The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1901-12-06

ing the great business corporations anS
our merchant marine.
With the sole exception Of the farming
interest no one matter Is Of such vita
moment TO our whole people as the wei
fare OF the wage-worker. If the farmer
and the wage-worker are well of. 1t Il
absolutely certain that all others Will bt
well OF too. Ii is, therefore, a matter
for hearty congratulation that. on ths
whole, wages are higher today In ths
United States than ever before in oul
history and far higher than in any othei
country. The standard Of living Is also
higher than ever before. Every effort Of
legislator and administrator should b.
benz to secure the permanency of this
condition Of things and its improvement
wherever possible.i
Chinese Exclusi0n.
Not only must our labor be protected
by the tariff, but 1t should also be pro.
tected, so far as Il is possible, from the
presence In this country Of any laborerf
brought over by contract. or Of those who
coming freely, yet represent a standard
of living so depressed that they can un.
dersell our men in the labor market and
drag them to lower level. / regard It as
necessary with this end In view, to re-
enact Immediately the law excluding Chi
nese laborers. and to strengthen It wher.
ever necessary In order to make Its en-.
forcement entirely effective.
Trades Unions.
The most vital problem with which this
country. and for that matter the whole
civilized world. has to deal, Is the prob.
lem which has for one side the better
ment OF social conditions, moral and phy-
steal. in large cities. and for another side
~ eRrO OWk -. IL, 49, - - 49,
reaching question which We group togeth-
er when we speak OF labor The chief
factor in the success of each man-wage-
worker. farmer and capitalist alike-mnsi
ever be the sum total of his own in.
dividual qualities and abilities. Second
only to this comes the power of act
ing In combination or ASSOCIATION with
Others. Very great good has been and
will be accomplished by associations or
unions of wage workers. when managed
with forethought and , when they com
hine inslstence upon their own rights with
law-abiding respect for the rights of 9TH
ers.
Better Immigration Laws Needed,
Our present immigration laws are un-
satisfactory. We need every honest anc
efficient immigrant fitted to become an
American citizen. every immigrant who
SNhANS ANAS W ohdJt VIM HtAG q
strong body, a stout heart. a good head.
and resolute purpose to do his duty well
in every way, and to bring up his chill
dren as law-abiding and God-fear.ng
members OF the community. But there
should be a comprehensive law enacted
with the object of working a three-fo
Improvement, over our present system.
First, we should aim to exclude absolute
y not only all persons who are known to
be believers In anarchistic principles or
members OF anarchistic societies, but also
all persons who are of low moral ten
dency or OF unsavory reputation. This
means that we should require a more thor
ough system of inspection abroad and a
more rigid system of examination at our
immigration ports, the former being es-
pecially necessary.
The second object OF a proper immigra-
tlon law ought to be to secure, by a care
full and not merely perfunctory educa
tional test, some intelligent capacity to
appreciate American institutions and act
sanely as American citizens. This would
not keep out all anarchists. for many OF
them belong to the intelligent criminal
class. But 1t would do what Is also In
point. that is, tend to decrease the sum
Of Ignorance, so potent in producing the
envy, suspicion malignant passion ana
hatred Of order, out of which anarchistic
sentiment inevitably springs. Finally, all
persons should be excluded who are below
1 certain standard of economic fitness 10
enter our industrial field as competitors
with American labor
Both the educational and economic tests
In wise immigration law should be de-
signed to protect and elevate the general
body, polite and social. very close su-
pervision should be exercised over the
steamship companies. which mainly bring
over the Immigrants. and they should be
he'd to a strict accountability for any
infraction of the law.
Tariff Revision Hurtful.
There is general acquescence In our
prest Mt tariff system as a National policy.
The first requisite to our prosperity Is the
continuity and stability Of this economic
policy. Nothing could be more unwise
than TO disturb the business interests OF
the country by any general tariff change
at this time
Reciprocity must be treated as the hand
maiden Of protection. Our first duty Is
to see that the protection granted by the
tariff in every case where II Is needed is
maintained, and that reciprocity be sought
for so far as II can safely be done with
out injury to our home Industries.
ask the attention of the Senate to
the reciprocity treaties laid before 1t by
NY predecessor
OA NuG MCEGnAnL MAELnes
The condition Of the American mer-
chant marine is such as to call for imme-
diate remedial action by the Congress 1t
is discreditable to us as Nation that
aur merchant marine should be utterly
Insignificant in comparison to that of
other nations which we overtop In other
forms of business. We should not longer
submit to conditions under which only a
trifinR portion Of our great commerce is
carried in our own ships.
Financial Matters.
The act of March a. 1900, intended un-
equivocally to establish gold as the stand
lrd money and TO maintain at parity
herewith all form OF the money medium
In use with US. has been shown to be
timely and judlclous. The price of our
Government bonds in the worlds mar
ket. when compared with the price of
similar obligations issued by other ma
tions, is fiattering tribute to our public
credit. This condition 1t Is evidently de-
sirable to maintaiR.
In many respects the National banking
law furnishes sufficient liberty for the
proper exercise OF the banking function:
but there seems to be need of better
safeguards against the deranging influence
IF cohnne rcial crises and financial panics
Moreover, the currency OF the country
should be made responsive to the de-
nands OF our domestic trade and COM
merce.
surplus in the Treasury.
The collections from duties on Imports
and internal taxes continue to exceed the
ordinary expenditures OF the Government
thanks mainly to the reduced Army ex-
)enditures. The utmost care should be
AIKEN not to reduce the revenues so that
there will be any possibility of a deficit;
but, after providing against any such con-
,ingency. means should be adopted which
viii bring the revenues more nearly with
IN the limit ofsour actual needs. In his
report to the Congress the Secretary OF the
Treasury considers all these questions at
length, and l ask your attention to the
report and recommendations.
| call especial attention to the need Of
strict economy in expenditures. The fact
that our National needs forbid US TO be
nlggardly In providing whatever Is actual
y necessary to our well-being should
make US doubly careful to husband our
National resources as each OF US husbands
ais private resources, by scrupulous avoid
ance OF anything IKE wasteful or reck-
less expenditure.
Interstate Commerce Law.
In lss7 a measure was enacted for the
regulation Of Interstate railways, COM
monty known as the interstate commerce