The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, December 09, 1915, Image 2
PRESIDENT'S WORD
IS 'TO PREPARE'
Annual Message Pleads for Con
certed and Efficient
Action.
FOR GREATER REGULAR ARMY
Citizen Soldiery Part of His Plan
Problem of Commercial Mobilization
Stated-Disloyalty Among Cer
tain Elements in Our Na
tional Life Serious
Menace to Peace.
Washington, Dec. 7.-President Wil
son today delivered the following mes
sage -o congress:
Gentlemen of the Congress: Since I
last had the privilege of addressing
you on the state of the Union the war
of nations on the other side of the sea,
which had then only begun to disclose
its portentous proportions, has extend
ed its threatening and sinister scope
until it has swept within its flame
come portion of every quarter of the
globe, not excepting our own hemi
sphere, has altered the whole face of
international affairs, and now presents
a proipect of reorganization and re
construction such as statesmen and
peoples have never been called upon
to attempt before.
We have stood apart, studiously neu
tral. it was our manifest duty to do
so. Not. only (lid we liave no part or
interest in lie policies which seem to
have brought the conflict oi; it. was
necess;iry, if a universal catastrophe
wits to be avoided, that a limit should
be set. to the sweep of destructive war
and tint some part of tle great family
of nations should keels the processes
of peace alive, if only to prevent. col
lect iv (conoic ruin and the break
down li troughout the world of the in
dustries by which its populations are
fed aind sustained. It was manifestly
the dulty of the self-governed nations
of this hemisphere to redress, if pos
sihle, the balance of economic loss
nadml confusion in the other, if they
could do nothing more. In the day of
readjustment and recuperation we
earnestly hope and believe that they
can he of infinite service.
American Nations Partners.
In this neutrality, to which they
Were bidden not only by their separate
life and their habitual detachment
from the politics of Europe but also by
a clear perception of international
duty, the states of America have be
come conscious of a new and more
vital community interest and moral
partnership in affairs, more clearly
conscious of the many conlnol sym
pathies and interests and duties which
bid them stand together.
'T'here was a time in the early (lays
('I' 011 own great nation and of the re
publics lighting their way to inde
pendence in (entral and South Amer
lea when the government of the Unit
edt StatIes lolokedi upoin itself as ini some
sont thle gutardlian (of thle republics to
the southI of her as against any on
croeachmtenits or' tfforts at plolitical conl
trot from t he ot her side of the water;
felt it. its dty ) to play thie part even
withouit inivit at ion fronm thea; atnd I
think that we caln elal im that the task
int erested( t'ntht siatstm for the freedom
of the Amettricens auid the unmolested
self-govc-ternmet (If her inidepenldent
peoples. Ittt it was always dillicult to
mnaintIa In sttch . role without offense
to t he prtide of' thle Peoples whose free
(101m of acttin we' sought to prttct,
and wit houtt ptrovokitng seriouts niscon.
cepitions of tourt mtotives, antd every
Stoutght ful mant of affair's muist wel
c-omie the al tetred circumi~stanc~es of the
ne0w dayt iln whoseo light we now stand,
whlen Itere is tno climt of guardian
itip or' thoughtL of ward(s bitt, inlsteatd,
Sfull atid hontotable association as of
' atnters between ourselves and our
neighibotrs, in the inter-est of all Amor
in tnorth atid southi. Our concern for
:t he inad (etiemlnce and prtosperity of the
states (If (enitrial and South America
iH not alter-ed, We i-cgam unabated
the splirit t hat. has inspllired us through
out the whole life of our government
andi whIch was so frankly putt into
wiord(s by il-resident Monroe. We still
mteant alwiays to make a common cause
of niationtal independened and of po
lIt Ical liberty in Amieuica,
Attitude Toward Mexico.
We have been put to tihe test in
the case of Mexico, and we have stood
the test. Whether we have benefIted
Mexico by the course we havo pursued
remiatinis to be seeni. Her fortunes are
in hoer own hands. But we have at
least proved that we will not fake ad
vanatage of her In her distress and un
dertLake to impose upont her an order
andl government of our own choosing.
WVe will aid and befriend Mexices, but
we will not coer-ce her; and out' course
with regard to her ought to be sumf
cient proof to all America that we
seek no political suzerainty or selfish
cotltrol;'
The moral is, that .the states' of
Anferiea are not hostile rivals but co
operating friends, and that their growv
ing sense of community of inter-ost,
alike in matters politlcal and in mat
ter's economic. is likely to give them
* nlew significance as factors ip inter
national affairs and in tihe politicai
history of the-,world.
DrawIng the Americas Together.
.There is, I venture to point oiut, an
especial significance just nIOW attach
inur to this whole matet ofdrawinig
tags because of the economie read us
mente which the world must inev
tably witness within the next generi
tion, when peace shall have at last (
sumed its healthful tasks. In the pei
formance of these tasks I believe th
Americas to be destined to play then
parts together. I am interested. to fl
your attention on this prospect nov
because unless you take it within you
view and permit the full signifilcanc
of it to command your thought I car
not find the right light in which to se
forth the particular matter that lie
at the very front of my whole though
as I address you today. I mean na
tional defense.
No one who really comprehends the
spirit of the great people for whon
we are appointed to speak can fail to
perceive that their passion is for
peace, their genius best displayed it
the practice of the arts of peace. Great
democracies are not belligerent. They
do not seek or desire war. Their
thought is of individual liberty and of
the free labor that supports life and
the uncensored thought that quickens
it. Conquest and dominion are not in
our reckoning, or agreeable to our
principles. But just because we de
mand unmolested development and
the undisturbed government of our
own lives upon our own principles of
right and liberty, we resent, from
whatever quarter it may come, the ag
gression we ourselves will not prac
tice. \Ve insist upon security in prose
cuting our self-chosen lines of nation
al development. We do more than that.
We demand it also for others.
Question of Preparedness.
Out of such thoughts grow all our
policies. We regard war merely as a
means of asserting the rights of a peo
ple against aggression. And we are
as fiercely Jealous of coercive or dic
tatorial power within our own nation
ns of aggression from without. We
will not maintain a standing army ex
C('ipt for uses whi< ' are as necessary
in times of peace as in times of war;
and we shall always see to it that our
military peace establishment is no
larger than is actually and continu
iusly needed for the uses of days in
which no enemies move against us.
lBut we (o believe in a body of free
'itizens ready and suflicient to take
pare of themselves and of the govern
nents which they have set up to serve
hem.
lut war has never been a mere mat
ser of men and guns. It is a thing of
lisciplined might. If our citizens are
ver to fight effectively upon a sudden
mntmons, they must know how mod
'rn lighting is lone, and what to do
when the summons comes to render
themselves immediately available and
immediately effective. And the gov
ernment must be their servant in this
matter, must supply them with the
training they need to take care of
themselves and of it.
It is with these ideals in mind that
the plans of the department of war
for more adequate national defense
were conceived which will be laid be
fore you, and which I urge you to
sanction and put into effect as soon
as they can be properly scrutinized
and discussed. They seem to me the
essential first steps, and they seem
to me for the present sufficient.
Larger Army Plan.
They contemplate an increase of the
standing force of the regular army
from its present strength of 5,023
officers and 102,985 enlisted men of
all services to a strength of 7,136
officers and 134,707 enlisted men,
or 141,843, all told, all services,
rank and file, by the addition
of fifty-two companies of coast
artillery, fifteen companies of engi
neers, tell regiments of infantry, four
regiments of field artillery, and four
ace squadrons, besides 750 officers
requliredl for a great variety of extra
service, especially the all important
dulty of training tile citizen force o1
wvhich I 811al1 presently speak, 795
noncommissionedi officers for serv
ice in drill, recruilting and the
like, and the necessary quota of en
listed men for the quartermastel
cor-ps, tile hospital corps, the ord
nance department, an~d other simila1
auxiliary services. Thlese are the ad
ditions necessary to render tile arma
adequate for its present duties, dutiet
whlichI it 11as to perform not only upox
our own continental coasts and bor
dors and( at our interior army posts
but also in the Philippines, in thi
Ilawvailan islands,.at thle isthmus, ant
i Porte Rico.
By way of making tile country reagl:
to assert someI part of its real powe
promptly and utpon1 a larger scalc
shloulid occasion arise, the plan als<
contemplates supplementing thle arm:
by a force of 400.000 dlisciplined citi
zens, raised in increments of 133
000 a year throughoutt a periot
of thmree years. This it is proposet
to do by a process of enlistment us
der which the serviceable men of thi
country would he asked to bind thorn
selves to serve with the colors~ for pur
pose of training for shlort period
throughlout three years, and (o corni
to the colors at call at any timt
throughout an addiltional "furlough
period of three year-s. This force o
400,000 men wvould be provided witi
personal accoutrements as fast al
enlisted and their eqluipmlent fo:
the field made ready to be stup
plied at any time. They wouild bi
assenmble-d for- training at stated in
tervals at convenient places in asso
elation wvith suitable units of the
regular army. Their period of annua
training woutld not necessarily e>.ceci
two months inm theo year-.
At least so much by tile wvay o:
prepanrat in for defense seems to mc
to be absolutely imperative now. W<
canr ot do less.
The Naval Program.
The progr-am which will be laid be
fore you by the secretary of'tile nav)
-. STRIKING POINTS IN PRI
The department of war cont
force of the regular army from
r and 102,985 enlisted men to 7,136
supplementing the army by a for
It will be t the advantage of
r a comprehensive plan for puttin
strength and efficlency.
The gravest threats against
been uttered within our own boi
it is necessary for many weig
development that we should have
It seems to me a clear dictat
finance that in what we are now t
We should be following an almo
ernment if we were to draw the G
revenues we need from the Incc
We have been put to the tes
stood the test. Whether we hav
have pursued remains to be seen
and prosperity of the states of
altered.
which plans long matured shall be
carried out; but it does make deninit
and explicit a program which ha
heretofore been only implicit, he''l i1
the minds of the two committees oi
naval affairs and disclosed in the de
bates of the two houses but nowhere
formulated or formally adopted. I
seems to me very clear that it will be
to the advantage of the country for
the congress to adopt a comprehen
sive plan for putting the navy upoi
a final footing of strength and efli
ciency and to press that plan to com
pletion within the next five years
We have always looked to the navy oi
the country as our first and chiei
line of defense; we have always seen
it to be our manifest course of pru
dence to be strong on the seas. Year
by year we have been creating a navy
which now ranks very high indeed
among the navies of the maritime na
tions. We should now definitely de
termine how we shall complete what
we have begun, and how soon.
The program to be laid before you
contemplates the construction within
five years of ten battleships, six bat
tle cruisers, ten scout cruisers, fifty
destroyers, fifteen fleet submarines,
eighty-five coast submarines, four gun
boats, one hospital ship, two ammuni
tion ships, two fuel oil ships, and one
regular repair ship. It is proposed
that of this number we shall the first
year provide for the construction of
two battleships, two battle cruisers,
three scout cruisers, fiften destroyers,
live fleet submarines, twenty-five coast
submarines, two gunboats, and one
hospital ship; the second year, twc
battleships, one scout cruiser, ten de
stroyers, four fleet submarines, fifteer
coast submarines, one gunboat, am
one fuel oil ship; the third'year, tw<
battleships, one battle cruiser, twc
scout cruisers, five destroyers, twc
fleet submarines, and fifteen coas
submarines; the fourth year, two bat
tleships, two battle cruisers, two scou
cruisers, ten destroyers, two fleet sub
marines, fifteen coast submarines, one
ammunition ship, and one fuel oi
ship; and the fifth year, two battle
ships, one battle cruiser, two scou
cruisers, ten destroyers, two fleet sub
marines, fifteen coast submarines, one
gunboat, one ammunition ship, and
one repair ship.
More Men for the Navy.
The secretary of the navy is askinj
also for the immediate addition to thi
personnel of the navy of 7,600 sail
ors, 1,200 apprentice seamen, ani
1,500 marines. This increase woulb
be suflcient to care for the ship
which are to be completed with
in the fiscal year 1917 and also for th4
number of men which must be put hi
training to man thr' ships which wil
be completed early in 1918. It is als<
necessary that the number of midshiil
men at the Naval academy at Annail
ols should be increased by at les
three hundred
If this full program should be car
ried out we should have built or build
ing in 1921, according to the estimate
-of survival and standards of classil
cation followed by the general boarE
of the dlepartment, an effective nav:
consisting of 27 battleships, of the firs
line, 6 battle cruisers, 25 battleship
of the second line, 10 armored cruih
ens, 13 scout .cruisers, 5 first-cls
cruisers, 3 second-class cruisers, 1
third-class cruisers, 108 destroyers, 1
fleet submarines, 167 coast submariner
6 monitors , 20 guinboats, 4 suppl
ships, 15 fuel ships, 4 transportr
3 tenders to torpedo vessels, 8 ver
sels of special types, and 2 ammun
tion ships. This would be a navy fli
ted to our needs and worthy of ou
tradlitions.
. But armies and instruments of wa
*are only part of what has to be cor
.sidlered if we are to consider the sr
. preme matter of national solf-sufmcier
cy and security in all its aspectr
. There are other great matters whici
. wvill be thrust upon our attentio1
whether we will or not. There is, fo
example, a very pressing question o
trade and shipping involved in thiu
great problem of national adequacy
it is necessary for many weighty rea
sons of national efficiency and (level
opment that we should have a grea
-merchant nmarine.
It is high time we repaired our mis
take and resumed our commercial inde
-pendonce on the seas.
Need of Merchant MarIne.
For it in a question of independ
ence. If other nations go to war 01
seek to hamper each other's comn
merce, our merchants, it seems, are
at their mercy, to (do with as they
please. We must use their ships, and
use thorn as they dletermine. WVe have
not shIps enough of our own. We
cannot handle our own commerce on
the seas. Our independenco is provin
cial, and is only on land and within
our own borders. We are not likely
ESLDENT WILSON'S MESSAGE
omplates an increase of the standing
its present strength of 5,023 officers
officers and 134,707 enlisted men, and
ce of 400,000 disciplined citizens,
the country for the congress to adopt
g the navy upon a final footing of
our national peace and safety have
ders.
hty reasons of national. efficiency and
a great merchant marine.
of prudent statesmanship and frank
undertake we should pay as we go.
it universal example of modern gov
reater part or even the whole of the
me taxes.
t In the case of Mexico and we have
benefited Mexico by the opurse we
Our concern for the independence
Central and South America is not
of other nations in rivalry of their
own trade, and are without means to
extend our commerce even where the
i doors are wide open and our goods
i desired. Such a situation is not to
be endured. It is of capital import
ance not only that the United States
should be It" own carrier on the seas
and enjoy the economic independence
which only an adequate merchant ma
rine would give it, but also that the
American hemisphere as a whole
should enjoy a like independence and
self-sufficiency, if it is not to be drawn
into the tangle of European affairs.
Without such independence the whole
question of our political unity and
self-determination is very seriously
clouded and complicated indeed.
Moreover, we can develop no true
or effective American policy without
ships of our own-not ships of war,
but ships of peace, carrying goods and
carrying much more; creating friend
ships and rendering indispensable
services to all interests on this side
the water.
Must Provide Ships.
With a view to meeting these
pressing necessities of our commerce
and availing ourselves at the earliest
possible moment of the present un
paralleled opportunity of linking the
two Americas together in bonds of mu
tual interest and service, an oppor
tunity which may never return again
if we miss it now, proposals will be
made to the present congress for the
purchase or construction of ships to
be owned and directed by the govern
ment similar to those made to the last
congress, but modified in some essen
tial particulars. I recommend these
proposals to you for your prompt ac
ceptance with the more confidence
because every month that has elapsed
since the former proposals were made
has made the necessity for such action
more and more manifestly imperative.
That need was then foreseen; it is
now acutely felt and everywhere real
ized by those for whom trade is wait
ing but who can find no conveyance
for their goods. I am not so much in
terested in the particulars of the pro
gram as I am in taking immediate ad
vantage of the great opportunity which
awaits us if we will but act in this
emergency.
The plans for the armed forces of
the nation which I have outlined, and
for the general policy of adequate
preparation for mobilization and de
fense, involve of course very large ad
i ditional expenditures of money-ox
l penditures which will considerably ex
ceed the estimated revenues of the
- government, It is made my duty by
lawv, whenever the estimates of ex
ienditure exceed the estimates of
I revenue, to call the attention of the
congress to the fact and suggest any
- meanis of meeting the deficiency that
- it may be wise or possible for me to
suggest, I am ready to believe that it
would be my duty to do so in any case;
- and I feel particularly bound to speak
- of the matter when it appears that the
deficiency will arise directly out of
- the adoption by the congress of meas
I ures which I myself urge it to adopt.
r Allow me, therefore, to speak briefly
t of the present state of the treasury
a and of the fiscal problems which the
-next year will probably disclose.
State of the Finances.
On the thirtieth of June last there
was an available balance in the gen
eral fund of the treasury of $104,170,
'105.78. The total estimated receipts
for the year 1916, on the assumption
that the emergency revenue measure
p lassedl by the last congress will not be
extended beyond its present limit, the
r thirty-first of December, 1915, and
that the present duty of one cent per
r pound on sugar will be discontinued
- after the first of May, 1916, will be
- $670,365,500., The balance of June last
- and these estimated revenues come,
-therefore, to a grand total of $774,.
435,605.78. The total estimated die
bursements for the present fiscal year,
including $25,000,000 for the Panama
canal, $12,000,000 for probable de
ficiency appropriations, and $50,
000 for miscellaneous debt redemp
tions, wvill be $753,891,000; and
the balance in the general flind of the
treasury wvill be reduced to $20,644,.
605.78. The emergency revenue act, if
continued beyond its present time lim
itation, would produce, during the half
year then remaining, about $41,000,
000. The duty of one cent per pound
on nugar, if continued, would produce
during the two months of the fiscal
year remaining after- the first of May,
about $15,000 000. These two sums,
amounting together to $56,000,000, if
add~ed to the revenues of the second
half of the fiscal year, would yield the
treasury at the end of the year an
available balance of $76,644,605.78.
The additional revenues required
to carry out the program of military
and naval preparation of which I have
be for the giloom yar 10i'?9,89,00:
Those figuz e'tareii with the C0gires
for the pr esat ilsfiai year which I
have already given, disclose our finan
cial problem for the year, 1917. As
suming that the taxes imposed by the
emergency revenue act and the pres
ent duty on sugar are to be discontin
ued, and that the ibalance at the close
of the present flsbal year. will be only
$20,644,605.78, that the disbursements
for the Panama canal will again be
about twenty-five millions, and that
the additional, expenditures for the
army and navy' are authorized by the
congress, the deficit in the general
fund of the treasury on the thirtieth
of June, 1917, will be nearly two hun
dred and thirty-five millions. To this
sum at least fifty millions should be
added to represent a safe working bal
ance for the treasury, and twelve mil
lions to include the usual deficiency
estimates in 1917; and these additions
would make a total deficit of some two
hundred and ninety-seven millions. If
the present taxes should be continued
throughout this year and the next,
however, there would be a balance in
the treasury of some seventy-six and
a half millions at the end of the pres
ent fiscal year, and a deficit at the
end of the next year o' only some fifty
millions, or, reckoning in sixty-two
millions for deficiency appropriations
and a safe treasury belance at the end
of the year, a total deficit of some
one hundred and twelve millions. The
obvious moral of the figures is that it
it a plain counsel of prudence to con
tinue all of the preesnt tales or their
equivalents, and confine ourselves to
the problem of providing $112,000,000
of new revenue rather than $297,000,
000.
New Sources of Revenue.
How shall we obtain the new reve
nue? It seems to me a clear dictate of
prudent statesmanship and frank
finance that in what we are now, I
hope, to undertake, we should pay as
we go. The people of the country are
entitled to know just what burdens of
taxation they are to carry, and to know
from the outset, now. The new bills
should be paid by internal taxation.
To what sources, then, shall we
turn? This is so peculiarly a question
which the gentlemen of the house of
representatives are expected under
the Constitution to propose an answer
to that you will hardly expect me to
do more than discuss it in very gen
eral terns. We should be following
an almost universal example of mod
ern government if we were to draw
the greater part or even the whole of
the revenues we need from the in
come taxes. By somewhat lowering the
present limits of exemption and the
figure at which the surtax shall begin
to be imposed, and by increasing, step
by step throughout the present gradu
ation, the surtax itself, the income
taxes as at present apportioned
would yield sums sufficient to balance
the books of the treasury at the end
of the fiscal year 1917 without any
where making the burden unreason
ably or oppressively heavy. The pre.
cise reckonings are fully and accurate
ly set out in the report of the secre
tary of the treasury which will be im
mediately laid before you.
And there are many additional
sources of revenue which can justly be
resorted to without hampering the in
dustries of the country or putting any
too great charge upon individual ex
penditure. A one per cent tax per
gallon on gasoline and naptha would
yield, at the present estimated pro
duction, $10,000,000; a tax of 50 cents
per horse power on automobiles and
internal explosion engines, $15,000,
000; a stamp tax on bank checks,
probably $18,000,000; a tax of 25 cents
per ton on pig iron, $10,000,000; a tax
of 50 cents per ton on fabricated iron
and steel, probably $10,000,000. In a
country of great industries like this it
ought to be easy to distribute the bur
dens of taxation without making them
anywhere bear too heavily or too ex
clusively upon any one set of persons
or undertakings. What is clear is,
that the industry of this generation
should pay the bills of this generation.
I have spoken to you today, gentle
men, upon a single theme, the thor
ough preparation of the nation to care
for its own security and to make sure
of entire freedom to play the impartial
role in this hemisphere and in the
world which we all believe to have
been providentially assigned to it. I
have had in my mind no thought of
any immediate or particular danger
arising out of our relations with other
nations. We are at peace with all
the nations of the world, and there is
reason to hope that no0 question in
controversy between this and other
governments will lead to any serious
breach of amicable relations, grave as
some differences of attitude and policy
have been and may yet turn out to be.
I am sorry to say that the gravest
throats against our national peace anil
Bafety have been uttered within our
own borders. There are citizens of
the United States, I blush to admit,
born under other flags but 'welcomed
undler our generous naturalization
laws to the full freedom and oppor
tunity of America, who have poured
the poison of disloyalty into the very
arteries of our national ife; who have
sought to bring the authority and
good njame of our hovernment into
contempt, to destroy our indiustries
wherever they thought it effective for
their vindictive purposes to strike at
them, and to debase our politics to
the uses of foreign intrigue. Their
number- is not great as compared with
the whole ntuubar- of those sturay
hosts by which our nation has been
enriched in recent generations out
of virile foreign stocks; but it is great
enough to have br-ought deep disgrace
upon us and to have made it nec-es
sary that we should promptly' make
use of processes of law by which we
may be pur-god of their corrupt dis
temrn-. A meria neve witnssed
an ing ike ! ' r,
out ofgreat free to'ok u
plied some of ,the best aso*eu
elements of that little; but how heroW.i
nation that in a high day of oldetale :
its' very life to free itself from every
entanglement that had darkened the
fortunes of the older nations and set
up a new standard here-that men
of such origins and such free choices
of allegiance would ever turn Ia
malign reaction against the govern
ment and people who had welcomed
and nurtured them and seek to make
this proud country once more a hot
bed of European passion. A little
while ago such a thing would have
seemed incredible. Because it was
incredible we made no preparation
for it. We would have been almost
ashamed to prepare for it, as if we
were suspicious of ourselves, our own
comrades and neighbors! But the
ugly and incredible thing has actual
ly come about and we are without
adequate federal laws to deal with It.
I urge you to enact such laws at the,
earliest possible moment and foll that
in doing so I am urging you to do
nothing less than save the honor and
self-respect of the nation. Such crea
tures of passion, disloyalty, and' an
archy must be crushed out. They are
not many, but they are infinitely
malignant, and the hand of our power
should close over them at once. They
have formed plots to destroy property,
they have entered into conspiracies
against the neutrality of the govern
ment, they have sought to pry into
every confidential transaction of the .Y
government in order to serve interests.
alien to our own. It is possible to.
deal with these things very effectually.
I need not suggest the terms in which
they may be dealt with.
Are Disgrace to the Nation.
I wish that it could be said that
only a few men, misled by mistaken
sentiments of allegiance to the govern
ments under which they were born,.
had been guilty of disturbing the self
possession and misrepresenting the
temper and principles of the country
during these lays of terrible war,,
when it would seem that every man
who was truly an American would
instinctively make it his duty and his
pride to keep the scales of judgment
even and prove himself a partisan or fI
no nation but his own. But it cannot.
There are some men among us, and
many resident abroad who, though
born and bred in the United States
and calling themselves Americans,
have so forgotten themselves and
their honor as citizens as to put their
passionate sympathy with one or t49
other side in the great European cots"='''' ,
i ict above their regard for the peace
ahd dignity of the United States, They
also mpreadh and practice disloyalty.
No -awI, I suppose, can peach cor
ruptions ctbme mind and i eart; but I
should not si'eak ff othe rs without
also speaking of these and expressing
the even deeper humiliation and scorn
which every self-possessed and
thoughtfully patriotic American must
feel when he thinks of them and of r
the discredit they are daily bringing
upon us.
While we speak of the preparation
of the nation to make sure ol' her
security and her effective powor we
must not fall into the patent error of
supposing that her real str'rmgth,
comes from armaments and mere safe
guards of written law.
What is more important is, that the '
industries snd resources of the coun
try should be available and ready for
mobilization.
The transportation problem Is an
exceedlingly serious and pressing one
in this country. There has from
time to time of late been rimason
to fear that our railroads would
not much longer be able to cope with
it successfully, as at present equipped
and ce-ordained. I suggest that it
would be wise to provide for a com
mission of inquiry to ascertain by a
thorough canvass of the whole ques
tion whether our lawvs as at present.
framed and administered are as serv
iceable as they might be in the solu
tion of the problem. It is obviov~sly a
problem that lies at the very founda
tion of our efficiency as a people. Such
an inquiry ought to draw out every
circumstance and opinion worth con
sidering and we need to know all sides
of the matter if we mean to do any
thing in the field of federal legislation.
Regulation of Railroads, M
No one, I am sure, would wissh to
take any backward step. The .
tion of the railways of the coun
federal commission has had adnr
results and has fully justiflo
hopes and expectations of thc
whom the policy of regulatio,
originally proposed. The quest
not what should we undo?
whether there is anything else iu
do that would supply us with off
means, in the very process of r
tion, for bettering the conditier. .
der which the railroads are opg
and for making them more useful
ants of the country as a whole
seems to me that it might be the
of wisdom, therefore, before fu
legislation in this field is attempti
look at the whole problem of co-eo
tion and efficiency in the full light c
fresh assessment of circumstance
opinion, as a guide to dealing witl.
several parts of it.
For what we are seeking now,
in my mind is the single thouguh
this message, is national efficiency~
security. We serve a great natn
We should serve it in the spirit o1f.
peculiar genius. It is the genius
common men for self-governmnt,
dustry, justice, libe'rty and poace.
should see to it that it lacks no inir
mont, no facility or vigor of law,
make it sufficient to play its part
energy, safety and assured success.
this we are no partisans but hera.
Rd prophet o a neae