The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1901-12-06

standard W living on our SiilVS IN '''
superior to thr standard OF living on
| thr ShipS OF our commercial rivals. Our
| government should take such action rs
| will remedy these Inequalities. IlIe
| American merchant marine should be
| restored to the ocean.
| Einuncinl.
| Tho DoSSuyr Of the nc, establishing
| gold as tEr standard money has, 1t Is
| declared. been shown to be timely ana
| judicious The president adds:
| In many respects the national bank
| ing law furnishes sufficient liberty for
| the proper exercise Of the banking
! function, but there seems to be need
| of better safeguards against the de
| ranging influence of commercial crises
/ and financial panics. Moreover, the
| currency Of the country should be
| made responsive to the demands OF our
| domestic tra,ir 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
ricd Oh by tine department. of agricul-
| turc is next considered and praised
| highly. The president then turns to
| forest preservation and irrigation OF
| arid lands saying that both are highly
| necessary. lie would put all The work
| in connection with the forest reserves
| In charge of the bureau of forestry.
Irrigation.
The president continues by tracing
| tho connection between the forest re-
serves and the water supply. lie says:
| The forests are natural reservoirs.
| BY restraining the streams in flood
| and rcplcnshing them in drought they
! make possible the use OF waters other
wise wasted. They prevent tho soil
| from washing and so protect the stor-
| age reservoirs from hlling up with
| silt. Forest conservation Is, therefore,
an essential condition Of water conser-
vation.
! 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 flood waters.
| Their construction has been conclu-
sivcly shown to be an undertaking
too vast for private effort. Nor can it
be best accomplished by the individual
|
should construct and maintain these
| reservoirs rs it does other public works.
| Where their purpose Is to regulate the
flow of streams, the water should be
| turned freely into the channels In the
| dry season to take the same course
! under the same laws as the natural
| flow.
The reclamation of the unsettled arid
| public lands presents Il different prob
| lem. Here 1t is not enough to regulate
| the flow of streams. The object of the
government is to dispose 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 OH the arid pub.
! lie domain chose their homes along
streams from which they could them
selves divert the water to reclaim their
holdings. Such opportunities are prac
tically gone. There remain. howev'
vast areas Of public land which car
made available for homestead sctt
ment, but only by reservoirs and IL
line canals impraCticahlc for prlvu
enterprise. These irrigation works
should be built by the national govern.
should be reserved by the government
for actual settlers, and the cost Of con-
struction should, so far as possible, be
repaid by the land reclaimed. The dis
tribution Of the water, the division Of
| the streams among irrlgntors, should
| be left to tho settlers themselves in
| conformity with state laws and with
| out interference with those laws or
| with vested rights.
The declaration is made that in the
arid states the only right to water
| which should be recognized is that of
! use. The president says that the doc
| trine of private ownership Of water
| apart from land cannot prevail without
| causing wrong.
| InaUlar Problems.
Insular questions are next treated.
| In Hawaii our aim must be to develop
! the territory OH the traditional Amer
| lean lines. Porto Rico is declared to be
! thriving as never before. The nttcn-
| tion of congress is called to the need of
| legislation concerning the islands pub
| lie lands. In Cuba it Is stated that
much progress has been made toward
! putting the independent government Of
| the island upon firm footing, and it is
declared that independence viii be an
accomplished fact. The president
adds:
Elsewhere I have discussed the ques-
| ton of reciprocity. In the case Of Gu
ba, however, there are weighty reasons
| Of morality and Of national interest
| why the policy should be held to have
! a peculiar application, and I most ear.
nestly ask your attention to the wis.
| dom, indeed to the vital need, Of pro-
viding for substantial reduction IN
| the tariff duties on Cuban imports into
| the United States.
| In dealing with the Philippine peo-
| pie we must show both patience and
| strength, forbrarnnce and steadfast res
olution. Our aim Is high. We do not
desire to do for the Islanders merely
| what has elsewhere been done for trop-
ic peoples by even the best foreign
governments. We hope to do for them
| what haS never bpfOrp been done for