The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1902-12-05
The Presidents Message.

Another presidential message with
the real American ring in it has been
sent to congress. The first note is one
OF prosperity and the second is pitched
in the same key. Our laws, said he,
have favored the advent of prosperity,
but it is the high standard of our citi-
zenship which after all has been of the
greatest influence in bringing it about.
The American people are the sons of
men who had iron in their blood"
The quality of the iron which remains
in the blood of the president was never
more fittingly shown than in the very
next lines where he takes up the ques-
ton of the handling of the trusts. There
is fearlessness born of iron in the blood,
in the way in which the president deals
with this question, but there is none of
the ranting which does not know itself,
or of what it is talking, in what he says
about trust control. The message rings
true as steel and is as safe as steel.
There is nothing in it to discourage the
honest investment of single dollar,
nothing in it to intimidate the skillful,
daring even but legitimate, investment
of hundred million dollars, but there
is in it much that will make the man
hesitate who would attempt by the
formation of billion or ten billion
dollar trust to rob the American people
of one or more of their birthrights
The disadvantages offrequent changes
in tariff rates are shown and it is point
ed out that it has been under protective |
tariffs that the country has made its !
greatest advances. Most emphatically |
of all it is stated that there must never
be any change which will jeopardize |
the standards of comfort or of,wages of |
the American wage-earner.
The monetary system is considered |
briefly, but two necessary reforms are
recommended in that brief paragraph,
which, if enacted into law, would alone |!
shed no small lustre on the administra-
ton for decades to come. The two rec
concentrations involve the securing Of |
a greater elasticity of the currency, max
ing it by law as it should be. part of |
the duties of the banks of the country to
perform that service, and the other al
most equally important measure is the
making the silver dollar directly redeem
able in gold, thus effectually settling
the question of the parity of all United
States money for practically all time to
come.
The fact that this is an era of feder-
alton and combination is commented on
In its bearings to labor as well as to
capital and it is frankly stated that both
kinds of organization can do a vast
amount of good as well as vast amount
Of evil if their right aims are perverted.
The creation of department of COM
merce is advised. The granting of some
sort OF concessions to Cuba is urged as
well as reciprocity with Newfoundland.
The advantages to be gained from the
of the Isthmian canal are
pointed out and the statement made
that the title to the Panama property is
good. The construction and .mainte-
nance of the canal should be made fixed
policy, not to be changed with chang
ng administrations. The fact that the
lrmy has been reduced to it's minimum
.ize is pointed out as well as the need
or many more officers of the navy. The
condition of affairs in the Phil