Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 4, 1901, Page 5

Y THE OMAHA DAILY BEE: WEDNESDAY, FIRST ME ard lands will enrich every portion of our country, fust as the settlement of the Ohlo and Missfseinpl valleys brought prosperity 10 the Atlantic states. The Increased de- mand tor manufactured articles will stimue late industrial production, while wider home marketa and the trade of Asta will consume the larger food supplics and effectually pre- vent western competition with east. ern agriculture. Indeed, the products of trrigation will be consumed chiefly in phulldjng local centers of mising and other |ndustries, which would otherwise not come into existence at all. Our people as a whole will profit, for successful home- making fs but another name for the up- building of the ation. The necessary foundation has already been Iatd for the inauguration of the policy Just described. 1t would be unwise to begin by doing too much, for a great deal will doubtless be learned, both as to what can and what cannot be safely attempted by the early offorts, which must of neceasity be partly experimental in character, At the very be ginning the government should make clear | heyoud shadow of doubt its intentibn to pur #ue this policy on lines of the broadest pub. Me interest. No reservolr or canal should ever bo bullt to satisfy selfish personal or Jocal interests, but only in accordance with the advico of tomined experts, after long investigation has shown the locality where all the conditions combine to make | with | the work most needed and fraught the greatest usefulness to the Sommunity as ® whole. Thers should be no extravagance and the believers' in the need of irrigation will most henefit their cause by seelng to it that it 1 free from the least taint of exces- wive or reckless expenditure of the public moneys. Whatever the nation does for the extension of irrigation should hamonize with and tend to improye the condition of those now living on Irrigated land. We are not at the start- ing point of this development. Over $200,- 0,000 of private capital has already been wded In the construction of irrigation and many million acres of arid Jand reclaimed. A high degres of enter- prise and abillty has been shown in the work itself, but as much cannot be sald In relation to the laws relating thereto. The wecurity and value of the homes created depend largely on the stabllity of titles to water, but the majority of these rest on uncertain foundation of ecourt decl- one tendered in ordinary suits at law. Vith a few creditable exceptions the arid states ‘have failed to provide for the certain and just division of streams in times of mcareity. Lax and uncertain laws Have made 1t possible to establish rights to water in ervcess of actual’ uses or necessities and many streams have already passed into private ownership or control equivalent to ownership Whoever tonfrols a stream practically controls the fand 1t renders productive and fhe doctrine of private ownership of water part from lahd cannot prevail without eausing enduring wrong. The recognition of such ownership, which bas heen per- mitted to grow, up In the arid regions, should give wa¥ to a more enlightened and larger. rocognition of the rights of the public In the control and disposal of the public water supplies. Laws founded upon conditigns obtaining in humid reglons, where water 15 too abundant fo justify hoarding it, havé no proper application in & dry conntry In the arld stafes the only right to wate which should be recognized is that of use. In irrigation thls right should attach to the land reclaimed and be inseparable therefrom. Granfing perpetual water rights 10 others than users, without compensation to the public, 1s open to all the objections which apply to glving away perpetual fran- chises to the public utilities of cities. A tew of fthe western states have already rocognized this and have incorporated in thelr constitutions the doctrine of perpetual state ownership of water. The benefits which have followed the un- alded dovelopment of the past justify the nation’s ald and co-operation in the more AiMeult and Important work yet to be ac- complished. Laws so vitally affecting homes a8 those which control the water supply will only he offective w sanction of the irrigators; reforts only bo final apd satlefactory when come through the enlightenment of the people most concerned. The larger de- velopment which national aid insures should, howeyer, awaken in every arid state the determination to make its irriga- tlon system equal in justice and effective- ness that of any country in the civilized world. Nothing could be more unwise than for (wolated communities to continue to learn everything experimentally, Instead ot profiting, by .what is already known else- ‘where. Wao are dealing with a mew and momentous question, in the pregnant years while institutions are forming, and what we do will affect not only the present but future gonerations, Our aim whould be not simply to reclaim the largest area ‘of land and provide homes for the largest mumber of people, but to X creato for this new industry tho best possl- ble sociat and industrial conditions, and this requires that we not only understand the existing ‘situation, but avail ourselves of the best experience of the time in the solution of {ts probloms. A careful study should ‘he made, both by the nation and the states,'of the irrigation laws and condt- tions here and abroad, Ultimately it wilt probably b necessary for the nation to co-operato With the several arid states in proportion W these states by their leglsla- tion and -Adminietration show themselves fit to receive it Hawa In Hawhll our alm must be to develop the territory on the traditional American lues. Wo do not wish a region of large estatos tilled by cheap labor; we wish a healthy American community of men who themselves till the farme they own. All our leglslation for the islands should be shaped with fhis end in view; the well- being of the average home-maker must af- ford tho true test of the healthy develop- ment of the fslands. The land policy should ws nearly as possible be modeled on our homestead system orte Nico, It is & pleasure to say that it fe hardly can they more necessary to report as to Porto Rico | than as to any state or territory within our continental Mmits. The island is thriving a8 never before, and It ls being adminis- tored eficiently and honestly. Its people are now enjoying Mberty and order under the protection of the United States, and upon thii“fact we congratulate them and ourselyvs. ‘Their material welfare must be as carewity und jealously - considered an the welfarw of any other portiom of our country. We huve glven them the great gift of freo uccess for thelr products to the markets of the United States. I ask the attentfon of the congress to the need of legislation ¢onverning the public lands of Porto Rica. » > Cuba, In Cuba such progress has been made toward putting the “independent governs ment of the island upon a firm footing that befora the preseut session ot the congress closes this will be an accomplished fact. Cuba will then start as her own mistress, and to the beautiful Queen of the Antilles, as sho untole this new page of her destiny, we extend our heartlest greetings and good wisbes. *Elsewhero 1 Bave discussed the question of ‘reciproeity. "IN the case of Cuba, however, there ave weighty reasons B ) ta 0 en they have the | of morality and of national interest why the policy should be held to have a pecullar application, and 1 most earnestly ask your attentlon to the wisdom, indeed to ths vital need, of providing for a substantial reduction in the tariff duties on Cuban imports into the United States. Cuba has in her conetitution afirmed what we de- sired, that she should stand, fn interna- tional matters, in closer and more friendly relations with us than with any other power, and we are bound by every consider- atlon of honor and expediency to pass coms mercial measures in the laterest of her material well-being The Philippines. In the Philippines our problem fs larger. They are very rich tropical Islands, in- habited by many varying tribes, represent- ing widely different stages of progress to- ward civilization. Our earnest effort is to help these people upward along the stony and difficult path that leads to self-govern- ment, We hope to make our administration | of the islands honorable to our pation by | making it of the highest benefit to tho | Filipinos themselves, and, as an earnest | of what we intend to do, we point to what | wo have done. Already a greater measiro | of material prosperity and of governmentat honesty and eMciency has been attained in the Philippines than ever before in their history. It 18 no 1ight task for a nation to achieve the temperamental qualities without which the inetitutions of free government are but an empty mockery. Our people are now successfully governing themselves, because for more than a thousand years they have been slowly fitting themselves, sometimes consclously, sometimes umconsclously, to- arfl this end, What has taken us thirty gen- erations to achleve we cannot expect to ae another race accomplish out of hand, espe- cially when large portions of that race start very far hehind the point which our ans cestors had reached even thirty generations ago. In dealing with the Philippine people we must show both patience and strength, torbearance and steadfast resolutlon alm 18 high. We do not desire to do for the islanders merely what has elsewhers been done for troplc peoples by even the | best foreign governments. We hope to do | for them what hae never before heen done | for any people of the tropics—to make them fit for self-government after the fash- fon of the really free nations, | History may safely be challenged to show | a single instance in which a masterful race | such as ours, having been forced by the exigencles of war to take possession of an alien land, has behaved to its inhabitants with the disinterested zeal for their prog- resa that our people have shown in the Philippines. To leave the \slands at this time would mean that they would fall ine a welter of murderous anarchy. Such de- sertion of duty on our part would be a rime against humanity. The character of vernor Taft and of his associates and subordinates s a proof, if such be needed, of the sincerity of our effort to give the islanders a constantly increasing measurs of self-government, exactly as fast as they show themeelves fit to exercise. it. Since the civil government was established not an appointment has been made in the islands | with any reference to considerations of | political influence, or to aught else save the fitness of the man and the needs of the | | service. In our anxiety for the welfare and prog- | ress of the Philippines it may be that here and there we have gome too rapidly in giving them local self-government. 1t is on this side that our, error, it any, has been committed. No competent observer, sincerely desirous of finding out the facts and influenced only by a desire for the wel- fare of the natives, assert that we have not gone far enough. We have gone to the very verge of safety in hastening the process. To have taken a single step farther or faster in advance would have been folly and weakness, and might well have been crime. We are extremely anx- fous that the natives shall show the power of governing themselves. We are anxious, first for their sakes, and next, because it relleved’ us of a great burden. There need not be the slightest fear of our not con- tinuing to give them all the liberty for which they are fit The only fear is lest in our over-anxiety we give them a degree of independence for which they are unfit, thereby inviting re- action and disaster. As fast as there is any reasonable hop: that in a given district the people can govern themselves, self- government has been given in that district. There fs not a locallty fitted for self-gov- ernment which has not received it. But it may well be that in certain cases it will | have to be withdrawn becauso the inhabi- tants show themselves unfit to exercise it; such instances have already occurred. In other words, there ls not the slightest chance of our failing to show a sufficlently humanitarian spirit. The danger comes in | the opposite direction. st 1 bles Ahen There are still troubles ahead in the isl- ands. The insurrection has become an af- talr of local bandittl and marauders, who deserve no higher regard than the brigands of portions of the old world. Encourage- ment, direct or indirect, to these insur- rectos stands on the same footing as en- couragement to hostile Indians in the days when we still had Indian wars. Exactly as our alm is to give to the Indian who re- mains peaceful the fullest and amplest con- sideration, but to have it understood that we will show no weakness it he goes on the warpath, so we must make it evident, unless we aro false to our own traditions and to the demands of civilization and hu- manity, that while we will do everything in our power for tha Filipino who s peace- ful, wo will take the sternest measurew with the Filipino who follows the path of the insurrecto and the ladrone. The heartiest praise is due to largs num- bers of the natives of the Islands for their | etondtast loyalty. The Macabebes have been consplcuous for thelr courage and devotion to the flag. I recommend that the secretary of war be empowered to take some syste- matic action in the way of alding those ot these men who are crippled in the service and the families of those who are killed. Additionnl Legislation Needed, The time has come when there should be additional legislation for the Philip- pines Nothing better can be done for the islands than to introduce industrial enter- | prises. Nothing would benefit them so | much as throwing them open to industrial | development. The connection between idle- ness and mischief is proverbial, and the opportunity to do remunerative work is one of the surest preventives of war. Of course | no business man will go into the Philip pines unless it is to his interest to do so, and it Is immensely to the interest of the islands that he should go in. It fs there- fore necessary that the congress should pa laws by which the resources of the islands can be developed, so that franchises (for limited terms of years) can be granted to companies dolug business in them, and every encouragement be given to the in- coming of business men of every kind. Not to permit this {s to do a wrong to the Philippines. The franchises must be granted and the business permitted only under regulations which will guarantee the islands agdinst any kind of lmproper ex. ploitation. But the vast natural wealth of the islands must be developed and the capi- tal willing to develop it must be given the opportunity, The field must be thrown open to individual enterprise, which has beeu Our | the real factor in the development of every region over which our flag has flown. It le urgently necessary to enact suitable laws dealing with general transportation, min- ing, banking, currency, homesteads and the use and ownership of the lands and timber. These laws will give free play to industrial enterprise, and the commercial develop- ment which will surely follow will afford to the people of the fslands the best proofs of the sincerity of our desirs to ald them. 1 call your attention most earnestly to the crying need of a cable to Hawail and | the Philippines, to be continued from the | Philippines to points in Asia. We should not defer a day longer than mecessary the construction of such a cable. It is demanded not merely for commercial but for political and military considerations. Pactfic Cable, Either the congress should {mmediately provide for the construction of a govern- ment cable or else an arrangement should be made by which like advantages to those accruing from a government cable may be secured to the government by contract with |a private cable company. Isthminn anal. No single great material work which re« mains to be undertaken on this continent is of such consequence to the American people as the building of a canal acrose the isth- mus connecting North and Bouth America. Its importance to the nation Is by no means limited merely to its material effects upon our business prosperity, and yet with view 1o these effects alone it would be to the last degree fmportant for us immed!- ately to begin it. While its beneficial ef- tects would perhaps be most marked upon the Pacific coast and the gulf and south Atlantic states, it would also greatly benefit other sections. It Is emphatically a work | which it is for the interest of the entire country to begin and complete as soon as possible; it is one of those great works which only a great nation can underteke with prospects of success, and which when done are not only permanent assets in the nation’s material interests, but standing | monuments to its constructive ability. | Canal Tre 1T am glad to be able to announce to you that our negotiations on this subject with Great Britain, conducted on both sides in a spirit of friendliness and mutual good | will and respect, have resuited in my being abie o lay before the senate a treaty which |1t ratified will enable us to begin prepara- | tlons for an isthmian canal at any time | and which guarantees to this natlon every right that it has ever asked in connection | with the canal. In this treacy, the old Clayton-Bulwer treaty, so long recognized | as inadequate to supply the base for the construction and maintenance of a neces- sarily American ship canal, is abrogated. It epecifically provides that the United | States alone shall do the work of building and assume the responsibility of safe- guarding the canal and shall regulate § neutral .use by all nations on terms of equality without the guaranty or interfor- ence of any outelde nation from any quar- ter. The signed treaty will at once be lald | before the senate, and if approved the con- | gress can then proceed to give effect to the | advantages it secures us by providing for | the bullding of the canal. Peace Conference. The true end of avery great and free peo- ple should be self-respecting peace, and this nation most earnestly desires sincers and cordial friendship with all others. Over the entire world, of recent years, wars bes tween the great eivilized powers have be- come less and less frequent. Wars with barbarous or semi-barbarous peoples come in an entirely different category, being merely a most regrettable but necessary international pe ‘ce duty which must be performed for the sake of the welfare of mankind. Peace can only be kept with cer- tainty where both sides wish to keep it, but more and more the civilized peoples are realizing the wicked folly of war and are attaining that condition of just and tatell1- gent regard for the rights of others whish will In the end, as we hope and beleve, make world-wide peace possible. The peace conference at The Hague gave definite ex- pression to this hope and bellef and marked a stride toward their attainment. This same peace conference acqulesced \n our statement of the Monroe doctrine as compatible with the purposes and aims of the conference. Monroe Doctrine, The Monros doctrine should ba she car- dinal feature of the foreign policy of all the nations of the two Americas, as it e of the United States. Just seventy-eight years have passed since President Monroe in his annual message announced that “The Amer- ican continents are henceforth mot to be considered as subjects for future coloniza- tion by any European power.” In other words, the Monroe doctrine is a declaration that there must be no territorial aggran- dizement by any non-American power at the expense of any American power on Amerl- can soil. It is In no wise intended as hos- tile to any nation in the old world. Stih less is It intended to glve cover to any aggression by one new world power at the expense of any other. It Is simply a step, and a long etep, toward assuring tne uni- versal peace of the world by securing the possibility of permanent pea on this hemisphere, During the past century other influences have established the permanence and inde- pendence of the smaller states of Europe. Through the Monroe doctrine we hope to be able to sateguard like independence and secure like permanence for the lesser among the new world nations. This doctrine has nothing to do with the commercial relations of any American power, save that it In truth allows each of them to form wuch as it desires. In other words, it s really a guaranty of the com- mercial independence of the Americas. Wo do not ask under this doctrine for any ex- clusive commercial dealings with any other American state. We do not guarantee any state agalnst punishment if it miscondu itself, provided that punishment does not take the form of the acquisition of terri- tory by any non-American power. Our attitude in Cuba is a sufcient guar- anty of our own good faith. We have not the slightest desire to secure any territory at the expense of any of our neighbors. We wish to work with them hand in/ hand, 50 that all of us may be uplifted together, | and we rejolce over the good fortune of any of them, we gladly bail thelr materlal | prosperity and political stability, and are concerned and alarmed If any of them fall into industrial or political chaos. We do not wish to see any old world military power grow up on this continent, or to be compelled to become a military power our- selves. The peoples of the Americas can prosper best if left to work out their own salvation in their own way. Upbullding of Navy. The work of upbullding the navy must be steadily continued. No ome point of our pollcy, forelgn or domestic, ia more fm- portant than this to the honor and material welfare, and above all to the peace, of owr nation in’ the future. Whether we desire It or not, we must henceforth recognize that we have International duties no than international rights. Even if our flag were hauled down in the Philippines and Porto Rico, even if we declded not to buila the isthmian canal, we should need a thor- oughly trained navy of adequate size, or 1 to abandon the idea that our mation fs among those whoss sons go down to the sea in ships. Unless our commerce Is al- ways to be carried in forelgn bottoms, we must have war craft to protect it. Tnasmuch, however, as the American peo- ple have no thought of abandoning the path upon which they have entered, and espe- cially in view of the fact that the building of the isthmian canal is fast becoming one of the matters which the whole people are united in demanding, it is imperative that our navy should be put and kept in the bighest state of efficiency, and should be made to answer to our growlng meeds. So far from being in any way a provocation to war, an adequate and highly trained navy fs the best guaranty against war, the cheapest and most effective peace insur- ance. The cost of building and maintaining such a navy represents the very lightest premium for insuring peace which this na« tlon can possibly pay. Probably no other great mation in the world is so anxious for peace as we are, There is not a single civilized power which hae anything whatever to fear from ag- gressiveness on our part. All we want s peace, and toward this end we wish to be able to secure the same respect for our rights from others which we are eager and anxious to extend to their rights in return, to insure falr treatment to us commercially and to guarantes the safety of the Amert- can people. Our people intend to ablde by the Monroe doctrine and to insist upon it as the ome sure means of securing the peace of the western hemisphere. The navy offers ue the only means of making our inelstence upon the Monroe doctrine anything but a subjact of derision to whatever nation chooses to disregard it. We desire the peace which comes as of right to the just man armed; not the peac granted on terms of ignominy to the craven and the weakling. It s not possible to improvise a nave atter war breaks out. The ships must be bullt and the men trained long in advance. | Some auxiliary vessels can be turned into makeshifts which will do in default of any better for the minor work, and & propor- tion of raw men can be mixed with the highly trained, their shortcomings belng made good by the skill of their fellows; but the eficient fighting force of the navy when pitted against an equal opponent found almost exclusively in the war ships that have been regularly built and in the officers and men who through years of talthful performance of sea duty have been trained to handle their formidable but com- plex and delicate weapons with the highest efficfency. In the late war with Spain the ships that dealt the decisive blows at Ma- nila and Santiago had been launched from two to fourteen years and they were able to do as they did because the men in the conning towers, the gun turrets and the engine roome had through long years of practice at sea learued how to do their duty. g Our present navy was begun in that perlod our navy consisted of a collec- tlon of antiquated wooden ships, already almost as out of place against modern war vessels as the galleys of Aloiblades and Hamilcar—certainly as the ships of Tromp and Blake. Nor at that time did we hav men fit to handle a modern man-of-wal Under the wise legislation of the congre and the successtul administration of & suc- cession of patriotic secretaries of the i belonging to both political parties, the work of upbuilding the navy went on and ships equal (o any in the world of their kind were continually added, and what was even mote important, these ships were exercised at sea singly and in squadrons until the men aboard them were able to get the best poseible service out of them. The result was seen In the short war with Spain, which was decided with such rapidity be- cause of the Infinitely greater preparedne: of our mavy than of the Spanish navy. While awarding the fullest honor to the men who actually commanded and manned the ships which destroyed the Spanish sea forces in the Philippines and in Cuba, we must not forget that an equal meed of praise belongs to those without whom neither blow could have been struck. The congressmen who voted years in advance the money to lay down the ships, to build the guns, to buy the armorplate; the de- partment officials and the business men and wage workers who furnished what the con. gress had authorized; the secretaries of the navy who asked for and expended the ap- propriations, and finally the officers who, in fair weather and foul, on actual sea service, trained and disciplined the crews of the ships when there was no war In sight—all are entitled to a full share in the glory of Manila and Santiago, and the respect ac- corded by every true American to those who wrought such signal triumph for our coun- try. It was forethought and preparation which secured us the overwhelming tri- umph of 1898, It we fail to show fore- thought and preparation now, there may come a time when disaster will befall us instead of triumph, and should this time come, the fault will rest primarily, not upon those whom the accident of events puts fn supreme command at the moment, but upon those who have falled to prepare in advance. There should be no cessation in the work of completing our n So far ingenuity has been wholly unable to devise a sub- stitute for the great war craft whose ham- mering guns beat out the mastery of the high seas. It {s unsafe and unwise not to provide this year for several additional battle ships and heavy armored crulsers, with auxillary and lighter craft in propor- tion; for the exact numbers and character 1 refer you to the report of the secretary of the nmavy. But there is something we need even more than additional ships, and this is additional oficers and men. To pro- vide battleships and crulsers and then lay them up, with the expectation of leaving them unmanned until they are meeded in actual war, would e worse than folly; it would be a criime agatnst the nation. To send any war ship againet a compe- tent enemy unless those aboard it have been trained by years of actual including incessant gunnery practicy be to invite not merely disaster, but tie bitterest shame and humiliation. Four thousand additional seamen and 1,000 addi- tional marines should be provided, and an increase in the officers should be provided by making a large addition to the classes at Angapolis. There is one small matter which should he mentioned in connection with Annapolis. The pretentious and un- meaning title of “naval cadet’ should be abolished; the title of “midshipman,” full of historic association, should be restored. Even in time of peace a war ship should be used until it wears out, for only so can it be kept fit to respond to any emergency. The oficers and men alike should be kept a8 much as possible on blue water, for it fs there only they can learn their dutles as they should be learned. The blg vessels should be maneuvered in squadrons con- talning not merely battleships, bt the necessary proportion of crulsers and scouts, The torpedo boats should be handled by the younger officers in such manner as will best fit the latter to take responsibility and meet the emergencies of aotual warfa) Every detail ashore which can be per- formed by a civillan should be so per- formed, the officer being kept for his specal duty 1n the sea seevice. Above all, gunnery practice should be unceasing. It is tm- portant to have our navy of adequ: size, 1882, At else Le prepared definitely and for all time | hut it ls eveu more important that sbip for will be | DECEMBER 4, 1901. SSAGE OF PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT #hip it ehould equal in efficloncy any navy in the world. This {s possible only with highly drilled crews and officers, and this in turn imperatively demands continuous and progressive instruction in target prac. | tice, ship handling, squadron tactics and | general discipline. Our ships must be as- sembled in squadrone mctively cruising away from harbors and never lovg at anchor. The resulting wear upon engines and hulls must be endured: a battleship worn out i long training of officers and mon 1s well pald for by the results, while, on the other hand, no matter fu how excel- lent condition, it fa useless it the crew be not expert. We now have seventeen battleships ape propriated for, of which nine are com- pleted and have been commissioned for ac- tual service. The remaining elght will be ready In from two to four years, but it will take at least that time to recruit and train the men to fight them. It is of vast con- cern that we have trained crews ready for the vesels by the time they are commdés- sloned. Good ships and good guns are sim- ply good weapons, and the best weapons are useless eave in the hands of men who know how to fight with them. The men must be trained and drilled under a thor- ough and well-planned system of progres. sive inatruction, while the recruiting must be carried on with still greater vigor. Every effort must be made to exalt the main function of the oficer—the command of men. The leading graduates of the Naval academy should be assigned to tho combatant branches, the line and marines. Many of the easentials of success are al- ready recognized by the general board, which, as the central office of a growing iaff, is moving steadlly toward a proper war efficlency and a proper efficlency of the whole navy, under the secretary. This general board, by fostering the creation of & general staff, is providing for the offelal and then the general recognition of our altered conditions as a nation and of the true meaning of a great war fleet, which meaning is, first, the best men, and, second, the best ehips. National Naval Reserve. The naval militia forces are state organi- zations, and are trained for coast service, aud in event of war they will constitute the inner line of defense. They should re- celve hearty encouragement from the gen- eral government. But in addition we should at once pro- vide for a national naval reserve, organized nd trained under the direction of the Navy department, and subject to the call |of the chief executive whenever war ba- comes imminent. It should be a real aux- iliary to the naval seagolug peace estab- lishment, and offer material to be drawn on at once for manning our ships in time of 1t should be composed of graduates of the Naval academy, graduates of the naval militla, officers and crews of coast- line ateamers, longshore schooners, fishing vessels and steam yachts, together with the coast population about such centers as life. saving stations and lighthouses, The American people must either build and maintain an adequate navy or else make up their minds definitely to accept a secondary position in international affairs, not merely in political, but in commercial matters. It has been well said that there fe no surer way of courting natioual dis- aster than to be ‘“opulent, aggressive and unarmed.” | sequent enlistments should not be increased Army Large Enongh. 1t is not mecessary to increase our army beyond its present size at this time. But it is necessary to keep it at the highest point of efciency. The findividual units who, as officers and enlisted men, compose this army, are, we have good reason to be- lieve, at least as efficlent as those of any other army in the entire world. It is our duty to see that their training is of & kind to insure the highest possible ex- pression of power to these units when act- Ing in combination. The conditions of modern war are such as to make an {nfinitely heavier demand than ever befors upon the individual char- acter and capacity of the officer and the enlisted man, and to make it far more difcult for men to act together with effect. At present the fighting must be done in extended order, which means that each man must act for himself and at the same time act in combluation with others with whom be is no longer in the old-fashioned elbow- to-elbow touch. Under such conditions a few men of the highest excellence are worth more than many men without the special skill which is only found as the result of speclal training applied to men of exceptional physique and morale. But nowadays the most valuable fighting man | and the most diffcult to perfect s the riffeman who is also a skillful and daring rider. The proportion of our cavalry regiments has wisely beem increased. The American cavalryman, trained to maneuver and fight with equal facllity on foot and on horse- back, is the best type of soldier for gen- eral purposes now to be found iIn the world. The ideal cavalryman of the present day is a man who can fight on foot as effectively as the best infantryman, and who is in dition unsurpassed in the care and man- agement of his horse and in his ability to fight on horseback. ff should be created. As nt staft and supply depart- ments, they should be filled by detalls from the line, the men so detailed return. ing after awhile to their line duties. It is very undesirable to have the senior grades of the army composed of men who have come to flll the positions by the mere fact of senlority, A system sBould be adopted by which there shall be an elimination, grade by grade, of those who seem unfit to render the best service in the next grade. Justice to the veterans of the civil war who are still in the army would seem to re- quire that in the matter of retirements they be given by law the same privileges accorded to their comrades in the navy. The process of elimination of the least fit should be conducted in a manner that would ‘render it practically impossible to apply political or social pressure on be- half of any candidate, so that each man may be judged purely on his own merits, Pressure for the promotion of civil ofciale for political reasons is bad enough, but it is tenfold worse where applied on behalf of officers of the army and navy. Every pro- ‘motion and every detall under the War de- partment must be made solely with regard to the good of the service and to the ca- pacity and merit of the man himself. No pressure, political, soclal or personal, of any kind, will be permitted to exercise the least effect 10 any question of promotion or detail, and It there la reason to belisve that such pressure is exercised at the insti- gation of the officer concerned, it will be beld to militate against him. In our army we cannot afford to have rewards or duties distributed, save on the simple ground that those who by their ows merits are entitled to the rewards get them, and terad that it s very difficult to give the higher officers (as well as the lower officers and the enlisted men) a chance to practice maneuvers in mass and on a comparatively large scale. In time of need no amount of tudividual excellence would avail against tho paralysis which would follow inability to work as & coherent whole, under skillful and daring leadership. The congress should provide means whereby it will be possible to have fleld exercises by at least a division of regulars, and it possible also a division of national guardsmen, once a year. These exercises might take the form of fleld maneuvers; or, It on the gulf coast or the Pacific o~ Atlantic seaboard, or in the region of the Great Lakes, the army corps when assembled could be marched from some inland point to some point on the water, there embarked, disembarked after A couple of days' Journey at some other point, and again marched inland. Only by actual handling and providing for men in masses while they are marching, camp- ing, embarking and disembarking, will it be possible to train the higher offcers to perform their duties well and smoothly. A great debt is owlng from the public to the men of the army ands navy. They should be %o treated as to enable them to reach the highest point of efficiency, so that they may be able to respond instantly to any demand made upon them to sustain the interests of the nation and the honor of the flag. The fndividual American en- Isted man is probably on the whole & more formidable fighting man than the regular of any other army. Every consideration should bo shown him, and In return the highest standard of usefulness should be exacted from him. It is well worth while for the congress to consider whether the pay of enlisted men upon second and sub- to correspond with the increased value of the veteran ‘woldier Much good has already come from the act reorganizing the army, passed early in the present year. The three prime reforms, all of them of literally inestimable value, are, first, the substitution of four-year details from the line for permanent appointments in the so-called staft divisions; second, the establishment of a corps of artiliery with a chiof at the head; third, the establish- ment of & maximum and minimum limit for | the army. It would be difficult to over- estimate the improvement in the efclency of our army which these three reforms are | making, and have in part already effected The reorganization provided for by the act has been substantially accomplished. The fmproved conditions in the Philippines have emabled the War department ma- terially to reduce the military charge upon | our revenue and to arrauge the number of soldlers so as to bring this number much nearer to the minimum than to the maximum limit established by law. There | is, however, need of supplementary legisla- tion. Thorough military education must be provided, and In addition to the regulars the advantages of this education should be given to the officers of the national guard | and others in civil lifo who desire intelli- gently to fit themselves for possible mili- tary duty. The officers should be given the chance to perfect themselves by study in the higher branches of this art. At West Point the education should be of the kind most apt to turn out men who are good in actual fleld service; too much stress should not be laid on mathematics, nor should pro- ficiency therein be held to establish the right of entry to a corps d'elite. The typical American officer of the best kind need not be a good mathematician: but he must be able to master himself, to control others, and to show boldness and fertility of resource in every emergency. Militin and Volunteers. Actlon should be taken in reference to the militia and to the raising of volunteer forces. Our militia law is obsolete and worthless. The organization and arma- ment of the national guard of the several states, which are treated as militia in the appropriations by the congress, should be made identical with those provided for the regular forces. The obligations and duties of the guard in time of war should be care- fully defined, and a system established by law under which the method of procedure of raising volunteer forces should be pre- sacribed in advance. It is utterly impossible in the excitement and haste of impending war to do this satisfagtorily if the arrang ments have not been made long beforehand. Provision should be made for utilizing in the first volunteer organizations called out the training of these citizens who have already had experience® under arms, and especially for the selection In advance of the officers of any force which may be raised; for careful selection of the kind Decessary is impossible after the outbreak of war. That the army is not at all a mere instru- ment of destruction has been shown during the last three years. In the Philippines, Cuba and Porto Rico it has proved itselt a great constructive force, a most potent implement for ,the upbullding of a peace: tul civilization. No other citizens deserve so well of the republic as the veterans, the survivors of those who eaved the union. They did the one deed which If left undone would have meant that all else in our history went for nothing. But for their steadfast prowess in the greatest crisis of our history all our annals would be meaningless and our great experiment in popular freedom and self- are united in our devotion to the flag which 1s the symbol of national greatness and unity, and the very completeness of our union euables us all, in every part of tha country, to glory in the valor shown alika by the sons of the north and the sons of tha south In the times that tried men's souls The men who in the last three years have done #o well fn the East and Weat Indies and on the mainland of Asia have shown that this remembrance fa not lost. In any sorfous criels the United States must rely for the great mass of its fighting men upon the volunteer soldlery who do not make & permanent profession of the milltary career, and whenever such a crisis arlses the death less momeries of the civil war will give to Americans the 1ft of lofty purpose which comes to those whose fathers have stood vallantly In the forefront of the battle The merit system of making appointments 18 n its eseence as democratic and American as the common echool system ftself. It simply means that In clerical and sther positions, where the duties are entirely non« political, all applicants should have A fafr fleld and no favor, each standing on hia merits an he s able to show them by praca tieal test. Written competitive examina- tions offer the only available means {n many cnwes for applylng this system. In other cases, as where laborers are employed, & eystem of registration undoubtedly can he widely extended. Thera are, of course, places where the written competitive ax~ amination cannot ba applied and others where it offers by no means an ideal solus tion, but where under existing politieal conditions 1t s, though an imperfect means yot the best present means of getting satise tactory results. Advocates Merit System. Wherever the conditions have parmitted the application of the merit system fn ita fullest and widest sense the gain to tha government has been immense. The navy yards and postal service {llustrate, probably botter than any other branches of the gove ernment, the great galn in economy, eMclency and honesty due to the enfor ment of this principle. 1 recommend the passage of a law which will extend the classified sorvica to the District of Columbia, or will at least enabla the president thus te extend it. In my Judgment all laws providing for the tempo- rary employment of clerks should hereatter contain a provision that they bo selectod under the civil service law. 1t {8 important to have this system obtaln at home, but it {s even more important ta have it applied rigidly in our insular pos~ ossons. Not an office should be filled in the Philippines or Porto Rico with any regard to the man's partisan afMiiations or services, with any regard to the political, woclal or personal influence which he maw have at his command; in short, heed should Dbe paid to absolutely nothing savo the man's own character and capacity and the needs of the service. The administration of thesa islands should be as wholly free from the suspicion of partiean politics as the administration of the army and navy. All that we ask trom the public servant fn the Philippines or Porto Rico is that he reflect honor on | nis country by the way in which he makes that country's rule a benefit to the peoples who have come under It. This is all that we should ask and we cannot afford to be content with less. The merit system is simply one method of securing honest and efficient admipistra- tion of the government, and in the long rum the sole justification of any type of govern- ment lles in ite proving itself both homest and efficient. Consular Service. The consular service is now organized under the provisions of a law passed In 1856, which is entirely inadequate to exist- ing conditions. The Interest shown by so many commercial bodles throughout the country in the reorganization of the service is hearily commended to your attention. Several bllls providing for a new consular servico have in recent years been sub- mitted to the congress. They are based upon the just principle that appointments to the service should be made only after a practical test of the applicant’s fitness, that promotions should be governed by trustworthiness, adaptability and zeal im porformance of duty and that the ten- ure of office should be unaffected by partis san considerations. The guardianship and fostering of our rapldly expanding foreign commerce, the protection of American citizens resorting to foreign countries in lawful pursuit of thelr affairs and the maintenance of the dignity of the nation abroad combine to make it essential that our consuls should be men of character, knowledge and enter- prise. It is true that the service is now, in the main, efcient, but a standard of ex= cellence cannot be permanently maintained unti] the principles set forth in the bill heretofore submitted to the congress om this subject are enacted into law, Lo, the Poor Indian. In my judgment the time has arrived when wo should definitely make up our minds to recognize the Indlan as an in- dividual and not as a member of a tribe. The general allotment. act is a mighty pul- verizing engine to break up the tribal mase, It acts directly upon the family and the individual. Under ita provisions some 60,000 Indians bave already become citizens government a gloomy tallure. Moreover, they not only left us a united nation, but they left us also as a heritage the memory of the mighty deeds by which the nation was kept united. We are now indeed one nation, one in fact as well s in name; we of the United States. We should no. break up the tribal funds, doing for them what allotment does for the tribal lands; that is, they should ba divided into ine dividual holdings. There will be & transte (Continued on Seventh Puge.) on your stomach, and then the whole trouble What you need is a that those who are peculiarly fit to do the dutles are chosen to perform them. Every effort should be made to bring the army to & const; efficiency. When on actual service no work save that directly in the line of such serv- fce should be required. The paper work in the army, as In the uavy, should be greatly reduced. What is neoded is proved power of command and capacity to work well in the field. Constant care is neces- sary to prevent dry rot (n the transporta- tlon and commissary department Our army is se small and so much scate YOll LOOk f Sick ‘What makes you look that way? What's the trouble? _ If your ‘tomgue is ‘coated, if you are bilious, (if your head aches, if your food rests heavy if you are constipated, is with your liver. good liver pill, a purely vegetable liver pill. You need a box of Ayer’s Pills, that's what you need. These pills cure constipation, biliousness, dyspepsia, and sick headache. “1 always keep & box of Ayer's Pills o lver r or, Long ago stipation.” — 8, L. BrzLLMAN, e 8 box. All draggiets. oni hand. There is mopiit thelr equal for fi:‘m me of liver complaint and chronic con. Ohio. J. €. AVER CO., Lowsl!, Mass,