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PR~DEN'8MESSAGEI To the Senate and House of Representa tives: We still continue in a period of un boLaded pro. perity. This prosperity is not the creature of law, but undoubtedly the laws under which we work have been instrumental in creating the conditions which made it possible, and by unwise leg islation it would be easy enough to destroy it. There will undoubtedly be periods of depression. The wave will recede, but the tide will advance. This nation is seated on a continent flanked by two great oceans. It is composed of men the de scendants of pioneers or, in a sense, pio neers themselves-of men winnowed out from among the nations of the old world by the energy, boldness and love of ad venture found in their own eager hearts. Such a nation so placed 'will surely wrest success from fortune. As a people we have played a large part in the world, and we are bent upon mak ing our future even larger than the past. In particular the events of the last four years have definitely decided that for -ae or for weal our place must be great amoag the nations. We may either fail greatly or succeed greatly, but we cannot avoid the endeavor from which either great failure or great success must come. Even if we would we cannot play a small part. if we should try, all that would follow would be that we should play a large part ignobly and shamefully. But our people, the sons of the men of the civil war, the sons of the men who had iron in their blood, rejoice in the present and face the future high of heart and resolute of will. Ours is not the creed of the weakling and the coward; ours is the gospel of hope and of tri umphant endeavor. We ' do not shrink from the struggle before us. There are many problems for us to face at the out let of the twentieth century-grave prob lems abroad and still graver at home-but we know that we can solve them, and solve them well, provided only that we bring to the solution the qualities of head and heart which were shown by the men who in the days of Washington founded this government and in the days of Lin coln preserved it. No country has ever occupie( a higher plane of material well being than ours at the present moment. This well being is due to no sudden or accidental causes, but to the play of the economic forces in this country for over a century; to our laws, our sustained and continuous policies; above all, -to the high individual average of our citizenship. Great fortunes have been won by those who have taken the lead in this phenomenal industrial devel opment, and most of these fortunes have been won not by doing evil, but as an in cident to action which has benefited the community as a whole. Never before has material well being been so widely dif fused among our people. Great fortunes have been accumulated, and yet in the aggregate these fortunes are small in deed when compared to the wealth of the people as a whole., The plain people are better off than they have ever been be fore. The insurance companies, which are practically mutual benefit societies especially helpful to men of moderate means-represent accumulations of capi tal which are among the largest in this country. There are more deposits in the savings banks, more -owners of farms, more well paid wageworkers in this coun try now than ever before ,in our history. Of course when the conditions have fa vored the growth of so much that was good they have also favored somewhat the growth of what was eviL. It is 'emi nently necessary that we should endeavor to cut out this evil, but let us keep a due sense- of proportion; let us not in fixing our gaze upon the lesser evil forget the greater good. The evils are real, ax:d some of them are menacing, but they at the outgrowth not of misery or decadence, but of prosperity, of the progress of our -gigantic industrial development. This in dustrial development must not be checked. but -side by side with it should go .such progressive regulation as will diminish the evils. We should fail in our duty If we did not try to remedy the evils, but we shall succeed only if we proceed patient ly, with practical common sense as well as resolution., separating the good from the bad and holding on to the former while endeavoring to get rid of the latter. In my message to the present congress -at its first session 1 discussed at length the question of the regulation of those * big corporations commonly doing an in terstate business, often with some tenden cy to monopoly, which are popularly known as trusts. The experience of the past year has emphaisized, in my opinion, the desirability of the steps I then pro posed. A fundamental requisite of social efficiency is a high standard of individual energy and excellence, but this Is -in no wise Inconsistent with power to act In -- combination f(or alms which cannot so well be achieved by the individual acting alone. A fundamental base of civilization Is the inviolability of property; but this is in nowise inconsistent with the right of society to regulate the exercise of the artificial powers which it confers upon the owners of. property under the name of cor porate franchises in such a way as to - prevent the misuse of these powers. Cor porations, and especially combinations of corporations, should be managed under public regulation. Experience has shown that und,er our system of government the necesSary supervision cannot be obtained by state action, It must therefore be achieved by national action. Our aim is not to do away with corporations. On the contrary, these big aggregations are an Inevitable development of modern indus -trialism, and the effort to destroy them would be futile unless accomplished In ways that would work the utmost mis chief to the entire body politic. We can do nothing of good in the way of regulat ing and supervising these corpgrations until we fix clearly in our minds that we are not attacking the corporations, but - endeavoring to do away with any evil In them. We are not hostile to them. We are merely determined that they shall be . so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth. The capitalist who, alone or In conjunction with his fellows, per forms some great industrial feat by which he wins money is a weildoer, not a wrong doer, provided only he works in proper and legitimate lines. We wish to favor such a man when he does well. We wish to supervise and control his actions only to prevent him from doing ill. Publicity can do no harm to the honest corporation. and we need not be overtender about sparing the dishonest corporation. In curbing and regulating the combina tions of capital which are or may become injurious to the public we must be care ful not to stop the great enterprises which have legitimately reduced the cost- of pro duction, not to abandon the place which our country has won in the leadership of the international Industrial world, not to strike down wealth with the result of closing factories and mines, of turning the wageworker Idle in the streets and leaving the farmer without a market for what he grows. Insistence upon the im possible meahs delay In achieving the pos sible exactly as. on the other hand, the stubborn defense alike of what is good and what is bad In the existing system. the resolute effort to obstruct any at tempt at betterment, betrays blindness to the historic truth that, wise evolution is the sure safeguard against revolution. No more important subject can come before the congress than this of the regu lation of interstate business. This country cannot affor-d to sit supine on the plea that under our peculiar system of govern ment we are helpless in the presence of the new conditions and unable to grapple with them or to cut out whatever of evil has arisen in connection with them. The power of the congress to regulate inter state commerce is an absolute and un qualified grant and without limitations other than those prescribed by the consti tution The congress has constitutional authority to make all laws necessary and proper for executing this power, and 1 am satisfied that this power has not been ex hausted by any legislation now on the statute books. It is evident, therefore, that eviis restrictive of commercial free dom and entailing restraint upon national commerce fall within the regulative pow er of the congress and that a wise and reasonable law weald be a necessary and p roper exercise of congressional authority tot the end that such evils should be erad icated. 1 believe that monopolies, unjust dis criminations. which prevent or cripple competition, fraudulent overcapitalizationi - and other evils in trust organizations and practices which injuriously affect inter state trade can b>e prevented under the power of the congre-ss to "regulate comn merce with foreign nations and among the several states'' through regulations and requirements c.perating directly upon such commerce. the instrumentalities gonsiaerata .v tue 'e-i.gress with a view to the pas of a law reasonable in its provisions and effective in its operations, upon which tb- questions can be finally adjudicated that now raise doubts as to the necessity of constituti-nal amend ment. If it prove impssible to accom piish the purposes above set forth by such a law, then assuredly we should not skrink from amending the constitution so as to secure beyond peradventure the power sought. The congress has not heretofore made any appropriation: for the bt'tter enforce nient of the antitrust law as it now stands. Very much has been done by the .lepartment of justice in securing the en forcement of this law, but much more i 1 ould be done if congress would make a special appropriation for this purpose, to be expended under the direction of the attorney general. One proposition advocated has been the reduction of the tariff as a means of reaching the evils of the trusts which fall within the category I have described. Not merely would this be wholly ineffec tive. but the diversion of our efforts in such a direction would mean the aban donment of all intelligent attempt to do away with these evils. Many of the lar gest corporations, many of those which should certainly be included in any proper scheme of regulation, would not be af fected in the slightest degree by a change in the tariff, save as such change inter fered with the general prosperity of the country. The only relation of the tariff to big corporations as a whole is that the tariff makes manufactures profitable, and the tariff remedy proposed would be in effect simply to make manufactures un profitable. To remove the tariff as a punitive measure directed against trusts would inevitably result in ruii to the -weaker competitors who are struggling against them. Our aim should be not by unwise tariff changes to give foreign prod ucts the advantage over domestic prod ucts, but by proper regulation to give do mestic competition a fair chance, and this end cannot be reached by any tariff changes which would affect unfavorably all domestic competitors, good and bad alike. The question of regulation of the trusts stands apart from the question of tariff revision. Stability of economic policy must al ways be the prime economic need of this country. This stability should not be fos silization. The country has acquiesoed in the wisdom of the protective tariff principle. It is exceedingly undesirable that this system should be destroyed or tthat there should be violent and radical changes therein. Our past experience shows that great prosperity in this coun try has always come under a protective tar 1ff and that the country cannot prosper under fitful tariff changes at short inter vals. Moreover, if the tariff laws as a whole work well and if business has pros pered under them and is prospering, it is better to endure for a time slight incon veniences and inequalities in some sched ules than to upset business by too quick and too radical changes. It is most ear nestly to be wished that we could treat the tariff from the standpoint solely of our business needs. It is, perhaps, too much to hope that partisanship may be entirely excluded from consideration )f the subject, but at least it can be made secondary to the business interests of the country-that is. to the interests of our people as a whole. Unquestionably these ba-mness interests will best be served if together with fixity of principle as re gards the tariff we combine a system which will permit us from time to time to make the necessary reapplication of the principle to the shifting national needs. We must take scrupulous care that the reapplication shall be made in such a way that it will not amount to a dislocation of our system, the mere threat of which, not to speak of the performance. would pro duce par.lysis in the business energies of the -community. The first considera tion In making these changes would, of course. be to preserve the principle which underlies our whole tariff system-that is, the principle of putting American busi ness interests at least on a full equality with Inter ests abroad and of always al lowing a sufficient rate of duty to more than cover the difference between the labor cost here and abroad. -ihe well be ing of the wageworker, like the well be ing .of the tiller of the soil, should be treated as an essential in shaping our whole economic policy. There must never be any change which will jeopardize the standard of comfort, the standard of wages, of the Amerlin wageworker. One way In which the readjustment sought can be reached is by reciprocity treaties. It is greatly to be desired that such treaties may be adopted. They can be used to widen our markets and to give a greater field for the activities of our producers on the one hand, and on the other hand to secure in practical shape the lowering of duties when they are no longer needed for protection among our own people or when the minimum of dam age done may be disregarded for the sake of the maximum of good accomplished. If it prove impossible to ratify the pend ing treaties and if there seem to be no warrant for the endeavor to execute oth ers or to amend the p ending treaties so that they can be ratified, then the same end-to secure reciprocity-should be met by direct legislation. . Wherever the .tariff conditions are such that a needed change cannot with advan tage be made by the application of the reciprocity idea, then it can be made out right by a lowering of duties on a given product. If possible, such change should be made only after the fullest considera tion by practical experts, who should ap pr'oach the subject from a business stand point, having in view both the particular interests affected and the commercial well being of the people as a whole. The ma chinery for providing such careful inves igation can readily be supplied. The ex ecutive department has already at Its disposal methods of collecting facts at~ figures. and if the congress desires addi tional consideration to that which will be given the subject by its own committees, then a commission of business experts can be appointed whose duty it should be to recommend action by the congress after a deliberate and scientific examination of the various schedules as they are affected by the changed and changing conditions. The unhurried and unbiased report of this commission would show what changes should be made in the various schedules and how far these changes could go with out also changing the great prosperity -which this country is now enjoying or upsetting its fixed economic policy. The cases in which the tariff can pro duce a mv,nopoly are so few as to consti tute an Inconsiderable factor in the ques tion; but, of course, if in any case It be found that a given rate of duty does p;o mote a monopoly which works ill, no pro tectionist would object to such reduction of the duty as would equalize competition. In my judgment, the tariff on anthracite coal should be removed and anthracite put actually, where it now Is nominally, on the free list. This would have no effect at all save In crises; but in crises it might be of service to the people. Interest rates are a potent factor in business activity, and in order that these rates may be equalized to meet the var ing needs of the seasons and of widely separated communities, and to prevent the recurrence of financial stringencies which injuriously affect legitimate business, it Is necessary that there should be an ele ment of elasticity in our monetary sys tem. Banks are the natural servants of commerce, and upon them should be placed., as far as practicable, the burden of furnishing and maintaining a circula tion adequate to supply the needs of our diversified industries and of our domestic and foreign commerce, and the issue of this should be so regulated that a suffi cient supply should be always available for the business interests of the country. It would be both unwise and unneces sary at this time to attempt to recon struct our financial system, which has been the growth of a century, but, some additional legislation is, I think, desirable. The mere outline of any plan sufficiently comprehensive to meet these requirements would transgress the appropriate limits of this coynmunication. It is suggested, however, that all future legislation on the subject should be with the view of en couraging the use of such instrumentali ties as will automatically supply every leitimate demand of productive indus tries and of commerce, not only in the amount, but in the character of circula tion. and of making all kinds of money interchangeable and, at the will of the holder, convertible into the established gold standard. I again call your attention to the need of passing a proper Immigration law, cov ering the points outlined in my message to you at the first session of the present congress. Substantially such a bill has already pasised the house. 1ow to secure fatir treatment alike for labor and for capital, how to hold in ceek the unsc'rupulous man. whether em plye-r or employee, without weakening individual initiativ e, wit hout hampering and eramingii the industrial development of the coun try, is a problem fraught with great dixhculties and one which it is of the hiighest importance' to solve on lines of sanity anpd xar.igidc~ common sense as wel as of d -.tion1 a the right. This is an era of t d . tion andj comibination. Exa(tly asbuia--ess mn~ find1 they must oftn wvork through (orpuratxi ns, and as it is a constiu ii ndeny of t hese corpora tions to ara aarxr. -o it is often neces Euary tur lud'rin;.; xi to work~ inx federax taxns. 1l a:S ha v 1' l oome imlportanlt factors .X modern indust riam life. Both kids of n 2 rationi. .pitalistic and labor, cun mucli good. and as a necessary corollary t hay au bot der~'~m evil. Opposi tion to -ach~ kirnd o oaniza tion should m.c th.e frmof orpnis xin whatever is bad in the conduct of any given corpra - .tion or union, not of attacks upon cor porations as such nor upon unions as such, for some of the most farreaching beneticen: work for our people has been accomplished through both corporations ahd unions. 1:aci i must refrain from ar bitrary or tyrannous interference with the r:.hts d uthers. Organized capital and o,azizc-d labor alike should remem bfr that in ::- long run the interest of each naut be brought into harmony with th? interest of the general public, and the coluet of each must conform to the fundamental rules of obedience to the iar. of individual freedom and of justice anu tair deaiing toward all. Each should remember that in addition to power it must strive :fter the realization of healthy. lofty and generous ideals. Every employer, every wageworker, must be guaranteed his liberty and his right to do as he likes with his property or his labor so long as he does not infringe upon the rights of othes. It is of the highest im portance that employer and employee alike should endeavor to appreciate each the viewpoint of the other and the sure disaster that will come upon both in the long run if either grows to take as habit ual an attitude of sour hostility and dis trust toward the other. Few people de serve better of the country than those rep resentatives both of capital and labor and there are many such-who work con tinually to bring about a good understand ing of this kind, based upon wisdom and upon broad and kindly sympathy between employers and employed. Above all, we need to remember that any kind of class animosity in the political world is, if pos sible, even more wicked, even more de structive to national welfare, than sec tional, race or religious animosity. We can get good government only upon condi tion that we keep true to the principles upon which this nation was founded and judge each man not as a part of a class,' but upon his individual merits. All that we have a right to ask of any man, rich or poor, whatever his greed, his occupa tion, his birthplace or his residence, is that he shall act well and honorably by his neighbor and by his country. We are neither for the rich man as such nor for the poor man as such; we are for the ub right man, rich or po^r. So far as the constitutional powers of the national gov ernment touch these matters of general and vital moment to the nation, they should be exercised in conformity with the principles above set forth. It is earnestly hoped that a secretary of commerce ma- be created, with a seat in the cabinet. fhe rapid multiplication of questions affecting labor and capital, the growth and complexity of the organiza tions through which both labor and capi tal now find expression, the steady tend ency toward the employment of capital in huge corporations and the wonderful strides of this country toward leadership in the international business world justify an urgent demand for the creation of such a position. Substantially all the leading commercial bodies in this country have united in requesting its creation. It is desirable that some such measure as that which has already passed the senate be enacted into law. The creation of such a department would in itself be an ad vance toward dealing with and exercising supervision over the whole subject of the great corporations doing an interstate business, and with this end in view the congress should endow the department with large powers, which could be in creased as experience might show the need. I hope soon to submit to the senate a reciprocity treaty with Cuba. On May 20 last the United States kept its promise to the island by formally vacating Cuban soil and turning Cuba over to those whom her own people had chosen as the first officials of the new republic. Cuba lies at our doors, and whatever af fects her for good or for ill affects us also. So much have our people felt this that in the Platt amendment we definitely took the ground that Cuba must hereafter have closer political relations with us than with any other power. Thus in a sense Cuba has become a part of our international political system. This makes It necessary that in return she should be given some of the benefits of becoming part of our eco nomic system. it is. from our own stand point, a shortsighted and mischievous pol icy to tail to recognize this need. More over, it is un-worthy of a mighty and gen erous nation, itself the greatest and most successful republic in history, to refuse to stretch out a helping hand to a young and weak sister republic just entering upon its career of In dependence. We should al ways fearlessly insist upon our rights.in the face of the strong. and we should with ungrudging hand do our generous duty by the weak. I tirge the adoption of reci procity with Cuba not only because it is eminently for our own interests to control the Cuban market and by every means to foster our supremacy in the tropical lands and waters south of us. but also because we of the giant republic of the north should make all our sister nations of the American continent feel that whenever they will permit it we desire to show our selves disinterestedly and effectively their friend. A convention with Great Britain has been concluded,- which will be at once laid before the senate for ratification, provid ing for reciprocal trade arrangements be tween the United States and Newfound land on substantially the lines of the con vention formerly negotiated by the secre tary of state, Mr. Blaine. I believe recip rocal trade relations will be greatly to the advantage of both countries. As civilization grows warfare becomes less and less the normal condition of for eign relations. The last century has seen a marked diminution of wars be tween civilized powers. Wars with un civilized powers are largely mere matters of international police duty, essential for the welfare of the world. Wherever pos sible arbitration or some similar method should be employed in lieu of war to settle difficulties between civilized nations, al though as yet the world has not pro gressed sufficiently to render it possible or necessarily desirable to invoke arbitra tion in every case. The formation of the international tribunal which sits at The Hague is an event of good omen from which great consequences for the welfare of all mankind may flow. It is far better where possible to invoke such a perma nent tribunal than to create special arbi trators for a given purpose. It is a matter of sincere congratulation to our country that the United States and Mexico should have been the first to use the good offices of The Hague court. This was done last summer with most satis factory results in the case of a claim at isstue between us and our sister republic. It is earnestly to be hoped that this first case will serve as a precedent for others, in which not only the United States but foreign nations may take advantage of the machinery already in existence at The Hague. I commend to the favorable considera tion of the congress the Hawaiian fire claims, which were the subject of careful investigation during the last session. The congress has wisely provided that we shall build at once an isthmian canal, if possible at Panama. The attorney gen eral reports that we can undoubtedly ac quire good title from the French Panama canal company. Negotiations are now pending with Colombia to secure her as sent to our building the canal. This canal will be one of the greatest engineering feats of the twentieth century, a greater engineering feat than has yet been ac complished during the history of mankind. The work should be carried out as a con inuing policy without regard to change of administrntion, and it should be begun under circumstances which will make it a matter otf pride for all administrations to continue the policy. The canal will be of great 'benefit to America and of importance to all the world. it will be of advantage to us In dustrially and also as improving our mil itary p)osition. It will be of advantage to the countries of tropical America. It is earnestly to b)e hop)ed that all of these countries will do as some of them have already done with signal success and will invite to their shores commerce and im prove their material conditions by recog nizing that stahility and order are the prerequisites of successful development. No independent nation in America need have the slightesi. Lear of aggression from the Un:ited States. It behooves each one to maintain order within its own borders and to discharge its just obligations to foregners. When this is done, they can rest assurtd m:i t, be they strong or weak, they have nothing to dr'ead from outside Intrferece. \More and more the increas ing interdlepenuece and complexity of internta ional po lit ical anmd economic rela tios ret:der it incumtbent on all civilized andi or<iciy po;wers to insist on the proper policing of the wor:d. bJurinig the fall of 1901 a communication was addresse'd to the secretary of state asking whethecr permission would be grant'd by the president to a corporation to lay a cable fromi a point on thle Cali foria coast to the Philippine Islands by way of Hawaii. A statement of condi tis or terms upon which such corpora tion would undertake to lay and operate a cable was volunteered. Inasmuch as the congress was shortly to convene and Pacilic cable legislation had been the subject of consideration by the :ongress for several years, it seemed to e wise to defer action upon the applica tion until the congress had first an oppor tunity to act. The congress adjourned without taking any action, leaving the matter in exactly the same condition In which it stood when the congress con vened. Meanwhile it appears that the Commer cIal Pacific Cable company had promptly roceeded with pr lparaJ tions for laying its cable. It also made pplication to the I Dresident for acer.:: 'ii of sound la gs tar-i by the United States steamship Nero foi: the purpose of discovering a practica.Le route for a transpacific cable, the company urging that with access to these scundings it could complete its cable much sooner than f it were required to take soundings upon its own account. Pending consideration of this subject it appeared important and desirable to at tach certain conditions to the permission to examine and use the soundings If it should be granted. In consequence of this solicitation of the cable company certain conditions were formulated, upon which the president was willing to allow access to these sound ings and to consent to the landing and laying of the cable, subject to any altera tions or additions thereto imposed by the congress. This was deemed proper, espe cially as it was clear that a cable con nection of some kind with China, a for eign country, was a part of the company's plan. This course was, moreover, in ac cordance with a line of precedents, includ ing President Grant's action in the case of the first French cable, explained to the congress in his annual message of De cember, 1875, and the instance occurring in 1879 of the second French cable from Brest to St. Pierre, with a branch to Cape Cod. These conditions prescribed, among oth er things, a maximum rate for commer cial messages and that the company should construct a line from the Philip pine Islands to China, there being at pres ent, as is well known, a British line from Manila to Hongkong. The representatives of the cable compa ny kept these conditions long under con sideration, continuing in the meantime to prepare for laying the cable. They have however, at length acceded to them, and an all American line between our Pacific coast and the Chinese empire by way of Honolulu and the Philippine Islands is thus provided for and is expected within a few months to be ready for business. Among the conditions is one reserving the power of the congress to modify or re peal any or all of them. A copy of the conditions is herewith transmitted. Of Porto Rico it is only necessary to say that the prosperity of the island and the wisdom with which it has been governed have been such as to make it serve as an example of all that is best in insular ad ministration. On July 4 last, on the one hundred and twenty sixth anniversary of the declara tion of our ihdependence. peace and am nesty were promulgated in the Philippine Islands. Some trouble has since from time to time threatened with the Moham medan Moros, but with the late insurrec tionary Filipinos the war has entirely ceased. Civil government has now been introduced. Not only does each Filipino enjoy such rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as he has never be fore known during the recorded history of the islands, but the people, taken as a whole, now enjoy a measure of self gov ernment greater than that granted to any other orientals by any foreign power and greater than that enjoyed by any other orientals under their own governments save the Japanese alone. We have not gone too far in granting these rights of liberty and self government, but we have certainly gone to the limit that in the in terests of the Philippine people themselves it was wise or just to go. To hurry mat ters, to go faster that we are now going, would entail caianity on the people of the islands. No policy ever entered into by the American people has vindicated it self in more signal manner than the poli cy of holding the Philippines. The tri umph of our arms, above all the triumph of our laws and principles, has come soon er than we had any right to expect. Too much praise cannot be given to the army for what it has done in the Philippines, both in warfare and from an administra tive standpoint, in preparing the way for civil government, and similar credit be longs to the civil authorities for the way in which they have planted the seeds of self government in the ground thus made ready for them. The courage, the un flinching endurance, th.e high soldierly effi ciency and the general kind heartedness and humanity of our troops have been strikingly manifested. There now remain only some 15,000 troops in the islands. All told, over 100,000 have been sent there. Of course there have been Individual in stances of wrongdoing among them. They warred under fearful difficulties -of cli mate and surroundings, and under the strain of the terrible provocations which they continually received from their foes occasional instances of cruel retaliation occurred. Every effo.-t has been made to prevent such crueltic s, and finally these efforts have been comnpletely successful. Every effort has also been made to de tect and punish the wrongdoers. After making all allowance for these misdeeds it remains true that f ew. indeed have been the instances in which war has been waged by a civilized power against semi civilized or barbarous3 forces where there has been so little wrongdoing by the vic tors as in the Philippine Islands. On the other hand, the amount of difficult, impor tant and beneficent w~ork which has been done is well nigh incalculable. Taking the work of the army and the civil authorities toge-her, it may be ques tioned whether anywhere else in modern times the world has seen a better exam ple of real constructive statesmanship than our people have given in the Philip pine Islands. High :graise should also be given those Filipinos - in the aggregate very numerous-who. have accepted the new conditions and joined with our repre sentatives to work with hearty good will foA the welfare of the Islands. The army has been reduced to the mini mum allowed by law. It is very small for the size of tne nation and most certainly should be kept at the highest point of effi ciency. The senior officers are given scant chance under ordinary conditions to ex ercise commands commensurate with their rank under circumstances which would fit them to do their duty in time of actual war. A system of maneuvering our army In bodies of some little size has been be gun and should be steadily continued. Without such maneuvers it is folly to ex pect that in the event of hostilities with any serious foe even a small army corps could he handled to advantage. Both our officers and enlisted men are such that we can take hearty pride in them. No better material can be found. But the must b)e thoroughly trained, both as indi viduals and in the miass. The marksman ship of the men must receive special at tention. In the circumstances of modern warfare the man must act far more on his own individual responsibility than ver before, and the high individual effi rienev of the unit is of the utmost im portance. Formerly this unit was the regiment. It is now not the regiment, not even the troop or company; it is the indi vidual soldier. Every effort must be made to develop every workmanlike and sol dierly quality -in both the ofacer and the enlisted man. I urgently call your attention to the need of passing a bill providi::g for a gen ual staff and for the reorganization of the supply depa rtment.s on the lines of the bill proposed by the secretary of war last year. When the young officers enter the army from West Point, they probably stand above their compeers in any other military service. Every effort should be made by training, by reward of merit, by scrutiny into their careers and capacity, to keep them of the same high relative excellence throughout their careers. The measure providing for the reorgan ization of the militia system and for se curing the highest efficiency in the nation al guard, which has already passed the house, should receive prompt attention and action. It is of great importance that the relation of the national guard to the rilitia and volunteer forces of the United States should be delined and that in place of our present obsolete laws a practical and efficient systemi should be adopted. Provision should be made to enable the secretary of war to keep cavalry and ar tillery horses worn out in long perform nce of duty. Such horses t'etch but a trifle when sold, and rather than turn them out to) the misery awaiting them when thus disposed of it would be better to employ them at light work around the posts ar.d when necessary to put them painlessiy to death. For the first time in our history naval raeuvers on a large scale are being held under the immediate command of the ad miral of the navy. Constantly increasing ttention is being paid to the gunnery of the navy, but it is yet far from what it should be. I earnestly urge that the in rease asked for by the se.cretary of the navy in the appropriation for improving the marksmanship be granted. In battle the only shots that count are the shots that hit. It is necessary to p)rovide ample unds for p)ractice with the great guns in time of peace. These funds must provide not only for the'purchase of projectiles. but for allowances for prizes to encour ge the gun crews, ard especially the gun ointers, and for perfecting an intelligent system under which alone it Is possible to get good practice. There should be no halt in the work of building up the navy, providing every year additional fighting craft. We are a very rich country. vast in extent of terri tory and great i population, a country, roreover, which has an army diminutive indeed when comnpa red with that of any other first class p)ower. WVe have deliber tely made our own certain foreign poli cies which demand the possession of a frst class navy. TIhe isthmlan canal will greatly increase the eflciency of our navy f the navy is of sufficient size, but if we have an inadequate navy then the build ing of the canal wvould be merely giving a ostage to any power of superior strength. I'he Monroe doctrine should be trea ted as the cardinal feature of American foreign policy, but it would be worse than Idle o assert it unless we intended to back it it aari h~ hankm tin nnlv by a tnoroughly good r. y. A g,oad iavy 1 not a provocative of war. It is the surest l guaranty of peace. Each indivi.ual unit :sf our navy should be the most emci nt of its hind as regards both material and ncrsnn" l that is to be found in the w'rl.l. : :.11 y ur special attention to the n,u1 of provibing for the manning of the iSirp Sri its trouble threatens us if we iot d t-tter than we are now doing st-t:' securing the services of a s . f the high est type of s: iYrm. : f s -in.chanics. The veteran se^:n,u ot o wirships are of as high a t,, . ,n i" :,'uii in any navy which rhlos t;; . s of the world. They are unstrg: d i:tc' in reso lution, in r-aiiat"-s. i' t .-r.wh knowl edge of their prof. i i Ty do"strve ev ery consideration t;::t n :wn them. But there art nlit th -h ft thm. It is no more possible to im':-. Vi. a er.-w than it is possible to imi+r.. n w:rship. To build the fl:.st ship. with tlh.- deadliest battery, and to stnrd it t with a raw crew, no mat(t#r how br4"n th- were in dividually. would to t, i:r disaster if a foe of average capocty w, r." t"n,tintered. Neither ships nor men can be improvised when war has begun. We need a thousand additional officers J In. order to properly man the ships now provided for and under coistruction. The ( classes at the naval scho>l at Annapolis should be greatly enlarged. At the same 1 time that we thus add the officers where we need them, we should facilitate the re- I tirement of those at the head of the list whose usefulness has become impaired. ( Promotion must be fostered if the service is to be kept efficient. The lamentable scarcity of officers and the large number of recruits and of un skilled men necessarily put aboard the new vessels as they have been commis- 1 sioned has thrown upon our officers, and especially on the lieutenants and junior grades, unusual labor and fatigue and has gravely strained their powers of endur ance. Nor is there sign of any immediate letup in this strain. It must continue for ( some time longer until more officers are graduated from Annapolis and until the recruits become- trained and skillful in their duties. In these difficulties incident upon the development of our war fleet the conduct of all our officers hias been cred itable to the service, and the lieutenants and junior grades in particular have dis played an ability and a steadfast cheer fulness which entitle them to the ungrudging thanks of all who realize the disheartening trials and fatigues to which they are of necessity sub jected. There is not a cloud on the horizon at present. There seems not the slightest chance of trouble with a foreign power. We most earnestly hope that this state of things may continue, and the way to insure its continuance is to provide for a thoroughly efficient navy. The refusal to main tain such a navy would invite trouble, and if trouble came would insure disaster. Fatuous self complacency or vanity or shortsightedness in re- ( fusing to prepare for danger is both foolish and wicked in such a nation as ours, and past experi ence has shown that such fatuity in refusing to recognize or prepare for any crisis in advance is usually succeeded by a mad panic of hysterical fear once the crisis has actually arrived. The striking increase in the revenues of the postoffice department shows clearly the prosperity of our people and the increasing activity of the business of the country. The receipts of the postoffice department for the fiscal year ending June 30 last amounted to $121,848,047.26, an increase of $10,216,853.87 over the preceding year, the largest increase known in the history of the postal service. The magnitude of this increase will best appear from the fact that the entire postal receipts for the year 1860 amounted to but $8,518,067. Rural free delivery service is no longer in the experimental stage. It has become a fixed policy. The results following its introduction have fully justified the congress in the large appropriations made for its establishment and extension. The average yearly increase in postoflce receipts in the rural districts of the country is about 2 per cent. We are now able, by actual results, to show that where rural free delivery service has been established to such an extent as to enable us to make comparisons the yearly increase has been upward of 10 per cent. On Nov. 1, 1902, 11,650 rural free delivery routes had been established and were in operation, covering about one-third of the territory of the United States available for rural free delivery service. There are now awaiting the action of the department petitions and appications for the establishment of 10,748 additional routes. This shows conclusively the want which the establish ment of the service has met and the need of fur ther extending it as rapidly as possible. It is justified both by the financial results and.by the practical benefits to our rural population; it brings the men who live on the soil into close relations with the active business world; it keeps the farmer in daily touch with the markets; it is a potential educational force; it enhances the value of farm property, makes farm life far pleasanter and less isolated, and will do much to check the undesirable current from country to city. It is to be hoped that the congress will make liberal appropriations for the continuance of the service alredy established and for its further ex tension. Few subjects of more importance have been taken up by the congress in recent years than the Inauguration of the system of nationally aided irrigation for the arid regions of the far west. A good beginning t!aerein has been made. Now that this policy of national irrigation has been adopted the need of thorough and scientific forest protection will grow more rapidly than ever throughout the public land states. Legislation should be provided for tbe protec tion of the garae and the wild creatures gener ally on the forest resnerves. The senseless slaugh ter of game, which can by judicious protection be permanently preserved on our national reserves for the people as a whole. rhould be stopped at once. It is, for instance, ai serious count against our national good sense to permit the present practice of butchering off such a stately and beautiful creature as the elk for it4 antlers or tusks. So far as they are available for agriculture and to whatever extent they may be reclaimed under the national irrigation law, the remaining public lands should be held rigidly for the homebuilder, the settler who lives on his land, and for no one else. In their actual use the desert land law, the timber and stone law and the commutation clause of the homestead law have been so per verted from the intention with which they were enacted as to permit the acquisition of large areas of the public domain for othe~r than actual settlers and the consequent prevention of settle ment. Moreover, the approaching exhaustion .of the public ranges has of late le to much dis cussion as to the best manner of using these pub tic lands in the west which are suitable chiefly or only for grazing. The sound and steady develop ment of the west depends upon the building up of homes therein. Much of our -prosperity as a nation_has been due to the operation of the home stead law. On the other hand, we should recog nize the fact that in the grazing region the man ho corresponds t.o the homesteader may be un able to settle permanently if only allowed to use the same amount of pasture land that his brother, te homesteader, is allowed to use of arable land. Cmne hundred and sixty acres of fairly rich and y'ell watered soil or a much smaller amount of irrigated land may keep a family in plenty, where as no one could get a living from 160 acres of dry pasture land capable of supporting at the cutside only one head of cattle to every ten acres. In the past great tracts of the public domain 1 have been fenced in by persons having no title i hereto, in direct dedlance of the law forblding the maintenance or construction of any such .un iwul inclosure of public land. For various reasons there has baen little interference with uc-h inel,sures in the past, but ample notice has1 now been given the trei.[asse rs, anid all the re-1 ources at the command of the government will hereafter be used to put a stop to such trespassing. In view of the capitral impor' mne of these mat ters I comimend them to the earnest consideration of the con.rress, alnd if thc- congress finds difBi-1 ult. in dealing with: theni from lack of thorough I m nowledge of tne subjer I rec-ommend that pro- 1 vision be made for a commission of exptrts .spe hially to inivestigate and report uponi the com plicated questions involved. I esecially urge upon the con.gress the need o& wise legislation for Alaska. It is not to our redit as a nation that Alaska, which has been 1 urs for thirty-five years, should still have as po a system of laws as is the case. No country has I more valuable possession in mineral wealth, ini I fiheries, furs, forests and also in land availabl 1 or certain kinds of farming and stock growing. It is a territory of great size and varied re sources, wecll littedl to support a large permanent population. Alaska ne&s a gopd land law and such provisions for honrymeads famnd pfre-empltions s will encourage peirmanent isettleiment. We I should shape leg:.slation with a view not to the exploiting and abandloning of the territry, but to the building up of homes therein. T he land laws should be liberal in type-, so as to fold out - induceents to the act ual settler whl. m we most r desire to see take p4-session of the country. The forests of Alaska should be p.rotectedi, andl, as a secondary but still important mastter, the game I also, and at the same time it is imperative that the settlers should be allowed to cut timber, un- a r prop)er regulit i ins, for their own use. Laws I should be enacLed to protect the Alaskan salmon fisheries against the greed which wvould destroy them. They should be preserved as a permnanent industry anfd food supply. Their inanagem nt . and control should be turned over to the comm:is- I ion of fish and tihheries, Alaska should havy a s deegaLe in the congress. It would be well if a I ongresional cfmittee could vi::it Alaska aIf. Investigate its needs oii the ground. I In dealing with the Indians our aimr should be ( their ultimate absorption into the body of cur people, but in many cases hsasrto ut 1 and should be very slow. In portionis of the .n ian Territory the roixture of blood has goneO on h at the same time vith progress it. wealth and L eucation, so that there are plenty of iment with t varying degrees of purity of Indian blood who r are absolutely indistinguishable in wuint if social, K political and eco onmic ability froiYi their white a associates. There are other tribes whlichi have as y yet made no percep)tibfle advance toiward such 1: Kluality. To try to force such tribes too fast is e to prevent their going forward at all. .\ioreover, a ah rbslv ne i-eIlf~ui oiiiis Wher tribe ive maerwde l diffrent aditnce " ivere on fetile hasrmng soln sorable dvnc and 1 ive onetle ladming soilr it isuoscbh toi t!!e I haewwie mmesettnds.i sTverare ouha sthetie 1 -aewiher hitelr.The acusntdsrae. Othe thes 11 vhe riec lancured s th nfot desiradble. tohue p trdrae In ands t he pastorlthder t aiduce a he ra lnivsan toa prmtoa the thatl n giu urag ies rahrtan to permit them ito soltein. vil es rte Inan sofoe taednt isolati - GREATEST EVENT IN HISTORY OF THE RACE (Concluded from Second Page) )uted for all purposes of the so :iety $r 19,088.32. The Woman's Home Mission So :iety of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, first known as the WVoman's Department of Church Extension and four years later as :he Parsonage and Home Mission society, and now as the Woman's Eome Mission Society, became an )rganized force of the Church under he action of the General Conference n 1886. Miss Lucinda B. Helm, )f Elizabethtown, Ky., was the eader in this enterprise. For :welve years she gave her whole nind and heart for the development nd usefulness of this Society, and hen she fell on sleep. The present >fficers are: Miss Belle H. Bennett, ;sident; Mrs. R. W. McDonald, eneral secretary; and Mrs. W. H. Kirkland, general treasurer. The im of this society is declared to be 'To enlist and organize Christian omen and children in securing omes for itenerant preachers; in )roviding religious instruction for :he neglected and destitute; and )therwise aiding the cause of 'hrist." At the end of the first six rears of the organization it was an iounced that more parsonages h, >een built than in the first fifty years of American Methodism. Eight years later the annual report )f the Society showed that during :he thirteen years of its history, one any ln,id., r_s.. ration do a special and peculiar work of ,reat importance; but, excellent though these are, an i,nmense amount of additional work must be done on the .reservations themselves an.ong the old, and, above all, among the young Indians. The first and most important step toward the absorption of the Indian is to teach him to earn his living, yet it is not necessarily to be assumed that in each community all Indians must become either tillers of the soil or stock raisers. Their industries may properly be diversified, and those who show special desire or adaptabi.ity for indus trial or even commercial pursuits should be en couraged so far as practicable to follow out each his own bent. Every effort should be ma:!e to develop the In dian along the lines of natural aptitude and to encourage the existing native industries peculiar to certain tribes, such .as the various kinds of basket weaving, canoe building, smith work and blanket work. Above all, the Indian boys and girls should be given confident command of col loquial English and should ordinarily be prepared for a vigorous struggle with the conditions under which their people live rather than for immedi ate absorption into some more highly developed community. The officials who represent the government in dealing with the Indians work under hard condi tions and also under conditions which render It easy to do wrong and very difficult to detect wrong. Consequently they should be amply paid on the one hand, and on the other hand a par tieularly high standard of conduct should be de manded from them, and where misconduct can be proved the punishment should be exemplary. In no department of governmental work In re cent years has there been greater success than !n that of giving scientific aid to the farming population, thereby showing them how most effi iently to help -themselves. There is no need of insisting upon its importance, for the wdfare of the farmer is fundamentally necessary to the welfare of the republic as a whole. in addition to such work as quarantine against animal and vegetable plagues, and warring against thema when here introduced, much effBeient help has been ren dered to the farmer by the introduction of new lants specially fitted for cultivation under the petar conditions existing In different portions >f the country. New cereals have been established in the semia'rid west. For instance, the practi cability of producing the best types of nmacaroni wheats in regions of an annual rainfall of only ten inches or thereabout has been conclusively demonstrated. Through the introduction of new rices in Louisiana and Texas the production of rice in this country hias been made to about equal the home demand. In the southwest the possibil [ty of regrassing overstocked range lands has been demonstrated; in the north many new forage rops have been introduced, while in the east it has been shown that some of our choicest fruits can be stored and shipped in such a way as to nd a profitable market abroad. 1 again recommend to the favorable considera ion of the congress the plans of the Smithsonian institution for making the museum under its :harge worthy of the nation and for preserving it the national capital not only records of the vanishing races of men, but of the animals of this continent which, like the buffalo, will roon be come extinct unless specimens from wih h their representatives may be renewed are sot tht in their native regions and maintained there in safety. The District of Columbia Is the only part of yur territory in which the national governnr.ent exercises local or municipal functions and y aere .n consequence the government bas a free hand in reference to certain types of social an * eco iomic legislation which must be essentially local >r municipal in their character. The gor ernment di>uld see to it, for instance, that the iygienic and sanitary legislation affecting Washi: gton is >f a high character. The evils of slum dwz'lings, vhether in the shape of crowded and conr,esied enement house districts or of the back alley vpe, should never be prmitted to ~ow uzp in ashington. The city sould be a model in every espect for all the cities of the country. The ~haritable and correctional systems of the %)l ret should receive consideration at the hands of he congress to the end that they may embo&y he results of the most advanced thought in the e lelds. Moreover, while Washingon is not a greas ndustrial city, there is some industrialism here, mnd our labor legislation, while it would not be mportant in Itself, might be made a model for .he rest of the nation. We should pass, for in tance, a wise employer's liability act for the Dis rict of Columbia, and we need such an act in >ur navy yards. Railroad companies in the Dis rict ought to be required by law to block their togs. The safety appliance law, for the better pro ection of the lives and limbs of railway em loyees, which was passed in 1893, went into full ffet on Aug. 1, 1901. It has resulted in avert ng thousands of casualties. Experience shows, owever, thle necessity of additional legislation .o perfect this law. A bill to provide for this assed the senate at the last session. it is to be oped that some such measure may now be en eted into law. There is a growing tendency to provide for the ublication of masses of documents for wLich here isi no public demand and for the printing of hich there is no real necessity. Large numbers if volumes are turned out by the government irinting presses for which there is no justification. othing should be printed by any of the depart nents unless it contains something of permanent alue, and the congress could with advantage cut town very materially on all the printing which t has now become customary to provide. The xcessive cost of government printing is a strong rgument against the position of those who are nelined on abstract grounds to advocate the gav rnmets doing any work which can with pro riety be left in private hands. Cratfying progress has been made during the 'ear in the extension of the merit system of mak ig appointments in the government service. It hould be extended by law to the District of Co umbia. It is much to be desired that our con ular syvstem be established by law on a basis roviding for appointment and promotion only in oin.squenlc of proved fitness. Thoughi a wvise prov'ision of the congress at its t4 sesion the White House. which had become isfigi.red by incongruous additions and changes. as now been restored to what it was planned to e by Washington. In making the restorations ie utmost care has been exercised to come as ear as possible to the early plans and to supple. ient these plans by a careful study of such uildings as that of the University of Virgi nia, hiich was huilt by Jefferson. The White Hos the property of the nation, and so far as is >matible with living therein it should be kept sit originally was, for the same reasons that 'e keep .\ount Vernon as i originally was. The :atly simplicity of its a itecture is an ex ression of the character of the period in which was built and is in accord with the purposes was designed to serve. It is a good thing to reserve such buildings as historic monuments ( hich keep alive our sense of continuity with the ation's past. The reports of the several executive depart ents are subm'itted to the co ess with this I ,muaton. THEODR VELT. thousand and thirty-iour parson ages, or more than one-half of the whole number built by the entire Church, had been aided by the Woman's Home lMission Society. The aggregate statistics of the So ciety from 1886 to 1902 are: Number of members, 29,034. Receipts for local and connection al work, $725,945.66. Number of parsonages built and aided, 1,265. Money donated to parsonages, $117,284.23. Money loaned to parsonages, $37,100.00. Value of supplies furnished preachers' families not noted above $44,921 o6. Number of boarding schools re ported, 4. Number of night schools sup ported, 5. Number of missionaries and teachers employed, 47. Rescue homes and doors of hope, 2. Value of property owned by the society, $69,000 00. The Woman's Home Mission So ciety of the South Carolina Confer ence was organized in 1893. For five years it made but little prog ress. It was reorganized November, 1898. Mrs. W. W. Duncan was chosen president; Mrs. W. L. Wait was chosen corresponding secretary, and Mrs. W. A. Rogers, treasurer. In 1899 Miss Belle Bennett and Mrs. W. D. Kirkland met the Con ference officers in executive meet ing. From that time the work has gone steadily forward with increas ing strength and usefulness. The General Conference of 1902 provided for deaconesses. The priniples and work involved in the office have long obtained in the church in more or less degree even from Apostolic times. It has ob tained in our church in a limited degree without the name and para phernalia of office. Our Church polity is the result of accretion. While it accords with the truest philosophy, it has not been thought out as such; but it has been devel oped as needs and experience have dictated. The Church legislators did not reason from cause to effect but from effect to cause. When they saw the good effects of cert.ain innovations they adopted them The conservatism of our branch of the Church has made us slow to see the needs and to assay the experience of the ,office of deaconess. But it has come at last, and we hope the action of the late General Confer ence is but the harbinger of the greater usefulness of our women in church work. We will let Miss Mary Helm, the editor of "Our Homes," say what a deaconess is.. "What is adeaconess? (r) Sheis: a consecrated Christian woman.. (2) She is so circumstanced that she can give her whole time to the service of God. (3) -She is a trained worker. (4) She is authorized and appointed by the church. (5) She asks for no salary, only that her ne essities be- provided for when she has no means of support. (6) She is at liberty to retire from the work at any time she may desire (v) She wears an ordinary, simply made dress of uniform color with those in the same office with some dis tinctive mark of that oEce, possi bly white strings to her bonnet. (8) She lives in a deaconess' home where there are sufficient nupbers f deaconesses in. one community for the sake of economy, con enience and companionship. (9) s a pastor's assistant, she becomes leader for wvomen of that congre ation in church work. They learn from her how to work more effec ively and they are led into lines of ervice they have not entered upon. (o) She may be connected as a eaconess with her own home hurch, live in her father's house nd be supported by him, if he so esires, just as in the past, only that she will do better work.'' These statements and statistics. but inadequately show the great. work our sisters are doing. During :e last half century, the church has accomplished more by the aid f their self-sacrificing efforts than n a thousand years before. Chris ian women now are taking their >1aces in the evangelizing and 2nritianizing the world which has ong waited for their coming. "Let vonman appreciate her opportunity, or it is the golden age of her reign, mnd she holds a sceptre that sways mipires. Let her prove herself to e ordained of God to fulfill a holy nission~"