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'i^.^ads the treasury on the'14th of last June, with its accompanying letter of the secretary of state, recommending an appropriation for a commission to study the industrial and commercial conditions in the Chines empire and to report as to the opportunities for and the obstacles to the enlargement of markets in China for the raw prod ucts and manufactures of the United States. Action was not taken thereon during the last session. I cordially urge that the recommendation receive at your hands the consideration which its importance and timeliness merit." In his annual message of 1899 he again called attention to this recom mendation, quoting it, and stated fur ther: "I now renew this recommendation, as the importance of the subject has steadily grown since it was first sub mitted to you, and no time should be lost in studying for ourselves the re sources of this great field for Ameri can trade and enterprise." The importance of securing proper information and data with a view to the enlargement of our trade with Asia is undiminished. Our consular repre sentatives in China have strongly urged a place for permanent display of American products in some promi nent trade center of that empire under government control and management as an effective means of advancing our export trade therein. I call the atten tion of the congiess to the desirability of carrying out these suggestions. Immigration and Naturalization. In dealing with the questions of im migration and naturalization it is in dispensable to keep certain facts ever before the minds of those who share in enacting the laws. First and foremost let us remember that the question of being a good American has nothing whatever to do with a man's birth place any more than it has to do with his creed. In e^ery generation from the time this government was founded men of foreign birth have stood in the very foremost rank of good citizenship, and that not merely in one but in every field of# American activity, while to try to draw a distinction between the man whose parents came to this country and the man whose ancestors came to it several geneiation back is a mere absurdity Good Americanism is a mat ter of heart, of conscience, of lofty as piration, of sound common sense, but not of birthplace or of creed. The med al of honor, the highest prize to be won by those who serve in the army and the navy of the United States, deco rates men born here, and it also deco rates men born in Great Britain and Ireland, In Germany, in Scandinavia, in France and doubtless in other coun tries also. In the held of statesman ship, in the field of business, in the field of philanthropic endeavor, it is equally true that among the men of whom we are most proud as Ameri cans no distinction whate\er can be drawn between those who themselves or whose parents came 0\ei in sailing ship or steamer from across the water and those whose ancestors stepped ashore into the wooded wilderness at Plymouth or at the mouth of the Hud son, the Delaware or the .Tamos nearly three centimes ago. No fellow citizen f ours is entitled to any peculiar re gard because of the way which he worships his Maker or because of the birthplace of himself or his parents, aor should he be in any way discrimi nated against therefor. Each must stand on his worth as a man. and each is entitled to be judged solely thereby. There is no danger of lia\ mg too mauj immigi.mts of the light kind. It makes no diife once fiom -\\lnt coun try they come If they are sound in body and mind and abo^e all if they are of good chaiactor, so that we can rest assured that their ch ldren and grandchildren will be woithy lellovv citizens of our children and giandchd dren, then we should welcome them with cordial hospitality. But the citizenship of this countrj should not be debased. It is ital th it we should keep high the standard ot well being among our wageworkers, and therefore we should not admit masses of men who.30 standards of liv ing and whose personal customs and habits are such that they tend to lower the level of the American wagework er, and above all we should not admit any man of an unworthy type, any man concerning whom we can say that he will himself be a bad citizen or that his children and grandchildren will detract from instead of adding to the sum of the good citizenship of the country. Similarly we should take the greatest care about naturalization. Fraudulent naturalization, the natural ization of improper persons, is a curse to our government, and it is the affair of every honest voter wherever born to see that no fraudulent voting is al lowed, that no fraud in connection with naturalization is permitted. In the past year the cases of false, fraudulent and improper naturalization of aliens coming to the attention of the executive branches of the government have increased to an alarming de gree. Exteasive sales of forged certifi cates of naturalization have been dis covered, as well as many cases of nat uralization secured by perjury and fraud, and, in addition, instances have accumulated showing that many courts issue certificates of naturalization care lessly and upon insufficient evidence. Under the constitution it is in the power of the congress "to establish a uniform rule of naturalization," and numerous laws have from time to time been enacted for that purpose, which have been supplemented in a few states by state laws having special applica tion. The federal statutes permit nat uralization by any court of record in the United States having common law Jurisdiction and a seal and clerk, ex cept the police court of the District of Columbia, and nearly all these courts exercise this important function. It results that where so many courts of such varying grades have jurisdiction there is lack of uniformity in the rules applied in conferring naturalization. Some courts are strict and others lax. An alien who may secure naturaliza tion in one place might be denied it in another, and the intent of the constitu tional provision is, in fact, defeated. Furthermore, the certificates of nat uralization issued by the courts diler widely in wording and appearance and when they are brought into use in for eign countries are frequently subject to suspicion. Naturalization Laws Should be Revised. TJiere _should be a comprehensive re- _&!.< .S^K "K^SJSSJi vision of the naturalization laws. The courts having power to naturalize should be definitely named by national authority the testimony upon which naturalization may be conferred should be definitely prescribed publication of impending naturalization applications should be required in advance of their hearing in court the form and wording of all certificates issued should be uni form throughout the country, and the courts should be required to make re turns to the secretary of state at stated periods of all naturalizations conferred. Laws Concerning Citizenship. Not only are the laws relating to naturalization now defective, but those relating to citizenship of the United States ought also to be made the sub ject of scientific inquiry with a view to probable further legislation. By what acts expatriation may be assumed to have been accomplished, how long an American citizen may reside abroad and receive the protection of our pass port, whether any degree of protection should be extended to one who has made the declaration of intention to be come a citizen of the United States, but has not secured naturalization, are questions of serious import, involving personal rights and often producing friction between this government and foreign governments. Yet upon these questions our laws are silent. I recom mend that an examination be made in to the subjects of citizenship, expatria tion and protection of Americans abroad, with a view to appropriate legislation. Protection of Elections. The power of the government to pro ject the integrity of the elections of its own officials Is inherent and has been recognized and affirmed by re peated declarations of the supreme court. There is no enemy of free gov ernment more dangerous and none so insidious as the corruption of the elect orate. No one defends or excuses cor ruption, and it would scorn to follow that none would oppose vigorous meas ures to eradicate it. I recommend the enactment of a law directed against' bribery and corruption in federal elec tions. The details of such a law may be safely left to the wise discretion of the congress, bwt it sLoi Id go as far as under the constitution it is possible to go and should include severe penalties against him who gh es or recen es a bribe intended to influence 'I'S act or opnuou as an elector, and provisions for the publication not only or" the ex pencucures for nominations and elec tions of all candidates, but also of all contributions leeched and expendi tures made by political committees. Delays In Criminal Prosecutions. No subject is better worthy the at tention of the congress than that por tion of the report of the attorney gen eral dealing with the long delays and the great obstiuction to justice expe rienced in the cases of Beavers, Green and Gaynor and Benson. Were these isolated and special cases I should not call your attention to them, but the difficulties encountered as regards these men who have been indicted for crim inal practices are not exceptional. They are precisely similar in kind to what occurs again and again in the case of criminals who have sufficient means to enable them to take advantage of a system of procedure which has grown up in the fedeial courts and which amounts in effect to making the law easy of enforcement against the man who has no money and difficult of en forcement, even to the point of some times securing immunity, as regards the man who has money. In criminal cases the writ of the United States should run throughout its borders. The wheels of justice should not be clog ged, as they have been clogged in the cases above mentioned, where it has proved absolutely Impossible to bring, the accused to the place appointed by the constitution for his trial. Of re cent years there has been grave and increasing complaint of the difficulty of bringing to jtistice those criminals whose criminality instead of being against one person in the republic is against all persons in the republic, be cause it is against the republic itself. Under any circumstance and from the very nature of the case it is often ex ceedingly difficult to secure proper pun ishment of those who have been guilty of wrongdoing against the government. By the time the offender can be brought into court the popular wrath against him has generally subsided, and there is in most instances very slight danger indeed of any prejudice existing in the minds of the jury against him. At present the interests of the innocent man are amply safe guarded, but the interests of the gov ernmentthat is, the interests of hon est administration that is, the interests of the peopleare not recognized as they should be. No subject better war rants the attention of the congress. Indeed no subject better warrants the attention of the bench and the bar throughout the United States. Alaska. Alaska, like all our territorial ac quisitions, has proved resourceful be yond the expectations of those who made the purchase. It has become the home of many hardy, industrious and thrifty American citizens. Towns of a permanent character have been built. The extent of its wealth in minerals, timber, fisheries and agriculture, while great, is probably not comprehended yet in any just measure by our people. We do know, however, that from a very small beginning its products have grown until they area steady and ma terial contribution to the wealth of the nation. Owing to the immensity of Alaska and its location in the far north it is a difficult matter to pro vide many things essential to its growth and to the happiness and com fort of its people by private enterprise alone. It should therefore receive rea sonable aid from the government The government has already done excellent work for Alaska in laying cables and building telegraph lines. This work has been done in the most economical and efficient way by the signal corps of the army. In some respects it has outgrown its present laws, while in others those laws have been found to be inadequate. In order to obtain information upon which I could rely I caused an official of the department of justice, in whose judgment I have confidence, to visit Alaska during the past summer for the purpose of ascertaining how gov ernment is administered there and what legislation is actually needed at present. A statement of the conditions fbnnd to exist, together with some rec- ommendations and the reasons there for, in which I strongly concur, will be found in the annual report of the attor ney general. In some instances I feel that the legislation suggested is so im peratively needed that I am moved briefly to emphasize the attorney gener al's proposals. Under the code of Alaska as it now stands many purely administrative powers and duties, Including by tar the most important, devolve upon the district judges or upon the clerks of the district court acting under the di rection of the judges, while the gov ernor, upon whom these powers and duties should logicaljy fall, has noth ing specific to do except to make an nual reports, issue Thanksgiving day proclamations and appoint Indian po licemen and notaries public. I believe it essential to good government in Alaska and therefore recommend that the congress divest the district judges and the clerks of their courts of the administrative or executive functions that they now exercise and cast them upon the governor. This would not be an innovation. It would simply con form the government of Alaska to fundamental principles, making the governorship a real instead of a mere ly nominal office and leaving the judges free to give their entire attention to their judicial duties and at the same time removing them from a great deal of the strife that now embarrasses the judicial office in Alaska. I also recommend that the salaries df the district Judges and district at torneys in Alaska be increased so as to make tem equal to those received by corresponding officers in the United States, after deducting the difference in the cost of living that the district attorneys should be prohibited from engaging in private practice that Unit ed States commissioners be appointed by the governor of the territory instead of by the district judges, and that a fixed salary be provided for them to take the place of the discredited "fee system," which should be abolished in. all offices that a mounted constabu lary be created to police the territory outside the limits of incorporated towns a vast section now wholly without police protectionand that some provision be made to at least lessen the oppressive delays and costs that now attend the prosecution of ap peals from the district court of Alaska. There should be a division of the ex isting judicial districts and an increase in the number of judges. Alaska should have a delegate in the congress. Where possible the congress should aid in the construction of need ed wagon roads. Additional light houses should be provided. In my judgment, it is especially important to aid in such manner as seems just and feasible in the construction of a trunk line of railway to connect the gulf of Alaska wTith the Yukon river through. American territory. This would be most beneficial to the development of the resources of the territory and to the comfort and welfare of its people. Salmon hatcheries should be estab lished in many different streams, so as to secure the preservation of this valu able food fish. Salmon fisheries and canneries should be prohibited on cer tain of the rivers where the mass of those Indians dwell who live almost exclusively on fish. The Alaskan natives are kindly, to telligent, anxious to learn and willing to work. Those who have come under the influence of civilization, even for a limited period, have proved their capa bility of becoming self supporting, self respecting citizens and ask only for the just enforcement of law and intel ligent instruction and supervision. Oth ers, living in more remote regions, primitive, simple hunters and fisher folk, who know only the life of the woods and the waters, are daily being confronted with twentieth century civ ilization with all its complexities. Their country is being overrun by strangers, the game slaughtered and driven away, the streams depleted Of flsh and hitherto unknown and fatal diseases brought to them, all of which combine to produce a state of abject poverty and want which must result in their extinction. Action in their in terest is demanded by every considera tion, of justice and humanity. The needs of these people are \B not merely unwise, it is contempti ble, for a nation, as for an Individual, to use high sounding language to pro claim its purposes or to take positions which are ridiculous, if unsupported by potential force, and then to refuse to provide this force. If there is no in tention of providing and of keeping the force necessary to back up a strong at titude, then it is far better not to as lume such an attitude. The steady aim of this nation, as of all enlightened nations, should be to strive to bring ever nearer the day when there shall prevail throughout the world the peace of justice. There are kinds of peace which are highly undesirable, which are in the long run as destructive as any war. Tyrants and oppressors have many times made a wilderness and called it peace. Many times peoples who were slothful or timid or shortsighted, who had been snervated by ease or by luxury or mis fed by false teachings, have shrunk in unmanly fashion from doing duty that was stern and that needed self sacri fice and have sought to hide from their own minds their shortcomings, their Ignoble motives, by calling them love of peace. The peace of tyrannous ter ror, the peace of craven weakness, the peace of injusticeall these should be shunned as we shun unrighteous war. The goal set before us as a nation, the goal which should be set before all mankind, is the attainment of the peace of justice, of the peace which comes when each nation is not merely safeguarded in its own rights, but scrupulously recognizes and perfc-rms its duty toward others. Generally peace tells for righteousness, but if there is conflict between the two then our fealty is due first to the cause of righteousness. Unrighteous wars are common, and unrighteous peace is rare, but both should shunned. The right of freedom and the responsibility for the exercise of that right cannot be divorced. One of our great poets has well and finely said that freedom is not a gift that tarries long in the hands of cowards. Neither does it tarry long in the hands of those too slothful, too dis honest or too unintelligent to exercise it. The eternal vigilance which is the price of liberty must be exercised sometimes to guard against outside foes, although, of course, far more often to guard against our own selfish or thoughtless shortcomings. If these self evident truths are kept before us, and only if they are so kept before us, we shall have a clear idea of what our foreign policy in its larger aspects should be. It is our duty to remember that a nation has no more right to do injustice to another nation, strong or weak, than an individual has to do injustice to another Individual that the same moral law applies in one case as in the other. But we must also remember that it Is as much the duty of the nation to guard its own rights and its own Interests as it is the duty of the individual so to do. With in the nation the individual has now delegated this right to the statethat Is, to the representative of all the in dividualsand it is a maxim of the law that for every wrong there Is a remedy. But in International law we have not advanced by any means as far as we I have advanced in municipal law. There is as yet no judicial way of enforcing a right in International law. Wiien one nation wrongs another or wrongs many others, there is no tribunal be fore which the wrongdoer can be brought. Either it is necessary supine- acqlliesc The abolition of the present fee sys- duties and rights are far more ad- tem, whereby the native is degraded, imposed upon and taught the injustice' of law. The establishment of hospitals a.t central points, so that contagious din eases that are brought to them contin ually by incoming whites may be Lo calized and not allowed to become epi demic, to spread death and destitution over great areas. The development of the educational system in the form of practical train ing in such industries as will assure the Indians self support under the changed conditions in which they will, have to live. The duties of the office of the gov ernor should be extended to include the supervision of Indian affairs, witlr necessary assistants in different dis tricts. He should be provided with. the means and the power to protect and advise the native people, to fur nish medical treatment in time of epi demics and to extend material relief in periods of famine and extreme destitu tion. Hawaii and Porto Rico. The Alaskan natives should be given the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property upon the same conditions as given other inhabitants, and the privilege of citizenship should be given to such as may be able to meet certain definite requirements. In Hawaii con gress should give the governor power to remove all the officials appointed under him. The harbor of Honolulu should be dredged. The marine hos pital service should be empowered to* study leprosy in the islands. I ask special consideration for the report and. recommendations of the governor of Porto Rico. Foreign Policy. In treating of our foreign policy anal of the attitude that this great naticni should assume in the world at large It is absolutely necessary to consider the* army and the navy, and the congress through which the thought of the na tlon finds its expression, should keep* ever vividly in mind the fundamental fact that it is impossible to treat our foreign policy, whether this poflcy takes shape in the effort to secure jus tice for others or justice for ourselves* save as conditioned upon the attitude we are willing to take toward our ar my and especially toward^our navy- Xt the wrong and thus put a premium upon brutality and ag gression or else it is necessary for the aggrieved nation valiantly to stand up for its rights. Until some method is devised by which there shall be a de gree of international control over of fending nations it would be a wicked thing for the most civilized powers, for those with most sense of international obligations and with keenest and most .generous appreciation of the difference between right and wrong, to disarm. If the great civilized nations of the present day should completely disarm, the result would mean an immediate recrudescence of barbarism in one form or another. Under any circumstances A sufficient armament would have to be kept up to serve the purposes of inter national police, and until international ^cohesion and the sense of International I Tanced than at present a nation desir ous both of securing respect for itself and of doing good to others must have a force adequate for the work which it feels is allotted to it as its part of the general world duty. Therefore it fol lows that a self respecting, just and farseeing nation should on the one laud endeavor by every means to aid In the development of the various movements which tend to provide sub stitutes for war, which tend to render nations in their actions toward one an other, and indeed toward their own peoples, more responsive to the gener al sentiment of humane and civilized mankind, and on the other hand it should keep prepared, while scrupu lously avoiding wrongdoing itself, to repel any wrong and in exceptional cases to taa&e action which in a more advanced stage of International rela tions would ctwne under the head of the exercise of the international police. A great free people owes it to itself and to all mankind not to sink into help lessness before fiie powers of evil. "Arbitration Treaties. We are in every way endeavoring to Jhelp on, with cordial good will, every smovement which will tend to bring us into more friendly relations with, the rest of mankind. In pursuance of this policy I shall shortly lay before the senate treaties of arbitration with all powers which are willing to enter into these treaties with us. It is not pos sible at this period of the world's de velopment to agree to arbitrate all mat ters, but there are many matters of possible difference between us and oth er nations which can be thus arbitrat ed. Furthermore, at the request of the interparliamentary union, an eminent body composed of practical statesmen from all countries, I have asked the powers to join with this government hi a second Hague conference, at which it is hoped that the work already so happily begun at The Hague may be carried some steps further toward com pletion. This carries out the desire ex pressed by the first Hague conferenc Itself. fi^}l^l^v~f$Mie Policy Toward Other Nations of West ern Hemisphere. It Is not true that the United States feels any land hunger or entertains any projects as regards the other na tions of theT western hemisphere^ .gave sucn as are for tneir welfare. All thai this country desires is to see the neigh boring countries stable, orderly and prosperous. Any country whose peo ple conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. If a na flon shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States. Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized so ciety may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require Intervention by some civilized nation, and in the west ern hemisphere the adherence of the United States to th* Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, ln flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence to the ex ercise of an international police pow er. If every country washed by the Caribbean sea would show the progress in stable and just civilization which with the aid of the Piatt amendment Cuba has shown since our troops left the island, and which so many of the republics in both Americas are con stantly and brilliantly "showing, all question of interference by this nation with their affairs would be at an end Our interests and those of our south ern neighbors are in reality identical. They have great natural riches, and if within their borders the reign of law and justice obtains prosperity is sure to come to them. While they thus obey the primary laws of civilized so ciety they may rest assured that they will be treated by us in a spirit of cordial and helpful sympathy. We would interfere with them only in the last resort, and then only if it became evident that their inability or unwill ingness to do justice at home and abroad had violated the rights of the United States or had Invited foreign aggression to the detriment of the en tire body of American nations. It is a mere truism to say that every nation, whether in America or anywhere else, which desires to maintain its freedom, its independence, must ultimately re alize that the right of such independ ence cannot be separated from the re sponsibility of making good use of it. In asserting the Monroe doctrine, in taking such steps as we have taken in regard to Cuba, Venezuela and Pana ma and in endeavoring to circumscribe the theater of war in the far east and to secure the open door in China we have acted in our own interest as well as in the interest of humanity at large There are, however, cases in which, while our own interests are not great ly involved, strong appeal is made to our sympathies. Ordinarily it is very much wiser and more useful for us to concern ourselves with striving for our own moral and material better ment here at home than to concern ourselves with trying to better -the condition of things in other nations We have plenty of sins of our own to war against, and under ordinary cir cumstances we can do more for the general uplifting of humanity by striv ing with heart and soul to put a stop to civic corruption, to brutal lawless less and violent race prejudices here at home than by passing resolutions about wrongdoing elsewhere. Never theless there are occasional crimes committed on so vast a scale and of such peculiar horror as to make us doubt whether it is not our manifest duty to endeavor at least to show our disapproval of the deed and our sym pathy with those who have suffered by It. The cases must be extreme in which such a course is justifiable. There must be no effort made to remove the mote from our brother's eye if we re fuse to remove the beam from our own. But in extreme cases action may be justifiable and proper. What form the action shall take must depend up on the circumstances of the casethat is, upon the degree of the atrocity and upon our power to remedy it. The cases in which we could interfere by force of arms as we interfered to put a stop to intolerable conditions in Cuba are necessarily very few. Yet it is not to be expected that a people like ours, which, in spite of certain very obvious shortcomings, nevertheless as a whole shows by its consistent prac tice Its belief in the principles of civil and religious liberty and of orderly freedom, a people among whom even the worst crime, like the crime of lynching, is never more than sporadic, so that individuals and not classes are molested in their fundamental rights. It is inevitable that such a nation should desire eagerly to give expres sion to its horror on an occasion like that of the massacre of the Jews in Kishineff or when it witnesses such systematic and long extended cruelty and oppression as the cruelty and op pression of which the Armenians have been the victims and which have won for them the indignant pity of the civilized world. Rights of American Citizens Abroad. Even where it is not possible to se cure in other nations the observance of the principles which we accept as axiomatic it is necessary for us firm ly to insist upon the rights of our own citizens without regard to their creed or race, without regard to whether they were born here or born abroad. It has proved very difficult to secure from Russia the right for our Jewish fellow citizens to receive passports and travei through Russian territory. Such con duct is not only unjust and irritating toward us, but it is difficult to see its wisdom from Russia's standpoint. No conceivable good is accomplished by it. If an American Jew or an American Christian misbehaves himself in Rus sia he can at once be driven out, but the ordinary American Jew, like the ordinary American Christian, would as has been, witnessed both in Armenia and Macedftuia. "m^jfMt^l^ JJ 2*The Navy. $#%??& The stroflg arm of the government in enforcing respect for its just rights In international' matters is the navy of the United States. I most earnestly recommend that there be no halt in the work of upbuilding the American navy. There Is joo more patriotic duty before us as a i ejn!c tl.in to keep the navy adequate to them eds of this country's position We have undertaken to build the isthmian canal We have under taken to secure for ourselves our just shaie in the *ule "of t'*e oiient. We have undertaken to protect our citl zens from iia?jropei treatment in for eign lands V'e continue steadily to Insist on the anphention of tie Monroe doctrine to the western hemisphere. Unless our attitude in tLesc t.nd al) similar matter*, is to be a pice boast ful sham we cannot afford to abt'ndor our naval programme Our voice 1? now potent t pczcn behave just about as he behaves here tions with sufficient -guns. We should, that Is, behave as any good citizen however, pay much-more heed than at ought to behaveand where this is the case it is a wrong against which we are entitled to protest to refuse him his passport without regard to his conduct and character merely on racial and re ligious grounds. In Turkey our dif flcuties arise less from the way in which our citizens are sometimes treat ed than from the indignation inevitably excited in seeing such fearful misrule md so potent because we are not afraid of war But our protestations upon behalf of peace would neither jecehe noi deserve the slightest attention if we were impotent to make them good The wai which now unfortunately rages in the far e.'st has emp^as^ed in striking fashion the new possibili ties of naval warfare The lessons taught are both strategic and tactical and are political as well as military The experiences of the war have shown in conclusive fashion that, while sea going and sea keeping torpedo destroy ers are indispensable and fast, lightly armed and armored cruisers very use ful, yet that the main reliance the main standby in any navy worthy the name must be the great battleships, heavily armored and heavily gunned Not a Russian or Japanese battleship has been sunk by a torpedo boat or by gun fire, while among the less protocte 1 ships cruiser after cruiser has been de stroyed whenever the hostile squac* rons have got within range of one an other's weapons There will always be a large field of usefulness for cruisers especially of the more formidable type We need to increase the number of toi* pedo boat destroyers, paying les3 heed to their having a knot or two extra speed than to their capacity to keep the seas for weeks and if necessary for months at a time. It is wise to build submarine torpedo boats, as un der certain circumstances they might be very useful. But most of all we need to continue building our fleet of battleships or ships So powerfully arm ed that they can inflict the maximum of damage i.pon our opponents, and so well protected that they can suffer a severe hammering return without fatal impairment of their ability to fight and maueuvev. Of coif^e ample means must he provided for enabling the personnel of the navy to be brought to the highest point of efficiency. Our great fighting ships and torpedo boats must be ceaselessly trained and maneu vered in squadrons. The officers and men can only learn their trade thor oughly by ceaseless practice on the high seas. In the e^ent of war it would be far better to have no ships at all than to have ships of a poor and Ineffective type or ships which, how ever good, were yet manned by un trained and unskillful crews. Tl best officers and men in a poor ship could do nothing against fairly good opponents, and, on the other hand, a modern war ship is useless unless the officers and men aboard her have become adepts in their duties. The marksmanship in our navy has improved in an extraor dinary degree during the last three years, and on the whole the types of our battleships are improving, but much, remains to be done. Sooner or later we shall have to provide for some method by which there will be promo tions for merit as well as for seniority, or else retirement of all those who after a certain age have not advanced beyond a certain grade, while no ef fort must be spared to make the serv ice attractive to the enlisted men in order that they may be kept as long as possible in it. Reservation public schools should be provided wherever there are navy yards. The Army. Within the last three years the United States has set an example in disarmament where disarmament was proper. By law our army is fixed at a maximum of 100,000 and a minimum of 60,000 men. When there was insur rection in the Philippines we kept the army at the maximum. Peace came In the Philippines, and now our army has been reduced to the minimum at which it is possible to keep it with due regard to its efficiency. The guns now mounted require 28,000 men if the coast fortifications are to be adequate ly manned. Relatively to the nation it is not now so large as the police force of New York or Chicago relatively to the vpopulation of either city. We need more officers. There are not enough to perform the regular army work. It is very important that the officers of the army should be accustomed to handle their men in masses, as it is also im portant that the national guard of the several states should be accustomed to actual field maneuvering, especially in connection with the regulars. For this reason we are to be congratulated upon the success of the field maneuvers at Ma nassas last fall, maneuvers ln which a larger number of regulars arid national guard took part than was ever before as sembled together ln time' of peafce. No Other civilized nation has relatively to its population such a diminutive army as ours, and while the army Is so small we are not to be excused If we -fail to keep It at a very high grade of proficiency It must be incessantly practiced. The stand-t ard for the enlisted men should be kept very high, while at the same time the service should be made as attractive as possible, and the standard for the officers' should be kept even higher, which as re gards the upper ranks can best be done by introducing some system of selection and rejection into the promotions. ,Wev should be able in the event of some sud den emergency to put into the field one first class army corps which -should be as a whole at least the equal of any body pf troops of Uke number belonging* to any Other nation. Great progress has been made in pro tecting our coasts by adequate fortlflca present to the development of an ex tensive system of floating mines for use ln all our more important harbors. These mines have been proved to be a most for midable safeguard against hostile fleets. '^Medals of Honor In the Navy. 1 earnestly call the attention of the con- SS ess to the need of amending the exlst law relating to the award of congres sional medals of honor ln the navy so as to provide that they may be awarded to commissioned officers and warrant offi cers as well as to enlisted men. These Justly prized medals are given in the army Ulike to the officers and the enlisted men, and it is most unjust that the commis sioned officers and warrant officers of the navy should not in this respect have the same rights as their brethren in the army and as the enlisted men of the navy. 1 The Philippines. In the Philippine Islands there has been during the past year a continuation of the steady progress which has obtained ever since our troops definitely got the upper hand, of. the insurgents gfae Philippine people, 'or, To Bpeair -fiiSfe SccuratSlyT the many tribes and even races, sundered from one another more or less sharply,,, who go to make up the people of the" Philippine Islands, contain many ele-.* ments of good and some elements which we have a right to hope Btand for prog-, ress. At present they are utterly Incapa ble of existing in independence at all or* of building up a civilization of their own-i I firmly believe that we can help them to rise higher and higher in the scale of civ ilization and of capacity for self govern** ment, and I most earnestly hope that In the end they will be able to stand, if not, entirely alone, yet in some such relation to the United States as Cuba now stands. This end is not yet in sight, and it may be indefinitely postponed if our people are foolish enough to turn the attention of the Filipinos away from the problems- of achieving moral and material prosperity* of working for a stable, orderly and just government and toward foolish and dan gerous intrigues for a complete independ ence for which they are as yet totally vnv fit. On the other hand, our people must keep steadily before their minds the fact that the justification for our stay In tha Philippines must ultimately rest chiefly upon the good we are able to do In the ^y islands. I do not overlook the fact that ln the development of our interests ln the Pacific ocean and along its coasts- the =j Philippines have played and will play an Important part and that our interests. have been served in more than one way" by the possession of the islands. But our _ chief reason for continuing to hold them must be that we ought in good faith to try to do bur share of the world's work, and this particular piece of work has been Imposed upon us by the results of the war with Spain. The problem pre sented to us in the Philippine Islands-Is akin to but not exactly like the problems,' ~_ presented to the other great civilized pQW^-t ers which have possessions in the orient.^ There are points of resemblance Mr our work to the work which is being done by the British in India and Egypt, by the French in Algiers, by the Dutch in Java, by the Russians in Turkestan, by the Japanese ln Formosa, but more distinctly than any of these powers we are endeavr, oring to develop the natives themselves, so that they shall take an ever increasing share in their own government, and aa far as is prudent we are already ad mitting their representatives to a gov ernmental equality with our own. There are commissioners, Judges and governors' in the islands who are Filipinos and who-' have exactly the same share in the gov ernment of the islands as have their col leagues who are Americans, while in the lower ranks of course the great majority, of the^-publie servants are Filipinos*. Within two years we shall be trying the experiment of an elective lower house te the Philippine legislature. It may be that* the Filipinos will misuse this legislature.. and they certainly will misuse it If they are misled by foolish persona her -at* home into starting an agitation for thste, own independence or into any factious or Improper action. In such case they, will do themselves no good and Will stop for the time being all further effort to ad vance them and give them greater share in their own government. But If... they act with wisdom and self restraint, If they show that they are capable -t* electing a legislature which in its tura is3 capable of taking a sane and efficient parti, in the actual work of government, they^ can rest assured that a full and increas-* ing measure of recognition will be given them. Above all, they should remembesi that their prime needs are moral and faw dustrial, not political. It is a good thing' to try the experiment of giving them' a* legislature, but it is a far better thing to give them schools, good roads, railroads f. which will enable them to get their prod ucts to market, honest courts =anr honest and efficient constabulary and all that" tends to produce order, pe*ace, fair deal- ing as between man and man and of intelligent industry and thrift If'they5*tshabit are safeguarded against oppression andt if their real -wants, material and spiritual, are studied intelligently and in a spirit of friendly sympathy much more good will be done them than by any' effort -tort give them political power, though this" effort may in its own proper time and place be proper enough Meanwhile our own people should re-*? member that there is need for the highest. standard of conduct amtjns the Ameriranitn sent to the Philippine Islands, not only/ among the public servants, but among the-** private individuals who go 'to 'them. It it because I feel this so deeply that, in the administration of these Islands I have positivelv refused to permit any discrtm-~ ination whatsoever for political reasons^ and have Insisted that in choosing the& public servants consideration should. bej| paid solelv to the worth of the "men chosen and to the needs of the islands.*^ There is no higher body of men in ounn public service than we have in the Philip*-{ pine Islands under Governor Wright and*" his associates. So far as possible these men should be given a free hand, ,aad their suggestions should receive the hearty backing both of the executive "ana. of the congress. There is need of a vlgl1 lant and disinterested support of -"oura public servants in the Philippines by good Citizens here in the United States. TJn-j fortunately hitherto those of .our people here at home who have specially claimed to be the champions of the Filipinos have ln reality been their worst enemies. This% will continue to be the case as long- as they strive to make the Filipinos inde pendent and stop all industrial develop ment of the islands by crying out against the laws which would bring it on the ground that capitalists must not -*'e*-V ploit" the islands. Such proceedings are^c not only unwise, but are most harmful to the Filipinos, who do not need in dependence at all, but who do need good laws, good public servants and the Indus* trial development that can only come It the investment of American and foreign, capital in the islands is favored in Ml legitimate ways. Every measure taken concerning the is lands should be taken primarily with.a view to their advantage. We should cer tainly give them lower tariff rate* on'* their exports to the United States*- 'If this is not done it will be a wrong to x tend our shipping laws to them. I ear nestly hope for the Immediate enactment'* Into law of the legislation now pending. 4 to encourage American -capital to seek in vestment in the islands in railroads, ln factories, in plantations and in lumbering and mining. i THEODORE ROOSEVELT. *f) The White House. Dec. 5, 1904. Minnesota & Intenatiiak RAILWAY COMPANY* '*&*? Iii Connection with the^f"^ ..Northern^Pacifte.^ RAILWAY COMPANY^", Provides the best train passenger' service between Northome, Hovey June*' iion, Blackduck, Bemidji, Walker and intermediate points and Minne apolis, St. Paul, Fargo and Duluth and all points east, west and south. Through coaches between Northome and the Twin Cities. No chang:e, of cars. Ample time at Brainerd for dinner. Dally ex. STATIONS Daily ex. gll Sunday Sunday "W 6:30 a. m. Lv Northome Arp.m.TUw 6:55 a. m. Ar. -Hovey Junction.. Lv. p. m. 7*6 1:10 a.m.Lv Blackduck Xv.p :5Q 737 Tenstrlke Lv.:31 7 42 Turtle d6 1 8:20 Bemidji 5:50 9:38 Walker 4:28 10:07 Hackensaok ..,.&60 1 10:25 Backus 3,33 10:46 Pine River 8:11 11.05 ..Peguot 2:6&A 12*5 a. m. Ar Brainerd Lvp. m-2:00. Dally except- Sunday 6-00 a.m.Lv. ..Kelliher Ar. p.m. 7:45 6-A& a. m, Ar.. .Hovey Junction...Lv. p. m. 7:10 1-.05 prin. IVr...:..Brainerd Ar. p_ m.l:05 8:05.., Little Palls .Xv.-12^W 3:04 St. Cloud a.m. 11:0$* 4J37 Anoka 9:48 5:20 Ar .....Minneapolis..... Lv..9:10^ 5:50 Ar....* St. Paul .Lv. a.m, 8 40i 1:10 p. m, 1:83 3:43...... 4:38 Lv. Brainerd.... -%Z i 1 *j .Ar- .Lv. P. a. 8 ni .West Superior. 1 9:50!', 8:&6-< 8:40 .a 1:25 p. m. Lv Brainerd....Ar,p. m. I2'45* 6:00 Ar Fargo Lv.a.m 6tf6i2 W. H. QEHMELL, G. A. WALKER General Manager, Agent.,/ Brainerd *vr Bemidji. %g?