The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 7, 1904, Page 18

| 1 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WAGE WOR Continued From Page 17, Column 7. But do not feel I am disposed to grant unreasonable reque; spend thrv money of our company unnecessarily or without value received, nor expect the days of mistakes are disappearing, or that cause for complaint will not continually occur; simply to correct such abuses as may be discovered, to better ¢ itions as fast as reasonably may be expected, constantly _strh’lng. with varying success, for that improve- ment we all desire, to convince you there is a force at work in the right direction, all the time making progress i the disposition with which I have asking your goodwill come among you and encouragement T" e day has gone by when a cor- poratior an be handled successfully in defiance of the public will, even though that will be unreasonable and wrong. A public may be led, but not and 1 prefer to go with it and r modify, in a measure, its rather than be swept from ngs, nterests in my charge. ejudice exi I toward cor- rity and al to-day, n, more in 1 a large measure is nal traits of arbitrary, incompetent and offen- ca siwe men in positions of authority. The | accomplishment of results by indirec- tion, the endeavor to thwart the inten- tion if not the expressed letter of the | (the will of the people), a disre- d of the rights of others, a disposi- tion to withhold what is due, to force by main strength or inactivity a result not justified, depending upon the weak- nesg of the claimant and his indisposi- become involved in litigation, eated a sentiment harmful in and a disposition to con- vthing fair that gives gain to vidual at the expense of the compary “If corporations are to continue to do the world’s work, as they are best fitted to, th atives t prejudice - qualities in their rep- hat have resulted in the against them must be relegated to the background. The corporations must come out into the open and see and be seen. They must take the public into their confidence and ask for what they want, and no and b w more. factori prepared to explain satis- at advantage will accrue to the public if they are given their desires: for they are permitted to exist not that they may make monmey solely, but that they may effectively serve those from whom they derive their power. “Publicity, and not secrecy, will win hereafter, and laws be construed by their intent and not by their letter, otherwise public utilities will be owned and operated by the public which cre- ated them less efficient and the result less satis- factory from a financial standpoint.” CORPORATIONS BUREAU Special Report Will Be Made on the Beef Industry. The Bureau of Corporations has made careful preliminary investigation of many important corporations. It will make a special report on the beef in- dustry The policy of the bureau is to accom- plish the purposes of its creation by co-operation, not antagonism; by mak- ing constructive legislation, not de- structive prosecution, the immediate object of its inquiries; by conservative investigation of Jaw and fact, and by | refusal to issue incomplete and hence necessarily inaccurate reports. Its pol- icy being thus one of open inquiry into, and mot attack upon, business, the bureau has been able to gain not only the confidence, but better still, the co- operation of men engaged in legitimate busines: The bureau offers to the Congress the means of getting at the cost of produc- tion of our various great staples of commerce Of necessity the careful investigation of special corporations will afford the Commissioner knowledge of certain business facts, the publication of which might be an improper infringement of private rights. The method of making public the results of these investiga- tions affords, under the law, a means for the protection of private rights. The Congress will have all facts except such as would give to another corpo- ration information which would injure the legitimate business of a competitor and destroy thexincentive for individual superiority and thrift. The bureau has also made exhaustive examinations into the legal condition under which corporate business is car- ried on in the various States; into all Judicial decisions on the subject; and into the various systems of corporate taxation in use. I call special atten- tion to the report of the chief of the bureau; and 1 earnestly ask that the Congress cerefully consider the report @and recommendations of the Commis- sioner on this subject. The business of insurance vitally affects the great mass of the people of the United States and is national and not local in its application. It involves & multitude of transactions among the people of the different States and be- tween American companies and foreign Governments. I urge that the Congress carefully consider whether the power | of the Bureau of Corporations cannot constitutionally be extended to cover interstate transactions in insurance. QUESTION OF REBATES. Abuse of Carrier Privileges Must Be Checked. Above all else, we must strive to keep the highways of commerce open to all on equal terms; and to do this it Is necessary t» put a complete stop 1o all rebates. Whether the shipper or the railroad is to blame makes no difference; the rebate must be stopped, the abuses of the private car and pri- vate terminal-track and side-track sys- tems must be stopped, and the legisla- tion of the Fifty-eighth Congress which declares it to be unlawful for any per- Son or corporation to offer, grant, give, solicit, accept or receive any rebate, comcesgion or discrimination in respect of the transportation of any property in interstate or foreign commerce whereby such property shall by any device whatever be transported at a Jess rate than that named in the tariffs published by the carrier must be en- forced. For some time after the enact- ment of the act to regulate commerce it remained a mooted question whether that act conferred upon the Interstate Commerce Commission the power, after it had found a chalienged rate to be unreasonable, what after should, prima facie, be the rea- sonable maximum rate for the trans- portation in dispute. The Supreme Court finally resolved that question in the negative, o that as the law now stands the commiselon simply possess the bare power to denounce a particu- lar rate as um ‘While I am Of the opinion that at present it would be undesirable, if it were mot ticable, finally to clothe the ru- #ion with general authority to rall- with loss to myself and | even though the service be | road rates, I do believe that, as a fair security to shippers, the commission should be vested with the power, where a given rate has been challenged and after full hearing found to be unrea- sonable, to decide, subject to judicial review, what shall be a reasonable rate to take its place; the ruling of the commission to take effect immediately, and to obtain unless and until it is reversed by the court of review. The | Government must in increasing degree ! supervise and regulate the workings of the railways engaged in interstate com- merce; and such increased supervision is the only alternative to an increase of the present evils on the one hand or a still more radical policy on the| other. In my judgment the most im- portant legislative act now needed as regards the regulation of corporations is this act to confer on the Interstate | Commerce Commission the power to revise rates and regulations, the re- | vised rate to a* once go into effect, and to stay in effect unless and until the court of review reverses it. Steamship companies engaged in | interstate cominerce and protected in ! cur coastwise trade should be held to | a strict observance of the interstate | commeérce act %Capilfl/ of Jation to ‘ Be a Wlode! City District of Columbia Legislation Shonld Serve as an Example. In pursuing the set plan to make the city of Washington an example to other ‘Americnn municipalities several points | should be kept in mind by the legisla- |tors. In the first place, the people of | this country should clearly understand that no amount of industrial pros- perity, and above all no leadership in international industrial competition, can in any way atone for the sapping : of the vitality of those who are usuaily | | spoken of as the working classes. T) | farmers, the mechanics, the skilled and unskilled labcrers, the small shop keep- ers, make up the bulk of the population of any country; and upon their well- being, generation after generation, the well-being of the country and the race depends. - Rapid development in wealth and industrial leadership is a good thing, but only if it goes hand in hand with improvement, and not deteriora- tion, physical and moral. The over- crowding of cities and the draining of country districts are unhealthy and even dangerous symptoms in our | medern life. We should not permit | overcrowding in cities. In certain | European cities it is provided by law that the population of towns shall not | be allowed to exceed a very limited | density for a given area, so that the | | increase in density must be continually | pushed back into a broad zone around the center of the town, this zone hav- |ing great avenues or parks within it. | The death-rate statistics show a ter- rible increase in mortality, and espe- cially in infant mortality, in over- crowded tenements. The poorest families in tenement houses live in one room, and it appears that in these one-room tenements the aver- age death-rate for a number of given cities at home and abroad is {about twice what it is in a two-room | tenement, four times what it is in a | ‘ ‘ i [ { | three-room tenement, and eight times what it is in a tenement consisting of four rooms or over. These figures vary | somewhat for different cities, but they | approximate in each city those given | above; and in all cases the increase of mortality, and especially of infant mor- tality, with the decrease in the number of rooms used by the family and with the consequent overcrowding is start- ling. The slum exacts a heavy total of death from those who dwell therein; and this is the case not merely in the great crowded slums of high buildings in New York and Chicago, but in the alley slums of Washington. In Wash- ington people cannot afford to ignore the harm that this causes. No Chris- tian and civilized community can af- | ford to show a happy-go-lucky lack of concern for the youth of to-day; for, i“’ 80, the community will have to pay {a terrible penalty of financial burden and social degradation in the to-mor- row. There should be severe child la- bor and factory inspection laws. It is very desirable that married women should not work in factories. ‘The prime duty of the man is to work, to be the’ breadwinner; the prime duty of the | woman is to be the mother, the house- wife. All questions of tariff and finance sink into utter insignificance when com- pared with the tremendous, the vital importance of trying to shape condi- tions so that these two duties of the man and of the woman can be fulfilled under reasonably favorable circum- stances. If a race does not have plenty of children, or if the children do not grow up, or if when they grow up they are unhealthy in body and stunted or vicious in mind, then that race is de- cadent and no heaping up of wealth, no splendor or~ momentary material prosperity, can avail in any degree as offsets. The Congress has the same power of legislation for the District of Colum- bia which the State Legislatures have for the various States. The problems lincident to our highly complex modern industrial civilization, with its mani- fold and perplexing tendencies both for good and for evil, are far less sharply accentuated in the city of Washington than in most other cities. For this very reason it is easier to deal with the various phases of these problems in Washington, and the District of Co- lumbia government should be a model for the other municipal governments of the nation, in all such matters as su- pervision of the housing of the poor, the creation of small parks in the dis tricts inhabited by the poor, in laws | affecting labor, in laws providing for the taking care of the children, in truant laws, and in providing schools. In the vital matter of taking care of children, much advantage could be gained by a careful study of what has been accomplished in such States as Ilinojs and Colorado by the juvenile courts. The work of the juvenile court is really a work of character building. It is now generally recognized that young boys and young girls who go wrong should not be treated as crim- inals, not even necessarily as needing reformation, but rather as needing to have their characters formed, and for tais end to have them tested and de- veloped by a system of probation. Much admirable work has been done in many of our commonwealths by earnest men and women who have made a special KERE odd: ment. vain endeavor to secure laws permit; ting the condemnation of insanitary dwellings. The local death rates, espe- cially from preventable diseases, are so unduly high as to suggest that the ex- ceptional wholesomeness of Washing- ton’s better sections is offset by bad conditiors in her poorer neighborhoods. A special “Commission on Housing and Health Conditions in the National Cap- ital” would not only bring about the reformation of existing evils, but would also formulate an appropriate building code to protect the city from mammoth brick tenements and other evils which threaten to develop here as they have in otker cities. That the nation’s cap- ital should be made a model for other municipalities is an ideal which ap- Peals to all patriotic citizens every- where, and such a_special commission might map out and organize the city's future development in lines of civic social service, just as Major L'Enfant and the recent Park Commission plan- ned the arrangement of her streets and parks. It Is mortifying to remember that Washington has no compulsory school attendance law and that careful in- quiries indicate the habitual absence from school of some 20 per cent of all chi'dren between the ages of 8 and 14. It must be evident to all who consider the problems of neglected child life or the benefits of compulsory education in other cities that gne of the most urgent needs of the natfonal capital is a law requiring the school attendance of all children, this law to be enforced by attendance agents directed by the Board of Education. Public playgrounds are necessary means for the development of whole- some citizenship in modern cities. It is hmnportant that the work inaugu- rated here through voluntary efforts should be taken up and extended through Congressional appropriation of funds sufficient to equip and maintain numerous convenient small playgrounds upon land which can be secured with- out purchase or rental. It is also de- sirable that small vacant places be pur- chased and reserved as small park playgrounds in densely settled sections of the city which now have no publig, open spaces and are destined soon to bhe built up solidly. All these needs should be met iminediately. To meet them would entail expenses; but a corre- sponding saving could be made by stop- ping the building of streets and leveling of ground for purposes largely specu- lative in outlying parts of the city. Theré are. certain ““offenders, whose criminality takes the shape of bru. tality and cruelty toward the weak, who need a special type of punishment. The wife-beater, for example, is inade- quately punished by imprisonment; for imprisonment may often mean nothing to him, while it may cause hunger and want to the wife and children who have been the victims of his brutality. Probably some form of corporal pun- ishment would be the most adequate way of meeting this kind of crime. s 2 A Sovernment HAssists Oiller of the Sodl Splendid Results Achieved by the Federal Department of Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture has grown into an educational institution with a faculty of 2000 specialists mak- ing research into all the sclences of production. The Congress appropriates, directly and indirectly, $6,000,000 annu- ally to carry on this work. It reaches every State and Territory in the Union and the islands of the sea lately come under our flag. Co-operation i8 had with the State experiment stations, and with many other institutions and in- dividuals, The world is' carefully searched for new varieties of grains, fruits, grasses, vegetables, trees and shrubs, suitable to various localities in our country; and marked benefit to our producers has resulted. The activities of our age in lines of research have reached the tillers of the 80l and inspired them with ambition to know more of the principles that govern the forces of nature with which they have to deal. Nearly half of the people of this country devote their en- ergies to growing things from the soil. Until a recent date little has been done to prepare these millions for their life work. 1n most lines of human activity college trained men are the leaders. The farmer had no opportunity for spe- cial training until the Congress made provision for it forty years ago. Dur- ing these years progress has been made and teachers have been prepared. Over 5000 students are in attndance at our State agricultural colleges. The Fed- eral Government expends $10,000,000 an- nually toward this education and for research in Washington and in the sev- eral States and Territorles, The De- partment of Agriculture has given fa- cilities for post graduate work to 500 young men during the last seven years, preparing them for advanced lines of work in the department and in the State institutions. The facts concerning meteorology and its relations to plant and animal life are being systematically inquired into. ‘Temperature and moisture are controll- ing factors in all agricultural opera- tions. The seasons of the cyclones of the Caribbean Sea and their paths are being forecasted with increasing accu- racy. The cold winds that come from the north are anticipated” and their times and intensity told to farmers, gardeners and fruiterers in all southern localities. We sell $250,000,000 worth of animals and animal products to foreign coun- study of the needs of those classes of | tries every year, in addition to supply- children which furnish the number of juvenile offenders, therefore the and it number of adult oflendeu;b’ e e profif experiences of % ferent States and cities in' these mat- ters, it would be easy to | ting provi tions systematic lmuuulllfl greatest | ing our own people more cheaply and other by their aid, and by |ful manufact abundantly than any nation is able to provide for its people. Success- uring depends primarily on cheap food, which accounts to a con- siderable extent for our growth in direction, The Department of Agricul- inspection of meat health of our people ‘& gives cl.?‘nhhml of InltI:h to di with imported diseases of animals, maintain the excellence of our this :tg::'g:” reserves are for use. Whatever WEDNESDAY, 5 g DECEMBER 7, 1904. President’s Attitude Toward Unions. AGE-WORKERS have an entire right to brganize and by all peaceful and honorable means to endeavor to persudde their fellows to join with them in organizations. have a legal right, which, accordiné to circumstances, may or may not be a moral right, to refuse to work in company with men who decline to join their organizations. They have un- der no circumstances the right to commit violence npon those, whether capitalists or wage-work- ers, who refuse to support their organizations, or who side with those with whom they are at ; for mob rule is intolerable in any form. the Government forming or belonging to unions ; but the Government can neither discriminate for nor discriminate against non-union men who are in its employment, or who seek to be em- ployed under it. Moreover, it is a very grave impropriety for Government employes to band themselves together for the purpose of extorting improperly high salaries from the Govern- Especialy is this true of those within the classified service. — "R e They There is no objection to employes of i | worth of plants and their products every year. Strenuous efforts are be- ing made to import from toreign coun- tries such grains as are suitable to our | varying localities. Seven years ago we bought three-fourths of our rice; by helping the rice growers on the Gulf coast to secure seeds from the Orfent suited to their conditions, and by giv- ing them adequate protection, they now supply home demand and export to the islands of the Caribbean Sea and to other rice growing countries. fromn light rainfall countries to our iands in the West and Southwest that have not grown crops because of light precipitation, resulting in an extensive addition to our cropping area and our home-making territory that cannot be Irrigated. Ten million bushels of first- class macaroni wheat were grown from these experimental importations last year. Fruits suitable to our soils and climates are being imported from all the countries of the Old World—the fig from Turkey, the almond from Spain, the date from Algeria, the mango from India. We are helping our fruit grow- ers to get their crops into European markets by studying methods of pres- ervation through refrigeration, packing and handling, which have been quite successful. We are helping our hop growers by importing varieties that ripen earlier and later than the kinds they have been raising, thereby length- ening the harvesting season. The cot- fon crop of the country is threatened Wwith root rot, the bollworm and the boll weevil. Our pathologists will find im- mune varieties that will resist the root disease and the bollworm can be dealt with, but the boll weevil is a serious menace to the cotton crop. It is a Central American insect that has be- come acclimated in Texas and has done great damage. A scientist of the De- partment of Agriculture has found the weevil at home in Guatemala being kept in check by an ant, which has been brought to our cotton fields for obser- vation. It is hoped that it may serve a goud purpose, The soils of the country are getting attention from the farmer's standpoint, and interesting results are following. ‘We have duplicates of the soils that Brow the wrapper tobacco in Sumatra and the filler tobacco in Cuba. It will be only a question of time when the large amounts paid to these countries will be paid to our own people. The reclamation of alkali land is progress- ing, to glve object lessons to our people in methods by which worthless lands may be made productive. The Insect friends and enemies of the farmer arc getting attention. The ene- my of the San Jose scale was found near the Great Wall of China, and is now cleaning up all our orchards. The fig fertilizing insect imported from Tur- key has helped to establish an indus- try in Califcrria that amounts to from fifty to one hundred tons of dried figs annually, and is extending over the Pacific Coast. A parasitic fly from South Africa is keeping in subjection the black scale, the worst pest of the o:nnge. and lemon industry in Califor- nia. Careful preliminary work is being dcne toward producing our own silk. The mulberry is being distributed in large numbcrs, eggs are being imported and distributed, improved reels were imported from Europe last year, and two expert reelers were brought to ‘Washington to reel the crop of cocoons and teach the art to our own people. The crop reporting system of the De- partment of Agriculture is being brought cloger to accuracy every year. It has 250,000 reporters selected from people in eight vocations in life. It has arrangements with most European countries for interchange of estimates, 80 that our people may know as nearly as possible with what they must com- pete. .fl'r@a{ian ?rajoci.r and Forest Reserve Rapid Progress Toward the Re- clamation of Arid Lands in the West. v During the two and a half years that have elapsed since the passage of the reclamation act rapid progress has been made in the surveys and ex- aminations of the opportunities for reclemation in the thirteen States and three Territories of the arid West. Con- struction has already been begun on the largest and most important of the irrigation works, and plans are being completed for works which will utilize the funds now available. The opera- tions are being carried on by the Re- clamation Service, a corps of engineers selected through cot;geuuve civil ser- vice examinations. is corps includes experienced consulting and construct- ing engincers as well as various experts in mechanical and legal mat:ers, and is composed largely of men who have 8#pent most of their lives in practical affalrs connected with irrigation. The larger problems have been solved and it now remains to execute with care, economy 1nd thoroughness the work which has been laid out. All important details are being carefui.y considered by beards of consulting ergineers, se- lected for their thorough knowls and practical experience. Bach project is taken up on the ground by competent men and viewed from the standpoint of the creation of prosperous homes, and of promptly refunding to the Treasury the cost of construction. The reclamation act has been found to be remarkably complete and effective, and S0 broad in its provisions that a wide range of undertakings has been possible under it. ‘At the same time, economy is naunnteod by the fact that the funds must ultimately be returned to be used over again. It is the cardinal reserve policy rinciple of the for- this administration with the use sources is to Wheat | aud other grains have been imported — to the future welfare of all the Western public land States. They powerfully affect the use and disposal of the public lands. They are of special importance because they preserve the water supply and the supply of timber for domestic purposes, and so promote settlement under the reclamation act. Indeed, they are essential to the welfare of every one of the great interests of the West. Forest reserves are created for two ! principal purposes. The first is to pre- serve the water supply. This is their most important use. The principal users of the water thus preserved are irriga- tion ranchers and settlers, cities and towns to whom their municipal water supplies are of the very first impor- tance, users and furnishers of water power. and the users of water for do- mestic, manufacturing, mining and other purposes. All these are directly dependent upon the forest reserves. The second reason for which forest reserves are created is to preserve the timber supply for various classes of wood users. Among the more impor- tant of these are settlers under the re- clamation act and other acts, for whom a cheap and accessible supply of timber for domestic uses is absolutely neces- Bary; miners and prospectors, who are In serious danger of losing their timber supply by fire or through export by | lumber companies when timber lands adjacent to their mines pass into pri- vate ownership: lumbermen, transpor- tation companies, builders and commer- cial interests in general. Although the wisdom of creating for- est reserves is nearly everywhere hear- tily recognized, yet in a few localities there has been misunderstanding and complaint. The following statement is therefore desirable: The forest reserve policy can be suc- cessful only when it has the full sup- port of the people of the West. It can- not safely and should not in any case be imposed upon them against their will. But neither can we accept the views of those whose only interest in the forest is temporary; who are anx- fous to reap what they have not sown, and then move away, leaving desolation behind them. On the contrary, it is everywhcre and always the interest of the permanent settler and the perma- nent business man, the man with a stake in the country, which must be considered and which must decide. The making of forest reserves within railroad and wagon road land grant limits will hereafter, ad for the past three years, be so managed as to pre- vent the igsue, under the act of June 4, 1897, of base for exchange or lieu se- lection (usually called scrip). In all cases where forest reserves within areas covered by land grants appear to be essential to the prosperity of settlers, miners or others, the Government lands within such proposed forest reserves will, as in the recent past, be with- drawn from sale or entry pending the completion of such negotiations with the owners of the land grants as will prevent the creation of so-called scrip. It was formerly the custom to make forest reserves without first getting definite and detailed information as to the character of land and timber with- in their boundaries. This method of action often resulted in badly chosen boundaries and consequent injustice to settlers and others. Therefore, this ad- od of first withdrawing the land from disposal, followed by careful examira- tion on the ground and the preparation of detailed maps and descriptions, be- fcre any forest reserve is created. I have repeatedly called attention to the confusion which exists in Govern- ment forest matters because the work is scattered among three independent organizations. The United States is the only one of the great nations in which the forest work of the Govern- ment i8 not concentrated under one department, if .consonance with the plainest dictates of good administration and common sense. The present ar- rangement is bad from every point of view. Merely to mention it is to prove that it should be terminated at once. As I have repeatedly recommended, all the forest work of the Government should be concentrated in the Depart- ment of Agriculture, where the larger part of that work is already done, where practically all of the trained for- esters of the Government are employed, where chiefly in Washington there is comprehensive first-hand knowledge of the problems of the reserves acquired on the ground, where all problems re- lating to growth from the soil are al- ready gathered, and where all the sclences auxiliary to forestry are at nd for prompt and effective co-oper- ation. These reasons are decisive in themselves, but it should be added that the. great organizations of citizens whose interests are affected by the for- est reserves, such as the National Live Stock Association, the National Wool Growers' Association, the American Mining Congress, the National Irri- gation Congress and the National Board of Trade, have uniformly, em- phatically and most of them repeat- edly, expressed themselves in favor of placing all Government forest work in the Department of Agriculture because of the peculiar adaptation of that de- partment for it. It is true, also, that the forest services of nearly all the great nations of the world are under the respective departments of agricul- ture. while in but two of the smaller natiors and in one colony are they under the Department of the Interior. This is the result of long and varied experience and it agrees fully with the requirements of good administration in our own case. - The creation of a forest service in the Department of Agriculture will have for its important results: First—A better handling of all forest work, because it will be under a single head, I'M becalun !h: :nma“d indis- pensable experience of the department in all matters pertaining to the forest reserves, to forestry in general, and to other forms of production from the m will be easily and rapidly access- Second—The reserves themselves, be- ing handled from the point of view of the man in the field, instead of the man in the office. will be more easily and more widely useful to the people of :W-tmhlbunthnuh!th- 0. » Third—Within a comparatively short time the W: will become self-sup- continually ministration adopted the present meth- | LT B can and should be offset by returns from the national forests. Under simi- lar circumstances the forest possessions of other great nations form an import- ant source of revenue to their Govern- ments. Every administrative officer concerned is convinced of the necessity for the proposed consolidation of forest work in the Department of Agriculture, and I myself have urged it more than once in former messages. Again I commend it to the early and favorable consid- eration of the Congress. The interests of the nation at large and of the West in parti¢ular have suffered greatly be- cause of the delay. I call the attention of the Congress again to the report and recommenda- tion of the Commission on the Public Lands forwarded by me to the second session of the present Congress. The commission has prosecuted its investi- gations actively during the past season, and a second report is now in an ad- vanced stage of preparation. In connection with the work of the forest reserves I desire again to urge upon the Congress the importance of authorizing the President to set aside certain portions of these reserves or other public lands as game refuges for the preservation of the bison, the | Wapiti and other large beasts once so and on our great plains, and now tend- ing toward extinction. Every support should be give to the authorities of the | Yellowstone Park in their successful | efforts at preserving the large creatures therein; and at very little expense por- tions of the public domain In other regions which are wholly unsuited to agricultural settlement eould be simi- larly utilized. We owe it to future generations to keep alive the noble and beautiful creatures which by their presence add such distinctive character to the American wildernéss. The limits of the Yellowstone Park should be ex- tended southward. The Canyon of the Colcrado should be made a national park; and the national-park system should include the Yosemite and as many as possible of the groves of giant trees in California. Vation Owes WJuch to Jts War Heroes Present Management of the Pen- | ston Bureau Is Entirely Satisfactory. The veterans of the Civil War have | a claim upon the nation, such as no | other body of our citizens possess. The | | Pension Bureau has never in its history | been managed In a more satisfactory | manner than is now the case. Indians ?ro_yrn.u'ny = Goward Civilization Benefited by New Policy That Compels Them to Work for Subsistence. The progress of the Indians toward civilization, though not rapid, is per- haps all that could be hoped for n view of the circumstances. Within the | past year many tribes have shown, in a degree greater than ever before, an appreciation of the necessity of work. This changed attitude is in part due to the policy recently pursued of reduc- | ing the amount of subsistence to th: | Indians, and thus forcing them, through sheer necessity, to work for a livelihood. The policy, though severe, is a useful one, but it is to be exercised only with judgment and with a [ail understanding of the conditions which exist in each community for which it | is intended. On or near the Indian res- ervaticns there is usually very !little demand for labor, and if the Indians are to earn their living and when work cannot be furnished from outside (which is always preferable), then it must be furnished by the Government. Practical instruction of this kind wouid in a few years result in the forming of habits of regular industry, which would render the Indian a producer and would effect a great reduction in the cost of his maintenance. It is commonly declared that the slow advance of the Indians is due to the unsatisfactory character of the men appointed to take immediate charge of them, and tv some extent this is true. ‘While the standard of the employes in the Indian BerTlce shows great im- provement over'that of bygone years, and while actual corruptfon or flagrant dishonesty is now the rare exception, it is nevertheless the fact that the salaries paid Indian agents are not large enough to attract the best men to that field of work. To achieve satis- factory results the official in charge of an Indlan tribe should possess the high qualifications which are required in the manager of a large business, but conly in exceptional cases is it possible to secure men of such a type for these positions. Much better service, how- | ever, might be obtained from those now holding the places were it prac- ticable to get out of them the best | that is in them, and this should be done by bringing them constantly into closer touch with their superior officers. An agent who has been content to draw his salary, giving in return the least possible equivalent in effort and ser- vice, way, by proper treatment, by suggestion and encouragement, or per- sistent urging, be stimulated to greater effort and induced to take a more active personal interest in his work. | Under existing conditions an Indian | agent in the distant West may be wholly out of touch with the office of the Indian Bureau. He may very well feel that no one takes a personal in- terest m him or his efforts. Certain routine duties in the way of reports and accounts are required of him, but there is no one with whom he may intelligently consult on matters vital his work, except after lcng delay. | man would be greatly encour- ' aged and aided by personal contact | with some one whose interest in Indian | affairs and whose authority in the Indian Bureau were greater than his own, and such contact would be certain to a and constantly increase the interest he takes in his work. 9 The distance which separates the | abundant in our woods and mountains | | ing June, 1905 | Public Health and ARE BENEFITED BY ORGANIZATION, SAYS THE MESSAGE, BUT VIOLENCE AND MOB RULE CANNOT BE TOLERATED ‘Washington and its agents in the fleld; and with the co-operation of its branches thus secured the Indian Bu- reau would, in measure fuller than ever before, lift up the savage toward that self-help and self-reliance which con- stitute the man. In 1907 there will be held at Hampton Roads the tricentennial celebration of the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, with which the history of what has now become the United States really begins. I commend this to your favor- able consideration. It is an event of prime historic significance, in which all the pecple of the United States should feel, and should show, great and gen- eral interest. POSTAL SERVICE. Increased Effi—ciency Shown in This Branch. In the Postoffice Department the ser- vice has increased in efficiency, and conditions as to revenue and expendi- ture continue satisfactory. The in- crease of revenue during the year was $9,358,181 10, or 6.9 per cent, the total | receipts amounting to $143,382,624 34, 0, The expenditures were $152,362,116 7 |an Increase of about 9 per cent o the previous year, being thus 389 | 492 36 In excess of the current revenue. | Included in these expenditures was a total appropriation of $12,956,637 35 for the continuation and extension of the jrural free-delivery service, which was an Increase of $4,902,237 35 over the amount expended for this purpose in the preceding fiscal year. Large as this expenditure has been the beneficent | results attained in extending the free distribution of mails to the residents of rural districts have justified the wis- | dom of the outlay. Statistics brought ! down to the Ist of October, 1904, show that on that date there were 27,138 | rural routes established, serving ap- | Proximately 12,000,000 pecple in rural districts remote from postoffices, ard that there were pending at that time 3359 petitions for the establishment of | new rural routes. Unquestionably some | part of the general increase in receipts is due to the increased postal faeilities which the rural service has afforded. The revenues have also been aided greatly by amendments in the classi- | fication of mail matter, and the cur- tailment of abuses of the second-class mailing privilege. The average in- crease in the volume of mail matter for the period beginning with 1902 and end- (that portion for 1905 being estimated). is 40.47 per cent, as compared with 25.46 per cent for the period immediately preceding, and 15.92 for the four-year period immediately preceding that. Our consular system needs improve- ment. Salaries should be substituted for fees, and the proper classification, grading and transfer of consular offi- cers should be provided. I am not pre- pared to say that a competitve system of examinations for appointment would work well, but by law it should be pro- vided that Consuls should be familiar, according te places for which they apply, with the French, German or Spanish languages, and should possess acquaintance with the resources of the United States. The collection of objects of art con- templated in section 5586 of the Revised Statutes should be designated and es- tablished as a National Gallery of Art: and the Smithsonian Institution should be authorized to accept any additions to said collection that may be received by gift, bequest or devise. It is desirable to enact a proper na- tional quarantine law. It is most unde- sirable that a State should on its own initiative enforce quarantine regula- tions which aré in effect a restriction upon interstate and international com- merce. The question should properly be assumed by the Government alone. The surgeon general of the National Marine Hospital Service has repeatedly and convincing- ly set forth the need for such legisla- tion. I call your attention to the great ex- travagance in printing and binding Government publications, and especial- Iy to the fact that altogether too many of these publications are printed. There is a constant tendency to increase their number and their volume. It is an understatement to say that no appre- clable harm would be caused by, and substantlal benefit would accrue from, decreasing the amount of printing now done by at least one-half. Probably the great majority of the Government re- ports. and the like now printed are never read at all, and furthermore the printing of much of the material con- tained in many of the remaining ones serves no useful purpose whatever. CURRENCY SYSTEM. Houses of Congress Charged With Its Betterment. The attention of the Congress should be especially given to the currency question, and in the two houses the standing committees on the matter charged with the duty should take up the matter aof our currency and See whether it is not possible to secure an agree- ment in the business world for better- ing the system: the committees should consider the question of the retirement of the greenbacks and the problem of securing in our currency such elasticity as is consistent with safety. Every silver dollar should be made by law redeemable in gold at the option of the holder. W)erchant W)arine and Our Ylarkets President Recommends Legisla- tion for the Encouragement f of Shipping. 1 especially commend to your imme= diate attention the encouragement of our merchant marire by appropriate legislation.