The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1901-12-06

work for their own countries Just as
railroads work for their terminal
points. Shipping lines, II established to
the principal countries with which we
have dealings, would be of political as
well as commercial benefit. From ev-
cry standpoint it Is unwise for the
United States to continue to rely upon
the ships Of competing nations for the
distribution of our goods. 1t should be
made advantageous to carry American
goods in American built ships.
At present American shipping is un-
der certain great disadvantages when
put In competition with the shipping
Of foreign countries. Many of the fast
foreign steamships, at a speed of four
teen knots or above, are subsidized,
and all our ships, sailing vessels and
steamers alike, cargo carriers of slow
speed and mail carriers of high speed.
have to meet the fact that the original
cost Of building American ships is
greater than Is the case abroad; that the
wages paid American officers and sea-
men are very much higher than those
paid the officers and seamen of foreign
competing countries. and tina. the
standard Of living on our ships is far
superior to the standard of living on
the ships Of our commercial rivals. Our
government should take such action as
win remedy these inequalities. The
American merchant marine should be
restored to the ocean.
FInaneial.
The passage of the act establishing
gold as the standard mone.y has. 1t is
declared, been shown to be sI1ely and
judicious. The president adds:
In many respects the national bank
lng law furnishes sufficient liberty for
the proper exercise Of the banking
function, but there seems to be need
Of better safeguards against the de-
Il ranging influence Of commercial crises
and financial panics. Moreover. the
currency of the country should be
made responsive to the demands of our
domestic trade and commerce.
Economy In expenditures Is urged.
Amendment Of the interstate commerce
act is advised to insure the cardinal
provisions Of that act The work car
ried on by the department Of agricul-
ture is next considered and praised
highly. The president then turns to
forest preservation and irrigation of
arid lands. saying that both are highly
necessary. He would put all the work
In connection with the forest reserves
in charge of the bureau of forestry.
Irrigation.
The president continues by tracing
the connection between the forest re-
serves and the water supply. He says:
The forests are natural reservoirs.
By restraining the streams In flood
and replenishing them In drought they
make possible the use Of waters other
wise wasted. They prevent the soil
from washing and SO protect the stor.
age reservoirs from filing up with
silt. Forest conservation is. therefore
an essential condition Of water conser.
walton.
The forests alone cannot, however
fully regulate and conserve the waters
Of the arid region. Great storage works
are necessary to eQualize the flow OF
streams and to save the food waters
Their construction has been conclu
too vast for private effort. Nor can II
be best accomplished by the individual
states acting alone. The government
should construct and maintain These
reservoirs as 1t does other public works
J Where their purpose is to regulate thu
J dow Of streams, the water should bt
turned freely into the channels In thu
dry season to take the same course
under the same laws as the natura
flow.
The reclamation of the unsettled arii
public lands presents a different prob
lem. Here 1t is not enough to regulate
the dow Of streams. The object Of tn
government Is to dispose Of the lant
to settlers who will build homes upor
It To accomplish this object waite
must be brought within their reach.
The pioneer settlers on the arid pub
lie domain chose their homes alonl
streams from which they could them
selves divert the water to reclaim thei
holdings. Such opportunities are prac
tically gone. There remain. however
: vast areas Of public land which can b.
made available for homestead settle
ment. but only by reservoirs and mail
line canals impracticable for privat
: enterprise. These irrigation work
: should be built by the national govern
ment. The lands reclaimed by then
should be reserved by the governmen
: for actual settlers. and the cost of con
e struction should, so far as possible, b
? repaid by the land reclaimed. The dis
D fributfon of the water the division q
e the streams among irrigators, shoul
: be left to the settlers themselves 4
: conformity with state laws and with
out interference with those laws o
with vested rights.
d The declaration is made that in tn
: arid states the only right to waite
which should be recognized Is that o
: use. The president says that the doc
y trine of private ownership Of waite
: apart from land cannot prevail withou
! causing wrong.
Insular Problems.
n Insular questions are next treated
v In Hawaii our aim must be to develo
the territory on the traditional Amel
lean lines. Porto Rico is declared to b
thriving as never before. The after
ton of congress is called to the need c
legislation concerning the islands pull
:. lie lands. In Cuba 1t Is stated thf
!, much progress has been made towar
putting the Independent government {
n the island upon a firm footing. and 1t
. declared that independence will be a
!, accomplished fact. The presideI
aGds.