WORK OF YEAR
REVIEWED BY
THE PRESIDENT
Affairs of State Are Dealt With
at Length in Annual
Message.
BUT LITTLE ABOUT TARIFF
President Discusses Work of
Tariff Board—Ship Sub-
sidy Is Urged.
WORK ON PANAMA CANAL
Need of Legislation Anticipating Com-
pletion of the Ditch Is Pointed
Out—Change in Postal Rates—
Parcels Post and Postal
Savings—Economy
Urged.
Washington, Dec. 6.—President
Taft's annual message (0 congress
contained 40,000 words, and is said to
be the longest document
ever written. In it he
work of each of the administrative
departments beginning with the
department.
space to the satisfactory settlement
of the fisheries dispute with England
through the medium of the
Tribunal, and recounts both
tory of the fisheries dispute and
establishment of the tribunal.
reviews the
state
hig
Ais
the
the
In connection with the state depart
ment he tells of the important
tical happenings of the past twelve
months throughout the entire world,
and the action of this country in con-
nection with them
Tariff Negotiations.
poli-
Referring to the negotiation of new
tariff agreements President Taft
says
“The new
respecting
mum tariffs
which provisions
1
pril
tariff law, in Section 2,
maximum and mini
the United States,
came into effect on
us re
the
of
10, imposed upon
sponsibility of determining prior to
that date whether any undue discrim
ination existed against the United
States and its products in aay coun-
try of the world
tained commercial rel
A
with whi we sus
countries in-
undue discrimina
can commerce
These discriminations
by
1910,
were removed negotiation Prior
to April 1, when maximum
tariff was to come into operation
respect to importations from all those
countries in whose favor no proclama-
tion applying minimum tariff
should be issued by the president, one
hundred and thirty-four such
mations were issued.
“This series of proclamations em
braced the entire commercial world
and hence the minimum tariff of the
United States has been given univer-
sal application, thus testifying to the
sstisfactory character of our
relations with foreign countries
“Marked advantages to the com
merce of the United States were ob
tained through these tariff settle
ments.
“The policy of broader and
trade relations with the Dominion of
Canada which was Initiated in the ad-
justment of the maximum and mini
mum provisions of the tariff act
August, 1808, has proved mutually
beneficial.
for the readjustment of the commer.
cial relations of the two countries so
that their commerce may follow the
channels natural to contiguous coun-
tries and be commensurate with the
steady expansion of trade and indus
try on both sides of the boundary
line.”
the
with
the
procia
trade
Ship Subsidy.
The president urges such action as
he believes will increase American
trade abroad, and says:
“Another instrumentality indispen-
sable to the unhamapered and natural
development of American commerce is
merchant marine. All maritime and
commercial nations recognize the im-
portance of this factor. The greatest
commercial nations, our competitors,
jealously foster their merchant ma.
rine. Perhaps nowhere is the need
for rapid and direct mall, passenger
and freight communication quite so
urgent as between the United States
and Latin America. We can secure
in no other quarter of the world such
immediate benefits in friendship and
commerce as would flow from the es
tablishment of direct lines of com.
munication with the countries of
Latin America adequate to meet the
requirements of a rapidly increasing
appreciation of the reciprocal depen:
dence of the countries of the western
hemisphere upon each other's prod
ucts, sympathies and assistance.
“1 alluded to this most important
subject in my last annual message; it
has often been before you and I need
pot recapitulate the reasons for lis
recommendation. Unless prompt ac-
, tion be taken the completion of the
Panama canal will find this the only
great commercial nation unable to
avall in international maritime busi
ness of this great contribution to the
means of the world's commercial in-
tercourse.”
Governmental Expense.
To no one subject does he devote
more space than to the expense of
conducting the various government
departments and the urgent need for
economy, and in this connection he
BAYS:
“Every effort has
each
been made by
department chief to reduce the
estimated cost of his department for
the ensuing fiscal year ending June
30, 1912. 1 say this in order that con-
gress may understand that these esti
mates thus made present the smallest
sum which will maintain the depart
ments, bureaus and offices of the gov
ernment and meet its other
tions under existing law, and that a
cut of estimates would result
in embarrassing the executive branch
of the government in the performance
of its duties. This remark does not
apply to the river and harbor esti
mates, except to those for expenses of
maintenance and the meeting of
gations under authorized contracts,
nor does it apply to the public build
ing bill the building
gram.
gress
of the
obliga
these
obli
nor to
Of as to
could withhold
navy nro
course, these con
any part or all
estimates for them without in
terfering with the discharge of the or
dinary obligations of
of its departments,
fices
“The final
ending
been
these functior
bureaus and
estimates for
30,
the
of this year,
June
sent to
ber 29
expenses of the ge
public bulidings,
and the y 1
amount to $6
is $52,964 887.38 less than
for
ernment, ir
rivers
harbors, utiding pro
30,494,013.12. 1
the ap
propri
ing June 30
less than the
ations the fiscal
i811. It
total
year 1911, and
ov treasury for
“These flugres do not
Panama cs
1
respect to
:
which ought
to be, and is,
as can be
fectively expended In ore
to spend as much
¥
economically and
plete the canal as
therefore
promi tly
ble, and the ordinary mo
tive for cutting down expense of
the gov
propriations for
ernment does not apply to ag
this purpose
“Against the
$840 454 012.12
celipts for next
estimates of expendi
, We have
$6880 04
estims
IE & pProbal
t8 over ordinary
£50 000.000
r be paid fn b
ficit for
O08 O00
The Tarif.
fent dex
the party
for t
if thal cus
of home
the
industries, the
protection to be the di
the cost
article
producing it
¥
tween of produc
ported abroad and
at home
that
night give a reasonable profit to
home producer The basis for
BU addition to
that in re
number of the sched
y
declared
uies
measure was not follow
t yer difference retained or
Aa high
tion In favor of certain industries and
manufactures. Little, if any, of
criticiam of the tariff has heen direct
ed against the principle
main body of
based on the
the
protective
itt the
but th
has been
the
criticism
protection was not honestly
cerely adhered to.”
The Tariff Board.
The president refers to the appoint
and sin
gate the cost of production of various
articles Includefl In the schedules of
the tariff, and says:
“The tariff board thus appointed
and authorized has been diligent in
preparing itself for the necessary in
vestigations. The hope of those who
have advocated the use of this board
for tariff purposes is that the question
of the rate of a duty imposed shall
become more of a business question
and less of a political question, to be
ascertained by experts of long train.
ing and accurate knowledge. The
halt in business and the shock to busi
ness, due to the announcement that a
new tariff bill is to be prepared and
put in operation will be avoided by
treating the schedules one by one as
occasion shall arise for a change in
the rates of each, and only after a re
port upon the schedule by the tariff
board competent to make such report
It ts not likely that the board will be
able to make a report during the pres.
ent session of congress on any of the
gchedulen, because a proper examina.
tion involves an enormous amount of
detail and a great deal of care; but |
hope to be able at the opening of the
new congress, or at least during the
session of that congress, to bring to
{ts attention the facts In regard to
those schedules in the present tariff
that may prove to need athendment.”
Our island Possessions.
“During the last summer, at my
request, the secretary of war visited
the Philippine islands and has de
scribed his trip in the report. He
found the islands in a state of tran-
quillity and growing prosperity, due
largely to the change in the tariff
laws, which has opened the markets
of America to the products of the
Philippines, and has opened the Phil
ippine markets to American manu-
actures,
“The year has been one of prosper
ity and progress in Porto Rico.
Panama Canal,
instance of Colonel
army engineer officer in
charge of the work on the Panama
canal, 1 have just made a visit to
the Isthmus to inspect the work done
and to consult with him on the
ground as to certain problems which
are likely to arise in the near fu
ture. The progress of the work is
nost satisfactory. If no unexpected
obstacle presents Itself, the
will completed well within
tix fixed by Colonel Goethals,
i January 1, 1810, and within
cost, $175,000,000.
questions arising for pres
solution is decision whether
fortified i
“At the
als, the
Goeth-
be the
Lo-
the
"Among
the
have
that
the canal shall be
already stated to the congress
ation and |
and ask
I strongly ¥avor fortific
reiterate tuis
sideration f th BUD 0d
be
board
already
competent
whicl
#8 lor
¢ 1
canal
ired
vestment
BOIalY
his canal was }
Department of Justice.
affdira of the
presiden
3
pr (he
the
#
sheer of cases
foray . and the nun
department, and th it
setivity of the govern
ing that statute
message
in enfor«
last year I
CONnETeRs
f anacting
3p ENRCLUINS
Ee cial
“in a
wight to the attention of
the propriety and wisdom
a general law provie for the in
har
corporation of other
indu and
companies engaged in gtate com
and |
that
tierce renew recommen
aif *
behalf
the
United
1581
iti
The need in
States
Crying
of cheapening the cost
3 judicial proced-
ure and final judgment is
pointed out and action looking to cor
rection of these evils is urged
The recommends an In
crease galaries of federal
of
sirpsnilifole
Ritnpliiiyis
expediting
president
in the
judges
Postal Savings Banks.
fta last session congress made
p rovision for the establishment of
savings banks by the de
partment of this government by which
under general control of trustees, con
sisting of the postmaster general, the
gocretary of the treasury and the at
torney general, the' system could be
begun in a few cities and towns, and
enlarged to cover within its opera
tions as many cities and towne and as
large & part of the country as seemed
wise. The initiation and establish.
ment of such a system has required a
great deal of study on the part of
the experts in the postoffice and treas.
ury departments, but a system has
now been devised which is believed to
be more economical and simpler in its
operation than any similar system
abroad. Arrangements have been per
fected so that savings banks will be
opened in some cities and towns on
the 1st of January, and there will be a
gradual extension of the benefits of
the plan to the rest of the country.”
“It is gratifying,” says the president,
“that the reduction in the postal
deficit has been accomplished without
any curtailment of postal facilities.
On the contrary, the service has been
greatly extended during the year in
all its branches”
Second-Class Mail,
“In my last annual message I in
vited the attention of congrdss to the
inadequacy of the postal rate imposed
upon second-class mail matter in so
far as that includes magazines, and
showed by figures prepared by experts
of the postofice department that the
“At
postoffice
to the pagazines, costing many mil
lions in excess of the compensation
paid. An answer was attempted to
this by the representatives of the
magazines, and a reply was filed to
this answer by the postoffice depart
ment. The utter inadequacy of the
answer, considered in the light of the
reply of the postoffice department, I
think must must appeal to any fair-
minded person. Whether the answer
was all that could be said In behalf of
the magazines is another question. I
agree that the question is one of fact;
but I insist that if the fact is as the
experts of the postofiice department
ghow, that we are furnishing to the
owners of magazines a service worth
millions more than they pay for it,
then justice requires that the rate
should be increased. The increase In
the receipts of the department result
ing from this change may be devoted
to increasing the usefulness of the de
partment in establishing a parcels
post and in reducing the cost of first
class postage to one cent. It has been
sald by the postmaster general that a
fair adjustment might be made under
which the advertising part of the
¥
iid
that
matter This wo
eful magazines
circulated at a profit, and
the
the reading re
many us are
not would
shut je
hu
by rate,
“With respect to the parcels post, |
them out from ise of tl
a prohibitory
adoption
on all rn
11 pounds
made the limit of carriage
Abolish Navy Yards.
is alten
ropriations for t!
uded in
of the
and inc
submitted
year merely
building
few i
neeqeq
I earnestly hope
will be adopted
The secretary of
tha
examination
has studied
with reference
personal
and
NAYY yards
navy yard, tlie
td
float
necessities of our
considerably than half th
f that of the
lens
size © British navy,
than double the
there are several of these
mn
equipped
which,
number, and
shiprards expensively
modern machinery,
tigation
after
the secretary of the navy
useless for
to be entirely
He asks authority to aban
don certain of them and to move thelr
k other places, where It
can be made of '
vr
try 1
use
he completes success of ©
n arctic exploration should not
unnoticed The
Peary
April §,
examination
achievement of
north
tica
scientists, has
pole 19089,
i
Conservation,
The subject of the conservation
the public has com:
1 v
5 doma
the
years
need
attention of people withis
two three
or
for
There is
the
no radical re
’
methods of disposing of
iaws have worked weil
has encour
the successful
semiarid regions
“Nothing can be more important in
matter of conservation than
the
the
destruction of
that first
ruthless
older states
probably
forests in
halt in the waste of our resources
are lands which are not properly for
est, and which ought to be subject fo
homestead entry. This has caused
some local irritation We are care
fully eliminating such lands from for
ast reserves or where their elimina
tion is not practical listing them for
entry under the forest homestead act
“Congress ought to trust the execu.
tive to use the power of reservation
only with respect to land most valu
able for forest purposes During the
present administration, 62.250,000
acres of land largely non-timbered,
have beén excluded from forest re
serves, and 3.5600,000 acres of land
principally valued for forest purposes
have been included in forest reserves,
making a reduction In forest reserves
of nontimbered land amounting to
2,760,000 acres.”
Coal Lands.
“The next subject, and one most im:
portant for your consideration, is the
disposition of the coal lands in the
United States and Alaska. At the be
ginning of this administration there
were withdrawn from entry for pur
poses of classification 17,867,000 acres
Since that time there have been with
drawn by my order from entry for
classification 78,977,746 acres, making
a total withdrawal of 96.844,745 acres.
Meantime of the acres thus with
drawn 1,061,888 have been classified
and found not to contain coal and
have been restored to agricultural en.
classified as coal lands; while 7,993,238
acres remain withdrawn from entry
and await classification. In addition
487,000 acres have been classified as
con! lands without prior withdrawal,
thus increasing the classified coal
lands to 10,429,372 acres,
“Under the laws providing for the
disposal of coal lands in the United
States, the minimum price at which
lands are permitted to be sold is $10
an acre; but the secretary of the in
terior has the power to fix 4 maximum
price and to sell at that price.
“As one-third of all the coal supply
is held by the govermuent, it seems
wise that it should retain such con
trol over the mining and the sale as
the relation of lessor to lessee fur
nishes,
“The secretary of the interior thinks
there are difficulties in the way ol
leasing public coal lands, which
jections he has set forth in his re
port, the force of which 1 freely con
cede I entirely approve his stating
at length in his report of the
tions in order that whole subject
may be presented to congress, but
after a full consideration, for the rea
sons 1 given
leasing system and
ob
Oh je
the
have above, 1 favor a
recommegd it”
Water Power Sites.
to March 4,
the
reclamation
“Prior
been, on
1909
recommendation of
service, withdrawn fr
agricultural entry, because they
regarded as
which ought
useful for power sites
not to be disposed of as
lands, t
4,000,000 ac
were
agricultural racts amounting
The
made
to about res. wi
hastily and In
reat deal of land
eful for power sites. ”
to inciude the
rivers in 9 states.
3,470,442 acres have
for settlement of
000 because
iin power
withidrawai
the
to elect a
moense
have relat
Pensions.
uniform
the
those
policy of the gov
of granting
galiant
fought to
t
t
natier
and devoleg
gave the life of
the nation in
great civil war, f
bas always been of
most liberal character Those
are now passing
The best obtainable official
show that they are dying at the rate
of something over three
month, snd, in of their advance
ing years, this rate must inevitably in
proportion, rapidly increase. To
man who risked everything on
field of battle to save the nation in
the hour of its direst need we owe a
debt which has not been and should
not be computed in a begrudging
parsimonious spirit.”
Bureau of Corporations.
Referring to the report of the com
missioner of corporations, the presi
dent says:
“The commissioner finds a condl
tion in the ownership of the standing
timber of the United States other
than the government timber that calls
for serious attention. The direct in
vestigation made by the commissioner
covered an area which contains 80
per cent. of the privatelyowned tim.
ber of the country.
“His report shows that one half of
the timber in this area is owned by
200 individuals and corporations;
that 14 per cent. is owned by these
corporations, and that there is very
extensive Interownership of stock,
as well as other circumstances, all
pointing to friendly relations among
those who own a majority of this tim.
ber, a relationship which might lead
to a combination for the maintenance
of a price that would be very detri.
mental to the public interest, and
would create the necessity of remov.
ing all tariff obstacles to the free ime
portations of lumber from other coun-
rapidly away
view
or
Bureau of Labor.
“I'he commissioner of labor has been
actively engaged in composing the dif
ferences between employers and em-
ployees engaged In Interstate trans
portation, under the Erdman act, joint
ly with the chairman of the interstats
commerce commission,
“] cannot speak in too high terms of
the success of the two officers in con
ciliation and settlement of controver-
sles which, but for their interposition,
would have resulted disastrously to all
interests
Civil Service Commission,
“The civil
continued
commission has
duties during the
for the mainte
provisions of civil
was never greater than to
the pol
and thelr
t¢ or depu
be within the
classified service wut In my judg
publie opinion advanced to
the point
service
its useful
The necessity
of the
law
Officer
of the adminis
immediate persona
year
nance
service
the
day.
icy
respongible for
tration
assists
ties, should not include
ment
1
t a bill
ring effi-
r all purely administrative
the profound con
yor
y tA
pPprovigiug
ciency f«
viction that
cause of efficie
could
executis
0 in
ocal offices
ment
Economy and Effic
nerease in the
wwernment
wn 44
we
i efficiency
stock
to the restrainin
Interstate Con
wer
ilroads limit
same
game places,
Press the consideration of
upon congress at
session
merece commis
appropriations
se of enabling it to enter
upon a valuation of ail railroads. This
has always within the jurisdic
tion of the commission, but the requl
funds have been wanting. Stati
ties to the value of each railroad would
for many espe.
ally if we ultimately enact an) me
itations upon the power of the inter
railroads to issue stocks and
hope we may
“For protection of our own
people and the preservation of our
credit In foreign trade, 1 urge upom
congress the immediate enactment of
a law under which one who, in good
faith. advances money or credit upon
a bill of lading issued by a common
carrier upon sn Interstate or foreiga’
shipment can bold the carrier liable
for the value of the moods described
in the bill at the valuation specified
in the bill, at least to the extent of the'
advances made in rellance upon it.
“1 further recommend that a punish.
ment of fine and imprisonment be im-
posed upon railroad agents and =hip-
pers for fraud or misrepresentation in
connection with the issue of bills of
lading issued upon interstate and fore
elgn shipments,
“Bxoept as above, I do not recom
mend any amendment to the interstate
commerce law as it stands. 1 do not
now recommend any amendment to.
the anti-trust law, In other words, it
geems to me that the existing legisla.
tion with reference to the regulation
of corporations and the restraint of
their business has reached a point
where we can stop for a while and wit.
ness the effect of the vigorous execu
tion of the laws of the statute books
in restraining the abuses which cer’
tainly exist and which roused the
demand reform.”
The interstate ©
mmenace
been
ite
be valuable purposes,
sini
Ci
tate
onde, as |
the