The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-04
The PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.

den Theodore Roosevelfs first message to his fellow
countrymen in congress and in the nation. It Is not
the message of self-seeng, tme-servng politician.
Rather is it the frank manly declaration of citizen
who loves his country and seeks to give that country
all that is best in him.
There is a breezy robustness about the message that
is strongly suggestive of the strenuous rough rider; yet
the student is evident the student who not only dreams
noble things but does them The practicabity of the
many plans proposed by the president for the nations
betterment is as plain the English in which they
are written He goes directly to his Mt and holds 1t
up that all may
Nothing in that message can, by any contortion,
be construed the work Of a partisan. No man can
say OF Roosevelt that he has avoided any question
which might be answered adversely to the party that
made him. He is vigorous on the matter OF trusts
he anarchists he Is as firm IN his advocacy OF To-
cal self-government for The Philippines for far
reaching law to regulate interstate and Sc
cure to the small shipper the benefits that en-
joyed by the larger.
From beginning to end of the message faint of
sectionasm may be found President Roosevelt shows
In the cearest possible manner that he Is the chief
ecutive Of the whole people, of the west well the
cas-; Of the south well the north He is for the
uplifting and uDbudire Of every section, for the bet
tenent of every citizen IF, however it is possible to
say that one part Of the land is favored than
other, we must say the west IS that portion
Had President Roosevelt been born and reared
amid the mountains of TIE he could have mani
tested veer interest in its welfare. After speaking
of the urgent necessity for great forest reserves in the
vest he takes up the allied question of irrigation, and
presents his ideas IN uncertain language 1t is
right for the national government to make the
and rivers Of the arid region useful by engineering
works for water storage to make useful the rivers
and harbors of the humid region by engineering works
OF another kind"
And little later be makes declaration that will
be applauded by every citizen in every state within
whose borders lie great tracts arid territory He says
"The government should construct and maintain these
reservoirs as it does other public works" The good
sense of the suggestion is readily manifest all west
erners The president points out that the money in
vested in reservoirs need not be forever lost to the
public treasury Is the with the appropriations
carried in the rivers and harbors bills.
Settlers on the land so reclaimed could and would
pay back to the government great part If not all, OF
the money so expended It would be a gradual process
this repayment by the purchase of reclaimed land but
1t would be steady and The president very Justly
points out that the entire country viii be enriched by
the work proposed An increased demand would be
built up for eastern manufactures, and the homemak
ers Of the west would open practically new market
for them.
No westerner viii question the soundness of the
Presidents doctrine the regulation of Indian af
fairs. They must applaud his firm stand against fur
Their leasing of Indian lands and in favor of individual
allotments to the Indians He would make useful
working citizens of them, a consummation that can
never be accomplished long existing conditions
are permitted to continue IT President ROoseVelts
plain wishes are carried out tie opening of the Uintah
reservation in Utah to settlement is a matter of the
near future.
Another question in which the west is vitality in
terested is handled by the president in manner to
suit the most captOus This is the reenacment of the
Geary act for the exclusion of Chinese coolies With
characteristic expiciness be says Il regard 1t
essary to re-enact Immediately the law excluding
Chinese sborers and to strengthen 1t wherever neces
In order to make its enforcement entirely efec
tive" That should be and Is entirely satisfactory to
western and women.
The one point in the message, aside from the firm
stand in favor of maintaining the present gold stand
ard that may be construed nimcai to the west is
the suggestion of extremely liberal tariff arrangements
with Cuba This Is indication that the president is
IN favor of admitting Cuban sugar free of duty
which, once it becomes an accomplished fact, would
be most serious menace TO the beet sugar industry
Other states having beet sugar factories would, per-
haps be injured than Utah. by reason Of the pro-
hbve freight rates from both east and west by which
this state Is protected
Of the topics Of general interest touched on in the
message one that comes to the people is the
subject of trusts. President Roosevelt realizes the
gravity Of the situation and cOnfesses uncertainty
the best method of doing away with evils caused
by great combinations of capital He suggests public
ity as q cure. The same plan was advocated by the
president when he governor of New York. He
would have congress pass a law giving a government
the right to examine the books of the giant
trusts at intervals and publish the results.
National banks are now subjected TO the same
supervision and President Roosevelt can see no reason
why the trusts should make successful objection to It.
He wants this commission TO find if the property
Of the trusts IS equal 20 the par value Of their capital
stock. He does not OBJECT to a corporation paying
dividend the legitimate capitalization but he does
object to the process Of watering stock and thea
squeezing the public for funds sufficient to pay divi-
dends on the OveT-capitalzaton.
Interstate commerce Is another subject in which
al the people Interested because it Is the people,
- the end who pay the freight President Roosevelt
Suggests that the present laws be amended so as to
give the commission power to compel the railroads to
give equitable rates. Today the large shipper by 1e.
hates and other tricks IS given rates which make t
impossible for the small shipper to compete with
him.
The presidents statement that promotions in the
army viii hereafter be governed solely by fitness viii
not be satisfactory the politicians lie goes farther
in the declaration and emphatic than any presi
dent has ever gone Not only win politics cut no figure
in promotions but IN where officer has started
political movement in his own behalf his activity viii