Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1901-12-07

lsmerce law, which will render effective
the efforts Of different States to do away
with the competition of convict contract
labor in the open labor market.
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 ply
steal, in large cities, and for another side
the effort to deal with that tangle of far
reaching questions which we group to-
gether when we speak of labor" 1he
chief factor in the success of each man
wage worker, farmer and capitalist alike
must ever be the sum total of his own
Individual qualities and abilities. There
must in many cases be action by the gov
eminent in order to safeguard the rights
and interests of all.
Immigration Laws Unsatisfactory.
Our present immigration laws are I'M
satisfactory. We need every honest ana
efficient immigrant fitted to become an
American citizen. But there should be a
comprehensive law enacted with the OBJ
ject of working a threefold improvement
over our present system. First, we should
aim to- exclude absolutely not only all
persons who are known to be believers
in anarchistic principles or members or
anarchistic societies, but also all persons
| who are of a low moral tendency or OF
of proper immigration law ought to be
to secure by a careful and not merely
perfunctory educational test some intelll-
| gent capacity to appreciate American IN
| situations and act sanely as American
citizens. Finally, all persons should be
| excluded who are below a certain stand
ard of economic fitness to enter our in
| dustrial field as competitors with Ameri-
| can labor. Both the educational and
economic tests in a wise immigration law
| should be designed to protect and elevate
the general body polite and social. A
very close supervision should be exercised
over the steamship companies which
mainly, bring over the immigrants, ana
| they should be held to a strict accounta-
bility for any infraction of the law.
Tariff and Reciprocity.
There is general acquiescence in our
| present tariff system as national pol
| icy. 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 in
terests of the country by any general tar
| iff change at this time. Our experience
in the past has shown that sweeping re-
visions Of the tariff are apt to produce
| conditions closely approaching panic IN
| the business world. Yet it is not only
possible, but eminently desirable, to COM
| bine with the stability of our economic
| system a supplementary system Of recip-
| rocal benefit and obligation with other
nations. Such reciprocity was especially
provided for in the present tariff law.
| Reciprocity must be treated as the
| handmaiden of protection. Our first duty
| is to see that the protection granted by
| the tariff in every case where 1t is need
ed is maintained, and that reciprocity
| be sought for so far as it can safely be
| done without injury to our home indus
| tries. Just how far this is must be deter
mined according to the individual case,
| remembering always that every appllca-
| ton of our tariff policy to meet our shirt
| ing national needs must be conditioned
| upon the cardinal fact that the duties
| must never be reduced below the point
| that will cover the difference between the
| labor cost here and abroad. Subject to
| this proviso Of the proper protection nee
essary to our industrial we'll being at
| home, the principle of reciprocity must
command our hearty support.
The natural line of development for
policy of reciprocity will be in connec-
ton with those of our productions which
no longer require all of the support once
needed to establish them upon a sound
basis, and with those others where either
because of natural or Of economic causes
! we are beyond the reach of successful
competition. | ask the attention of the
Senate to the reciprocity treaties laid
before 1t by my predecessor.
Amercl's Merch mt Marine.
The condition Of the American mer-
chant marine is such as to call for imme-
date remedial action by the Congress.
1t is discreditable to us as a nation that
| our merchant marine should be utterly
insignificant in comparison to that Of 9th
er nations which we syertop in other
forms of business. We should not longer
submit to conditions under which only
is carried in our own ships. 70 remedy
this state of things would not merely
serve to build up our shipping interests,
but it 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
ilary force for the navy. Our government
should take such action as will remedy
these inequalities. The American mer-
chant marine should be restored to the
ocean.
The act of March IA, 1900, intended un-
equivocally to establish gold as the stand
ard money and to maintain at a parity there
with all forms of money medium In use
with us, has been shown to be timely and
judicious. The price Of our Government
bonds in the worlds market, when COM
pared with the price of similar obligations
issued by other nations, is a 1attering trib-
ute to our public credit. This condition 1t
is evidently desirable to maintain.
In many respects the national banking
law furnishes sufficient liberty for the prop
er exercise of the banking function; but
there seems to be need Of better safeguards
against the deranging influence Of CONNIE err
ciaI crises and financial panics. Moreover,
the currency of the country should be made
responsive to the demands of our domestic
trade and commerce.
The collections from duties on imports and
internal taxes continue to exceed the ordi-
nary expenses of the Government, thanks
mainly to the reduced army expenditures
The utmost care should be taken not to re-
duce the revenues so that there will be any
possibility of deficit; but, after providing
against any such contingency, means should
be adopted which will bring the revenues
more nearly within the limit of our actual
needs.
l call special attention to the need Of strict
economy in expenditures Only by avoidance
of spending money on what is needless or
unjustifiable can we legitimately keen orr
income to the point required to met our
needs that are genuine.
Interstate Commerce,
In 1887 measure was enacted for the reg
ulation of interstate railways, commonly
known as the Interstate commerce act The
cardinal provisions of that act were that
railway rates should be just and reasonable
and that all shippers, localities and commod-
tiles should be accorded equal treatment
That law was largely an experiment Ey-
hos ha xyicd