The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1901-12-03

. leaN at..- "..s N"- tAf.i W tlll llltl
points Sh.pp.l nrr.. 10 -tahushcd TO
. tt' principal countries With which we
/ laFe dealings. vOa,I r. of political a.
. v,l a- commercial h urlf From er-
/ ery standpoint unni.a Tor tie
/ United STATES to c,urLle J1 rely urea
. Gle -llrs Ut competing uatHu. fol toe
. distribution of uur goods. 90 should DE-
. made advantageous io oafry American
I -ouds iu American hu.li ~lips
40 present American shipping Is uu-
/ dor certain great disadvantages when
+ put iu competition with thc shipping
/ of foreign countries. Many of the fast
I foreign steamships at "a speed Of four
/ teen knots or above are subsidized.
and ~ our ~iuVs sailing vessels and
steamers ai.k,. Dar-u carriers OF slow
suyei aud mail carriers of high speed.
have t1 meet the fact that the original
cost 90 building American ships is
greater than is The case ahrDld- that THE
. WAGES paid American officers and sea-
mcu ars very much l.-n,r than those
paid the officers and ~,ampn of foreign
competing countries. aud tina. the
standard a. liv.u- ou our ships is far
superior 90 the standard of living on
/ Tie ships cf our commercial rivals. our
. government should take s1ch action as
win remedy these Inequalities. The
American merchant marine should be
n stored to the ocean.
Financial.
THE passage of tha act establishing
gold as trc standard money has. it e.
declared. been shown to Oe timely and
/ juI.y.ouS. The president adds.
In many RESPECTS thc national bank
.us llw furnishes sufficient liberty for
the proper exercise ot the banking
function. but there seems To be need
IL better safeguards against the de-
ranging influence Of commercial crises
and financial panics. Moreover. the
currency ~ the country should be
made responsive 20 the demands Of our
domestic trade and commerce.
Economy IN expenditures IS urged
Amendment Of the Interstate commerce
act J., advised to insure the cardinal
provisions of that act The work car
ried on by the department Of asricul.
ture is next considered and praised
highly The president then turns to
forest preservation and irr CATION Of
aril lands. saying that both are highly
n rssary. lie would put an the work
{ iD junction with the forest reserves
iu charge of the bureau of forestry.
Irrigation.
The president continues ly tracing
/ the connection between the forest re-
serves and the water supply lie says
The forests are natural reservoirs.
/ BY restraining the streams in Hood
and rcplolisling them iu drought they
make possible the use Of waters other
wise wasted. They prevent the soil
| from washing and SO protect the sto7-
/ age reservoirs from filling up with
/ silt Forest conservation Is. therefore
/ au 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 10 oqualize the flow Of
streams and L. save the flood waters.
Their construction has been conclu-
| siyely shown 10 be m undertaking
| too vast for private effort Nor can il
/ De best accomplished by the Individual
I states acting alone. The government
/ should construct aud maintain those
reservoirs as 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 70 take the same course
under the same laws as the natural
| flow.
The reclamation Of the unsettled arid
public lands presents a different prob
| lem. Here II 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
II. To accomplish this object water
must be brought within their reach.
The pioneer settlers on 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. however.
vast areas Of public land which can be
made available for homestead settle
ment. but only by reservoirs and main
| line canals lmpractlcable for private
enterprise. These irrigation works
should be built by the national govern
ment. The lands reclaimed by them
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
uibutlon OF the water, the division OF
the streams among irrgators, should
be left TO the 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 he recognized is that OF
use. The president says that the doc
trine OF private ownership OF water
| apart from land cannot prevail without
H.