The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1901-12-05
for the states to sufficiently deal with
this question.
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE..

for the states to suniciently deal wit
this question.
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE.
The President recommends the crea
| tion of a cabinet officer to be known a
| Secretary of Commerce and Industries
| whose province shall be to deal wit
commerce in its broadest sense, includ
ing among many other things whateye
concerns labor and all matters affectin
the great business corporations and ou
merchant marine. He also recommend
the reenactment of the Chinese exclu
ever particular is necessary to make it
enforcement entirely effective. Law
should also be passed which will do ava.
with the competition of convict labor IL
the open market. Our present immigra
tion laws are declared unsatisfactory
Intelligence should be a requisite FOL
admission to this country, as well a.
sound bodily health and ability to carr
a good living. Both the educational and
economic tests in a wise immigration Law
should be designed to protect and elevate
the general body polite and social.
very close supervision should be exer-
cised over the steamship companies
which mainly bring over the immigrants
and they should be held to a strict ac-
countability for any infraction of the law
NO GENERAL TARIFF REVISION.
There is general acQuiescence in ouI
present tariff system as a national policy
The first requisite to our prosperity is
the continuity and stability of this eco-
nomic policy. Nothing could be more un-
wise than to disturb the business inter-
ests of the country by any general tariff
change at this time. Doubt, apprehension
x>s lk go
wish to avoid in the interest of our COM
mercial and. material well-being. Our
experience in the past has shown that
sweeping revisions Of the tariff are apt
to produce conditions closely approaching
panic in the business world. Yet it is
not only possible, but eminently desir-
able, to combine with the stability of our
economic system supplementary system
of reciprocal benefit and obligation with
other nations. Such reciprocity is an
incident and result of the first establish
ment and preservation of our present Eco
nomic policy. 1t was specially provided
for in the present tariff law.
Reciprocity must be treated as the
of protection. Our first duty
is to see that the protection granted by
the tariff in every case where it is needed
is maintained, and that reciprocity be
sought for so far as it can safely be done
without injury to our home industries.
1t is most important that we should
maintain the high level of our present
prosperity. We have now reached the
point in the development of our interests
where we are not only able to supply
our own markets, but to produce a con-
stantly growing surplus for which we
must find markets abroad. To secure
these markets we can utilize existing
duties in any case where they are no
longer needed for. the purpose. of protec-
tion, or in any case where the article is
not produced here and the duty is no
longer necessary for revenue, as giving
us something to offer in exchange for
what we ask The cordial relations with
other nations which are so desirable will
naturally be promoted by the course thus
required by our own interests.
ask the attention of the Senate to the
reciprocity treaties laid before it by my
predecessor.
THE MERCHANT MARINE.
The condition of the American merchant
marine is such as to call for immediate
remedial action by the Congress. 1t is
discreditable to us as a nation that our
merchant marine should be utterly insig-
nificant in comparison to that of other
nations which we overtop in other forms
NIT to conditions under which only a
trifling portion of our great commerce
is carried in our own ships. To remedy
this state of things would not merely
serve to build up our shipping interests,
but 1t would also result in benefit to- all
who are interested in the permanent es-
tablishment of wider market for Amer
lean products, and would provide an aux
iliary force for the navy.
Our government should take such action
as will remedy present inequalities. The
American merchant marine should be re-
stored to the ocean.
OUR REVENUES.
The collection from duties on imports
and internal taxes continue to exceed
the ordinary expenditures of the govern
r1ent, thanks mainly to the reduced army
expenditures. The utmost care should be
taken not to reduce the revenues so that
there will be any possibility of a deficit; !;
but, after providing against anys such
contingency. means should be adopted
which will bring the revenues more near
ly within the limit of our actual needs.
Special attention is called to the need of
strict economy in public expenditures.
The interstate commerce law the Presi-
dent says, should he so amended that rail-
road rates should be just to and open to
all shippers alike. The government should
see to it that within its Jurisdiction this
is SO and should provide a speedy, mex
pensive, and effective remedy to that end.
FOREST PRESERVATION AND IRRIGA-
TION.
The practical benefits of forest preser-
walton are touched upon, and the forest
and water problems are characterized as
perhaps the most vital internal questions
Of the United States. Water conservation
is dependent on forest conservation, and
proper legislation to this end should be
enacted Natural storage reservoirs
should be constructed and controlled by
the government.
The reclamation of the unsettled arid
public lands presents different problem.
The object OF the government Is to dis
pose of the land to settlers who will build
homes upon 1t. To accomplish this object
water must be brought within their reach.
The pioneer settlers on the arid public
domain chose their homes along streams
from which they could themselvse divert
the water to reclaim their holdings. Such
opportunities are practically gone. There
remain. however, vast areas of public
land which can be made available for
homestead settlement, but only by reser-
voirs and mainline canals impracticable
for private enterprise. These irrigation
works should be built by the national
government. The lands reclaimed by
them should be reserved by the govern
ment for actual settlers, and the cost OF
construction should so far as possible be
repaid by the land reclaimed. The dis
tribution of the water, the division OF
the streams among irrigators, should bt
left to the settlers themselves in con-
formity with state laws or with vested
rights. The policy of the national gov
ernment should be to aid irrigation In th<
several states and territories In sucf
manner as will enable the people In thu
local communities to help themselves
and as will stimulate needed reforms II
the state laws and regulations governing
irrigation
Whatever the nation does for the ex'
tension OF irrigation should harmonic,
with, and tend to improve. the condition
OF those now living on irrigated land. WI
a. ~ Tia ata efinz mint Of this de.