Idaho Springs siftings., 1902-12-06

petitions and applications for the es-
tablishment of 10,74S additional routes
This shows conclusively the wan.
which the establishment of the service
has met and the need of further ex
tending 1t as rapidly as possible.
1t is to be hoped that the Congress
will make liberal appropriations for
the continuance of the service already
established and for its further extern
sion.
irrigation Law Commended.
Few subjects OF more Importance
have been taken up by the Congress
in recent years than the Inauguration
of the system of nationally aided irri-
cation for the arid regions of the far
West. A good beginning therein has
been made. Now that this policy of
national irrigation has been adopted.
the need of thorough and scientific
forest protection will grow more rap
idly than ever throughout the public
land states.
General Recommendations.
Legislation should be provided for
the protection of the game. and the
wild creatures generally, on the for
est reserves.
| especially urge upon the Congress
the need of wise legislation for Alas
ka. 1t is not to our credit as nation
that Alaska, which has been ours for
thirty-five years, should still have as
poor a system of laws as is the case.
In dealing with the Indians our aim
should be their ultimate absorption
into the body of our people. But in
many cases this absorption must and
should be very slow.
In no department of governmental
work in recent years has there been
greater success than in that of giving
scientific aid to the farming popula-
ton. thereby showing them how most
efficiently to help themselves. There
is no need of insisting upon its i'm
portance. for the welfare of the farmer
is fundamentally necessary to the well
fare of the Republic as a whole.
Every effort should be made to de-
velop the Indian along the lines of nat
ural aptitude, and to encourage the
existing native industries peculiar to
certain tribes, such as the various
kinds of basket weaving, canoe build
ing, smith work and blanket work
l again recommend to the favorable
consideration of the Congress the
plans of the Smithsonian institution
for making the museum under its
charge worthy of the Nation, and for
preserving at the national capital not
only records of the vanishing races of
mc1, but of the animals of this conti-
nent which. like the buffalo, will soon
become extinct unless specimens from
which their representatives may be re-
newed are sought in their native re-
gions and maintained there in safety.
The New White House.
Through a wise provision of the
Congress at its last session, the White
House, which had become disfgured
by incongruous additions and changes,
has now been restored to what it was
planned to be by Washington. In max
ing the restorations the utmost care
has been exercised to come as near as
possible to the early plans and to sup
plement these plans by a careful study
of such buildings as that of the Uni
versity of Virginia. which was built by
Jefferson. The White House is the
property of the Nation, and so far as
is compatible with living therein 1t
should be kept as it originally was. for
the same reasons that we keep Mount
Vernon as it originally was. The
stately simplicity of its architecture is
an expression of the character of the
period in which it was built. and is in
accord with the purposes it was de-
signed to serve. It is a good thing to
preserve such buildings as historic
monuments which keep alive our sense
of continuity with the Nations past.
The reports of the several executive
departments are submitted to the Con-
gress with this communication.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
White House, Dec. 2, 1899.