US Presidency
1909

Root before andafter his noteworthy visit to that continent, and I sincerely hope thatCongress may be induced to see the wisdom of a tentative effort to establishsuch lines by the use of mail subsidies. The importance of the part which the Departments of Agriculture andof Commerce and Labor may play in ridding the markets of Europe of prohibitionsand discriminations against the importation of our products is fully understood, and it is hoped that the use of the maximum and minimum feature of ourtariff law to be soon passed will be effective to remove many of thoserestrictions. The Panama Canal will have a most important bearing upon the trade betweenthe eastern and far western sections of our country, and will greatly increasethe facilities for transportation between the eastern and the western seaboard, and may possibly revolutionize the transcontinental rates with respectto bulky merchandise.