Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, December 8, 1909, Page 10

of the revenues of the government for | the same perfod, and if a probable def- fcit is thus shown it is made the’ duty of the president to.recommend the method by which such deficit ¢an be met, Estimated Deficit $73,075,600. The report of the secretary shows that the ordinary expenditures for the current fiseal year ending Junme 30, 1910, will exceed the estimated re- celpts by $84,075,620. If to this deficit are added the sum to be disbursed for the Panama canal, amounting to $38,- 000,000, and $1,000,000 to be paid on the public debt, the deficit of ordinary receipts and expenditures will be in- ereased to a total deficit of $73,075,620. This deflcit the secretary proposes to meet by the proceeds of bonds issued to pay the cost of constructing the Panama canal. I approve this pro- posal. The policy of paying for the con- struction of the Panama canal not out of current revenue, but by bond issue, was adopted in the Spooner act of 1902, and there seems to be no good reason for departing from the princi- ple by which a part at least of the burden of the cost of the canal shall fall upon our posterity, who are to enjoy it, and there is all the more rea- son for this view because the actmal cost to date of the canal, which is now half done and which will be completed Jan, 1, 1915, shows that the cost of engineering and construction will be $207,768,000 instead of $139,705,200, as originally estimated. engineering and construction, the oth- er expenmses, Including sanitation and government and the amount paid for the properties, the franchise and the privilege of building the canal, in- erease the cost by $75435000 to a total of $375,201,000. The increase in the cost of engineering and construc- tion is due to a substantial enlarge- ment of the plan of comstruction by widening the canal 100 feet in the Cu- lebra cut and by increasing the di- mensions of the locks, to the under- estimate of the quantity of the work to be done under the original plan and to am underestimate of the cost of la- bor and materials, both of which have greatly enhanced in price since the original estimate was made. In order to avoid a deficit for the ensulng flscal year I directed the heads of departments in the prepara- tlon of their estimates to make them as low as possible consistent with im- perative governmental necessity. The résult has been, as I am advised by the secretary of the treasury, that the estimates of the expenses of the gov- ernment for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1911—that is, for the mext fiscal year—are less by $55,663,000 tham the total of appropriations for the current fiscal year and less by $94,800,000 than the estimates for that year. So far as the secretary of the treasury s able to form 2 judgment as to future income and compare it with the expenditure for the next fiscal year ending June 30, 1911, including the payments on account of the Pan ama canal and the public debt, there will be no deficit in the year ending June 30, 1911, but a small surplus of $712,000. In the present eatimates the needs of the departments and of the gov- erament have been cut to the quick, g0 to speak, and any assumption on the part of congress, so often made in times past, that the estimates have been prepared with the expectation that they may be reduced will result in seriously hampering proper admin- istration. ! The secretary of the treasury points ogt, what should be carefully noted in respect to this reductfon in govern- mental expenses for the next fiscal year, that the economies are of two kinds—first, there is a saving in the pesmancut administration of the de- partments, bureaus and offices of the gevernment, and, second, there is a peesent reduction in expenses by a pestponement of projects and im- provements that uitimately will have to be carried out, but which are now delayed with the hope that additional revenue in the future will permit their execution without producing a deficit. Working For Economy. It has been impossible in the prepara- tion of estimates greatly to reduce the cost of permanent administration. This cannot be done without a thor- ough reorganization of bureaus, of- fices and departments. For the pur- pose of securing information which may enable the executive and the leg- slative branches to unite in a plan for the permanent reduction of the cost of governmental administration the treas- ury department has instituted an in- vestigation by one of the most skilled expert accountants Iin the United States. The result of this work in two or three bureaus, which, if extended 40 the entire government, must occupy two or more years, has been té show much room for improvement and op- portunity for substantial reductions in the cost and increased efficiency of ad- ministration. The object of the inves- tigation is to devise means to increase the average efficlency of each employee. There is great room for Improvement toward this end, not only by the reor- wrnization of bureaus and departments and in the avoidance of duplication, but also in the treatment of the indi- widual employee. Under the present system it constant- iy happens that two employees receive the same salary when the work of one s far more difficult and important and exacting than that of the other. Su- perior ability Is not rewarded or en- Rouraged. As the classification is now antirely by salary, an employee often ¥ises to the highest while doing. the easiest work, fora way be fitted. An inve »d by my predecessor ¥esi yecommendation that the clvil service be reclassified according to the kind of work, so that the work requiring most Rpplication and knowledge and ability hall recetve most compensation. I be- lieve such a change would be fairér to the whole force and would permanent- z.l.m" the personnel of the serv- More than this, every reform direct- »d toward the imprevement in the av- of | In addition to | coming to the conclusion that a sys- tem of pensions for old employees and the substitution therefor of younger and more energetic servants promote both economy and efficiency of admin- istration. I am aware that there is a strong feeling in both houses of congress and possibly in the country against the establishment of civil pensions and that this has naturally grown out of the heavy burden of military pensions which it has always been the policy of our government to assume, but I am strongly convinced that no other prac- tical solution of the difficulties pre- sented by the superamnuation of civil servants can be found than that of a system of civil pensions. Increase’ In ‘Expenditures. The business and expenditures of the government have expanded enormous- ly since the Spanish war, but as the revenues have increased in nearly the same proportion as the expenditures until recently the attention of the pub- lic and of those responsible for the government has mot been fastened | upon the question of reducing the cost of administration. We cannot, in view of the advancing prices of living, hope to save money by a reduction in the standard of salarles paid. Indeed, if any change is made in that regard an increase rather than a decrease will be necessary, and the only means of econ- omy will be in reducing the number of employees and In obtaining a greater average of efficlency from those re- tained in the service. Close investigation and stndy needed to make definite recommendations in | this regard will consume at least two | years. I note with much satisfaction the organization in the senate of a committee on public expenditures, charged with the duty of conducting ! such an investigation, and 1 tender to | that committee all the assistance which the executive branch of the govern- ment can possibly render. KO TARIFF WAR PROBABLE. Further Revision to Wait on New Tariff Board's Recommendations. 1 regret to refer to the fact of the discovery of extensive frauds in the collection of the customs revenue at New York city, in which a number of | the subordinate employees in the weigh- ing and other departments were direct- Iy concerned and in which the benefi- | claries were the American Sugar Re- | fining company and others. The frauds | consgisted in the payment of duty on underweights of sugar. The govern- ment has recovered from the American ’Su;ar Refining company all that it is | shown to have been defrauded of. The! | sum was’received in full of the amount | due which might have been recovered by civil action against the beneficiary | of the fraud, but there was an express | reservation in the contract of settle- | ment by which the settlement should | not interfere with or prevent the ! criminal prosecution of every one who ! | was found to be subject to the same. Criminal prosecutions are now pro- ceeding against 2 number of the gov- | ernment officers. The treasury de- partment and the department of j | tice are exerting every effort to dis- cover all the wrongdoers, including the officers and employees of the compa- nies who may have been privy to the fraud. It wouid seem to me that an investigation of fhe frauds by con- gress at present, pending the probing by the treasury department and the | department of justice, as proposed, might by giving immunity and other- wise prove an embarrassment in s curing conviction of the guilty parties. Two features of the new tariff .act call for special reference. By virtue of the clause known as the “maximum | and minimum™” clause it is the duty of | the executive to consider the laws and | practices of other countries with res erence to the importation into thosel countries of the products and mer. chandise of the United States, and if the executive finds such laws and prac- tices not to be unduly discriminatory against the United States the mini- mum duties provided in the bill are to go into force. Unless the president makes such a finding, then the maxi- mum duties provided in the bill—that is, an increase of 25 per cent ad va- lorem over the minimum duties—are to be in force. Fear has been expressed that this power conferred and duty imposed on the executive are likely to lead to.a tariff war. I beg to express the hope and belief that no such result need be znticipated. The discretion granted to the execu- tive by the terms *“unduly discrimina- tory” is wide. In order that the maxi- mum duty shall be charged against the imports from a country it is necessary that he shall find on the part of that country not only discriminations in its laws or the practice under them against the trade of the United States, but that the discriminations found shall be undue—that is, without good and fair reason. I conceive that this power was reposed in the president with the hope that the maximum du- ties might never be applied in any ease, but that the power to apply them . would*Shable the president and the state #dcpartment through friendly negotfation to secure the elimination from the laws and the practice under them of any foreign country of that which is unduly discriminatory. No one is seeking a tariff war or a con- dition in which the spirit of retaliation shall be aroused. A Uses of the Naw Tariff Board. The new tanif law enables me to ap- point a tariff board to assist me in con- nection with the department of state in the administration of the minimum and g !EE!?S; gcribed. This work will perhaps take two or three years, and I ask from econgress a continuing annual appro- priation equal to that already made for its prosecution. I believe that the work of this board will be of prime utility and importance whenever con- gress shall deem it wise again to read- just the customs duties. If the facts secured by the tariff board are of such a character as to show generally that the rates of duties imposed by the pres- ent tariff law are excessive under the principles of protection as described in the platform of the successful party at the late election I shall not hesitate to | invite the attention of congress to this fact and to the necessity for action predicated thereon. Nothing, however, halts business and interferes with the course of prosperity so much as the threatened revision of the tariff, and until the facts are at hand, after care- ful and deliberate investigation, upon which such revision can properly be | undertaken, it seems to me unwise to | attempt it. The amount of misinfor- mation that ereeps into arguments pro and con In respect to tariff rates is such as to require the kind of investi- gation that I bave directed the tariff board to make, an investigation under- taken by it wholly without respect to the effect which the facts may have in | calling for a readjustment of the rates of duty. War Department. In the interest of immediate econ- omy and because of the prospect of a deficit T have required a reduction in the estimates of the war department for the coming fiscal year which brings the total estimates down to an amount forty-five millions less than the corresponding estimates for last year. This could be accomplished only by cutting off new projects and sus- pending for the period of one year all| progress in military matters. For thei same reason 1 have directed that the, army shall not be recruited up to its present authorized strength. These measures can bardly be. more than! temporary—to last until our revenues are in better condition and until the-| whole question of the expediency of adopting a definite military policy can be submitted to congress—for I am | sure that the interests of the military | establisment are seriously in need of careful consideration by congress. The laws regulating the organization of our armed forges in the event of war need to be revised in order that the organi- zafion ean be modified so as to produce | a force which would be more consist- | ently apportioned throughout its nu-| merous branches. To explain the cir- cumstances upon whié¢h this opinion is based would necessitate a lengthy dis- | cussion, and [ postpone it until the first convenient opportunity shall arise to send to congress a special message | upon this subject. The secretary of war calis attention | to a number of needed changes in the | army, in all of which I concur, but the point upon which I place most em-| phasgis is the need for an elimination bill providing a method by which the merits of officers shall have some ef- fect upon their advancement and by which the advancement of all may be accelerated by the effective elimination | of a definite proportion of the least effi- cient. There are in every army and certainly in ours a number of officers who do not violate their duty in any such way as to give reason for a court martial or dismissal, but who do not show such aptitude and skill and char- acter for high command as to justify | their remaining in the active service to be promoted. Provision should be made by which they may be retired on | a certain proportion of their pay, m-i creasing with their length of service at | the time of retirement. There is now a pergonnel law for the navy which it- self needs amendment and to which I shall make further reference. - Such a law is needed quite as much for the army Coast Defenses. The coast defenses of the United States proper are generally all that could be desired, and in some respects | they are rather more elaborate than under present conditions are needed to stop an enemy’s fleet from entering the harbors defended. There is, how- ever, one place where additional de- fense is badly needed, and that is at the mouth of Chesapeake bay, where it is proposed to make an artificial is- land for a fort which shall prevent an enemy's fleet from entering this most important strategical base of opera- tions on the whole Atlantic and gulf coasts. I hope that appropriate legis- lation will be adopted to secure the construction of this defense. The military and naval joint board have unanimously agreed that it would be unwise to make the large expendi- tures which at one time were contem- plated in the establishment of a naval base and station in the Philippine Is- lands and have expressed their judg- ment, in whica I fully concur, in fa- vor of making an extensive naval base at Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu, and not in the Philippines. This does not dispense with the necessity for the comparatively small appropriations re- quired to finish the proper coast de- fenses in the Philippines now under construction on the island of Corregi- dor and elsewhere or to complete a suitable repair station and coaling sup- ply station at Olongapo, which is the floating dock Dewey. 1 hope that this recommendation of the joint board will end the discussion as to the com- parative merits of Manila bay and Olongapo as naval stations and will lead to prompt measures for the proper equipment and defense of Pearl Har- bor. The Navy. The return of the ‘battleship fleet from %s voyage around the world in enlisted personnel ed mm«mmm and energetic and representative of the national spirit. It is, moreover, owing to its intelligence, capable of quick training into the modern man- of-war’s men. Our officers are earnest and zealous in their profession, but it 8 a regrettable fact that the higher officers are old for the responsibilities of the modern navy, and the admirals do not arrive at flag rank young enough to obtain adequate training in H g ) i 8 3 i for reform in the navy has been ably and earnestly presented to congress by my predecessor, and I also urgently recommend the subject for considera- tion. % Early in the coming session a com- prehensive plan for the reorganiza- tion of the officers of all corps of the navy will be presented to congress, and I hope it will meet with action suited to its urgency. / Owing to the necessity for economy in expenditures, I have directed the curtailment of recommendatiqns for naval appropriations so that they are thirty-eight millions less than the cor- responding estimates of last year, and the request for. new naval construction is limited to two first class battleships and one repair vessel. The use of a navy is for military purposes, and there has been found need in the department of & military brauch dealing directly with the mili- tary use of the fleet. ~The secretary of the navy has also felt the lack of responsible advisers to ald him in reaching conclusions and deciding im- portant matters between co-ordinate branches of the department. To se- cure these results he has inaugurated a tentative plan Involving certain changes in the organization of the navy department, including the navy yards, all of which have been found by the attorney general to be in ac- cordance with law. I have approved the execution of the plan proposed be- cause of the greater efficlency and economy it promises. The generosity of congress has pro- vided in the present naval observatory the most magnificent and expensive as- tronomical establishment in the world. 1t 1s being used for certain naval pur- poses which might easily and adequate- 1y be subserved by a small division connected with the navy department at only a fraction of the cost of the present naval observatory. The of- ficlal board of visitors established by congress and appointed iz 1901 ex- pressed its conclusion that the official head of the observatery should be an eminent astronomer appointed by the president by and with the advice and consent of the senate, holding his place by a tenure at least as perma- nent as that of the superintendent of tiie coast survey or the head of the geological survey and not merely by a detail of two or three years' dura- tion. 1 fully concur in this judgment and urge a provision by law for the appointment of such a director. It may not be necessary to take the | observatory out of the navy depart- ment and put it into another depart- ment in which opportunity for sci- entific research afforded by the ob- | servatory would seem to be more ap- propriate, though 1 belleve such a transfer in the long run is the best policy. I am sure, however, I express the destre of the astronomers and those learned in the kindred sciences when I urge spon congress that the naval observatory be aow dedicated to sci- ence under control of a man of scl- ence who can, if need be, render all the service to the navy department which this observatory. now renders ana still furnish to the world the dis- coveries in astronomy that'a great as- tronomer using svch a plant would: be likely to make. Department of Justice—Expedition In Legal Procedure. The deplorable delays in the admin- Istration of civil and eriminal law have | received the attention of committees of | the American Bar association and of | many state bar associations, as well as ! the considered thought of judges and | jurists. In my judgment, a change in ;judlclal procedure, with a view to re- | ducing its expense to private litigants In civil cases and facilitating the dis- | patch of business and final decision in ‘,bolh civil and criminal cases, consti- | tutes the greatest need in our Ameri- | can institutions. 1 do mot doubt for one moment that much of the lawless violence and cruelty exhibited in lynch- ings are directly due to the uncertain- ties and injustice growing out of the delays in trials, judgments and the exe- cutions thereof by our courts. Of course these remarks apply quite as well to the administration of justice in state courts as to that in federal courts, and without making invidious distinction it is perhaps not too much to say that, speaking generally, the de- fects are less in the federal courts than in the state courts. But they are very great in the federal courts. The expedition with which business I8 dis- posed of both on the civil and the criminal side of English courts under modern rules of procedure makes the delays in our courts seem archalc and barbarous. The procedure in the fed- eral courts should furnish an example for the state courts. I presume it is impossible without an amendment to the constitution to unite under one form of action the proceedings at common law and pro- ceedings in equity in the federal courts, but it is certainly not impes- sible by a statute to simplify and make short and direct the procedure both at law and in equity in those courts. It 18 not impossible to cut‘down still more than it is cut down the jurisdic- tion of the supreme court 8o as to con- fine it almost wholly to statutory and constitutional questions. Under' the present statutes the equity and ad- miralty procedure in the federal courts is under the control of the supreme court, but in the pressure of business to which the court is subjected it is impossible to hope that a radical and - the fedgral | enjoined unless it shall appear to the i | heard. | |like the rule now in force in some Legislation Urged Against Injunc- tions Without Previous Notice. The platform of the successful party in the last election contained the fol- lowing: X “The Republican party will uphold at all times the authority and integrity of the courts, state and federal, and will ever insist that their powers to enforce their process and to protect life, liberty and property shall be pre- served inviolate. We belleve, however, that the.rules of procedure in the federal courts with respect to the is- suance of the writ of injunction should be more accurately defined by statute and that no injunction or temporary restraining order should be issued ‘without notice, except where irrepara- ble injury would result from delay, in which case a speedy hearing there- after should be granted.” 1 recommend that in compliance with the promise thus made appropriate leg- iglation be adopted. The ends of jus- tice, will best be met and the chief cause of complaint against ill consid- ered Injunctions without notice will be | removed by the enactment of a statute forbidding hereafter the issuing of any | injunction or restraining order, wheth- | er temporary or permanent, by lny‘ federal court withont previous notice and a reasonable opportunity to be heard on behalf of the pdrties to be satisfaction of the court that the delay | necessary to give such notice and hear- ing would result In irreparable injury to the complainant and unless also the court shall from the evidence make a | written finding, which shall be spread upon the court minutes, that imme- diate and irreparable injury is likely to ensue to the complainant and shall | define the injury, state why it is ir- reparable and shall also indorse on the order issued the date and the hour of the issuance of the order. More- over, every such injunction or re- straining order Issued without previ- ous notice and opportunity by the de-| fendant to be heard should by force | of the statute expire and be of no ef-| fect after seven days from the issu- | ance thereof or within any time less | than that period which the court may | fix unless within such seven days or such less period the injunction or order is extended or renewed after previous notice and opportunity to be My judgment is that the passage of | such an aet, which really embodies the best practice in equity and is very courts, will prevent the issuing of ill advised orders of injunction without notice and will render such orders when issued much less objectionable by the short time in which they may remain effective. Anti-trust and Interstate Commerce | Laws. The jurisdiction of the gemeral gov- ernment over interstate commerce has led to the passage of the so called | “Sherman antl-trust law” and the “in-| terstate commerce law” and its; amendments, The developments in the operation of those laws, as shown by Indictments, trials, judicial decisions and other sources of Information, call for a discussion and some suggestions as to amendments. These I prefer to embody in a speclal message instead | of including them in the present com- munication, and I shall avail myself of the first convenient opportunity to bring these subjects to the attention of congress. Jail of tha District of Columbia. My predecessor transmitted to the | congress a special message on Jan, 11, 1009, accompanying the report of com- missioners theretofore appointed to in- vestigate the jail, workhouse, etc., in the District of Columbia, in which be directed attention to the report as set- rageous conditions in the workhouse and Jail” The congress has taken action in pur- suance of the recommendations of that report and of the president to the ex- tent of appropriating funds and enact- ing the necessary legislation for the establishment of a workhouse and re- formatory. No action, however, has been taken by the congress with re- spect to the jall, the conditions of which are still antiquated and insani- tary. 1 earnestly recommend the pas- sage of a sufficient appropriation to en- able a thorough remodeling of that in- stitution to be made without delay. It is a reproach to the national govern- ment that almost under the shadow of confined in a bullding destitute of the ordinarily decent appliances requisite to cleanliness and sanitary conditions. SECOND GLASS MAIL MATTER. Suggested That Magazines and Pe- riodicals Pay More Postage. The deficit every year in the post- office department is largely caused by the low rate of postage of 1 cent a pound charged on second class mail matter, which includes not only news- papers, but magazines and miscella- neous periodicals. The actual 1oss grow- ing out of the transmission of this second class mall matter at 1 cent a the capitol dome prisoners should be | ting forth vividly “the really out-| pound amounts to about $63,000,000 a year. The average cost of the trans- portation of this matter Is more than 9 cents a pound. It appears that the average distance over which newspapers are delivered to their customers is 261 miles, while the average haul of magazines is 1,049 and of miscellaneous perfodicals 1,128 miles. Thus the average haul of the magazine is three and one-half and perfodicals a higher rate of post- age. They are much heavier than newspapers and contain a much high- er proportion of advertising to reading yuatter, and the mverage distance of their transportation is three and a half times as great. The total deficit for the last fiscal year in the postotfice department amounted to $17,500,000. The branches of its business which it.did at a loss were the second class mail service, in which the loss, as already said, was $63,000,000, and the free rural delivery, in which the loss was $28,000,000. These losses were in part offset by the profits of letter postage and other sources of income. It would seem wise to reduce the loss upon second class mall matter, at least to the ex- tent of preventing a deficit in the total operations of the postoftice. 1 commend the whole subject to con- | gress, not unmindful of the spread of intelligence ‘which a low charge for carrylng newspapers and periodicals assists. I very much doubt, however, the wisdom of a policy which consti- tutes so large a subsidy and requires additional taxation to meet it. Postal Savings Banks. The second subject worthy of men- tion in the postoffice department is the real necessity and entire practica- bility of establishing postal savings banks. The successful party at the last electicn declared in favor of postal savings banks, and, although the prop- osition finds opponents in many parts of the country, I am convinced that the people desire such banks and am sure that when the banks are fur- nished they will be productive of the utmost good. The postal savings banks are not constituted for the purpose of creating competition with other banks. The rate of intemést npon deposits to which they would be limited would be so small as to prewent their drawing deposits away from other banks. 1 believe them to be necessary in or- der to offer a proper inducement to thrift and saving to a great many people of small meams who do not now have banking facilities and to whom such a system would offer an opportunity for the accusmlation of cap- ital. They will furnish a satisfactory substitute, based on sound principle and actual successful trial in nearly all the countries of the world, for the system of government guaranty of deposits now being adopted in several western states which, with deference to those who advocate it, seems to me to have in it the seeds of demoraliza- tion to conservative banking and cer- tain financial disaster. The question of how the money de- posited in postal savings banks shall be invested is not free from difficulty, but I belleve that a satisfaclory pro- vision for this purpose was inserted as an amendment to the bill considered by the senate at its last sesslon. It has been proposed to delay the consid- eration of legislation establishng a postal savings bank until after the re- port of the monetary commission. This report is likely to be delayed, and prop- erly so, because of the necessity for careful deliberation and close irwes- tigation. I do not see why the one should be tied up with the other.| It is understood that the monetary cdm- mission have looked into the systems of banking which now prevail abroiad and have found that by a control there exercised in respect to reserves and the rates of exchange by some centrall authority panics are avolded. It is not apparent that a system of postal savings banks would in any way mter—’ fere with a change to such a system here. Certainly in most of the coun- tries in Burope, where control is thus exercised by a central authority, postal savings banks exist and are not thought to be inconsistent with a proper finan- cial and banking system. SHIP SUBSIDY URGED. Needed to Aid In the Expansion of American Trade. Following the course of my distin- guished predecessor, I earnestly rec- ommend to congress the consideration and passage of a ship subsidy bill look- ing to the establishment of lines be- tween our Atlantic seaboard and the eastern coast of South America as| well as lines from the west coast of | the United States to South America, China, Japan and the Philippines. The profits on foreign malils are perbhaps a | sufficient measure of the expenditures which might first be tentdtively ap- plied to this method of inducing Amer- | ican capital to undertake the establish- ment of American lines of steamships in those directions in which we now feel it most important that we shonld have means of transportation con- trolled in the interest of the expansion of our trade. A bfil of this character has once passed the house and more | than once passed the senate, and T hope that at this session a bill framed on the same lines and with the same purposes. may become a law. = not adequate amd does not furnish the character of local control thit ought to be there. ' The only compro- mise it seems to oee which may give needed local legisimtion and secure a conservative government is the one I propose. Conservation of Natural Resources. In several departments there is pre- mented the necessity for legislation looking to the further conservation of our national resources, and the sub- Jeet 1s one of such importance as to require a more detafled and extended discussion than can be entered mpon in this communication. For that rea- son I shall take an early opportunity to send a special message to congress on the subject of the improvement of our waterways, upon the reclamation and Irrigation of arid, semiarid and swamp lands, upon the preservation of our forests and the reforesting of suitable areas, upon the reclassifica- tion of the public domain with a view of separating from agricultural set- tlement mineral, coal and phosphate lands and sites belonging to the gov- ernment bordering on streams suita- ble for the utilization of water power. Department of Agriculture. 1 commend to your careful considera- tion the report of the secretary of ag- riculture as showing the immeunse sphere of usefulness which that de- partment now fills and the wonderful addition to the wealth of the nation made by the farmers of this ecuntry in the crops of the current year. Department of Commerce and Labor. The Lighthouse Board. The lighthouse board now discharges its duties under the department of commerce and labor. For upward of forty years this board has been con- stituted of military and naval efficers and two or three men of science, with such an absence of a duly constituted executive head that it is marvelons ‘what work has been accomplished. In the period of construction the energy and enthustasm of all the members prevented the inberent defects of the system from interfering greatly with the beneficial work of the board, but now that the work is chiefly confined to maintenance and repair, for which purpose the country is divided into sixteen districts, to which are assigned an engineer officer of the army and an inspector of the navy, each with =z lighthouse tender and the needed plant for his work, it has become apparent by the frequent friction that arises, due to the absence of any central in- dependent authority, that there must be a complete reorganization of the board. I concede the advantage of keeping in the system the rigidity of discipline that the presence of naval and milltary officers in charge insures, but unless the presence of such of- ficers in the board can be made con- sistent with a responsible executive head that shall have proper authority I recommend the transfer of control ‘over the lighthouses to a suitable civil- ilan bureau. This is in accordance with ihe judgment of competent persons #ho are familiar with the workings of tly> present system. 1 am confident thet a reorganization can be effected winich shall avoid the recurrence of friation between members, instances of whieh have been officially brought to my | attention, and that by such reor- ganfzation greater efficiency and = substantial reduction 'in the expense of opjeration can be brought about. | Consolidation of Bureaus. labor changes and efficeucy and is requested by the secretary. Ths White Slave Trade. 1 greatlyt regret to have to say the investiyations made in bureau of immigr: n and other sources informatiom lead to the view there Is urgjent necessity foi al legislaticp and greater executive activity to ppress the recruiting of the ranks f prostitutes from the streams of 1oy migration into this couns try—an evil ich, for want of a bet- ter name, has been called “the slave trade.” |1 belleve it to stitutional to fi under o 83F i Interior Department—New Mexico and Arizona. The successful party in the last elec- tion In its national platform declared in favor of the admission as separate states of New Mexico and Arizona, and I recommend that legislation ap- propriate to this end be adopted. I urge, however, that care be exercised in the preparation of the legislation ar- fecting each territory to secure delib- eration In the selection of persons as members of the convention to draft a constitution for the incoming state,] especially transportation state lines, fund of $50,000 retary of comme employment of will be possible | to bring those sponsible for this)trade to Indictment and convietion ul & federal law, Buresu o) Health. For a very 1 movement has « 2