Newspaper Page Text
Washington, Dec. '/.—The president’s
message lias been transmitted to con
gress. Its principal features are ns fol
lows:
The country is to be congratulated
on the amount of substantial achieve
ment which has marked the past year
both as regards our foreign and as re
gards our domestic policy.
With a nation as with a man the
most important things are those of the
household, and therefore the country
is especially to be congratulated on
what has been accomplished in the di
rection of providing for the exercise of
supervision over the great corporations
and combinations of corporations en
gaged in interstate commerce. The
<Amgre.<s lias created the department
of commerce and labor, including the
bureau of corporations, with for the
first time authority to secure proper
publicity of such proceedings of these
great corporations as the public lias
the right to know, it has provided for
the expediting of suits for the enforce
ment of the federal antitrust law, and
by another law it lias secured equal
treatment to all producers in the trans
portation of their goods, thus taking
a long stride forward in making effec
tive the work of the interstate com
merce commission.
The preliminary work of the bureau
of corporations in the department of
labor has shown the wisdom of its cre
ation. Publicity in corporate affairs
will tend to do away with ignorance
and will afford facts upon which intel
ligent action may bo taken. Systemat
ic, intelligent investigation is already
developing fact the knowledge of
which is esser ial to a right under
standing of tl needs and duties of
the business v >rld. The corporation
which is honestly and fairly organ
ized, wiiose managers in the conduct
of its business recognize their obliga
tion to deal squarely with their stock
holders, their competitors and the pub
lic, lias nothing to fear from such su
pervision. The purpose of this bureau
is not to enivanass or assail legitimate
business, but to aid in bringing about
a better industrial condition—a condi-'
tion under which there shall he obedi
ence to law and recognition of public
obligation by ail corporations, great or
small. The department of commerce
and labor will be not only the clearing
house for information regarding the
business transactions of the nation, but
the executive arm of Iho government
to aid in strengthening our domestic
ninl foreign markets, in perfecting our
transportation facilities, in building up
our merchant marine, in preventing the
entrance of undesirable immigrants, in
Improving commercial aud Industrial
conditions and in bringing together on
common ground those necessary part
ners In industrial progress -capital and
labor.
< and Labor,
j" The consistent policy of the notional I
government, so far as it lias the power,
is to hold in check the unscrupulous
jman. whether employer or employee, but
to refuse to weaken individual Initia
tive or to hamper or cramp the indus
trial development of the country. We
•recognize that this,is an era of federa
tion and combination, in which great ,
capitalistic corporations and labor un
ions have become factors of tremendous
(Importance In all industrial centers.
'Hearty recognition Is given the far
reaching, bonellcent work which lias
been accomplished through both cor
porations and unions, and the , Une gs
between different corporations, us be
tween different unions, is drawn as it
Is between dl£ -rent
Is, it is drawn on conduct, the effort
being to treat both organized capital
and organized labor alike, asking notic
ing save that the'interest of each hhflll
be brought into harmony with the jum
.tvrest of the general public and that
tthe conduct of each shall conform to
the fundamental rules of obedience to
law, of individual freedom and of' jus
tice and fair dealing town rtf, ah,. When
ever either eorpb>* lion, labor-union, or
individual disregards the law or acts
In ft spirit of arbitrary and fjWnnoiw
Interference with the rights of others,>
whether corporations or imllvidhgjs,
then v'hore the fedora.l ijovefum'ent ha's"
jurisdiction, it will see to' it
miscoUdnct is stopped, paying, nibt the
sliglitest hood to the position or power
of the coStporatiop, the uiijoh’or the in
dividual, but only to o:;e fact—
that is, the question whether qr hot
the cehdfiet Aggre
gate of individuals .ig. iu
with the law of Wid. Every liftin'
must fv.' dU?. liberty, and his
right' to do as l-.ejjik.es •v. uh..his, prop
erty Y>r Ids labor so long as lie does
not infringe the rights of others.
Covfrn-KPnt Rprelrfs n;iil I’.xper.d
lluws. v .
Frc-m all sources, exclusive of the
postal service, the receipts of the gov
ernment for the last fiscal year aggre
gated |5G0,3tki,074. The expenditures
for the same period were
the surpit»--4or>.the tiscat year * being
$54,297,007. The indications are that,
the surplus for the present fiscal year
will be very small, if indeed there be
any surplus. Prom July to November
the receipts from customs wore, ap
proximately. $9,000,000 JcSs tUau fko
receipts. from the same scarce ffer a
portion •: ■ - . ;• ar. Shoo#
this decrease continue at the same ra
tio throughout the fiscal year the sur
plus would be reduced by, approxi
mately, $30,000,000. Should the rev
enue from customs suffer much fur
ther decrease during the fiscal year the
surplus would vanish. A large sur
plus is certainly undesirable. Two
years ago the war taxes were taken
off with the express intention of
equalizing the governmental receipts
and expenditures, and, though the
first year thereafter stiU showed a
mrplus, it now seems likely that a
substantial equality of revenue and
expenditure will be attained. Such be
ing the ease, it is of great moment both
to exercise care and economy in ap
propriations and to scan sharply any
change In our fiscal revenue system
which may reduce our income. The
need of strict economy in our expend
itures is emphasized by the fact that
wo cannot afford to be parsimonious in
providing for what is essential to our
national well being.
Npcdn of Financial Situation.
The integrity of our currency is be
yond question, and under present con
ditions it would be unwise and unnec
essary to attempt a reconstruction of
our entire monetary system. The same
liberty should be granted the secretary
of the treasury to deposit customs re
ceipts as is granted him in the depos
it of receipts from other sources. In
my message of Dec. 2, 1902, I called
attention to certain needs of the finan
cial situation, and I again ask for
consideration of the congress for these
questions.
[The president commends the work
of the international monetary confer
ence and advises its continuance.]
A majority of our people desire that
steps be taken in the interests of
American shipping, so that we may
once more resume our former position
in the ocean carrying trade. But hith
erto the differences of opinion as to
the proper method of reaching this end
have been so wide that it has proved
impossible to secure the adoption of
any particular scheme. Having in
view these facts, I recommend that the
congress direct the secretary of the
navy, the postmaster general and the
secretary of commerce and labor, asso
ciated with such a representation from
the senate and house of representatives
as the congress in its wisdom may des
ignate, to serve as a commission for the
purpose of investigating and reporting
to the congress at its next session what
legislation is desirable or necessary for
the development of the American mer
chant marine and American commerce
and incidentally of a national ocean
mail service of adequate auxiliary na
val cruisers and naval reserves. While
such a measure is desirable in any
event, It is especially desirable at this
time, In view of the fact that our pres
ent governmental contract for ocean
mail with the American line will expire
In 1905. The establishment of new
lines of enrgo ships to South America,
to Asia and elsewhere would be much
In the Interest of our commercial ex
pansion.
Immigration.
We cannot have too much immigra
tion of the right kind, and we should
have none at nil of the wrong kind.
The need is to devise some system by
which undesirable Immigrants styall be
kept out entirely, while desirable im
migrants are properly distributed
throughout the country. At present
some districts which need immigrants
have none, and in others, where the
population is already congested, immi
grants come in such numbers as to de
press, the conditions of life for those al
ready' there. During the last two years
the immigration service at New York
has been greatly improved and the cor
ruption and 'inefficiency which former
ly obtained there have been eradicated.
I'l'Us service has just been investigated
. by a committee of New York citizens
of high standing, Messrs. Arthur v.
Briesun, Lee K. Friinkol, Eugene A.
I’biibUi, Thomas W. Ilynes and Ralph
Tract man. Their report deals with the
whole situation at length and concludes
with certain rccomihehdatio’ns for ad
ministrative and legislative action. It
is now receiving the attention of the
secret.".ty*of commerce and titbor.
- Xntin-nlizarion Frauds.
4Qeci(U iuv.estrgmion qf the sub
ject
4ion of fhc attorney general and the
consequent prosecutions reveal a condi
tion of affairs calling for the immedi
ate attention of the congress. For
geries and perjuries of skameleSs and
liagrant character have been perpe
trated not only in the dense centers of
'population, but throughout the country,
and it is established beyond doubt that
very many so called citizens of the
United States have no title whatever
to that right and are asserting and en
joying the benefits of the same through
the grossest frauds. It is, qeyer to be
TbrgofU'n tfid'fc'iftzenship is, to. quote
the words recently used by the su
-1 pro me court of the United States, on
‘Thestimable heritage." whether Jt pro
ceeds from birth within the country
obtained by naturalization, and
we poison the sources of our national
character and strength at the fountain"
if : the privilege is claimed and exer
ofcsetl w’thout right aud by means of
fraud ;:d corruption.
Public Land ami Postal Frauds.
In*ir,y TaSt annual message, in eon
.mjgtiop xyltli tli^. subject, of the due
regulation of eombtouitions, of capital
. vchidi £re.£rdiMj[s- injurious to
the public, I recommended a special ap
propriation for the better enforcement
of the antitrust law as it now stands,
to be expended under the direction of
the attorney general. Accordingly (by
the legislative, executive and judicial
appropriation act of Feb. 25, 1903. 32
Stat., 854, 904), the congress appro
priated for the purpose of enforcing the
various federal trust and interstate
commerce laws the sum of $500,000, to
he expended under the direction of the
attorney general in the employment of
special counsel and agents in the de
partment of justice to conduct proceed
ings and prosecutions under said laws
in the courts of the United States. I
now recommend. a« a matter of the ut
nost importance and urgency, the ex
tension of the purposes of this appro
priation, so that it may be available,
under the direction of the attorney
general and until used, for the due en
forcement of the laws of the United
States in general and especially of the
civil and criminal laws relating to pub
lic lands and the laws relating to postal
crimes and offenses and the subject of
naturalization. Recent investigations
have shown a deplorable state of af
fairs in those three matters of vital
concern. By various frauds and by
forgeries and perjuries thousands of
acres of the public domain. emTf acing
lands of different character and ex
tending through various sections of the
country, have been dishonestly acquir
ed. It is hardly necessary to urge the
importance of recovering these dishon
est acquisitions, stolen from the people,
and of promptly and duly punishing
the offenders.
Through frauds, forgeries and per
juries and by shameless briberies the
laws relating to the proper conduct of
the public service in general and to the
due administration of the postoffice
department have been notoriously vio
lated, and many indictments have been
found, and the consequent prosecutions
are in course of hearing or on the eve
thereof. For the reasons thus indicat
ed and so that the government may
be prepared to enforce promptly and
with the greatest effect the due pen
alties for such violations of law, and
to this end may be furnished with suffi
cient instrumentalities and competent
legal assistance for the investigations
and trials which will be necessary at
many different points of the country. I
urge upon the congress the necessity
of making the said appropriation avail
able for immediate use for all such
purposes, to be expended under the di
rection of the attorney general.
AIKHUnn Boundary.
After unavailing attempts to reach an
understanding on the Alaskan bound
ary question through a joint high com
mission, followed by prolonged negotia
tions. conducted in an amicable spirit,
a convention between the United States
and Great Britain was signed Jan. 24,
1903, providing for an examination of
the subject by a mixed tribunal of six
members, three on a side, with a view
to its final disposition. Ratifications
were exchanged on March 3 last,
whereupon the two governments ap
pointed their respective members.
Those on behalf of the United States
were Eliku Root, secretary of war;
Henry Cabot Lodge, a senator of the
United States, and George Turner, an
ex-senator of the United States, while
Great Britain named the Right Hon.
Lord Alverstone, lord chief justice of
England; Sir Louis Amable Jette, K.
C. M. G., retired judge of the supreme
court of Quebec, and A. B. Ayleswortk,
lv. C., of Toronto. This tribunal met
In London on Sept. 3 under the presi
dency of Lord Alverstone. On the 20th
of October a majority of the tribunal
reached and signed an agreement on
all the questions submitted by the
terms of the convention. By this
award the right of the United States
to the control of a continuous strip or
border of the mainland shore, skirting
all the tidewater inlets and sinuosities
of the coast, is confirmed; the entrance
to Portland canal, concerning which
legitimate doubt appeared, is defined
as passing by Tongass inlet and to the
northwestward of Wales and Pearse
islands; a line is drawn from the head
of Portland canal to the fifty-sixth de
gree of north latitude, aud the interior
border line of the strip is fixed by lines
connecting certain mountain summits
lying between Portland canal and
Mount St. Elias and running along the.
crest of the divide separating the coast
slope from the inland watershed at the
only part of the frontier where the
drainage ridge approaches the coast
within the distance of ten marine
leagues, stipulated by the treaty as the
extreme width of the strip around the
heads of Lynn canal and its branches.
While the line so traced follows the
provisional demarcation of IS7S at the
crossing of the Stikine river and that
of 1599 at the summits of the White
and Cbilkoot passes, it runs much far
ther inland from the Klehini than the
temporary line of the later modus vi
vendi and leaves the entile miniug
district of the Porcupine river and Gla
cier creek within the jurisdiction of the
United States.
[The president here recapitulates the
details of the imbroglio between Euro
pean powers and Venezuela and the
reference of certain points of the con
troversy to The Hague tribunal
through the influence of the United
States. This he calls a victory for
American diplomacy and a triumph for
international arbitration. JJe' advo
cates an extension of international law
to exempt all private property at sea
from capture of destruction by forces
of belligerent powers.]
International Arbitration.
Last year the Interparliamentary un
ion for international arbitration met
at Vienna, COO member® of the differ
ent legislatures of civilized countries
attending. It was provided that the
next meeting should be In 1904 at St.
Louis, subject to our congress extend
ing an invitation. Like The Hague
tribunal, this interparliamentary union
Is one of the forces tending toward
peace among the nations of the earth,
and it is entitled to our support. I
trust the invitation can be extended,
Relations With China.
The signing of a new commercial
treaty with China, which took place at
Shanghai on the Bth of October, is a
cause for satisfaction. This act, the
result of long discussion and negotia
tion, places our commercial relations
with the great oriental empire on a
more satisfactory footing than they
have ever heretofore enjoyed. It pro
vides not only for the ordinary rights
and privileges of diplomatic and con
sular officers, but also for an important
extension of our commerce by increas
ed facility of access to Chinese ports
and for the relief of trade by the re
moval of some of the obstacles which
have embarrassed it in the past.
I trust that the congress will con
tinue to favor in all proper ways the
Louisiana Purchase exposition. This
exposition commemorates the Louisi
ana purchase, which was the first great
step in the expansion which made us a
continental nation. The expedition of
Lewis and Clark across the continent
followed thereon and marked the be
ginning of the process of exploration
and colonization which thrust our na
tional boundaries to the Pacific.
The acquisition of the Oregon coun
try. including the present states of
Oregon and Washington, was a fact of
immense importance in our history,
first giving us our place on the Pacific
seaboard and making ready the way
for our ascendency in the commerce
of the greatest of the oceans. The cen
tennial of our establishment upon the
western coast by the expedition of
Lewis and Clark is to be celebrated at
Portland, Ore., by an exposition in the
summer of 1905. and this event should
receive recognition and support from
the national government.
The Philippines and Porto Rico.
Of our insular possessions, the Philip
pines and Porto Rico, it i 3 gratifying
to say that their steady progress has
been such a 3 to make it unnecessary
to spend much time in discussing them.
Yet the congress should ever keep in
mind that a peculiar obligation rests
upon us to further in every way the
welfare of these communities. The
Philippines should be knit closer to us
by tariff arrangements. It would, of
course, be impossible suddenly to raise
the people of the islands to the high
pitch of industrial prosperity and of
governmental efficiency to which they
will in the end by degrees attain, and
the caution and moderation shown in
developing them have been among the
main reasons why this development
has hitherto gone on so smoothly.
Scrupulous care has been taken in the
choice of governmental agents and the
entire elimination of partisan politics
from the public service. The condition
of the islanders is in material things
far better than ever before, while their
governmental, intellectual and moral
advance has kept pace with their ma
terial advance. No one people ever
benefited another people more than we
have benefited the Filipinos by taking
possession of the islands.
Isthmian Canal.
By the act of Juno 2S. 1902, the con
gress authorized the president to enter
into treaty with Colombia for the
building of the canal across the isth
mus of Panama, it being provided that
in the event of failure to secure such
treaty after the lapse of a reasonable
time recourse should be bad to build
ing a canal through Nicaragua. It has
not been necessary to consider this al
ternative, as I am enabled to lay be
fore the senate a treaty providing for
the building of tlie canal across the
isthmus of Panama. This wm the
route iVliiiih commended’’itself to the
deliberate judgment'of .the.'.jcongresg,
wo Can now treaty
H right to construct the canal pvor tints’
.. finite. The 'Question now, therefore, is
not; by which route the isthmian canal
shsi|-be built, for that question lias
arid - Irrevocably decid
ed. ’i’he'-question is simply whether or
not we shall-have'an isthmian canal.
When tbe congress directed that we
should take the Panama route under
treaty with Colombia the essence of
the condition. referred not
to the government which controlled
that route, but to tkejguto itself: to the
territory across the route lay,
not to the name whieffit'or the moment
the territory bore on’Ake map. The
purpose of the law tos to authorize
the president to make a treaty with the
power in actual centum of the isthmus
of Panama. This, purpose has been
■fulfilled. m : '
For 400 years, efer since shortly after
the discovery q£ this hemisphere, the
canal across arhe isthmus has been
planned. I'jfr- twoscore years it has
been worked at. When made it is to
last for the ages. It is to alter the
geography of a continent and the trade
routes of the world. We have shown
by every treaty we have negotiated or
attempted to negotiate, with the peo-
pres in control of* the Isthmus and with
foreign nations in reference thereto our
consistent good faith in observing our
obligations, on the one hand to the peo
ples of the isthmus and on the other
hand to the civilized world, whose com
mercial rights we are safeguarding andi
guaranteeing by our action. We have
done our duty to others in letter and in
spirit, and we have shown the utmost
forbearance in exacting our own rights.
Repatriation of Treaty by Colombia.
Last spring a treaty concluded be
tween the representatives of the re
public of Colombia and of our govern
ment was ratified by the senate. This
treaty was entered into at the urgent
solicitation of the people of Colombial
and after a body of experts appointed’
by our government especially to go into
the matter of the routes across thQi
isthmus had pronounced unanimously)
in favor of the Panama route. In draw
ing up this treaty every concession was
made to the people and to the govern
ment of Colombia. We were more
than just In dealing with them. Our
generosity was such as to make it a
serious question whether we bad not
gone too far in their interest at the ex
pense of our own, for in our scrupulous
desire to pay all possible heed not
merely to the real but even to the
fancied rights of our weaker neighbor,
who already owed so much to our pro
tection and forbearance, we yielded in
all possible ways to her desires in
drawing up the treaty. Nevertheless
the government of Colombia not mere
ly repudiated the treaty, but repudi
ated it in such manner as to make it
evident by the time the Colombian con
gress adjourned that not the scantiest
hope remained of ever getting a satis
factory treaty from them.
Revolution In Panama.
The people of Panama had long been
discontented with the republic of Co
lombia, and they had been kept quiet
only by the prospect of the conclusion
of the canal treaty, which was to them
a matter of vital concern. When it be
came evident that the treaty was hope
lessly lost the people of Panama rose
literally as one man. Not a shot was
fired by a single man on the isthmus
in the interest of the Colombian gov
ernment. Not a life was lost in the
accomplishment of the revolution. The
Colombian troops stationed on the isth
mus, who had long beeu unpaid, made
common cause with the people of Pan
ama, and with astonishing unanimity
the new republic was started. The
duty of the United States in the prem
ises was clear. In strict accordance
with the principles laid down by Sec
retaries Cass and Seward, the United
States gave notice that it would per
mit the landing of no expeditionary
force, the arrival of which would mean
chaos and destruction along the line of
the railroad and of the proposed canal
and an interruption of transit as an
inevitable consequence. The de facto
government of Panama was recog
nized.
Under such circumstances the gov
ernment of the United States would
have been guilty of folly and weak
ness, amounting in their sum to a crime
against the nation, had it acted other
wise than it did when the revolution of
Nov. 3 last took place in Panama. This
great enterprise of building the inter
oceanic canal cannot be held up to
gratify the whims or out respect to
the governmental impotence or to the
even more sinister and evil political
peculiarities of people who, though
they dwell afar off, yet, against the
wish of the actual dwellers on the isth
mus, assert an unreal supremacy over
the territory. The possession of a ter
ritory fraught with such peculiar ca
pacities as the isthmus in question car
ries with it obligations to mankind.
The course of events has shown that
this canal cannot be built by private
enterprise or by any other nation than
our own; therefore it must be built by
the United States.
New Treaty With Panama.
Every effort has been made by the
government of the United States to per
suade Colombia to follow a course
which was essentially not only to our
interests and to the interests of the
world, but to the interests of Colom
bia itself. These efforts have failed,
and Colombia, by her persistence in re
pulsing the advances that have been
made, lias forced us for the sake of
our own honor and of the interest and
well'being, not merely of our own peo
ple, but of the people of the isthmus of
Panama and the people of the civilized
countries of the world, to take decisive
steps to bring to an end a condition of
affairs which had become intolerable.
The new republic of Panama immedi
ately offered to negotiate a treaty with
us. This treaty I herewith submit.
By it our interests are better safeguard
ed than in the treaty with Colombia
which was ratified by the senate at its
last session. It is better in its terms
than the treaties offered to us by the
republics of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
At last the right to begin this great
undertaking is made available. Pan
ama has done her part. All that re
mains is for the American congress to
do its part, and forthwith this republic
will enter upon the execution of a
project colossal in its size and of well
nigh incalculable possibilities for the
good of this country and the nations of
mankind.
The growui ut the is more
rapid in children than in adults, and
slowest in the aged. It goes on more
rapidly in summer than in winter.