Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

RESiDENT'S MESSAGE, Pakes Annual Recommenc dations to Congress, ATTACKS ANT=TRUST LAW Sherman Act Should Be Amended to Permit Combinations Which Are In the Interest of the Public, Says the President - Urges Legislation to Safeguard the Wageworkers-Dwells on Need of Protection For Forests. Views on the Army and the Navy. Washington, Dec. 8.-In his message congress, read to the two houses, e president said: The financial standing of the nation at the present time is excellent, and he financial management of the na ion's interests by the government dur ing 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 eur rency commission will be able to pro pose a thoroughly good system which will do away with the existing defects. During the period from July 1, 1901. to Sept. 30., 108, there has been a net surplu.< (f nearly one hundred millions of receipts over expenditures, a reduc tion of the interest bearing debt by ninety millions. in spite of the extraor dinary expense of the Panama canal and a saving of nearly nine millions on the annual interest charge. This is an exceedingly satisfactory showing. There has been a reduction of taxa tion. Corporations. As regards the great corporations en gaged In interstate business, and espe O&Uy the railroads, I can only repeat ?what I have already again and again sald in my messages to the congress. it believe that under the interstate lause of the constitution the- United tates has complete and paramount pight to control all agencies of inter stte commerce, and I believe that the imational government alone can exer Ielse this right with wisdom and ef iectiveness so as both to secure justice from and to do justice to the great corporations which are the most im porta.nt 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 en forced only Imperfectly and unequal -ly, 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 pub lic has a right to know and, further more, the power, not by judicial, but by executive, action to prevent or put Sa stop to every form of improper fa voritism 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 lower ing of rates. As regards rates. at least this power should be summary. Pow er to make combinations and traffic agreements should be explicitly con rerred upon the railroads, the permis sion of the commission being first gained and the combination or agree ment being published in all its de tails. The interests of the sharehold ers, of the employees and of the ship pers 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 re turns 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 in terstate commerce commission. Ample Rewards For Intelligence. * It is to the interest of all of us that there should be a premium put upon * individual initiativ~'e and individual ca -.paeity and an ample reward for the great directing intelligences alone com petent to manage the great business operations of today. It Is well to keep in mind that exactly as the anarchist Is the worst enemy of liberty and the reactkenary 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 niame of popu lar rights would do wro:ng to and op press honest business men, honest men of wvealth, for the success of either type of wrongdoer necessarily invites a violent reaction against the cause the wrongdoer nominally upholds. The opposition to government con tro1 of these great corporations makes Itq most feotfe efort in he stho ; of an uppc-al He w l dlirilzo states' rights. The proposal to make lie national government supreme over, and there fore to give it complete control over. the railroads and other instruments of Interstate commerce is merely a pro posal to carry out to the letter one of the prime purposes, if not the prime purpose. for which the constitution was founded. It does not represent centralization. I believe that the more farsighted corporations are themselves coiing to recognize the unwisdom of the violent hostility they have displayed duriig the last few years to regulation and control by the national government of combinations engaged In interstate busi ness. Labor. There are many matters affecting la bor and the status of the wageworker to which I should like to draw your attention. As far as possible I hope to see a frank recognition of the ad vantages conferred by machinery, or ganization and division of labor, ac companied by an effort to bring about a larger share in the ownership by wageworker of railway, mill and fac tory. 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 Euro-; pean peasant. The depositors in our savings banks now number over one-tenth of our en tire population. These are all capital ists who through the savings banks loan their money to the workers-that is, in many cases to themselves-to carry on their various industries. 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 la bor, shortening of hours of all me chanical 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 edu cation should be encouraged. Protection For Wageworkers. There is one matter with which the congress should deal at this session. There should no longer be any palter ing with the question of taking care of the wageworkers who, under our present industrial system, become kill ed, crippled or worn out as part of the regular incidents of a given business. The object sought for could be achiev ed 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 pro viding old age pensions have been taken in many of our private Indus tries. Pending a thoroughgoing investiga tion and action there is certain legis lation which should be enacted at once. The law passed at the last ses sion of the congress granting corn pensation to certain classes of em ployees of the government should be extended to include all employees of the government and should be made more liberal in its terms. In this re spect the generosity of the United States toward 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 em ployee. -It Is inevitable that daily fa miliarity with danger will lead men to take~ chances that can be construed into negligence. I renew my recommendation made in a previous message that half holi days te granted during the summer to all wageworkers in government em ploy. I also renew my recomxiendation' 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 govern ment. , The Courts. I most earnestly urge upon the con gress the duty of increasing the totally inadequate salaries now given to our judges. On the whole, there is noI body of public servants who do as valuable work nor whose moneyed reward is so Inadequate compared to their work. Beginning with the su preme court, the judges should have their salaries doubled. It is earnestly to be desired that some method should be devised for do ing away with the long delays which now obtain in the administration of justice and which operate with pecul ar severity against persons of small means and favor only the very crimi nals whom it is most desirable to pun ish. At the last election certain leaders of organized labor made a violent and sweeping attack upon the entire ju diciary 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 mirtd and more restricted outlook. Last year before the house' comittee on the judiciary these same lablor leade~rs formIula ted their de mands, spe' ifying the bill that cnn taned them, refusing all compromise. stating they wished the irinciple of that bill or nothing. They insisted on a provision that in a labor diapute no injunction should issue except to pro tect a property right t an peincally visionl their bill i: de leg:1l in a lali dispute any net or :greeinIlt by between two or more perswis 1i would nit have been unlawful if d. by a single person. In other wor this bill legalized blacklist ing and b) coiting in every form. The deia: was made that tiere should be tr by jury in conteipt cases. lhere most seriously impniring the authori of the courts. All this re,presented course of poliry which, if carried ( would mean Ilie (nhilineient of O.q privilege in its crudest :nd ri brutal form and the destruction one of the most essential functions the judiciary in all civilized lands. The wageworkers, the workinugmt ;he laboring men of the country, by t way In which they repudiated the i fort to get them to cast their votes response to an appeal to class hatr have emphasized their sound patriotis and Americanism. Court's Imperiled by Judges. But the extreme reactionaries, t persons who blind themselves to t wrongs now and then committed I the courts on laboring men, shou also think seriously as to what such movement as this portends. T courts are jeoparded primarily by t action of these federal and stO judges who show inability or unwi ingness to )ut a stop to the wrou doing of very rich men under mode indu.strial e dit ions. There are iertinh dovisioins by v rious courts whi(-h have beuen exe ingly detrimLmUal to the rizhts wageworkers. This is true of all t' decisions that decide that men al women are by the constitution "guf anteed their liberty" to contract enter a dangerous occupation, or work an undesirable or improper nui ber of hours, or to work in unhealt] surroundings, and therefore cannot i cover damages when maimed in th occupation and cannot be forbiddi to work what the legislature decides an excessive number of hours, or carry on the work under conditio which the legislature decides to be u healthy. There is also, I think, ground f the belief that substantial injustice often suffered by employees in coin quence of the custom of courts iss ing temporary injunctions without t tice to them and punishing them f contempt of court in instances whei as a matter of fact, they have i knowledge of any proceedings. Pi vision should be made that no injur tion or temporary restraining ord issue otherwise than on notice, exce where irreparable injury would oth4 wise result, and in such case a het ing on the merits of the order shou be had within a short fixed peric and if not then continued after het ing it should forthwith lapse. De< sions should be rendered immediate and the chance of delay minimized every way. The courts are to be highly co: mended and stanchly upheld wh< they set their faces against wron doing or tyranny by a majority, b they are to be blamed when thi fall to recognize under a governme like ours the deliberate judgment the majority as to a matter of legi mate policy when duly expressed1 the legislature. The people shou. not be permitted to pardon evil ai slipshod legislation on the theory th the court will set it right. They shou be taught that the right way to get r of a bad law is to have the legislatu repeal it and not to have the courts1 ingenious hair splitting nullify it. People Themselves to Blame. For many of the shortcomings justice in our country our people as whole are themselves to blame, and ti judges and juries merely b)ear thE share together with the public as whole. It is discreditable to us as people that there should be difficul in convicting murderers or in bringh to justice men who as public servani bave been guilty of corruption or w] have profited .by the corruption of Pu ic servants. The huge wealth that has been a cumulated by a few individuals of cent years, in wvhat has amounted a social and industrial revolution, b; been as regards some of these indlvi uals made possible only by the iunpro er use of the modern corporation. C( porations are necessary instruments modern business. They have been pE mitted to become a menace largely I ause the governmental representativ, of the people have worked slowly providing for adequate control ov them. Real damage has been done by ti manifold and conflicting interpret tions of the interstate commerce la, Control over the great corporations d ug interstate business can be effecti only if it is vested with full power an administrative department. : bran< of the federal executive, carrying o a federal law. It enan never be fective if a divided responsibility left in both the states and the naftio It (can never be effective if left in t1 hands of the courts to be decIded 1 lawsuits. The courts hold a place of ieculi; and deserved sanctity under our for of government. Respect for the law essential to the permanence of our i stitutions. and respect for the law largely conditioned upon respect f the courts. But we must face the fa that there are wise and unwise judgE just as there are wise and unwise e eutives and legislators. When resident <:r zoveCrn1or bheYs impro e'ly or umwisely theI remedy is eas for his5 termi is' shor't. The same ue with the legislator. although n 'a the someII degree. With a jud; wo, beiing human, is also likely err, but whose tenure is for life, the is no similar way of holding hIm responsibility. Under ordinary coni tins the n1y forms of pressure fellow Judg Les. It is 11"o last whiicli is or most imimediately ffetive oind to or which we should look for tie reform at of ai>uses. ni. Forests. is, If there is any one duty which wore 7' than another we owe it to our children "d and our children's children to perform ['11 at once it is to s.ive the forests of by this country, for they constitute the ty first and most important element in I the conservatiin (if the natural re sources of ths country. Siortsigit od Iersoils. or persons blinded to the future by desire to make money in every way out of the o present. sometiies- speak as if no great damage would be done by the ne reckless destruction of our forests. It 4e is difficult to have patience with the in arguments of these persons. Thanks ed 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 uo measures that we now take can, at least for many he years, undo the mischief that has al he ready been done. But we can prevent .y further mischief being done, and it Id would be in the highest degree repre a hensible to let any consideration of be temporary convenience or temporary I cost interfere with such action, espe e cially as regards the national forests, 1 which the nation can now at this very moment control. [The president here cites in support of his contention.s the great destrue tion wrought in China by the denuda tion of the forest areas.I Of What has thus happened in northern ,d China, what has happened in central r Asia, in Palestine, in north Africa, in to parts of the Mediterranean countries to of Europe, will surely happen in our n country if we do not exercise that wise forethought which should be one of the chief marks of any people call at ing itself civilized. Nothing should be a permitted to stand In the way of the s preservation of the forests, and it is to criminal to permit individuals to pur [S chase a little gain for themselves through the destruction of forests when this destruction is fatal to the or well bein of the whole country in the isfuture. e. Inland Waterways. u- Action should be begun forthwith, 0- during the present session of congress, or for the improvement of our inland wa e, terways-actiop which will result in 2o giving us not only na-igable but o- navigated rivers. We have spent c- hundreds of millions of dollars upon er these waterways. yet Ihe traffic on pt nearly all of them is steadily declin r-ing. This condition is t'.e direct re . sult of the absence of any compre id hensive and farsceing plan of water d, way improvement. Ob;iously we can rnot continue thus to expend the rev ienues of the government without re-e ly turn. It is poor business to spend in money for inland navigation unless we get It. n. Such shortsighted, vacillating and n futile methods are accompanied by de g- creasing water borne commerce and ut increasing traffic congestion on land, 'by increasing floods and by the waste nt of public money. The remedy lies in of abandoning the methods which have ti- so signally failed and adopting new y ones in keeping with the needs and ld deman(1s of our people. id' In a' report on a measure introduced at at the first session of the present con Id gress the secretary of war said, "The id chief defect i the methods hitherto re pursued lies in the absence of execu ytive authority for originating compre Ihensive plans covering the country or natural divisions thereof." In this of opinion I heartily concur. a! Until the work of river improvement Sis undertaken in a modern way it can irnot have results that will meet the a Ineeds of this modern nation. These aneeds should be met without further tdilly-dallying or delay. The plan which Ipromises the best and quickest results tsis that of a permanent commission au 1thorized to co-ordinate the work of all bthe government departments relating to waterways and to frame and super c-vise the execution of a comprehensive ,I plan. The time for playing with our to waterways Is past. The country de mands results. d-National Parks. p- I urge that dlI our national parks ad r- jacent to national forests be placed of completely under the control of the r. forest service of the agricultural de e- Ipartmnent, Instead of leaving them, as ethey are now, under the Interior de In partment and policed by the army. er Pure Food. The pure food legislation has already 20 worked a benefit difficult to overesti a- mate. Secret Service. o- Last year an amendment was incor e porated in the measure providing for mthe secret service which provided that there should be no detail from the se a cret 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 vcriminal classes. The amendment in question was of benefit to no one ex cepting to criminals, and it seriously mr hampers the government in the detec tion of crime and the securing of jus tice. It prevents the promotion of em iployees in the secret service, and this or further discourages good effort. In its et' present form the restriction operates only to the advantage of the criminal. of the wrongdoer. a The chief argument in favor of the p.provision was that the congtressmenl v, dhidi not themselves wish to be investi s g.ated jy secret service men. Very lit ot t!e of such investigation has been done e in the past. btut it i.s true that the work to of the secret service agents was partly re responsible for the indictment and con-. to viction of a senator and a congressman Ii- for land frauds in Oregon. I do not to believe that it Is in the public interest in V :Znil ~1i1 ii.pas* :uch criminalis wo') wtre inl tiiek oxccu .Ve bralnch of 1t g.overm1111out SO in ny belief we should bie given :m111ple neans to prosecutt, thein if found in "he legislative braicli. But if this is lot colsideled desi:-:0bte : !iecial ex *0tio1 (ould le in1:i1lo Inl the law 11.0 libiting th'. use of the s-ret service orce i iln .i.:ui:: nwilw ers of the -ong.res. It : he 1.11 1tetter to do his thanl to- (? what :wnlyW:IS dIonlt ind strive t. ire1 vno t l ior nt le:st to iampor ec-ieactiol1niagaist 4-iml nals by. tlL- exelcutive branlei of the ,overnmeut. Postal Savings Banks. I again reinew my recoumendation or postal s:tvings banks. for deposit ng savings with the security of the roNernnent behind them. The object s to encur:ge thrift and economy in he wage enrner and person (if mod )rate menns. It is believed that in the iggregate vast sums of money would be brought into circulation through the instrunicutality of the postal sav ings banl:,. P1o,stal savings banks are ow in cper:ation ill practically all the reat eivilized countries with the ex ,eption of the ~nited States. Parcel Post. In my lasik :nnual :esage I comii mended the postimaster general's ree inmendation f(;r an extension of the parcel post on the rural ri)utes. The establishment of a local parcel post Dn rural routes would be to the mu Lual benefit of the farmer and the ountry storekeeper. and it is desirable that the routes, serving more 7han 15, 00.000 people, should be utilized to the fullest practicable extent. Education. The share that the national govern ment should take in the broad work of education has not received the atten tion and the care it rightly deserves. I earnestly recommend that this un fortunate state of affairs as regards the national educational office be rem edied by adequate appropriations. Census. I strongly urge that the request of the director of the census in connec tion 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 2ensus. The supervisors and enumer ators should not be appointed under the civil service law for the reasons given by the director. Public Health. The dangers to public health from !ood adulteration and from many otht er sources, such as the menace to the physical, mental and moral develop ment of children from child labor, should be met and overcome. This na tion cannot afford to lag behind in the worldwide battle now being waged by al] civilized people with the micro scopic foes of mankind. The first leg slative step to be taken is that for the oncentration of the proper bureaus into one of the existing departments. Statehood. I advocate the immediate admission! af New Mexico and Arizona as states. his should be done at the present ses ion of the congress. The people of he two territories have made it evi :lent by their votes that they will not :ome In as one state. The only alter aative is to admit them as two, and I trust that this will be done without :lelay. Foreign Affairs. This nation's foreign policy is based n. 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 proved our faith by our deeds. We hae behaved and are behaving to ward other nations as in private life an honorable man would behave toward bis fellowvs. Latin American Republics. The commercial and material prog ress of the twenty Latin American re publics is worthy of the careful atten ion of the congress. No other section f the world has shown a greater pro portionate development of its foreign rade during the last ten years, and one other has more special claims on the interest of the United States. Panama Canal. The work on the Panama canal is be .ng done with a speed, efficiency and mtire devotion to duty which make it i model for all work of the kind. No :ask of such magnitude has ever before >een undertaken by any nation, and no :ask of the kind has e'ver been better erformed. The men on the isthmus, ~rom Colonel Goethals and his fellow rommissioners through the entire list f employees who are faithfully doing heir duty. have won their right to the imgrudging respect and gratitude of :he American l)eoPle. Ocean Mail Lines. I againl recoimmendl the? extension of he ocean mail aet of 1891) so that sat sfactory American ocean mail lines to south America. Asia. the Philippines md Australasia may be established. ['he creation of such steamship lines should be the natural corollary of the royage of the b. *tle fleet. It should )recede the open.ng of the Panama -anal. The Philippines. Real progress toward self govern nent is being made ini the Philippine slnds. The gathering of a Phiiippine egSIlat ive bodly and11 PhiliineI assem ily. marks a pirocess ab.solutely. new in sia, not only as regards Asiatie colo is oif European powers. bat as re ards Asiatic possessions of other Asi ti powers, and indeed, always ex :eptinIg the striking and wonderful ex mple afforded by the great empire of .n,n it opens an entirely new de A n .V, h.ve ;ivn te Filipinits conlstitu t . -::mt-verionwnt. a government based kuoll justice, :111(l we have shown that We h:a1ve -ruvernIled thtin 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 nnd not by them. We must lie wise and gener oIS. We must hell) t he Filipinos to master the dithcult art of seIlf co trol, which is simply nnotlier name for self goverinuent. Ilut we cannot give them self government save in the sense of governing them so that grad ually they may, if they are able. lea.n to govern themselves. No one ca,, prophesy the exact date when it wil be wise to consider independence as a fixed and definite policy. Porto Rico. I again recommend that American citizenship be conferred upon the peo ple 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 turued over to them. Our occupation on this occasion has lasted a little over two years, and Cuba has thriveu 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 se cure. The Fleet's Reception. 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 re ceived on its practice voyage around the world. The American government cannot too strongly express its appre ciation of the abounding and generous hospitality shown our ships in every port they visited. The Army.0 As regards the army, I call attention to the fact that, while our junior offi cers 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. The scope of retiring boards should be extended so that they could con sider general unfitness to command for any cause in order to secure a far more rigid enforcement than at pres ent in the elimination of officers for mental, physical or temperamental disabilities. But this plan Is recom mended only if the congress dons not see fit to provide what in my judg ment is far better-that is, for selec tion in promotion and for elimination for age. Now that the organized i:nilitla, 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 pow er to perfect its efficiency. 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 of ficers to be trained as instructors of national guard and -assigned to that duty. There should be legislation to pro vide a complete plan for organiz ing the great body of' volunteers be hind the regular army and national guard when war has come. While teams representing the United States won the rifle and revolver champion ships of the world against all comers in England this year, it is unfortunate ly true that the great body of our citi zens 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. The Navy. ipprove 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 bat tleships. 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 divisio'n of this squadron. I most earnestly recommend that the general board be by law turned into a general staff. The e is literally no excuse whatever for contiluing 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. A system of promotion by merit, either by selection or by ex clusion or by both processes, should be introduced. 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 ex traordinary. and they have gained far more experience in battle tactics than they would have gained i.f they had stayed in the Atlantic waters. 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 :.i ne stmemnt enn be man . as to our officers. take~n as a whlme). but there must be a reservation made in regard to those in the highest ranks and in regard to those who have just entered the service. uecause we do not now get full benefit from our excellent nval sr.hno annapolis.