The Somerset reporter., 1901-12-05

the several states, which are treated
as militia In the appropriations By the
congress. should be made Identical with
those provided for the regular forces
The obligations and duties Of the guard
In time Of war should be carefully de-
fined and a system established bg lass
under which the method Of procedure
of raising volunteer forces should bc
prescribed in advance.
The Merit system.
The president Indorses tie merit sy--
TEN Of making appointments aud say-.
| recommend tie passage Of a lav
which will extend the classified sery-
ice to the District Of Columbia or will
at least enable tie president thus to cx-
tend it. In my judgment all laws pro-
yidns for the temporary employment
of clerks should hereafter couiain a
provision that they be selected under
tie civil service law.
1t is important to have this system
obtain at home. but it is even more i'm
portant to have il applied rigjdly in our
insular possessions. The Importance
of improving the consular service by
the passage of rew laws Is emphasized.
The president then turns to the IN
dian question. He says.
We should now break up the tribal
funds, doing for them what allot-
ment does for the tribal lands = that
Is, they should be divided into indiyid-
ual holdings. There will be a transi-
tiOn period during which the funds
will in many cases have To be held In
trust. This is the case also with the
lands. stop should be put upon the
indiscriminate permission to Indians to
lease their allotments. The effort
should be steadily to make the Indian
work like any other man on his own
ground. The marriage laws Of tie In
dians should be made the same as those
of the whites. In the schools the edu-
cation should be elementary and large
ly Industrial
Cordial support from congress and
people Is asked for the St Louis expo
sitiOn. The Charleston exposition is
commended to the good will of the
people. The work of the Pan-Amerlcan
exposition is praised.
1t is recommended that the census
office as now constituted should be
made permanent government bureau
The Postal Service.
A tribute is paid to the postal service.
and the extension of free rural delivery
Is commended The postofiice depart
ment should be sustained the president
says, in its efforts to remove the abuses
In connection with second class mail
matter.
/ Much attention Is paid to the stua-
tion in China. and the progress toward
the establishment of peace there is re-
capitulated. Stress is laid on the i'm
portance of our continuing to advocate
moderation in the dealings with China.
The president concludes his message as
follows:
The death of Queen Victoria caused
the people of the United States deep
and heartfelt sorrow, to which the gov
ernment gave full expression. When
President Mckinley died, our nation in
turn received from every quarter Of the
British empire expressions of grief and
sympathy no less sincere. The death
of the Empress Dowager Frederick Of
Germany also aroused the genuine sym
pathy Of the American people, and this
sympathy was cordially reciproeatcd
by Germany when the president was
Rssassinatod. Indeed, from every quar-
ter of the civilized world we received
Mt the time of the presidents death as
Surances of such grief and regard as to
touch the hearts of our people. In the
midst of our aflliction we reyerently
thank the Almighty that we are at
peace with the nations of mankind,
and we firmly intend that our policy
shall he such as to continue unbroken
these international relations of mutual
respect and good will.