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Sl.SOPer Year [HE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE \ ?> ? Mr* Roosevelt Makes Rf commendations Concerning Needed Legislatioh TBI NATION PROSPEROUS, Gecoau??ttdftUons CotcxI&s a \7lde Bancs cf Subjects ? Finances, Com binations, Transportation, Natural Eeaomrctj a$d; Otter XstcrestiaT Topics Brouikt Is tho Attentica of Cur tweaking BocTj. Tlje message of President Roosevelt to J he second session of the Sixtieth ( engross wrs read in both houses, rnd was in substaneo as follows; To the Senate and House of Repres entatives : Finances. The financial standing of the nation 81 present time is excellent, and the financial management of the na tion s interests by the ? Government during the last seven years has shown Hit most satisfactory results. But cur 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 <:<> away with the existing defects. * During the period from July 1, 3901, to September 30, 1908, there was an increase in the amount of ^monoy in circulation of $902,991,399. The increase in the per capita during this period was $7.00. Within this time there were several occasions when it was neccssarv for the Treas ury Department to come to the relief of the money market by purchases of redemptions of United States bonds; by increasing deposits . in national banks ; by stimulating additional is sues of national bank notes, and bv facilitating importations from abroad of gold. Our imperfect cur rency system has made these proceed ings necessary, and they were effec tive until the-, monetary disturbance in the fall of 1907 immensely increas ed the difficulty of ordinary methods of relief. By the middle of Novem ber the available working balance in the Treasury had been reduced to ap {>rox innately $.">,000,000. Clearing iouko associations throughout the country had been obliged tq resort to the expedient ofv. issuing clearing house certificates, to bo used as jnoney. In this emergency it was de termined to invite subscriptions for $50,000,000 Panama Canal bonds, and $100,000,000 3 per ccnt certificates of indebtedness authorised by the act of June 13, 1903. It* was proposed to re deposit in tho national banks the pro coeds of these issues, and to permit . tbCir uso as a basis for additional cir culating notes of national banks. The moral effect Of this procedure was so great that it was necessary to iaeue only $24,031,980 of tho Panama Canal bonds and $15,430,500 of the aertifl. CStea of indebtedness. During the seven years and three months there has been a not surplus of nearly one hundred millions of re? ceipte 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 nenily nine millions on tbo annual interest charge. This is an exceedingly satisfactory showing, e*< pecially in view of tho'faot that dur ing this period the Nation has never hesitated to undertake any expendi ture that it regarded as necessary. There havo been no new taxos and no increase of taxos; on the contrary somo taxes have been taken off; there bfls been a reduction of taxation. Corporations, As regards tho great corporations engaged in Interstate bnsinoss, and especially tho railroads, I can only repeat what I have already again and again said in my message to the Con fross. I belicvo that under the inter, stato clause of the Constitution the , United States has complete and para* mount light to control all agencies of interestate commeree .and I believo that tho National Government alone can exerciso 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 worst than folly to attempt to prohibit all combina tions as is done by the Sherman anti trust law, because such a law can be enforced only imperfectly and un equally, and its enforcement works almost as much hardship as good. I strongly advocate that instead of an unwise effort to prohibit all combina tions, there shall be substituted a law which shnlj expressly permit combina tions which a io in tire interest of the public, but shall at tho same time give to Feme agency of the National Government full power of control and supervision over them. One of the chief features of this control should bo sccuiing 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 shoulrl be put corrpk'Ulv under the Inter state Commerce Commission and re moved firm the domain of the anti trust law. The power of the Commis sion should he made throughgoing, so n that it could exercise complete super vision and control over tho issue of ??wriUw it well u over the rtlaing and lowering of ratea. jig regards SEs&SsK5? Ut"on!ral?bl# feat"r^'ia *2SmU^bI Md t?I#WW t0 make combinations nlLl?** ??rra*n?" ?bould b? ex upon the railroads, iW StTif L?f ^ Commission bc or sirrcl?Mnfe?L*D tb?, conabination ita dSSu i Publlsh^ in all in Ik* the ,nter*?t of the pub ihonW *pre8entat?ves of the public ^ ?h- VOB?p,ete P?wer to we ?l ... railroads do their duty by the publae, and as a matter of couree terthtoa,d alr * the noinjuetirc. is done to V, Th? 8b? re-holders, the sftsv.? lh: wah,pp? ?? ??? interests that mast be guarded. It is ?*dC TV *" ?{ thom tbat no an?,!* g i * u 8pccu,ation should be imnron* ? 1Cre 8hou,d be no improper issuance of securities. The frwdniK intelligences necessary for msn?? * building and successful manapement of railroads should re ceive ample remuneration; but no iH*^ ? h* al!owed to make money X..S i * ?" Wlth ?i,roads out of ?.7^r. k;'rrb,inK Performan I?"' m"" >* ?o defrauding of investors, oppression of the farmers and business men who ship freight or USST^ff"* ,0f "Shts and iTtki. Ik. ? ""P'oywn. Ill addition JO this the interests of the sharo shinn**' of. th.e. ""Payees, and of the Iter Uld be P??^ed as of E:L0nCJn?ther; To *ive any one era?. i. ? JC '^proper consid eration is to do injustice to the others. pat\blemwi?h made as ,ow a" is oom patible with giving proper returns to from theT'TM ?f thc ?lro?d.| from the highest to the lowest, and roper returns to the shareholders; ducrf?nmHi un?'Pr insta"<*. be re tat<Ta ^uch fashion as to necesti *!! / ?n the wages of the emplov or the abolition of the proper ami legitimate protits of honest aharehold enirit5r"iPh- ?*nd lc|eP,lone eompanies i,Ut^ta.te bush,ess "bould tT#J^ r*? JtiriatKetion of the Interstate Commerce Commission. ti Labor. labor li/JS ??y mattcrs "Meeting ?b?r and tb? status of the wage Z.'.?,!llltV.'h,>uM lik? "> 1 your attention, but an exhaustive dis Mcti0? /he problem in it? as. peers is not now necessary. This nrf ministration is nearing its end- and moreover, under our form of govern.' ment the solution of the problem dcr Peuds upon the action of the Stnt^s | M i much as upon the action of the ui Qtl' therp pre ,er! Ill wn" erfttK>r8 which 1 wi#h ?o ou? tlni ?V0V.' beoai,<p I hope that tS!L u i Z T50,1* flnd more keep resist a ne#"0 / J?d ?"d ^norant form k ery ettort for thp re. form of abuses and for the readjust oondit? ?#rfe,y to modern industrial vitf ism bnf r#pr.e,e"t8 not true oonser e b t r i n ? I i * 0 incitement to the wild and wfi* i ' i TrI,,0 radicalism dothZm',tllln ?? hand j? nand 0ne bent on progress, the other unless "in00/^ ia,t,nj.chanR:e *? made unless in the right direction. I be S"' ",M<|y "Tori, or perhaps it i * lt50re acc"rate to sav in t oL ffl k? m u#ny dif*ercnt diree. sl?rTr' br,n? about a condition of whh h.MnH r WKh,C,h the ,nen who work Z IS J F i/r b,ain' the laborers, I he superintendents, the me,, who pro wluT fl j market and the men ? fln4 ? market for the articles fh^U7k 8h811 own a ftr irreator th^enr?in #t pr?lMt of ,he health vtltil #k \ -Vd be enab,ed to in. whllh in W* and Inatrumentg by rJ ^SLJSi W?r.k i? oarrlcd on* As far ,e* ft ?rflnl< rce. h5 ^ ui he odvant?*e? conferred JfaloTn# ft or*,nizatlon. and <1|. vision of labor, accompanied bv an ?ffort to brine abont a |,wr iharS rtilwv?Wn,n ibJ wafto-workera of railway, mill, and factorv. In farm togir 11 81?ply mean> ihat we wi?b we dn 1Z ^er4 0Wn hi" own land ; larJ ?K.? 1 1 u 8Ce thp farm? so large that they become the property of absentee landlords who farm thrrn by tenants, nor yet so small that the farmer becomes like a European peas ant. Again, the depositors in our saving banks now number over one tenth of our entire population. Th?H,0 are all capitalists, who through t h<> , savings banks loan their monev to ! workers that is, in many rases to themselves? to earrv on their var. ious industries. The more we increase their number, the more we introduce the principles of cooperation into our mdustry. Every increase in the num ber of small stockholders in eorpora * J00? thing' for th* Rame reason# ; and where the employees are srlv ^? vr" th" Tr*"U is Particu larly good Very much of this move ment must be outside of anvthinp; that ean be accomplished by legislation ; but legislation can do a eood d*al. Postal savtngs banks will moke it easy for the poorest to keen their savirTs in absolute ssfotv. The rr-/ j'lation of the national highways m be such t lint thev shall serve nil n o. }?le with equal justice. Corporate flnaneet must be supervised so as fo make it fy safer than at present for Ik* man of email means to forest his , money in stocks. There must be pro hibiten of (U4 labor, diminution of woman labor, shortening of hoars of all meehaiHeal labor; atoek watering should bo prohibited, and stoek gamb ling so far as is possible discouraged. < There should be a progressive inheri tance tax on large fortunes. Indus trial education should be encouraged. Aa far aa possible we should lighten the burden of taxation on the small nun. We ahould put a premium upon thrift, hard work, and bupineas ener gy i but theaa qualities eease to be the main factors in accumulating a for tune long before that fortune reachee a point where it would be aeriously affected by any inheritance tax such aa I propose. It is eminently right that the Nation should fix the terms upon which the great fortunes'are in herited. They rarely do good and they often do harm to those who in herit them in their entirety. ? The above is the merest sketch, hardly even a sketch in outline, of ^thc reforms for which we should "work. But there is one mstter with which the Congress should deal at this session. Tliere 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 os part of the regular incidents of a given business. The majority of wage workers must have their rights se cured for them by State action; but the Notional Government should leg-' islate in thoroughgoing and far-reach ing fashion not only for all employees of the National Government, but for all persons engaged in interestate commerce. The object sought for cuold be achieved to a measurable de gree, os for as those killed or crippled are concerned, bv proper employers' liability laws. As far as concerns those who have hern worn out, I coll your attention to the fact tbot definite steps toward provding old-age pen sions have been taken in many of our private industries. These may bo in definitely extended through voluntary association and contributory schemes, or through the agent y of savings banks, os under the recent Massachu setts plan. To strengthen these prac tical measures should be our imme diate duty; it is not at present neces sary to consider the larger and more general governmental schemes that most Europena governments have found themselves obliged to adopt. 1 renew my recommendation made in a previous message that half-holi days bo granted during summer to all wage-workers in Government employ. 1 also renew my recommendation that the principle of the eight-hour day should as rapidlv and os far as practicable be extended to the entire work being carried on by the Govern ment ; the present low should be amended to embrace contracts on those public works which the present wording of the act seems to exclude. Tfco Courts. I most earnestly urge upon the Con gress the duty of increasing the to tally 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 re ward is so inadequate compared to their work. Beginning with the Su preme Court the Judges should hove Ibeir salaries doublid. It is not be fitting the dignity of the Notion that it a most honored public servants should be paid sums so small compar ed to what they would earn in private life that the performance of public service by them implies an exceeding ly 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 administro ticn cf justice, ond which operate with peculiar severity ogainst pendens of small means, and favor only the very criminals whom it is most de sirable to punish. These long delays in the final decisions of oases moke in the aggregate a crying evil; and a remedy should be devised. Much of this intolerable delay is due to im proper regard paid to technicalities which ore a mere hindrance to justice. In some noted recent cases this over regard for technicalities has resulted in a striking denial of justice, and fUgrant wrong to the body politic. Forests. If there is any one dntv which more than another we owe it to our children , and our children's children to pcr | foim at once, it is to save the forests of (his country, for they constitute the first and most important element in the conservation of the natural re sources of our country. /There are of conrse two kinds of natural resources. One is the kind which can onlv be used as part of a process of exhaus tion; this is true of mines, natural oil and gas wells, and the like. The oiher, and of course ultimately by far i lie most important, includes the re sources which ran be improved in the process of wise use; the soil, the riv ers, and the forests come under this head. Any really civilized nation *viM so use ell of these three great natlor.nl assets that the nation will have their benefit in the future. Just r.s a fanner, ofter 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, inereasd iti value and not worn out. There are ?mall sec tions of our own country. In the East and in the West, i:> the Adirondacks, the White Mountains, and the Appa lachians, nnd in the Roekv Mountains, where we eon already see for oursel ves the drrr.aee in the shnpp of per manent injury to the soil -ond the river sv stems which comes from reck Irss deforestation. It inntters not whether this deforestation is due to the actual cutting of timber, to tho i &**? t Jm t inevitably follow anch reck lets cutting of timber, or to reckleaa an* ^uncontrolled ;gruaing, especially jjjj1 ?te** kands of sleep, the unchecked wanderings of which over the country means de struction of foreata and diaaster to i* 6 m?kers' the settlers .of limited meana. ? Xalurt Waterways. Action should be begun forthwith, rorfJLlH ""?!??? ?ewion ?' the Congifeae, for the improvement of *?ur S2IS? ^t?wyMfct^.wbieh will ISSi lit ?*,no: navi f?ble but navigated rivers. We hav* *pent hundreds of million* of dollar "P?? thf8? waterway#, re* the traffio on nearly all of tkem is steadily de condition is the dhect wsult of the abeenee of any compre hensive and far-eeein* plan of waler way improvement. Obviouslv we ea-. "ot continue thus* to expend the Av enues of the Government, without re turn. It is poor business to spend money for inland navigation unless we get it. . Denatured Alcohol. I had occasion in my message of May 4, 1900, to urge the passage of sproe law putting alcohol, used in tl* arts, industries, and manufactures, upon the free list; that ij,, to provide for the withdrawal free of tax of alcohol which is to be denatured for hose purposes. The ia.v c? June 7, {nU ' a,,d 1,8 amendment of Mareh 2. 1907, accomplished what was desired in that respeet, and the use of de natured aleohol, as intended, is mak ing a fair degree of progress and is entitled to further encouragement and support from the Congress. Pure Food. The pure food legislation has al ready worked a benefit difficult to I overestimate. Indian Affairs. I It lias been my purpose from the beginning of my administration to take the Indian Servico t??mplctely out of the atmosphere of political activity, and there has been stead v progress toward that end. The last remaining stronghold of polities in that service was the agency svstem. wlueli had seen its best days and wns gradually foiling to pieces from nat !!? n P"rt,v 4*olutionary causes, but. like all such survivals, was de caying slowly in its later stages. It setms clear that its extinction had better be made final. now, so that the ground can be clcared for larger con structive work on behalf of the In dians, preparatory to their induction into the full measures of responsible citizenship. On November 1 only eighteen agencies were left on the roster, with two exceptions, where some legal quest ioiva. seemed to stand temporarily in the way, these have been changed to snpeHntendensies. and their heads brought into the I classified civil service. ? Secret Service. f law cnaeted by the last session I ?[ Congress to provide, that there should be no detail from the Secret oerviee and no transference there from seems to have been only in the interest of the criminal classes, both large and small, and as a mat ter of common interest should be re pealed and the old system re-enact I ed. Corporations are necessary instru ments of modem business. They have been permitted to become a mcn.ee largely because the govermental rep resentatives of the people have work ed slowly in providing adequate con trol over them. . Control over the great corporations doing interstate business can be ef fective-only when such control is rested in the executive department of the government. Postal Savings Banks. I again renew my recommendation or postal savings banks, for deposit ing savings with the seeuritv of the government behind them. The obiect s o encourage thrift and eeonomv in tho wage-earner and person of moderate means. In fourteen States the deposits in savings banks a* re ported to tho Comptroller of the Currency amount to $3,590,245,402, or r' Cent ot the *ntlre deposits, while in the remaining 32 States there are only ?70,308,?43, or 1.0 per cent ehowlni conclusively that there arc many iocal.lica in the United State, where sufficient opportunitv is not fit?" ,0 l*?Ple t0 their pavings. The result is that money is ? l i- 'm^n* and unemployed. If ?* believed that in the aggregate vast sums or money would be brought in to circulation through the instrume'i tahtv of the postal savings banks. While there are only 1,453 savings banks reporting to the Comptroller 4n^nnnrrm0uITLthan fil'000 ^-offices 40,000 of which nre money order of fices. lostal savings banks are now m operation in practically all the great civilized countries with the ex ception of the United States. Parcel Post. In my Inst annual message I com mended the Postmaster-General's re commendation for an extension of the P1r77. r?8t on ,,ie n,rnl routes. The establishment of a local parcel post on rural routes would be to the mu tual benefit of the farmer and the country storekeeper, and it is de sirable that the routes, serving more than 15,000.000 people, should be utilized to the fullest practicable ex tent. An amendment was proposed >n the Senate at the last session, at the suggestion of the Postmaster '?eneral, providing that, for the pur pose of ascertaining the practicability or establishing n special local parcel post system r>n the rural route? throughout the United Ktatf-< thr Postmaster General be authorised and "?rceted to experiment and report to tho ( ongress the result of such ex periment by establishing a special local parcel post system on rural dc livery rentes in not to txccfd four counties in the United States tor packagea of fourth-class matter orig inating on a rural route or at the dis tributing post cfRec for delivery by rural carriers. It would seem only proper that _ such an experiment should be tri;d in order to demon strate the practicability of the prop oaitic.i, especially as the Postmaster General estimates that the revenue derive^ frcm the opeation of sueh a system on all the rural routes would amount to msnv million dollars. Education. The share that the National Gov ernment should take in the broad work of education has not received the attention and the care it rightly deserves. The immediate responsi bility for the support and improve ment 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 Natiou hag an opportunity in education work which must not be lost and a duty which shpuld no longer bo neglected. With the 1 'mi ted means hitherto ptwided, the Bureau of Education ihas rendered efficient service, but the Congress has neglected to adequately supply the bureau with means to meet the educational growth of the coun try. The appropriations for the gen eral work of the bureau, out side edu cation in Alaska, for the year 1909 arc hut $87,500 ? an amount less than they were ten years ago, and some of the important items in these appro priations are less than they were thirty years ago. It is an inexcusable waste of public money to appropri ate an amount wjiich is so inade quate as to make it impossible prop erly 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 appropri ations. Census. I strongly urge thnt 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 ser vice law, waiving the geographical requirements as requested by the Di rector of the Cens is. The supervisers and enumerators should not be ap pointed under the eivil service law, for the reasons given by the Director. I commend to the Congress the care ful consideration of the admirable re port of the Director of the Census, ard I trust that his recommedations wiA be adopted and immediate action thereon taken. Soldiers' Home. All Soldiers' Homes should be plac ed under the complete jurisdiction and control of the War Department. Independent Bureaus and Commis eions. Economy and sound business policy require that all existing independent bureaus and commissions should be placed under the juridiction of ap propriate executive departments. It is unwise from every standpoint, and results only in mischief, to have any executive work dono 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 Cabi net Minister. Statehood. I advocate the immediate al-sb sion of New Mexico and Arizona as States. This should be done at tfye present session of the Congrert*. The people of the two Teivitories have made it evident bv their votes that they will not come in as one State. The onlv alternative is to admit them as two. and I trust that I his will be (Vne without delay. Interstate Fisheries. I call the attention of the Con gress to Ihe importance of the prob lem rf the fisheries in the interstate wateis. On the Great l akes we are row. under the very wise treaty of April 11th, of this year, endeavoring to come to un international agree ment for the preservation and satis factory use of the fisheries of these waters can not otherwise be achieved. Lake Erie, for example, has the rich est fresh water fisheries in the world j but it is now controlled bv the statutes of two Nations, four States, and one Province, and in this Prov ince by different ordinances >:i dif ferent counties. All these political divisions work a t, cross purposes, and in no ease they achieve protection to the fisheries, on the one hand, and justice to th" localities and individ uals on the other. The case is simi lar in Pugct Sound. Fisheries and Fur Seal*. The federal statute regulating in terstate trnflic in gam? should be ex tended to include fish. New federal fish hate,*"?ries should be esthalished. The administration of the Alaskan fur-seal service should be vested in the Bureau of Fisheries. Foreigr Affairs This Nation's foreign policy is base,j on the theory t lint, right must he dona, between nations precisely as between individuals, and in our ac tions for the last ten years we have in this matter proven our faith bv our deeds. We have behaved and arc behaving, towards other nations, as in private life an honorable ma.i would behave towards his fellows. Latin- American Republics. The commercial and material pro gress of the twenty Latin-American Republics is worthy of the rrreful I attention of the Congress. No other seetirn rf the werld hf.< nhown * treat er f?*op{.rt?ej?"tr <Vv/ Vipment < f its foreign trad?- durr? <!>e li*' ??*? \ea is arid none other lias more special claims on the interest of the tTnifcd States. It offers today probably larger opportunities for the legiti mat# extension of our ccramcrtc then aojr other group cf eo:v?4ries. The?? eountries will want out pioducts it| greatly increased quantities. end we shall eoi respond! ugly nerd theirs. The International Bureau of the Am* ertean He pub lie* i* doinjc a useful work iu making thes? nations and ;their resources better l:no?n to us, and in acquainting (hem not o?il.? with us as a pfuplo end wiJ'i our purposes towards tbem. but with wbat we have to exchang* t'er (heir food#. It It on internal insri tnticu iupportfd bv eil the Rdl-r.n menta of the two Americas. . rioiair, Canal. , The work en the Panama Caucl is being done with a speed. efjeienev and entire devotion to dutv, which make it a model for all work of the kind. No task of sne'i magnitude has ever before been undertaken bv air*-. nation; and no task of the k' !<i has ever hern better performed. Tlic men on the Isthmus. from Colonel (Joe thala nnd his fellow commissioners through the entire l,st. <^f employees who are faithful!.- doing the'r duty, have wen their right to 4 he ungrudp in? respoct and gratitude of the An: eriean people. j Ocean Mail Iirc3. I again recommend the extension of the ocean mail act of 1801 c0 thnt satisfactory American ocean lines to South America. Aaia. the Phil pines, and AustValia may be established. The cfeation of such steamship lines , should be the natural corollarv of the voyage of the battle fleet. It should precede the opening of the Panama Canal. Even under favorable con ditions several years must elapse bo fore such lines can be put into epcra tion. Accordingly I urge that the Congress act promp'lv whetre fore sight already shows that action soon er or later will be inevitable. The Army. As retrards the Anny I call atten tion to the fact that while our junior officers and enlisted men stand very high, the present system cf promo tion bv seniority results in bringing into the hither grades iv*>;jy nion of mediocre cpacitv who have bnt a shoit time to serve. No man shonhl regprd it as his vested right to ri>? to the highest rank in the Aimv ar.y more than iu c.iv other pvofess'on. It 1? a curious and bv no means cred itable fact that there should ho ro often a failure on the part of the pubi c puj its representatives to un derstand the great need, from the standpoint rf the service and the Na tion, of refusing to promote respeot able, elderly' incomDctcnts. The higher places should be given to the most deserving men without regard to seniority; at least senioritv should be treated as onlv one consideration. In the stress of modern industritl competition no business fl:m could succeed if those responsible for its management were chosen simplv on the ground that they were the oldest people in its emplo\ment; yet this is Ihe course advocated as regards the ormv, and required by law for oil grades except those of general officer. As a matter of fact, all of the best officers in the highest ranks of the anny are those who hav? attained their present position whellv or in part by a process of selection. Tfce Nary. I approve the recommendation* of the General Board for the increase of the Navy, celling especial attention to the need ClJ additional deatroverf and colliers, tful above all. of the four battleships. It is desirable to complete as son as possible a squad ron of eight battleships of the best existing type. The North 'Dakota. Deleware. Florida and Utah w'll form the Pus' cf this squadron. Th? four vessels pic posed will form the second division. It will be an improvement cn the flist, the ships being of the heavy, single caliber, all big gun type. All the vessels should have the same tactical qualities, that is, sp-ed and turning circle, and nj s near as possible theso tactical qualities should be the same as is in the four verse |* before named now being built, fJl;e American pcoflo have cause lor profound gratification, both in view of the excellent condition of the fleet as shown by this cr.sise ,and in view c-f the impiovrment the cruise has worked in this already high ccn dit.cn. I do not believe that there it any other fervlco in the world in which the average of character and (fficicney in ihe crl stod nnn is a* hivh rs is row the case in our own. 1 believe that t Jic same statement ran he made as to bur c flleers, taken as a whole; hut there must be a rcscrva* t en made in regard to those in the highest lanks? as to which I have al ready spoken ? end iij regard to those who have just entered t' service; because we do not now get full bene fit furn our excellent naval school r.t Annapol s. It is obs-.trd not to graduate tne midshipmen os ensigns; to keep them for two years in su?'!i rn anomelous |Mnitien as at present the law requires is detrim'-n'al to ? hem and te> thn service, J.i the aca demy itself, every first classman s!:ould be required in turn to serve as petty officer and officer; his abil ity to discharge his duties as such should be a prerequisite to his going into the line, snd his success in com manding should largely determine his standing at graduation. The Board of Visitors should be appointed in January, and each member should bp required to give at Ifast six dnvs' service, onlv ffc m fie to thrr" Hays' to be performed during June week, v/hi-Ji ;?? t;.<- )e>i*t dc.ijrab.'e time for 0?" ?'?rid *o b,v ot Anr-'?f.r? ?o far i i h ' 'I M "_r the navv by ? Ii-r- '? r eb f .1 vatic i?'? in concerned. TTTKODORK ROOSKVFiLT. The White House, Tuesdry, ?ocem bcr H, 1003. CHURCH AND LABOR ? ? ? Religious Ffdrralion Takes Up Issue of Working People CHILD LABOR CUR DISGRACE Pederci Ccnrdl of the Chcvabe* of Christ in Air crica Endorits tt# Wcrk ef the L*bor Oriadiationj. Philadelphia, Pa., Special. ? A clett ?cnccption of what the Federal Conn* ?il of th? cburcbcs of Christ in Am ?rica hope to accomplish through Church unity wns conveyed through !hc actions of the body in session here in adopting resolutions placing itself on rccord as favoring active work in the interest of the laboring man and organised labor and also urging a better distribution of clmrrlics end the missionary workers. Rev. Charles Str.ltzer, of New York, superintendent of the department of rhurch and labor of the Presbyterian church, declared that the relation of the laboring man to the church was one that dared not be ignored. He said that topics must be introduced to interest sthe working man in the church and keep him away from So cialism. Ho declared that Socialism bad taken the lead from the churches in taking up the fight for advance ment in behalf of labor and placed himself on record as favoring organiz ed labor. No matter what the evilt of the labor organizations, he said, they were necessary in protecting the working men against organized cap ital. I)r. A. J. MeKelwav. of New Or leans, secretary for the Southern States of the National Child Labor Commission, declared that the greatest shame of the rountrv was child labor and that the greaetst shame of the church is it? disregard of this indus trial and social problem. The resolution of the committee on "The Church and Modem Industry" was adopted, recommending the aboli tion of child labor; the regulation of the work of women so as to protect the physical and moral health of com munities; the suppression of the "sweating system;" the projection of the worker from dangetons ma chinery; a reasonable reduction of V ? l hours of labor to the lowest practii I bio point ; a living wag? ns a minimum in every industry and for the highest wage that each industry can afford. Memorial to Cleveland. New York, Special. ? Notable exer cises in memory of the late Orovet Cleveland, former President of the United States, constituted the feature /it the opening session in this city of the Association of Life Insurance Presidents, of which he had been chairman during the year and a half between the time of its organization and his death. The programme in. eluded addresses by President Paul Morton, of the Equtable Life Assur ance Society, and Dr. John II. Finley, president of the College of the City of New York, and the reading of let ter* which had been received from former Vice President Adlai ^ E, Sevenson, and Governor Hoke Smith, .jhm} ' Hilarv A. Herbert, members of Mr. Cleveland's cabinet. Works cn With Broken Neck. Granville. Mas?.. Special. ? BuliiJ bard Hollister, an elJerly farmer. ha? been performing routine duties about his place since July Ml with a broken neck . Friday he decided to eonsuW a physician relative to his "stifj neck." Dr. A. T. Schoonmaker no I Dr. H. W. Van Allen applied X-ray? and found that two vertebrae werj fractured. Hollister may livo indeflj nitely it is stated. ? Killed Daughter Then Suicided. Memphis, Tcnn., Spceia1.--A hand# romely dressed woman, supposed M be Mrs. Nicholas P. Errington, o| Chicago, fought a desperate battU ?vith her 12-year-old daughter, The* resa, in the Peabody Hotel, killing 'ho child and herself. Carbolic acid 'vr.s the weapon used and both wer? teriibly burned. Hflf-MJllion Fcr Pie*. Atlantic City, Sprcifl. ? Sale of thd Steeplechase Pier, wl ose principal owner is Councilman William Riddluj to a New York syndicate for .$f>00,00| hps set mew value on property on ? side the Poardwaik, flt:d will pro S ahlv rlnrrst double the price. whi?-| city ofiHr!* intended to pay for co a demnaticn of the beach front. T.ii new owncts of the pier are not ? known, but are underfeed to ha"| in mind the rebuilding of the p'->| at the end of the lease now held bj Georgo Tilyou. , All-Night Bank. 1 Philadelphia, Special. ? Despite t! 4 genersl belief that the Quaker Ci'f gfocs to br<1 nt () o'clock, Philadelph a is soon to have on "cv.l" or rll-ni^ t bank to acrr.modate w o prov.l r.b* t dnrir.^ 1V> i? " t?}: t vntelw t The new .'ulil'tlion will h- ?<n?lnet <1 on I jjo eo'itinucun plan r.:ul will ha a counting room and offices in tl a northwest torner of tho IJellcvuo* Stratford. j