The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 3, 1902, Page 5

OMBINATIO Construction of the Isthmian Canal e President Renews Former Plea for the Needed Waterway. P Continued Fsem Page 4, Column 7. dealing with and exercising supervision over the whole subject of the great cor- porations doing an interstate business, and with this end in view, the Congress shculd endow the department with large powers, which could be increased as ex- perience might show the need. I hope soon to submit to the Senate a reciprocity treaty with Cuba. On May 20 last the United States kept its promise 10 the island by formally vacating Cuban =oil and tyrning Cuba over to those whom her own people had chosen as the first offi of the new republic. Cuba lies at our doors, and -~hatever affects her for good or for ill affects us also. So much have | % Our- people felt | this that in the Platt = amend- ] | Again TUrges the | ment” we defi- Making of Cu- | ban Concessions i ground that [Cuba must * hereafter have closer political relations with us than with any other power. Thus in a sense Cuba has become a part of our international politicdl system. This makes it necessary that in return she should be given some of the benefit: of becoming part of oyr economic system. It s, from our own Bandpoint, shert- sighted and mischievous policy to fail to reccgnize this need. Moreover, it is un- worthy of a mighty and generous nation, itself the greatest and most successful re- public in history, to refuse to stretch out ng hand to a young and weak E republic just entering upon its ca- reer of independence. We should always fearlessly insist upon our rights in -the face of the strong and we should with un- grudging hand do our generous duty by the weak. I urge the adoption of reci- procity with Cuba, not only because it is eminently for our own interests to con- trol the Cuban market and by every means to foster our supremacy in the tropical lands and waters south of us, but also because we, of the giant republic of the north, should make all our sister na- tions of the American Continent feel that whenever they will permit it we desire to show ourselves disinterestedly and ef- fectively their friend. A convention with Great Britain has been concluded, which will be at once lald before the Senate for ratification, providing for reciprocal trade arrange- merts between the United States and Newfoundland on substantially the lines of the convention formerly negotiated by the Secretary of State, Mr. Blaine. I be- | lieve reciprocal trade relations will. be greatly to the advantage of both coun- tries. As clvilization grows warfare becomes less and less the normal condition of foreign relations. The last century has seen a marked diminution of wars be- tween civilized powers; wars with uncivi- lized powers are largely mere matters of | international police duty, essential for the welfare of the world. Wherever possible arbitration or some similar method should be employed in lieu of war to set- tle difficulties between civilized nations, although as yet the world has not pro- gressed sufficiently to render it possible, or necessagjly desirable, to invoke arbi- tration in Every case. The formation of the international tribunal which sits at The Hague' is an event of good omen from which great consequences for the welfare of all mankind may flow. It is far better, where possible, to invoke such a permanent tribunal than to create spe- cial arbitrators for a given purpose. I: is a matter of sincere congratulation to cur country that the United States and Mexico should have been the first to use the good offices of The Hague court. This was done last summer with most satis- factory results In the case of a claim at issue between®us and our sister republic. It is earnestiy to be hoped that this first case will serve as a precedent for others, in which not only the United States but foreign nations may take advantage of | the machirery already in existence at The Hague. I commend to the favorable .considera- tion of the Congress the Hawailan fire | claims, which were the subject of care- ful investigation during the last session. CONSTRUCTION OF THE CANAL STILL URGED The Congress has wisely provided that ‘we shall build at once an isthmian canal, | if possible at Panama. The Attorney General reports that we can undoubtedly acquire good title from the French Pana- ma canal company. Negotiations are now pending with Colombia to secure her as- sent to our building the canal. This canal will be one of the greatest engineering feats of the twentieth century; a greater engineering feat than has yet been accom- plished during the history of mankind. The work should be carried out as a con- tinuing policy without regard to change of administration; and it should be begun under circumstances which will make it a matter of pride for all administrations 16 continue the policy. The canal will be of great benefit to America, and of importance to all -the world. It will be of advantage to us in- dustrially and diso as improving our mil- itary position. It will be of advantage 1o the countries of tropical America. It nitely took the | s other things, a maximum rate for com- /oo AN D N FAIR TREATMENT FOR CAPI “OW to secure fair treatment alike for labor and for capital, how to hold in check the unscrupulous man, whether employer or employe, without weakening individual initiative, without hampering and cramping the industrial development of the country, is a problem fraught with great difficulties and one which is of the highest im- | | portance to solve on lines of sdnity and far-sighted common-sense as well as devotion to the right. This is an ¢era of federation and combination. Ezxactly as business men find they must often work throug{x corporations, and as it is a constant tendency of_ these corporations.to grow larger, so it is often necessary for laboring men to work in federations, and these have become important factors of modern industrial life. Both kinds of federation, capitalistic and labor, can do much good, and as @& neeessary corollary they-can both do evil. Opposition to each kind of organization should take the form of opposition to whatever is bad in the conduct of any given corporation or SwioN—n0b of attacks upon corporations as such nor upon unions as such; for some of the most far-reaching, beneficent work for our people has been accomplished through both corporations and unions. Each must refrain from arbitrary or tyrannous interference wit(z the rights of others. Organized capital and organized labor alike should re- member that in the long run f}lze interest of each must be brought into harqxony with the interest of the general public, and the conduct of each must conform to the fundamen- tal rules of obedience to the law, of individual freedom and of justice and fair dealing toward all. realization of healthy, lofty and generous ideals.—Excerpt from President Roosevelt's message. ' - ER ATION 7 BLASKER NEFDS Z G000 Z2ND Z5%W Eath should remember that in addition to power it must strive after ‘the | Whichever Route Is Selected. the Nation Should Not : Lose Any Time. {g-——=_ 2 | couritries will ‘do as some of them have | already done with signal success, and will | invite to their shores commerce and im- | prove their material conditions by recog- nizing that stability and order are the prerequisites of successful development. No independent nation in America need | have the slightest fear of aggression from | the United States. It behooves each one to maintain order within its own borders | and to discharge its just obligations to | foreigners. When this is done, they can rest assured that, be they strong | or weak, they have nothing to dread from | outside interference. More and more the | increasing interdependence and complex- | ity of international political and econom- ic relations render it#fincumbent on all civ- flized and orderly powers to insist on the proper policing of the world. | _ During the fall of 1901 a communication was addressed to the Secretary of State, asking whether permission would be | granted by the President to a corporation | to lay a cable from a point on the Cali- | fornia coast to the Philippine Islands by | way of Hawali. A statement of condi- | tions or terms upon which such corpora- | tion would undertake to lay and operate | a cable was volunteered. | Inasmuch as Congress was shortly to | convene, and Pacific-cable legislation had been the subject of consideration by the | Conigress for several years, it seemed to | me wise to defer action upon the applica- | tion uptil the Congress had first an oppor- | tunity to act. The Congress adjourned | without taking any action, leaving the | matter in exactly the same condition in | which it stood when the Congress con- | vened. Meanwhile it appears that the Commer- | cial Pacific Cable Company had promptly proceeded with preparations for laying its cable. It also | % % made applica- { tion to the Pres- Conditions as to| ident for ac- |1 f the| CeSS to and use Laying o of soundings taken by the U. . 8. 8. Nero, for $———————"% the phrpose of | l Pacific Cable, discovering a practicable route for a trans-Pa- cific cable, the company ' urging that with access to these sound- ings it could complete its cable much sooner than if it were required to | take soundings upon its own account. Pending consideration of this subject, it | appeared important and desirable to at- tach. certain conditions to the permission | to examine and use the soundings, if it should be granted. In consequence of this solicitation of the cable company, certain conditions were formulated, upon which the President was | willing to allow access to these soundings | and to consent to the landing and laying | of the cable, sybject to any alterations or | additions thereto imposed by the Con- gress. This was deemed proper, especial- | 1y as it was clear that a cable connection | of some kind with China, a foreign coun- | try, was a part of the company’s plan. | This course was, moreover, in accordance with a line of precedents, including Pres- ident Grant’s action in the case of the first French cable, explained to the Con- | gress in his Annual Message of Decem- | ber, 1875, and the instance occurring in 1879 of tfe second French cable from Brest | to St. Plerre, with a branch to Cape Cod. | These conditions prescribed, ameag | mercial messages and that tne company should construct a line from the Phil- | ippine Islands to China, there being at | present, as is well known, a British line | from Manila to Hongkong. - The representatives of the cable com- pany kept these conditions long under consideration, contipuing, in the mean- time, to prepare for laying ‘the cable. They have, however, at length acceded to them, and an all-American line be- | tween our Pacific coast and the Chinese empire, by way of Honolulu and the Phil- ippine Islands, is thus provided for, and is expected within a few months to be ready for -business. Among the conditions is one reserving the power of the Congress to modifty or répeal any or all of them. A copy of the conditions is herewith transmitted. Of Porto Rico it is only necessary to say that the prospefity of the island and the ‘wisdom with ich it has been gov- | erned have been such as to make it serve | as an example of all that is best in in- sular administration. 'PEACE EXISTS "IN THE LANDS BEYOND SEAS On July 4 last, on the one hundred and twenty-sixth anniversary of the declara- tior of our independence, peace and am- nesty were promulgated in the Philip- pinc Islands. Some trouble has since from time to time threatened with the Mo- is earnestly to be hoped that ail of these | bammedan Moros, but with the late in- 4 L UNCLE SAM: ‘“THAT’S THE STUFF.” surrectionary Filipinos the war has en- tirely céased. Civil government has now been introduced. Not only does each Filipino enjoy such rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of hap- piness as he has never before known dur- ing the recorded history of the islands, but the people taken as a whole now en- joy a measure of self-government. great- er than that granted to any other Orientals by any foreign power and greater than that enjoyed by any other Orien- % tals under their own govern- ments, save the Japanese alone. We have not gone too far in granting these rights of liberty and self-government; but we have certainly gone to the limit that n the interests -of the .Philippine people themselves it was wise or just to go. To hurry matters, to go faster than we are now going, would entail calamity on the people of the islands. No policy ever en- tered into by the American people has vindicated itself in more sjgnal manner than the policy of holding the Philip- pines. The trlumph of ‘our arms, above all the triumph of our laws and prin- ciples, has come sooner than we had any right to expect: Too much praise cannot be given to the army for what it has done in-the Philippines’ both' in warfare and ircm an administrative standpoipt in pre- . Filipinos Enjoy Measure of Self- Government. paring the way for - civil . govern- mert, and similar credit. belongs to the ecivil . authorities for the way in which they have planted the seeds of self-government in the ground thus made ready for them. The courage, the unflinching endurance, the high sol- dleriy efficiency and the general kind~ heartedness and humanity of our troops have been strikingly manifested. There now remain only some 15,000 troops in the jglands. All told, over 100,000 have béen sent there. Of course, there have been individual instances of wrong-doing among them. They warred under fearful difficulties of climate and surroundings, and under the strain of the terrible prov- ccations which they continually received from their foes occaslional instances of cruel retaliation occurred. Every effort has been made to prevent such cruelties and finally these efforts bave been com- vletely successful. Every effort has also been made to detect and punish the wrongdoers. After making all allowance few indeed have been the instances in which war has been waged by a civilized power against semi-civilized or barbarous forces where there has been so little wrongdoing by the victors as in the Philippine Islands. On the other' hand, the amount of difficult, important and beneficent work which has been done is well-nigh incalculable. Taking: the work of the army and the civii authorities together, it may be ques- tiored whether anywhere gse in modern times the world has seen a better ex- ample of real constructive statesmanship than our people have given in the Philip- pine Islands. High praise should also be given thése Filipinos, in the aggregate very numerous, who have accepted -the new conditions and joined with our rep- resentatives to work with hearty good will for the welfare of the islands. GIVES PRAISE TO SOLDIERS ‘OF THE-NATION "The army has been reduced to.the mini- mum allowed by law. It is very small for tha size of the nation and most: certainly should, be kept at the highest point of ef- ficlency. The senior officers are given| scant chance under ordinary. conditions to exercise commands commensurate ‘with their ranks, under circumstances which would fit them to do their duty in time of actual war. A system of maneuver- ing our.army in bodies of some little size has been begun and should. be steadily continued. Without such maneuvers it is folly to expect that in the event of hos- tilities with any serious foe even a small army corps could be handled to advan- tage. Both our officers and enlisted men are such that we can, take hearty. pride in them. No better material can be found. But they must be thoroughly trained, botl as individuals and in the mass, The marksmanship—of the men must receive special - attention. In the circumstances of modern warfare the man must act far miore on his own individual responsibility than evaer before, and the high individual efficrency of the unit is of the utmost im- portance. Formerly .this unit was the regiment; it is now not the regiment, not cven the troop or company; it is the in- dlyidual soldier. Every' effort must “be - SET RO S U 0 S for these misdeeds, 1t remains true that|made to develop every workmanlike and soldierly quality in both the officer and the enlisted man. I urgently call your attention to the need of passing a bill providing for a general staff and for the reorganization of the supply departments on the lines of the bill proposed by the Secretary of ‘War last year. When the young officers enter the army from West Point they probably stand above their compeers in any other military service. Every effort should be made, by training, by reward of merit, by scrutiny into their careers and capucity, to keep them of the same high relative excellence throughout their ca- reers. The measure providing for the reorgani- zation of the militia system and for se- curing the highest efficiency in the Na- tional Guard, which has already passed the House, should receive prompt atten- tion and action. It-is of great importance that the .relation of the National Guard to the militia and volunteer forces of the United States should be defined and that in place of our present obsolete laws a practical and efficient system should be adopted. Provision should be made to enable the Secretary of War to keep cavalry and artillery horses worn out in long perng formance of duty. Such horses fetch but 2 trifle when sold, and rather than turn them out to the misery awaiting them when thus disposed of,‘it would be better to employ them at light work around the posts ‘and when necessary to put them painlessly to death. /4 - For,_ the first time in our history naval maneuvers on a large scale are being held under the immediate command of the ad- miral of the navy. Counstantly increas- ing attention is wbelng paid 'to the gunnery of the navy, but It is yet far from what it should be. I earnest- 1y urge that the #———————%*Iincrease asked for by the Sec- retary of the Navy in the appropriation for improving the marksmanship be grant- ed. In battle the only shots that count are the shots that hit. It is necessary to pro- vide ample funds for practice with the great guns in time of peace. These funds must provide not only for the purchase of projectiles, but for allowances for prizes to encourage the gun crews, and 1 Navy Requires In- crease in Ships " and Men, STREATNG THCRERSE 2. DEFARINENT TAL AND LABOR. | Displays of Force in the Near Future in the Nature of Police Measures. s -—— especially the gun péinters, and for per- fecting an intelligent system under which alone it is possible to get good practice. There should be no halt In the work of building up the navy, providing every year additioral fighting craft. We are a very rich country, vast in extent of territory and great in population; a country, more- over, which has an army diminutive in- deed when compared with that of any other first-class power. We have deliber- ately made our own certain foreign poli- cles which demand the possession of a first-class navy. The isthmian canal will greatly increase the efficiency of our navy if the navy is of sufficlent size; but if we have an inadequate navy, then the building of a canal would be merely giv- ing a hostage to any power of superior strength. The Monroe doctrine should be treated as the cardinal feature of Ameri- can forelgn pplicy; but it would be worse than idle to assert it unless we intend to back it up, and it can bé backed up only by a thoroughly good navy. A good navy is not a provocative of war. It is the surest guaranty of peace. Each individual unit of our navy should be the most efficient of its kind as re- gards both material and personnel that is to be found in the world. I call your special attention to the need of providing for the manning of ships. Serious trouble threatens us if we can not do better than Wwe are now doing as regards securing the Services of a sufficient number of the highest type of 'sailormen, of sea mechan- ics. The *veteran seamen of our war ships are of as high a type as can be found in any navy which rides the waters of the world; they are - unsurpassed in daring, in resolution, in readiness, in thorough knowledge of their profession. They deserve every consideration that can be shown them. But there are not enough of them. It is no more possible to impro- vise a crew than it is possible to impro- vise a war ship. To build the finest ship, with the deadliest battery, and to send it afloat with a raw crew, no matter how brave they were individually, would be to insure disaster if a foe of average ca- pacity were encountered. Neither ships nor men can be improvised when War has begun. NAVAL SHIPS ARE LACKING IN OFFICERS We need a thousand additional officers in"order to properly man the ships now provided for and under construction. The classes at the Naval School at Annapolis should be greatly enlarged. At the same time that we thus add the officers where we nced them, we should facilitate the retirement of those at the head of the list whose usefulness has become im- paired. Promotion must be fostered if the service is to be kept efficient. The lamentable scarcity of officers, and the large number of recruits and of un- skilled- men necessarily put aboard the new vessels as they have been ecommis- sioned, has thrown upon our officers, and especially “on the lieutenants and junior grades, unusual labor and fatigue and has gravely strained their powers of endur- ance." Nor is there sign of any immediate let-up to this strain. It must contfnue for some time longer, until more officers are graduated from Annapolls, and until the recruits become trained and skillful in their duties. In these difficulties incident upon the development of our war fleet the conduct of all our officers has been cred- itable to the service, and the lieutenants and junicr grades in particular have dis- played an ability and a steadfast cheer- fulness which entitle them to the un- grudging thanks of all who realize the disheartening trials and fatigues to which they are of necessity subjected. There is not a cloud on the horizon at present. There seems not the slightest chance of trouble with a foreign power. ‘We most earnestly hope that this state of things may continue; and the way to in- sure its continuance is to provide for a thoroughly efficient navy. The refusal to maintain such a navy would invite trouble, and if trouble came would insure disaster. Fatuous self-complacency or vanity, or short-sightedness in refusing to prepare for danger, is both foolish and wicked in such a nation as ours; and past experience has shown that such fatuity in refusing to recognize or prepare for any crisis in advance is usually succeeded by a mad panic of hysterical fear once the crisis has actually arrived. The striking increase in the revenues of the Postoffice Department shows clearly the prosperity of our people and the increas- ing activity of the business of the country. The receipts of the Postof- Department or the fiscal year ending June 30 last amounted to . % Postal Records [ Show Nation’s Prosperity. 3 2VPTD « FI0EP THRICRIRD Larger Navy and a Greater Army Required. However, There s Pros- pect of Peace Among the Powers. —_— e ——— $121,848,047 26, an increase of $10,216,353 &7 over the preceding year, the largest in- crease known in the history of the postal service. The magnitude of this increase Wwill best appear from the fact that the entire postal receipts for the year 1360 amcunted to but $8,518,067. Rural free delivery service is no longer in the experimental stage; it has become a fixed policy. The results following its introduction have fully justified the Con- gress in the large appropriations made for its establishment and extension. The aveérage yearly increase In postoffice re- ceipts in the rural districts of the coun- try is about 2 cent. We are now able, by actual result®j to show that where ru- ral free delivery service has been estab- lished to such an extent as to enable us to make comparisons the yearly increase has been upward of 10 per cent. On November 1, 1%02, 11,60 rural fres delivery routes had been established and were in operation, covering about one- third of the territory of the United States available for rural free delivery service. There are now awaiting the action of the department petitions and applications for the establishment of 10,748 additional routes. This shows conclusively the want which the establishment of the service has met and the need of further extend- iug it as rapidly as possible. It is justi- fled Both by the financial results and by the practical benefits of our rural pop- ulation; it brings the men who live on the soil into close relations with the ae- tive business world; it keeps the farmer in daily touch with the markets; it is a potential educational force; it emhances the value of farm property, makes farm life far pleasanter and less isolated, and will do much to check the undesirable current from country to eity. It is to be hoped that the Congress will make liberal appropriations for the con- tinuance of the service already establishe ed and for its further extensiom. GOOD RESULTS ARE RECORDED IN IRRIGATION Few subjects of more importance have been taken up by the Congress in recent years than the inauguration of the sys- tem of nationally aided ’rrigation for the arid regions of the far West. A good beginning therein has been made. Now that tkis policy of national irrigation has been adopted, the need of thorough and scientific forest protection will grow more rapidly than ever throughout the public land States. Legislation should be provided for the protection of the game and the wild creatures generally, on the forest re- serves. The senseless slaughter of game, which can by judicious protection be per- manently preserved on our national re- serves for the people as a whole, should be stopped at onee. It is, for instance, a serious count against our national good sense to permit the present practice of butchering off such a stately and beauti- ful creature as the elk for its antlers or tusks. So far as they are available for agri- culture, and to whatever extent they may be reclalmed under the national irriga- tion law, the remaining public lands should be held rigidly for the home bulld- er, the settler who lives on his land, and for no one else. In their actual use the desert land law, the timber ahd stone law, and the commutation clause of the homestead law have been so perverted frem the intention with which they were enacted as to permit the acquisition of large areas of the public domain for other than actual settlers and the conse- quent prevention of settlement. More- over, the approaching exhaustion of the public ranges has of late led to much dis- cussion as to the best manner of using these public lands in the West which are suitable chiefly or only for graszing. The sound and steady development of the West depends upon the bullding up of hcmes therein. Much of our prosperity as a nation has been due to the operation of the homestead law. On the other hand, . we should recognize the fact that in the grazing region the man who corresponds to the homesteader may be unable to set- tle permanently if only allowed to use the same amount of pasture land that his brother, the homesteader, is allowed to use of arable land. Omne hundred and sixty acres of fairly rich and well-water- ed soil, or a much smaller amount of ir- rigated land, may keep a family in plenty, whereas no one could get a living from 160 acres of dry pasture land capable of supparting at the outside only one head of cattle to every ten aci In the past great tracts of the publi¢ domain have been fenced in by persons hayjng no title theréto, in direct defiance of the law for- bidding the maintenance or construction of any such unlawful inclosure of public land. For various reasons there has been little interference with such inclosures in, the past, but ample notice has now been given the trespassers, and all the resources at the command of the Govern- ment will hereafter be used to put a stop to such trespassing. In view of the capital importance of these matters, I commend them to the earnest consideration of the Congress, and if the Congreds fiflls difficulty in dealing with them from lack of thorough knowledge of the subject, I recommend that provisicn be made for a commission Continued on Page 6, Columa 1.