Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], December 12, 1912, Page 4, Image 4

About Springfield weekly Republican. [volume] (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946

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4
THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE.
IS TOR CURRENCY REFORM.
FAVORS REORGANIZED ARMY.
Against Philippine Independence Pro
posal—Business Prosperity of the
Country Touched Lpon.
President Taft will make no further ef
fort to hare Congress reduce the tariff. In
a “general" messaga to Congress submit
ted’ at Washington Friday the president
clearly indicated his intention of leaving
further tariff revision to Mr M ilson and
the Congress just, elected. "Now that a
qew Congress has been elected on a plat
form of tariff for revenue only rather than
a protective tariff and is to revise the tar
iff on that basis." said the president, "it
is needless for me to occupy the time of
Congress with arguments or recommen
dations in favor of a protective tariff. ’
This message, the second submitted by
the president since the present session be
gan. will be his last of a general charac
ter. It dealt with every department of
the government except the state depart
ment, recommended much of the legisla
lation which Mr Taft previously had urged
upon the attention of Congress, and took
up and discussed at length several sub
jects comparatively new. Mr Taft came
out strongly against independence for the
Philippines, proposed, he said, in a bill
now before Congress. He deprecated the
new poliev of one battleship a year in
' stead of two. and indorsed again the
scheme of currency reform proposed by
the national monetary commission.
Conservation was lightly touched, the
president recommending the amendment
of bills non before Congress so that water
power companies which dam navigable riv
ers will contribute to the improvement of
these streams. He declared that no radi
cal change in the Sherman antitrust law
was needed, and praised the supreme court
for its recently announced changes in rules
of equity procedure. In this connection
the president asked Congress to pass legis
lation which would allow the supreme
court to formulate rules of procedure un
der the common law in federal courts and
predicted that such action would facilitate
justice in those courts and reduce the cost
of litigation to the public.
The Panama canal was dismissed in a
few words, the president prophesying its
opening in the latter half of 1913. He
took occasion, however, to declare that
Congress should reward the work of Col
Goethals by an appointment as major
general with the provision that he become
chief of engineers when the term of the
present incumbent expires. He made only
a brief reference to the dispute with Great
Britain over the Panama canal act, and
said that when a formal protest was
lodged against that act it would be taken
up by the United States.
Dtacusaea Army at Length.
The army the president discussed nt
terne length. He praised the army legisla
tion of the last Congress, but said that
provision should be made by law so that
the nation’s foreign regiments may be al
ways maintained upon a war footing; ard
he urged the passage of the pending
militia pay hill, designed to make service
in the militiu more enticing, and showed
that the home army will be nothing more
than a ‘'skeleton'’ until Congress provides
that it be concentrated in fewer posts thau
are now maintained. He urged also the
passage of another bill now before Con
gress designed to raise quickly a volun
teer army in case of war. One of the
striking arguments of the message wns
that opposing autonomy for the Philip
pines at once, and independence in eight
years. "In the Philippine islands we have
embarked upon an experiment unprece
dented in dealing with dependent peoples.”
said President Taft. "We are developing
there conditions exclusively for their own
welfare. Through the unifying forces of a
common education, of commercial and
economic development, and of gradual
particijiation in local self-government, we
are endeavoring to evolve a homogeneous
people fit to determine, when the time
arrives, their own destiny. We arc seek
ing to arouse a national spirit and not, us
. under the older colonial theory, to sup
press such a spirit. But our work is far
from done. Our duty to the Fiiipinos is
far from discharged."
For educational, sanitarv and political
reasons, the president said, this country
should not consent to grant independence
at this time. "If the task we have undei
taken is higher than tint nsaumed by
other nations," continued the president,
“its accomplishment must demand even
more patience. To confer independence
u|xin the Filipinos now is. therefore, to
subject the great mass of their people
to the dominance of an oligarchical and
probably exploiting minority Such a
coarse will be as cruel to those people
us it would be shameful to us."
In addition to his advice in regard to
legislation and Lis opposition to pending
measures, the president discussed the
prosperity of the nation, its financial con
dition and the proposed system of a na
tional budget showing proposed ex
penditures and revenues; and ailed att-n
---non to the balance in the genera] f ur 4
of the treasury, of almost JITO.OtAW).
His remarks on the budget system he
said, would lie submitted to Congress la’ep
accompanied by a model budget. Abstract*
from important parts of the message fol-
JOWi—
Bu*ine«« Conditions.
The condition of the country with refer
to, business could hardly be better,
w Me the four years of the administration
now drawing to a -lose have not devel
y*d speculative expansion or a wide
ti‘-Id of new investment, the recovery and
progress made from the depressing condi
tion- following th<, panic of 1907 have been
steady and the improvement has been
Hear and easily traced in the statistics,
she b;iMne»a of the country is now on a
solid basis. Credits are not unduly ex
tended. and every phase of the situation
seems tn a state of preparedness for a
period of unexampled prosperity. Manu
facturing concerns are running at their foil '
rapacity and the demand for labor was
never so constant ami growing. The for
eigu trade of the country for this vear will
exceed $4.o00y»00.000. while the balance
in our favor—that of the excess of exports
over imports—will exceed $500.(100.000
More than half our exports are manufac
tures or partly manufactured material,
while our exports of farm products do not
show the same increase because of domes
tic consumption. It is a year of bumper
crops; the total money value of farm prod
ucts will exceed $0,500,000,000. It Is a
your when the bushel or unit price of agri
cultural products has gradually fallen, and
yet the total value of the entire crop is
greater by over $1.000,000,000 than we
have known in our history.
Our Banking and Currency Syatem.
A time when panics seem far removed
is the best time for us to prepare our finan
cial system to withstand a storm. The
most, crying need this country has is a
proper banking and currency system. The
existing one is inadequate, and everyone
wlio ha a studied the question admits it.
It is the business of the national govern
ment to provide a medium, automatically
contracting and expanding in volume, to
meet the needs of trade. Our present sys
tem lacks the indispensable quality of
elasticity.
The only part of our monetary medium
that has elasticity is the bank-note cur
rency. The peculiar ; revisions of the Itiw
requiring national banks to maintain re
serves to meet the call of the depositors
operates to increase the money stringency
when it arises rather than to expand the
supply of currency and relieve it. It op
erates upon each bank and furnishes a
motive for the withdrawal of currency
from the channels of trade by each bank
to save itself, and offers no inducement
whatever for the use of the reserve to ex
pand the supply of currency to meet the
exceptional demand.
After the panic of 1907 Congress real
ized that the present system was not
adapted to the country's needs and that
under it panics were possible that might
properly be avoided by legislative provi
sion. Accordingly a monetary commis
sion was appointed which made a report
in February. 1912. The system which they
recommended involved a national reserve
association, which was. in certain of its
faculties and functions, a bank, and which
was given through its governing authori
ties the power, by isuing circulating notes
for approved commercial paper, by fixing
discounts, and by other methods of trans
fer of currency, to expand the snpplj
the monetary medium where it was most
needed to prevent the export or hoarding
of gold and generally' to exercise such su
pervision over the supply of money in every
part of the country as to prevent a strin
gency and a panic. The report of the com
mission recommends provisions for the im
position of a graduated tax on the expand
ed currency of such a character as to fur
nish a motive for reducing the issue of
notes whenever their presence in the
money market is not required by the exi
gencies of trade. In other words, the
■whole system has been worked out with
the greatest care. Theoretically it pre
sents a plan that ought to command sup
port. Practically it may require modifi
cation in various of its provisions in order
to make the security against abuses by
combinations among the banks impossible.
But in the face of the crying necessity
that there is for improvement in our pres
ent system, I urgently invite the attention
of Congress to the proposed plan and the
report of the commission, with the hope
that an earnest consideration may sug
gest amendments and changes within the
general plan which will lead to its adop
tion for the benefit of the country. There
is no class in the community more inter
ested in a safe and sane banking and cur
rency system, one which will prevent
panics and automatically furnish in each
trade center the currency needed in the
carrying on of the business at that cen
ter, "than the wage earner. There is no
ciass in the community whose experience
better qualifies them to make suggestions
as to the sufficiency of a currency and
banking system than the bankers and busi
ness men. Ought we, therefore, to ignore
their recommendations and reject their
financial judgment as to the proper method
of reforming our financial system merely
because of the suspicion which exists
against them in the minds of many of our
fellow-citizens? Is it not the duty of
Congress to take up the plan suggested,
examine it from all standpoints, give im
partial consideration to the testimony of
those whose experience ought to fit them
to give the best advice on the subject, and
then to adopt some plan which will secure
the benefits desired?
A banking and currency system seems
far awav from the wage earner and the
farmer, but the fact is that they are vi
tallv interested in a safe system of cur
rency which shall graduate its volume to
the amount needed and which shall pre
vent times of artificial stringency that
frighten capital, stop employment, pre
vent the meeting of the pay-roll, destroy
local markets and produce penury and
want.
Army Reorgranization.
Our small army now consists of 83,809
men, excluding the 5000 Philippine scouts.
Leaving out of consideration the coast ar
tillery force, whose position is fixed in
our various seacoast defenses, and the
present garrisons of our various insular
possessions, we have to-day within the
continental United States a mobile army
of only about 35,000 men. This little force
must be still further drawn upon to sup
ply the new garrisons for the great naval
base which is being established at Pearl
harbor, in the Hawaiian islands, and to
protect the locks now rapidly approaching
completion at Panama. The forces re
maining in the United States are now scat
tered in nearly 50 posts, situated for a
variety of historical reasons in 24 states.
These posts contain only fractions of regi
ments, averaging less than 700 men each.
In time of peace it has been our historical
policy to administer these units separately
by a" geographical organization. In other
words, our army in time of peace has
never been a united organization, but
merely scattered groups of companies, bat
talions and regiments, aud the first task
in time of war has been to create out of
these scattered units an army fit tor ef
fective team work and co-operation.
To the task of meeting these patent de
fects the war department has been ad
dressing itself during the past. year. For
many years we had no officer or division
whose business it was to study these prob
lems and plan remedies for these defects.
With the establishment of the general staff
nine years ago a body was created for
this purpose. It has, necessarily, required
time to overcome, even iu its own person
nel. the habits of mind engendered by a
century of lack of method, but of late
years its work has become systematic and
effective, and it has recently been ad
dressing itself vigorously to these prob
lems.
A comprehensive plan of army reorgani
zation was prepared by the war college
division of the general staff. This plan
was thoroughly discussed last summer at
a series of open conferences held by the
secretary of war and attended by repre
sentatives from all branches of the army
and from Congress. In printed form it
has been distributed to members of Con
gress and throughout the army and the
national guard, and widely through insti
tutions of learning and elsewhere in the
United States. In it, for the first time,
we have a tentative chart for future prog
ress.
Under the influence of this- study definite
and effective steps have been taken toward
army reorganization so far as such reor
ganization lies within the executive power.
Hitherto there has lieen no difference of
policy in the treatment of the organiza
tion "of our foreign garrisons from those
of troops within the United States. The
difference of situation is vital, and the
foreign garrison should be prepared to de
fend itself at an instant's notice against
a foe who may ivmawad the sea. Unlike
the troops in the United States, it cannot
count upon reinforcements or recruitment.
It is an outpost, upon which will fall the
brunt of the first attack in case of war.
The historical policy of the United States
of carrying its regiments during time of
peace at half strength lias no application
to our foreign garrisons. During rhe past
>*ar this defect has been remedied as to
the Philippines garrison. Tin- former gar
rison of 12 reduced regiments has been
replaced by a garrison of six regiments
at full strength, giving fully the same
number or riflemen at an estimated econ
omy in cost of maintenance of over sl,-
000.000 per year. This garrison is to
be permanent. Its regimental units, in
stead of being transferred periodically
back and forth front the United States,
will remain in tlie islands. The officers
and men composing these units will, how
ever. serve a regular tropical detail as
usual, thus involving no greater hard
ship upon the personnel and greatly in
creasing the effectiveness of the garrison.
A similar policy is proposed for the Ha
waiian and Panama garrisons as fast as
the barracks for tlmm are completed. I
strongly urge upon Congress that, the nec
essary appropriations for this purpose
Should be promptly made. It la, m my
opinion, of first importance that these
national outposts, upon which a success
ful home defense will, primarily, depend,
should bo finished and placed in effective
condition at the earliest possible dny.
• The Home Army.
Simultaneously with the foregoing steps
the war department has been proceeding
with the reorganization of the army at
home. The formerly disassociated units
are being united into a tactical organiza-
THE SPRUNG FIELD JYEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1912.
lion of three divisions, envh consisting of
two m three brigades of infantry and, so
far as practicable, a proper proportion of
divisional cavalry and artillery. Of
. <>urse ilie extent to which this reform enu
bo carried by the executive is practically
limited to a paper organization. The
scattered units eau be brought under ti
proper organization, but they will remain
physically scattered until Congress sup
plies the necessary funds for grouping
them in more concern rated posts. Until
I that is done the present difficulty of drill
i itig our scattered groups together, and thus
| training them for the proper team play,
cannot be removed. But we shall, at least.
. have an army which will know its own
i organization and will be inspected by its
proper commanders, and to which, as a
unit, emergency orders can be issued in
time of war or other emergency. More
over. the organization, which in many re
spects is necessarily a skeleton, will fur
nish a guide for future development. The
separate regiments and companies will
know the brigades and divisions to which
they belong. They will be maneuvered
together whenever maneuvers are estab
lished by Congress, and the gaps in their
organization will show the pattern into
which can be filled new troops as the na
tion grows and a larger army is provided.
Regular Army Reserve.
One of the most important reforms ac
complished during the past year has been
the legislation enacted m the army appro
priation bill of last summer, providing for
a regular army reserve. Hitherto our na
tional policy has assumed that at the out
break of war our regiments would be im
mediately raised to full strength. But our
laws have provided no means by which
this could be accomplished, or by which
the losses of the regiments when once sent
to the front could be repaired. In this
respect we-have neglected the lessons
learned by other nations. The new law
provides that the soldier, after serving
four years with colors, shall pass into a
reserve for three years. At his option
lie may go into the reserve at the end of
three years, remaining there for four
years. While in the reserve he can lie
called to active duty only in case of war
or other national emergency, and when. so
called and only in such case will receive
a stated amount of pay for all of the pe
riod in which he has been a member of
the reserve. The legislation is imperfect,
in my opinion, in certain particulars, but
it is a most important step in the right di
rection, and I earnestly hope that it will
be carefully studied and perfected by Con
gress.
The National Guard.
Under existing law the national guard
constitutes, after the regular army, the
first line of national defense. Its organiza
tion. discipline, training, and equipment,
under recent legislation, have been assim
ilated, as far as possible, to those of the
regular army, and its practical efficiency,
under the effect of this training, has very
greatly increased. Our citizen soldiers un
der present conditions have reached a
stage of development beyond which they
cannot reasonably l>e asked to go without
further direct assistance in the form of
pay from the federal government. On the
other band, such pay from the national
treasury would not lie justified unless it
produced a proper equivalent in additional
efficiency on the part of the national
guard. The organized militia to-day can
not be ordered outside of the limits of
the United States, and thus cannot law
fully be used for general military pur
poses. The officers and men are ambitious
and eager to make themselves thus avail
able and to become an efficient national
reserve of citizen soldiery. They arc the
only force of trained men. other than the
regular army, upon which we can rely.
The so-called militia pay bill, in the form
agreed on between the authorities of the
war department and the representatives
of the national guard, in my opinion ade
quately' meets these conditions and offers a
proper return for the pay which it is pro
posed to give W the national guard. I be
lieve that its enactment into law would he
a very long step toward providing this na
tion with a first line of citizen soldiery,
upon which its main reliance must depend
in case of any national emergency. Plans
for the organization of the national guard
into tactical divisions, on the same lines
as those adopted for the regular army,
are being formulated by the war college
division of the general staff.
National Volunteers,
The national guard consists of only
about 110,000 men. In any serious war In
the past it has always been necessary, and
in such a war in tlie future it doubtless
will be necessary, for the nation to de
pend, in addition to the regular army and
the national guard, upon a large force of
volunteers. There is at present no ade
quate provision of law for the raising of
such a force. There is now pending iu
Congress, however, a bill which makes
such provision, and which I believe is
admirably adapted to meet the exigencies
which would he presented in ease of war.
The passage of the bill would not entail
a dollar's expense upon the government at
This time or iu the future until war comes.
But if war come* the methods therein di
rected are in accordance with the best mili
tary judgment as to what they ought to
be, and the act would prevent the neces
sity for a discussion of any legislation and
the delays incident to its consideration and
adoption. I earnestly urge its jsissage.
Philippine*.
A bill is pending in Congress which
revolutionizes the eurefnlly-worked-out
scheme of government under which the
Philippine island* are now governed and
which proposes to render tlieiu virtually
autonomous at. once and absolutely inde
pendent in eight years. Such a proposal
can only lie founded on the assumption
that we have now discharged our trustee
ship to the Filipino people and our re
sponsibility for them to the world, and
tfiai they are now prepared for self-gov
ernment as well a* national sovereignty.
A tlrerougli and unbiased know ledge of the
facts clearly shows that these assumption*
are absolutely without justification. As to
this. 1 believe that there ia no substantial
difference of opinion nmong any of those,
win, have had the responsibility of facing
Philippine problems in Ilie administration
of the islands, and I believe that no one
to whom the future of this people is a
respotwible concern can countenance a pol
icy fraught with the direst consequences
to those on whose behalf it is ostensibly
urged.
In the Philippine island* we have em
barked upon an experiment unprecedented
in denting w ith dependent peoples. \Ve are
developing there condition* exclusively for
their own welfare. We found an nrchi
lielugo containing 24 tribes ami races,
speaking a great variety of languages, aud
with a population over 8G jxt cent of
whi<-h could neither read nor write.
Through the unifying forces of a common
education, of commercial and economic
development, and of gradual participation
in local self-government we are endeavor
ing to evolve a homogeneous people tit to
determine, when the time arrives, their
own destiny. We are seeking to arouse a
ua’ional spirit and not. as under the older
colonial theory, to snfiprew such a spirit.
The character of the work we have been
doing i* keenly recognized in the Orient,
aud our success thus far followed with not
a little envy by those who. initiating the
sanie policy, find themselves liomiured by
(smdition* grown up in earlier days and
under different theories of administration.
But our work Is fnr from done. Our duty
to the Filipnos is fnr from discharged.
| O'er half a million Filipino students nre
now in tho Philippine school* helping to
mold the men of the future into a homo
geneous people, but there still remain
molt, than a million Filipino children of
school age yet to be reached. Freed from
American control the integrating forces of
a common education and a common la:i-
I guage will cense and the educational sys
i tern now well started will slip back into
.inefficiency and disorder.
An enormous increase In the commer
rial development of (he islands has been
made since they were virtually grunted full
ac<ess to onr market* three years ago. ulth
every prospect of increasing development
and dlversiiled industries, Freed from
American control such development is
bound to decline. Every observer speaks
of the great progress in public works for
the benefit of the Filipinos-, of run nor im
provements. of roads and railways, of ir
rigation and artesian wells, public bnild
mas and better ni<’,ins of communicptiou.
Hui large parts of the islands are still
uureadied, still even unexplored, roads
and railways are needed in ninny parts,
irrigation systems are still to be installed
and wells to be driven. Whole villages
and towns are still without means of com
munication other thnn almost impassable
roads and trails. Even the.great progress
! in sanitation, which has successfully snp
, pressed smallpox, the bubonic plague, the
' Astatic cholera, has found the cause of
। and a cure for beriberi, hns segregated
the lepers, hns helped to make Manila the
i most healthful city in the Orient, and to
free life throughout the whole archipelago
from its former dread disease, is neverthe
less incomplete in many essentials of per
manence in sanitary policy. Even more
remains to be accomplished. If freed front
American control sanitary progress is
hound to be arrested and all that hns been
achieved likely to be lost.
Concurrent with the economic, social and
industrial development of the islands has
been the development of the political ca
pacity of the people. By their progressive
participation in government the Filipinos
are being steadily and hopefully trained
for self-government. Under Spanish con
trol they shared in no way in the govern
ment. Under American control they have
shared largely and increasingly. Within
the last dozen years they , have gradually
been given complete autonomy- iu the mu
nicinalities, the right to elect two-thirds
of the provincial governing boards and the
lower house of the insular Legislature.
They have four native members out of
nine members of the commission, or up
per house. The chief justice and two jus
tices of the supreme court, about one-half
of the higher judicial positions, and all of
the jiis’i.e* of the peace arc natives. In
the classified civil-service the proportion of
Filipinos increased from 51 per cent in
1904 to 67 iter cent in 1911. Thus to-day
nil the municipal employes, over 90 per
cent of the provincial employes, and GO per
cent of the officials and employes of the
central government are Filipinos. The
ideal which has been kept iu mind in our
political guidance of the islands has been
real popular self-government and not mere
paper independence. 1 am happy to say
that the FHipinos have done well enough
in the places they have filled and in the
discharge of the political power with which
they hhve been intrusted to warrant the
belief that they can be educated and
trained to complete self-government. But
the present satisfactory results are due to
constant support and supervision at every
stop by Americans.
If the task we have undertaken is higher
than that assumed bv other nations, its ac
complishment must demand even more pa
tience. Wo must not forget that we found
the Filipinos wholly untrained iu govern
ment. Up to our advent all other experi
ence sought to repress rather than encour
age political power. It takes long time
and much experience tn ingrain political
habits of steadiness and efficiency. Popu
lar self-government ultimately must rest
upon common habits of thought and upon
a reasonably developed public opinion. No
such foundations for self-government, let
ah ne independence, are now present in
the Philippine islands. Disregarding even
their racial heterogeneity ami the lack of
ability to think as a nation, it is sufficient
to point out that under liberal franchise
privileges only about 3 per cent of the
Filipinos vote and only 5 per cent of the
people are said to read the public press.
To confer independence upon the Filipinos
now is, therefore, to subject the great mass
of their people to the dominance of an
oligarchical and, probably, exploiting mi
nority. Such a course will be as cruel to
those people as it would be shameful to us.
Our true course is to pursue steadily
and courageously the path we have thus
far followed; to guide the Filipinos into
self-sustaining pursuits; to continue the
cultivation of sound political habits
through education and political practice; to
encourage tlie diversification of industries,
and to realise the advantages of their
industrial education by conservatively ap
proved co-operative methods, at once
cheeking the dangers of concentrated
wealth and building up a sturdy, inde
pendent citizenship. We should do all this
with a disinterested endeavor to secure for
the Filipinos economic independence and
to fit them for complete self-government,
with the power to decide eventually, ac
cording to their own largest good, whether
such self-government shall be accompanied
by independence. A present declaration
even of future independence would retard
progress by the dissension and disorder it
would arouse. On our part it would be a
disingenuous attempt, under the guise of
conferring a benefit on them, to relieve
ourselves from the heavy and difficult bur
den which thus fur we have been bravely
and consistently sustaining. It would be
a disguised policy of scuttle. It would
make the helpless Filipino the football of
oriental politics under the ^protection
of a guaranty of their independence, which
we would he powerless to enforce.
Regulation of Water Power.
There are pending before Congress a
large number of bills proposing to grant
privileges of erecting dams for the purpose
of creating water-power in our navigable
rivers. The pendency of these bills has
brought out nn important defect in the
existing general dam net. That act does
uot. in my opinion, grant sufficient power
to the federal government in dealing with
the construction of such dams to exact
protective conditions in the interest of nav
igation. It does not permit the federal
government, as a condition of its permit,
to require that a part of the value thus
created shall be applied to the further
general improvement and protection of tlie
stream. I believe this to be one of Ilie
most important matters of internal im
provement now confronting the govern
ment. Most of the navigable rivers of
this country are comparatively long and
shallow. In order that they may be made
fully useful for nivigation there lias come
into vogue it method of improvement
known as canalization, or the slack-water
method, which consists in building u series
of dams and locks, each of which will
create a long pool of deep navigable water.
Ai each of these dams there is usually
(routed also water-power of commercial
value. If the water-power tipis created
can be made available for the further im
provement of navigation in the stream, it
is manifest that the improvement will be
much more quickly effected on the one hand,
and, on the other, that the burden on the
general taxpayers of the country will be
v( ry much r< duced. Private interests seek
ing permits Io build water-power dams in
navigable streams usually urge that they
thus implore navigation, and that if they
do not impair navigation they should be
allowed to take for themselves the entire
profits of the water-power development.
W hatever they may do by way of relieving
the government of the expense of improv
ing navigation should be given due con
siderntion, hut it must ho apparent that
there may be it profit beyond n reasonably
liberal return upon the private investment
which If a potential asset of the govern
meiit in carrying out a comprehensive pol
icy of wateAvuy development. It is no
objection to the retention and use of such
an asset by the government that a com
prdieiisive waterway policy will Include
the protection and development of the
| other public uses of water, which rannot
j and should not fie ignored in.making and
I executing plans for the protection and de
iveiopment of navigation. It is also equally
dear that inasmuch as the water-power
tints created is or may bo nn incident of a
general scheme of waterway improvement
j within the eonstitutidual jurisdiction of
the federal government, the regulation of
*mh water-power lies also within that
' jurisdiction. In my opinion constructive
| stnfesinausliip requires that legislation
1 should be enacted which will permit the
development of navigation in those great
rivers to go hand in hand with the utiliza
• tion <>f this byproduct of waterpower,
created In the course of the same improve,
mom, and that, the general dam net should
Is l so amended as to make this possible. I
diein it highly important that the nation
should adopt a consistent and harmonious
(lentnient of these water-power projects,
which will preserve for this purpose their
value to the government, whose right it is
to grant the permit. Any other policy is
equivalent to throwing away a most val
uable national asset
SOME DEPARTMENT REPORTS.
MORE BATTLE CRUISERS WANTED.
Secretary Meter Expresses Skepti
cism Regarding Abolition of War.
The United States must have a bigger
navy and must be prepared to meet any
chance of war, in the opinion of Secretary
Moyer of the navy department, if it is to
preserve its national safety. In his annual
report, made public at Washington Fri
day, Secretary Meyer pleads for throe
new battleships this year, and declares
that this country soon will fall from sec
ond to fourth place in the relative stand
ing of naval powers if it continues the
policy of building only two ships each
year. International peace lias been brought
no nearer, the secretary declares, so far
as a limitation of armaments is concerned.
To guard its const and protect its eom
! mercial activities, the United States needs
a penniincnt navy of 41 capital ships—
battleships and battle cruisers— according
to Secretary Meyer. The present strength
of the navy in battleships is about 03.
but four ships will soon be retired as ob
solete.
Secretary Meyer’s report is a recital of
the development of the navy during the
year, with few recommendations beyond
those contained iu his former reports. He
gives chief emphasis to bls recommenda
tion that the navy be increased according
to a program that will keep the nation in
its present position nmong the world
powers; and the suggestion that Congress
remove the limit upon the amount of
money that can be spent for aviation and
permit the navy to compete .with the like
establishments of other nations in devel
oping aerial methods of defense. For the
coming year, the secretary of the navy urges
that Congress appropriate money for three
battleships of the Dreadnought class and
for two battle cruisers. 16 destroyers, six
submarines, two gunboats, and a fleet of
auxiliaries, to include transports, supply
ships, tugs, tenders, and a dry dock. The
navy general board recommends four
battleships: and Secretary Meyer points
out that even though this number should
be authorized it would mean uo real m
crense in the navy, as four ships are soon
to be retired because they will have passed
the age of 20 years.
Secretary Meyer expresses skepticism
as to the abolition of war in the near
future. Wars come with little or no warn
ing, he says, and only by the possession
of nn efficient fleet of adequate size will
the country be safe from attack and free
to work out its own destiny in peace and
without hindrance. "The history of all
times, including the present, shows the
futility and danger of trusting to the good
will and fair dealing, and even to the
most solemnly binding treaties between
nations, for the protection of a nation's
sovereign rights and interests," he says,
"and without doubt the time is remote
when a comparatively unarmed and help
less nation may he reasonably free from
attack by ambitious, well-armed powers,
especially in a commercial age. such as
the present. The economical system of a
great commercial nation is so delicately
balanced that even a threat of war is very
disturbing and harmful, while a war with
any other great power would cause in
calculable damage.
"To avoid war and insure peace, the
cmintry must be prepared for war. No
person of intelligence who has studied
international policies cun he blind to
the fact that the possession of great
wealth, resources and population does not
carry with it immunity from attack,
should the nation’s interests clash with
those of another better prepared.”
The opguing of the Panama canal will
ill no. Sense doulile the American fleet,
according to Secretary Moyer. While it
will increase its efficiency by facilitating
its passage from one coast to the other,
this condition has been fully considered
in calculating the naval program. M ithout
the canal, says Secretary Meyer, experts
figure that the United States would need
a fleet double that of a country whose
coast line is continuous. The secretary
estimates that a total of 41 battleships,
with a proportional number of other fight
ing and auxiliary vessels, is the least that
would place this country on a safe basis
in its relations with other world powers.
This fleet should be secured as soon as
practicable, he said, and its strength
should be maintained by replacing obsolete
vessels with new ones by a uniform an
nual program. While the navy depart
ment would welcome more torpedo boats
and submarines, the secretary expresses
the belief that until more of the old bat
tleships are replaced it is wiser'to build
battleships than smaller vessels.
He recommends the creation of a naval
reserve of about 50,000 men. and 25,000
to he secured from honorably discharged
men of the navy, the naval militia, and
various mechanical trades of civil lire; the
other 25,000 from among sailors of the
merchant marine. ’The application of Hie
eight-hour law to all shipyards, says Sec
retary Meyer, will probably cause an in
crease In the appropriation necessary to
build ships of a given type. As to small
American navy-yards. Secretary Meyer
makes no definite recommendations for
their abolishment, but suggests that if the
American fleet is to spend part of its time
on the Pacific coast after the Panama
canal opens, some of the nuvy-yurds on
the eastern < oast will automatically close
from lack of work. As to the first-class
yards, lie adopts the recommendation of
the general board that all their channels
bo dredged to a depth of _nt least 40 feet
and a minimum width of 750 feet.
MR WICKERSHAM’S REPORT.
Verends Sherman Trust Law—Approv
nl for Commerw Court.
The Sherman antitrust law is proving
its adequacy ns a civil statute and there
is no necessity for the much-discussed pro
posed amendment particularizing unlawful
practices In restraint of trade, according
to George W. Wickersham, attorney-gen
era I of the United Htatea, in his annual
report submitted to Congress Thursday.
On the other hand, however, the attor
uey-geuerul docs not pass judgment upon
the efficacy of the antitrust act as a
criminal statute. He merely says. "The
experience of the last year in endeavoring
to enforce criminal liability under the
Sherman law has not been encouraging.”
The attorney-general defends the com
merce court, the abolition of which was at
tempted at the last session of Congress.
A return to the old method of distributing
litigation arising from the orders of the
interstate commerce commission to the
district courts would be injurious to the
interests of the public and delay, tne ad
ministration of justice, says Mr " ieker
sharn. Drawing conclusions from the de
crees of dissolution and injunction which
already have been entered under the Sher
nian luw, Mr Wickersham maintaitia that
the federal courts are exercising in equity
suits a power to restrain which is co
extensive with the evils against which the
Sherman law was enacted. The courts
have found no difficulty, he adds, in ap
plying the terms of the law to meet and
enjoin the continuance of any form of
unfair competition which has resulted in
imposing an undue restraint upon inter
state commerce or which makes for
monopoly.
These decrees, the attorney-general con
tinues, demonstrate that no amendment
of the law in the direction of declaring
the illegality of particular practices is
necessary to clothe the courts with full
power to prevent any and all acts which
may be employed to accomplish the illegal
purposes denounced by. the statute. "1
am strongly of the opinion,” says Mr
Wickersham, "that the advocacy of
amendments of the law which shall parUc-
ularize different acts as constituting un
lawful restraints or attempts at monopoly
has its origin, uot so mm li with those who
desire the enforcement of the law. ns with
those who are anxious to secure u sate
means of its evasion. An euumerution by
statute of the different practices which, in
and of themselves, without regard to the
circumstances of particular cases, should
be declared illegal will either go too far
or not for enough."
Private Hrnrlim, Opposed.
The attorney-grtiern) takes issue with
the decision of Judges Colt, Putnam
and Brown at Boston, authorizing the
hearing in private before an examiner of
the civil antitrust suit against the United
shoe machinery company, and asks for
legislation admitting the public and rep
resentatives of the press to such hearings.
Coffee Vnloriznlton Scheme.
The suit against the coffee trust or the
Brazilian valorization scheme, the oper
ations of which, the attorney-general says,
has resulted in more tliun doubling the
retail price of coffee to the American con
sumer and thereby laying a heavy tax
upon him, has developed whnt the attor
ney-general regards ns a defect in the still
operative section of the Wilson tariff law
dealing with combinations. Pointing to
the fact that the government was unable
to secure a temporary injunction restrain
ing the exportation or 920,000 bags of cof
fee. said to be stored iu New York city
under the valorization scheme, the attor
ney-general recommends the enactment of
an amendment to the Wilson law, author
izing the seizure by the government in the
state of entry of merchandise imported for
the purposes of unlawful combination. At
present such commodities must lx? in the
course of interstate transportation to jus
tify seizure.
The voluntary dissolution of the Na
tional packing company, following the ac
quittal ut Chicago of the beef packers of
criminal violation of the Shertuan law, has
accomplished, in the belief of the attorney
general. “n substantial restoration of com
petitive conditions in a very large indus
try which have not for a long time hereto
fore existed.”
Contemplated Suits AKaiimi Railroads
The attorney general announces his in
tention of soon filing suits in equity
ngainst the Southern Pacific railroad com
pany and others for the recovery of vast
areas of petroleum-bearing lauds iu Cal
ifornia said to be worth more than $500,-
000,000. The legislation under which the
patents were granted to the railroad com
pany, he says, cxeepted mineral lands
other than iron or coal lands. The rail
road company contends, according to the
attorney general, that the exceptions in the
patents are void.
To investigate and preserve the rights
of the government to the sources of water
supply for the stupendous reclamation pro
jects contructed or in contemplation. Mr
Wickersham strongly recommends an ap
propriation to employ an adequate force
of lawyers. Pointing out that innumera
ble claims inevitably will be lodged against
the government, contesting its right to se
lected water sources, be says the wel
fare of the citizens who have staked their
fortunes on the success of these enter
prises and the honor of the government
demand immediate action.
The department of justice, including the
offices of the attorney general and all the
United States attorneys, has been on a
paying basis during President Taft's term
of office, according ro figures submitted in
the report, a surplus of nearly $2,51)0,000
over expenses having been turned into
tlie federal treasury. For the four years
epfied June 30 last, the fiep&rtment col
lected $11,212,95!) through suits and com
promises and expended $8,756,505. The
collections for the preceding four years
amounted to $3.r>9(,442 and ex|>enses
$0,300,798. In addition, the government
recovered during the past four years
1,023,119 acres of public lands.
MacVEIGH IS FOR REFORM.
Annual Report Snbniitten — Find*
Fault With Currency.
Strongly urging radical reform of the
“unreasoned and unscientific” banking and
currency system of the United States,
Franklin MneVeagh, secretary of the
treasury, freely warns Congress in his an
nual report submitted last week that the
federal government, as long as the pres
ent scheme exists, will he exclusively re
sponsible for the commercial, industrial
aud social disasters which flow from pah’
ies and attack, directly or indirectly, every
home in the nation.
The present system promotes and de
velops panics, mid legislation is urgent,
declares Mr MacVeagh, in outlining his
idea of the necessary general provisions
of an adequate relief measure. Aside
from affording flexible and elastic cur
rency and reserves, such a revision, he
says, should bring the banks into organ
ized co-operation and provide for a central
agency through which they could work to
gether, free of political or trust control.
According to the estimates of the treas
ury department. tlie secretary foresees a
deficit of $22,556,023, exclusive of Pana
ma canal expenditures, for the fiscal year
ending June 30. 1914, the first fiscal year
of President Wilson's administration. In
cluding the canal expenses, the deficit is
estimated sit $52,730,455. The canal ex
penditures, he adds, however, may be paid
under the law from bond sales. The esti
mated receipts for that year are $710,-
000,000, while the ordinary appropria
tions are estimated at $732,556,028, and
the canal expenditures at $30,174,432.
Undoubtedly having probable tariff revi
sion in mind, the secretary announce*
that these estimates are based upon press
ent conditions aud laws. For the current
fiscal year, ending June 30, 1913, Mr
MacVeagh estimates that there will bo
a surplus of $40,200,000, exclusive of
Pnuama eantil expenditures, nnd a deficit
of $1,800,000, imludiug the canal trans
actions. He estimates receipts for this
year at s7l LOOO.OffO and ordinary dis
bursements at $670^00,000.
People Now Helpless,
1n connection with financial reform, Mr
MacVeagh says the people are helpless
under existing evils. The present system
never permits free action at any time, be
cause Its liability to sudden constraint
aud restriction is always a part of the
nation's financial consciousness. "There
never is a time," continues tho secretary
of the treasury, “when there is tiny long
loos ahead; except when we are in the
midst of n panic, when there is a long
look of disaster ahead. There is never a
long look of ease and convenience and
prosperity ahead." In the crop-moving
season, Mr MacVeagh points out, there
is a special stress and restraint and the
secretary found nn object lesson in the
conditions during the past autumn, when
the bunks were called upon to finance the
movement of record-breaking crops, neces
sitating the employment of nearly all of
their available resources under "our con
stricting system.” "This relief which is
so urgently needed by the legitimate busi
ness and enterprise of our people." he
adds, "is not relief from n financial sit
uation built up by a financial world itself,
but is from a system and conditions suiw
induced by the government, and forced
upon the business communitv nnd upon
American society. The banking and cur
rency system is the product of federal
law. and there can be no relief from it
iiutll Congress nets. And this is why
congressional action is urgent."
Cn*tnni« Hcforms.
Discussing customs reforms, Secretary
MacVeagh says that widespread exposures
by the present administration of frauds
have resulted in an annual saving to the,
government of more than $16,006,060,
"distinctly an underestimate." To show
thal incoming travelers are now more hon
estly declaring their baggage us the result,
of reforms, the secrotiiry points out that
nt New York alone tlie revenues from
travelers' imports have increased from u
yearly average of $890.(188 for the previous
administration to about $2,100,000 in 1912.
This class of frauds, lie says, hod boon
not only eonsplciious, but almost de
fended.
WILSON REVIEWS LONG TERM.
Great Advance in Farming—Secretary
Gives Figures shovilng Great
Growth of His Department.
After 10 years, a record of service in
the cabinet, Secretary of Agriculture Wil
son submitted Friday to President
Taft at Washington the last, annual re
port he will make as head of the United
States department of ngrieulture. The
report is more than a review of the past
year's work; it contains a summary of
Ilie agricultural advance of the country
during the venerable secretary’s term of
public service. .
"The record of 10 years has been writ
ten,” ho says. "It begins with n yearly
farm production of $4,1X10,000.000 and
ends with $9,532,000,000. Sixteen years
ago the farmer was a joke of the cari
caturist; now he is like the stone that
was rejected by the builder and has be
come the head stone of the corner.” The
tillers of the soil were burdened with
debts, he adds, “but prosperity followed
and grew with unexampled speed. Begin
nings have been made in a production per
acre increasing faster than the natural
increase of .population. There has been
nn uplift of agriculture and of country
life. During the past 10 years the farmer
hns steadily increased the wealth produc
tion year by year, with the exception of
1911. During the 16 years the farmers’
wealth production increased 141 per cent.
“Most productive of all agricultural
years in the country has been 1912. Tho
earth has produced its greatest annual
dividend. The sun and the rain and the
fertility of tho soil heeded not the human
controversies, but kept on working in co
operation with the farmers' efforts to util
ize them. The prices at the farm are gien
erally profitable and will continue the
prosperity that fanners have enjoyed in
recent years. The total production of farm
wealth is the highest yet reached by half
a billion dollars. The grand total for 1912
is estimated to be $9,532,000,000. This is
more than twice the value of the farm
wealth in 1899.”
More than $105.0fX),000,000 is the grand
total of farm wealth production, the report;
says, during the past 16 years, an amount
equal to about three-quarters of the present
national wealth.. The most effective move
toward reduced cost of living is the pro
duction of greater crops, says the secre
tary. and this move, he declares, is due to
the work of the department of agricultural
colleges and experiment stations, and to
the help of the press in publishing every
movement to help the farmers. The nation,
lie adds, forgot its farmers in the general
scheme of odneation of past years, and
few philanthropists thoupht of them when
giving for education, blit they are wak
ing up and thinking for themselves, and
Congress has been good to them.
The secretary first takes up the work of
the various bureaus of his department in
the past year and then tells of the growth
in some instances from their foundation, of
these bureaus during the time he has been
head of the department. He praises high
ly the experts who have worked under him.
“The great and growing movement carried
on by the department for agricultural bet
terment." he declares, “has not been sus
tained solely by one man nor by a few
men. A choice corps of scholarly experts
in their special lines of endeavor has been
growing in membership, in breadth of
view, and in the practical application of
their efforts. The department is prepared
to continue and increose its public aervfce.
During 16 years it bus progressed front
the kindergarten through the primary, mid
dle and upper grades of development, until
now it hns ji thousand tongues that speak
with authority.”
From a department with 2444 employes
in 1897 and an appropriation of $3,272.-
902. it has increased to 13.858 employes at
the beg.inping of the present fiscal year,
with an appropriation this year of almost
$25,000,000. Whereas, there are now 52,-
000 requests every week for_ department
publications, there were but 500 in 1897;
and during this period 225,000,000 copies
have been distributed. In soil investiga
tion. an area of 623,000 square miles,
equal to that of Germany, France, Great
Britain, Ireland and Italy, has been cov
ered.
PLANS FOK NEW SIZE CURRENCY.
Order tor Printing! to Go to Bureau of
Engraving in February.
With the end of the preparations for
revolutionary changes in the design and
size of American currency almost in sight,
Secretary MacVeagh of the treasury de
partment expects to give the order for
pdinting the new notes to Itirector Ralph
of the bureau of engraving and printing
about February 15. almost at the end of
his administration. It will require 18
months to arompliah the change which con
sequently will not he consummated until
well along in President Wilson's term of
office.
Secretary MacVeagh advanced to the
final stage of preparation yesterday when
he engaged Kenyon Cox, an artist of New
York, to design the back of the notes which
will be the same for all denominations of
all classes of notes—United States notes,
coin certificates and national bank notes.
Ry adopting only one design for the back
of the notes Mr MacVeagh believes this
feature of the currency can be given over
to art, permitting changes and improve
ments to be made easily. Mr Cox yester
day submitted to the secretary the gener
al features of the design he contemplates,
and these were tentatively approved. This
design is symbolic of progress and peace,
showing the development, of the nation in
the lines of labor and commerce. The
new currency will be two-thirds the size of
that now in circulation, its dimensions
being ll by 2'5 inches.
BERGER’S VALEDICTORY.
Congressman Says Booaevelt Got
Hundreds of Thousands of Socialist
Votes—Disaster for Democrats.
Victor L. Berger, the socialist representa
tive of Milwaukee, who will not return to
the next Congress, issued a valedictory at
Washington last week in which lie reviewed
political, conditions, claimed that the pro
gressive campaign was made on a semi
socialist platform, and declared that Col
Roosevelt polled hundreds of thousands of
votes- that should have gone to the social
istic ticket. Representative Berger dez
dared that there should be at least 50
socialist members in Congress “to put
ginger into the old parties.”
"The democratic party,” said he. “is re
actionary because it is eontroled by a
coalition of the South nnd Tammany. The
South is 30 years behind the North in
economic development. It is just enter
ing upon that era of capitalist develop
ment through which the North passed dur
ing the last 30 years. An industrial panic
is due in about one year. That will mean
democratic hard times and soup kitchens.
This time the panic will break up the solid
Routh and cause riots and disturbances.”
Dr Vietorino de la Plaza, vice-president
of Argentina, probably will come to the
United States In March on a apeuhtl mis
sion to thank the American government
for having sent Maj-Gen Leonard Wood
to Buonos Ayres In JOIO ns the special
representative of the United States at the
celebration of the centenary of Argentina’s
independence.