces from
natural or purely evolutionary causes, but, like all such survivals,
was decaying slowly in its later stages. It seems clear that its
extinction had better be made final now, so that the ground can be
cleared for larger constructive work on behalf of the Indians,
preparatory to their induction into the full measure of responsible
citizenship. On November 1 only eighteen agencies were left on the
roster; with two exceptions, where some legal questions seemed to stand
temporarily in the way, these have been changed to superintendencies,
and their heads brought into the classified civil service.
SECRET SERVICE.
Last year an amendment was incorporated in the measure providing for
the Secret Service, which provided that there should be no detail from
the Secret Service and no transfer therefrom. It is not too much to say
that this amendment has been of benefit only, and could be of benefit
only, to the criminal classes. If deliberately introduced for the
purpose of diminishing the effectiveness of war against crime it could
not have been better devised to this end. It forbade the practices that
had been followed to a greater or less extent by the executive heads of
various departments for twenty years. To these practices we owe the
securing of the evidence which enabled us to drive great lotteries out
of business and secure a quarter of a million of dollars in fines from
their promoters. These practices have enabled us to get some of the
evidence indispensable in order in connection with the theft of
government land and government timber by great corporations and by
individuals. These practices have enabled us to get some of the
evidence indispensable in order to secure the conviction of the
wealthiest and most formidable criminals with whom the Government has
to deal, both those operating in violation of the anti-trust law and
others. The amendment in question was of benefit to no one excepting to
these criminals, and it seriously hampers the Government in the
detection of crime and the securing of justice. Moreover, it not only
affects departments outside of the Treasury, but it tends to hamper the
Secretary of the Treasury himself in the effort to utilize the
employees of his department so as to best meet the requirements of the
public service. It forbids him from preventing frauds upon the customs
service, from investigating irregularities in branch mints and assay
offices, and has seriously crippled him. It prevents the promotion of
employees in the Secret Service, and this further discourages good
effort. In its present form the restriction operates only to the
advantage of the criminal, of the wrongdoer. The chief argument in
favor of the provision was that the Congressmen did not themselves wish
to be investigated by Secret Service men. Very little of such
investigation has been done in the past; but it is true that the work
of the Secret Service agents was partly responsible for the indictment
and conviction of a Senator and a Congressman for land frauds in
Oregon. I do not believe that it is in the public interest to protect
criminally in any branch of the public service, and exactly as we have
again and again during the past seven years prosecuted and convicted
such criminals who were in the executive branch of the Government, so
in my belief we should be given ample means to prosecute them if found
in the legislative branch. But if this is not considered desirable a
special exception could be made in the law prohibiting the use of the
Secret Service force in investigating members of the Congress. It would
be far better to do this than to do what actually was done, and strive
to prevent or at least to hamper effective action against criminals by
the executive branch of the Government.
POSTAL SAVINGS BANKS.
I again renew my recommendation for postal savings hanks, for
depositing savings with the security of the Government behind them. The
object is to encourage thrift and economy in the wage-earner and person
of moderate means. In 14 States the deposits in savings banks as
reported to the Comptroller of the Currency amount to $3,590,245,402,
or 98.4 per cent of the entire deposits, while in the remaining 32
States there are only $70,308,543, or 1.6 per cent, showing
conclusively that there are many localities in the United States where
sufficient opportunity is not given to the people to deposit their
savings. The result is that money is kept in hiding and unemployed. It
is believed that in the aggregate vast sums of money would be brought
into circulation through the instrumentality of the postal savings
banks. While there are only 1,453 savings banks reporting to the
Comptroller there are more than 61,000 post-offices, 40,000 of which
are money order offices. Postal savings banks are now in operation in
practically all of the great civilized countries with the exception of
the United States.
PARCEL POST.
In my last annual message I commended the Postmaster-General's
recommendation for an extension of the parcel post on the rural routes.
The establishment of a local parcel post on rural routes would be to
the mutual benefit of the farmer and the country storekeeper, and it is
desirable that the routes, serving more than 15,000,000 people, should
be utilized to the fullest practicable extent. An amendment was
proposed in the Senate at the last session, at the suggestion of the
Postmaster-General, providing that, for the purpose of ascertaining the
practicability of establishing a special local parcel post system on
the rural routes throughout the United States, the Postmaster-General
be authorized and directed to experiment and report to the Congress the
result of such experiment by establishing a special local parcel post
system on rural delivery routes in not to exceed four counties in the
United States for packages of fourth-class matter originating on a
rural route or at the distributing post office for delivery by rural
carriers. It would seem only proper that such an experiment should be
tried in order to demonstrate the practicability of the proposition,
especially as the Postmaster-General estimates that the revenue derived
from the operation of such a system on all the rural routes would
amount to many million dollars.
EDUCATION.
The share that the National Government should take in the broad work of
education has not received the attention and the care it rightly
deserves. The immediate responsibility for the support and improvement
of our educational systems and institutions rests and should always
rest with the people of the several States acting through their state
and local governments, but the Nation has an opportunity in educational
work which must not be lost and a duty which should no longer be
neglected.
The National Bureau of Education was established more than forty years
ago. Its purpose is to collect and diffuse such information "as shall
aid the people of the United States in the establishment and
maintenance of efficient school systems and otherwise promote the cause
of education throughout the country." This purpose in no way conflicts
with the educational work of the States, but may be made of great
advantage to the States by giving them the fullest, most accurate, and
hence the most helpful information and suggestion regarding the best
educational systems. The Nation, through its broader field of
activities, its wider opportunity for obtaining information from all
the States and from foreign countries, is able to do that which not
even the richest States can do, and with the distinct additional
advantage that the information thus obtained is used for the immediate
benefit of all our people.
With the limited means hitherto provided, the Bureau of Education has
rendered efficient service, but the Congress has neglected to
adequately supply the bureau with means to meet the educational growth
of the country. The appropriations for the general work of the bureau,
outside education in Alaska, for the year 1909 are but $87,500--an
amount less than they were ten years ago, and some of the important
items in these appropriations are less than they were thirty years ago.
It is an inexcusable waste of public money to appropriate an amount
which is so inadequate as to make it impossible properly to do the work
authorized, and it is unfair to the great educational interests of the
country to deprive them of the value of the results which can be
obtained by proper appropriations.
I earnestly recommend that this unfortunate state of affairs as regards
the national educational office be remedied by adequate appropriations.
This recommendation is urged by the representatives of our common
schools and great state universities and the leading educators, who all
unite in requesting favorable consideration and action by the Congress
upon this subject.
CENSUS.
I strongly urge that the request of the Director of the Census in
connection with the decennial work so soon to be begun be complied with
and that the appointments to the census force be placed under the civil
service law, waiving the geographical requirements as requested by the
Director of the Census. The supervisors and enumerators should not be
appointed under the civil service law, for the reasons given by the
Director. I commend to the Congress the careful consideration of the
admirable report of the Director of the Census, and I trust that his
recommendations will be adopted and immediate action thereon taken.
PUBLIC HEALTH.
It is highly advisable that there should be intelligent action on the
part of the Nation on the question of preserving the health of the
country. Through the practical extermination in San Francisco of
disease-bearing rodents our country has thus far escaped the bubonic
plague. This is but one of the many achievements of American health
officers; and it shows what can be accomplished with a better
organization than at present exists. The dangers to public health from
food adulteration and from many other sources, such as the menace to
the physical, mental and moral development of children from child
labor, should be met and overcome. There are numerous diseases, which
are now known to be preventable, which are, nevertheless, not
prevented. The recent International Congress on Tuberculosis has made
us painfully aware of the inadequacy of American public health
legislation. This Nation can not afford to lag behind in the world-wide
battle now being waged by all civilized people with the microscopic
foes of mankind, nor ought we longer to ignore the reproach that this
Government takes more pains to protect the lives of hogs and of cattle
than of human beings.
REDISTRIBUTION OF BUREAUS.
The first legislative step to be taken is that for the concentration of
the proper bureaus into one of the existing departments. I therefore
urgently recommend the passage of a bill which shall authorize a
redistribution of the bureaus which shall best accomplish this end.
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
I recommend that legislation be enacted placing under the jurisdiction
of the Department of Commerce and Labor the Government Printing Office.
At present this office is under the combined control, supervision, and
administrative direction of the President and of the Joint Committee on
Printing of the two Houses of the Congress. The advantage of having the
4,069 employees in this office and the expenditure of the $5,761,377.57
appropriated therefor supervised by an executive department is obvious,
instead of the present combined supervision.
SOLDIERS' HOMES.
All Soldiers' Homes should be placed under the complete jurisdiction
and control of the War Department.
INDEPENDENT BUREAUS AND COMMISSIONS.
Economy and sound business policy require that all existing independent
bureaus and commissions should be placed under the jurisdiction of
appropriate executive departments. It is unwise from every standpoint,
and results only in mischief, to have any executive work done save by
the purely executive bodies, under the control of the President; and
each such executive body should be under the immediate supervision of a
Cabinet Minister.
STATEHOOD.
I advocate the immediate admission of New Mexico and Arizona as States.
This should be done at the present session of the Congress. The people
of the two Territories have made it evident by their votes that they
will not come in as one State. The only alternative is to admit them as
two, and I trust that this will be done without delay.
INTERSTATE FISHERIES.
I call the attention of the Congress to the importance of the problem
of the fisheries in the interstate waters. On the Great Lakes we are
now, under the very wise treaty of April 11th of this year, endeavoring
to come to an international agreement for the preservation and
satisfactory use of the fisheries of these waters which can not
otherwise be achieved. Lake Erie, for example, has the richest fresh
water fisheries in the world; but it is now controlled by the statutes
of two Nations, four States, and one Province, and in this Province by
different ordinances in different counties. All these political
divisions work at cross purposes, and in no case can they achieve
protection to the fisheries, on the one hand, and justice to the
localities and individuals on the other. The case is similar in Puget
Sound.
But the problem is quite as pressing in the interstate waters of the
United States. The salmon fisheries of the Columbia River are now but a
fraction of what they were twenty-five years ago, and what they would
be now if the United States Government had taken complete charge of
them by intervening between Oregon and Washington. During these
twenty-five years the fishermen of each State have naturally tried to
take all they could get, and the two legislatures have never been able
to agree on joint action of any kind adequate in degree for the
protection of the fisheries. At the moment the fishing on the Oregon
side is practically closed, while there is no limit on the Washington
side of any kind, and no one can tell what the courts will decide as to
the very statutes under which this action and non-action result.
Meanwhile very few salmon reach the spawning grounds, and probably four
years hence the fisheries will amount to nothing; and this comes from a
struggle between the associated, or gill-net, fishermen on the one
hand, and the owners of the fishing wheels 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 States to control and
legislate for the interstate fisheries as part of the business of
interstate commerce. In this case the machinery for scientific
investigation and for control already exists in the United States
Bureau of Fisheries. In this as in similar problems the obvious and
simple rule should be followed of having those matters which no
particular State can manage taken in hand by the United States;
problems which in the seesaw of conflicting State legislatures are
absolutely unsolvable are easy enough for Congress to control.
FISHERIES AND FUR SEALS.
The federal statute regulating interstate traffic in game should be
extended to include fish. New federal fish hatcheries should be
established. The administration of the Alaskan fur-seal service should
be vested in the Bureau of Fisheries.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
This Nation's foreign policy is based on the theory that right must be
done between nations precisely as between individuals, and in our
actions for the last ten years we have in this matter proven our faith
by our deeds. We have behaved, and are behaving, towards other nations
as in private life an honorable man would behave towards his fellows.
LATIN-AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
The commercial and material progress of the twenty Latin-American
Republics is worthy of the careful attention of the Congress. No other
section of the world has shown a greater proportionate development of
its foreign trade during the last ten years and none other has more
special claims on the interest of the United States. It offers to-day
probably larger opportunities for the legitimate expansion of our
commerce than any other group of countries. These countries will want
our products in greatly increased quantities, and we shall
correspondingly need theirs. The International Bureau of the American
Republics is doing a useful work in making these nations and their
resources better known to us, and in acquainting them not only with us
as a people and with our purposes towards them, but with what we have
to exchange for their goods. It is an international institution
supported by all the governments of the two Americas.
PANAMA CANAL.
The work on the Panama Canal is being done with a speed, efficiency and
entire devotion to duty which make it a model for all work of the kind.
No task of such magnitude has ever before been undertaken by any
nation; and no task of the kind has ever been better performed. The men
on the isthmus, from Colonel Goethals and his fellow commissioners
through the entire list of employees who are faithfully doing their
duty, have won their right to the ungrudging respect and gratitude of
the American people.
OCEAN MAIL LINERS.
I again recommend the extension of the ocean mail act of 1891 so that
satisfactory American ocean mail lines to South America, Asia, the
Philippines, and Australasia may be established. The creation of such
steamship lines should be the natural corollary of the voyage of the
battle fleet. It should precede the opening of the Panama Canal. Even
under favorable conditions several years must elapse before such lines
can be put into operation. Accordingly I urge that the Congress act
promptly where foresight already shows that action sooner or later will
be inevitable.
HAWAII.
I call particular attention to the Territory of Hawaii. The importance
of those islands is apparent, and the need of improving their condition
and developing their resources is urgent. In recent years industrial
conditions upon the islands have radically changed, The importation of
coolie labor has practically ceased, and there is now developing such a
diversity in agricultural products as to make possible a change in the
land conditions of the Territory, so that an opportunity may be given
to the small land owner similar to that on the mainland. To aid these
changes, the National Government must provide the necessary harbor
improvements on each island, so that the agricultural products can be
carried to the markets of the world. The coastwise shipping laws should
be amended to meet the special needs of the islands, and the alien
contract labor law should be so modified in its application to Hawaii
as to enable American and European labor to be brought thither.
We have begun to improve Pearl Harbor for a naval base and to provide
the necessary military fortifications for the protection of the
islands, but I can not too strongly emphasize the need of
appropriations for these purposes of such an amount as will within the
shortest possible time make those islands practically impregnable. It
is useless to develop the industrial conditions of the islands and
establish there bases of supply for our naval and merchant fleets
unless we insure, as far as human ingenuity can, their safety from
foreign seizure.
One thing to be remembered with all our fortifications is that it is
almost useless to make them impregnable from the sea if they are left
open to land attack. This is true even of our own coast, but it is
doubly true of our insular possessions. In Hawaii, for instance, it is
worse than useless to establish a naval station unless we establish it
behind fortifications so strong that no landing force can take them
save by regular and long-continued siege operations.
THE PHILIPPINES.
Real progress toward self-government is being made in the Philippine
Islands. The gathering of a Philippine legislative body and Philippine
assembly marks a process absolutely new in Asia, not only as regards
Asiatic colonies of European powers but as regards Asiatic possessions
of other Asiatic powers; and, indeed, always excepting the striking and
wonderful example afforded by the great Empire of Japan, it opens an
entirely new departure when compared with anything which has happened
among Asiatic powers which are their own masters. Hitherto this
Philippine legislature has acted with moderation and self-restraint,
and has seemed in practical fashion to realize the eternal truth that
there must always be government, and that the only way in which any
body of individuals can escape the necessity of being governed by
outsiders is to show that they are able to restrain themselves, to keep
down wrongdoing and disorder. The Filipino people, through their
officials, are therefore making real steps in the direction of
self-government. I hope and believe that these steps mark the beginning
of a course which will continue till the Filipinos become fit to decide
for themselves whether they desire to be an independent nation. But it
is well for them (and well also for those Americans who during the past
decade have done so much damage to the Filipinos by agitation for an
immediate independence for which they were totally unfit) to remember
that self-government depends, and must depend, upon the Filipinos
themselves. All we can do is to give them the opportunity to develop
the capacity for self-government. If we had followed the advice of the
foolish doctrinaires who wished us at any time during the last ten
years to turn the Filipino people adrift, we should have shirked the
plainest possible duty and have inflicted a lasting wrong upon the
Filipino people. We have acted in exactly the opposite spirit. We have
given the Filipinos constitutional government--a government based upon
justice--and we have shown that we have governed them for their good
and not for our aggrandizement. At the present time, as during the past
ten years, the inexorable logic of facts shows that this government
must be supplied by us and not by them. We must be wise and generous;
we must help the Filipinos to master the difficult art of self-control,
which is simply another name for self-government. But we can not give
them self-government save in the sense of governing them so that
gradually they may, if they are able, learn to govern themselves. Under
the present system of just laws and sympathetic administration, we have
every reason to believe that they are gradually acquiring the 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 a substitute. Our people in the Philippines have achieved what
may legitimately be called a marvelous success in giving to them a
government which marks on the part of those in authority both the
necessary understanding of the people and the necessary purpose to
serve them disinterestedly and in good faith. I trust that within a
generation the time will arrive when the Philippines can decide for
themselves whether it is well for them to become independent, or to
continue under the protection of a strong and disinterested power, able
to guarantee to the islands order at home and protection from foreign
invasion. But no one can prophesy the exact date when it will be wise
to consider independence as a fixed and definite policy. It would be
worse than folly to try to set down such a date in advance, for it must
depend upon the way in which the Philippine people themselves develop
the power of self-mastery.
PORTO RICO.
I again recommend that American citizenship be conferred upon the
people of Porto Rico.
CUBA.
In Cuba our occupancy will cease in about two months' time, the Cubans
have in orderly manner elected their own governmental authorities, and
the island will be turned over to them. Our occupation on this occasion
has lasted a little over two years, and Cuba has thriven and prospered
under it. Our earnest hope and one desire is that the people of the
island shall now govern themselves with justice, so that peace and
order may be secure. We will gladly help them to this end; but I would
solemnly warn them to remember the great truth that the only way a
people can permanently avoid being governed from without is to show
that they both can and will govern themselves from within.
JAPANESE EXPOSITION.
The Japanese Government has postponed until 1917 the date of the great
international exposition, the action being taken so as to insure ample
time in which to prepare to make the exposition all that it should be
made. The American commissioners have visited Japan and the
postponement will merely give ampler opportunity for America to be
represented at the exposition. Not since the first international
exposition has there been one of greater importance than this will be,
marking as it does the fiftieth anniversary of the ascension to the
throne of the Emperor of Japan. The extraordinary leap to a foremost
place among the nations of the world made by Japan during this half
century is something unparalleled in all previous history. This
exposition will fitly commemorate and signalize the giant progress that
has been achieved. It is the first exposition of its kind that has ever
been held in Asia. The United States, because of the ancient friendship
between the two peoples, because each of us fronts on the Pacific, and
because of the growing commercial relations between this country and
Asia, takes a peculiar interest in seeing the exposition made a success
in every way.
I take this opportunity publicly to state my appreciation of the way in
which in Japan, in Australia, in New Zealand, and in all the States of
South America, the battle fleet has been received on its practice
voyage around the world. The American Government can not too strongly
express its appreciation of the abounding and generous hospitality
shown our ships in every port they visited.
THE ARMY.
As regards the Army I call attention to the fact that while our junior
officers and enlisted men stand very high, the present system of
promotion by seniority results in bringing into the higher grades many
men of mediocre capacity who have but a short time to serve. No man
should regard it as his vested right to rise to the highest rank in the
Army any more than in any other profession. It is a curious and by no
means creditable fact that there should be so often a failure on the
part of the public and its representatives to understand the great
need, from the standpoint of the service and the Nation, of refusing to
promote respectable, elderly incompetents. The higher places should be
given to the most deserving men without regard to seniority; at least
seniority should be treated as only one consideration. In the stress of
modern industrial competition no business firm could succeed if those
responsible for its management were chosen simply on the ground that
they were the oldest people in its employment; yet this is the course
advocated as regards the Army, and required by law for all grades
except those of general officer. As a matter of fact, all of the best
officers in the highest ranks of the Army are those who have attained
their present position wholly or in part by a process of selection.
The scope of retiring boards should be extended so that they could
consider general unfitness to command for any cause, in order to secure
a far more rigid enforcement than at present in the elimination of
officers for mental, physical or temperamental disabilities. But this
plan is recommended only if the Congress does not see fit to provide
what in my judgment is far better; that is, for selection in promotion,
and for elimination for age. Officers who fail to attain a certain rank
by a certain age should be retired--for instance, if a man should not
attain field rank by the time he is 45 he should of course be placed on
the retired list. General officers should be selected as at present,
and one-third of the other promotions should be made by selection, the
selection to be made by the President or the Secretary of War from a
list of at least two candidates proposed for each vacancy by a board of
officers from the arm of the service from which the promotion is to be
made. A bill is now before the Congress having for its object to secure
the promotion of officers to various grades at reasonable ages through
a process of selection, by boards of officers, of the least efficient
for retirement with a percentage of their pay depending upon length of
service. The bill, although not accomplishing all that should be done,
is a long step in the right direction; and I earnestly recommend its
passage, or that of a more completely effective measure.
The cavalry arm should be reorganized upon modern lines. This is an arm
in which it is peculiarly necessary 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 efficiency and in strength,
for it can not be made in a hurry. At present both infantry and
artillery are too few in number for our needs. Especial attention
should be paid to development of the machine gun. A general service
corps should be established. As things are now the average soldier has
far too much labor of 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 the national forces, it
behooves the Government to do every reasonable thing in its power to
perfect its efficiency. It should be assisted in its instruction and
otherwise aided more liberally than heretofore. The continuous services
of many well-trained regular officers will be essential in this
connection. Such officers must be specially trained at service schools
best to qualify them as instructors of the National Guard. But the
detailing of officers for training at the service schools and for duty
with the National Guard entails detaching them from their regiments
which are already greatly depleted by detachment of officers for
assignment to duties prescribed by acts of the Congress.
A bill is now pending before the Congress creating a number of extra
officers in the Army, which if passed, as it ought to be, will enable
more officers to be trained as instructors of the National Guard and
assigned to that duty. In case of war it will be of the utmost
importance to have a large number of trained officers to use for
turning raw levies into good troops.
There should be legislation to provide a complete plan for organizing
the great body of volunteers behind the Regular Army and National Guard
when war has come. Congressional assistance should be given those who
are endeavoring to promote rifle practice so that our men, in the
services or out of them, may know how to use the rifle. While teams
representing the United States won the rifle and revolver championships
of the world against all comers in England this year, it is
unfortunately true that the great body of our citizens shoot less and
less as time goes on. To meet this we should encourage rifle practice
among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the
military services, by every means in our power. Thus, and not
otherwise, may we be able to assist in preserving the peace of the
world. Fit to hold our own against the strong nations of the earth, our
voice for peace will carry to the ends of the earth. Unprepared, and
therefore unfit, we must sit dumb and helpless to defend ourselves,
protect others, or preserve peace. The first step--in the direction of
preparation to avert war if possible, and to be fit for war if it
should come--is to teach our men to shoot.
THE NAVY.
I approve the recommendations of the General Board for the increase of
the Navy, calling especial attention to the need of additional
destroyers and colliers, and above all, of the four battleships. It is
desirable to complete as soon as possible a squadron of eight
battleships of the best existing type. The North Dakota, Delaware,
Florida, and Utah will form the first division of this squadron. The
four vessels proposed will form the second division. It will be an
improvement on the first, the ships being of the heavy, single caliber,
all big gun type. All the vessels should have the same tactical
qualities--that is, speed and turning circle--and as near as possible
these tactical qualities should be the same as in the four vessels
before named now being built.
I most earnestly recommend that the General Board be by law turned into
a General Staff. There is literally no excuse whatever for continuing
the present bureau organization of the Navy. The Navy should be treated
as a purely military organization, and everything should be
subordinated to the one object of securing military efficiency. Such
military efficiency can only be guaranteed in time of war if there is
the most thorough previous preparation in time 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 have as his official advisers
a body of line officers who should themselves have the power to pass
upon and coordinate all the work and all the proposals of the several
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 seniority is
kept, to expect to get the best results from the higher officers. Our
men come too old, and stay for too short a time, in the high command
positions.
Two hospital ships should be provided. The actual experience of the
hospital ship with the fleet in the Pacific has shown the invaluable
work which such a ship does, and has also proved that it is well to
have it kept under the command of a medical officer. As was to be
expected, all of the anticipations of trouble from such a command have
proved completely baseless. It is as absurd to put a hospital ship
under a line officer as it would be to put a hospital on shore under
such a command. This ought to have been realized before, and there is
no excuse for failure to realize it now.
Nothing better for the Navy from every standpoint has ever occurred
than the cruise of the battle fleet around the world. The improvement
of the ships in every way has been extraordinary, and they have gained
far more experience in battle tactics than they would have gained if
they had stayed in the Atlantic waters. The American people have cause
for profound gratification, both in view of the excellent condition of
the fleet as shown by this cruise, and in view of the improvement the
cruise has worked in this already high condition. I do not believe that
there is any other service in the world in which the average of
character and efficiency in the enlisted men is as high as is now the
case in our own. I believe that the same statement can be made as to
our officers, taken as a whole; but there must be a reservation made in
regard to those in the highest ranks--as to which I have already
spoken--and in regard to those who have just entered the service;
because we do not now get full benefit from our excellent naval school
at Annapolis. It is absurd not to graduate the midshipmen as ensigns;
to keep them for two years in such an anomalous position as at present
the law requires is detrimental to them and to the service. In the
academy itself, every first classman should be required in turn to
serve as petty officer and officer; his ability to discharge his duties
as such should be a prerequisite to his going into the line, and his
success in commanding should largely determine his standing at
graduation. The Board of Visitors should be appointed in January, and
each member should be required to give at least six days' service, only
from one to three days' to be performed during June week, which is the
least desirable time for the board to be at Annapolis so far as
benefiting the Navy by their observations is concerned.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Tuesday, December 8, 1908.
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Theodore Roosevelt, by Theodore Roosevelt
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