Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1903-12-11
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
n, Roosevelt Makes His Annual ReCOmmen
datiOns to Congress.

individual freedom. and of justice and
fair dealing towards all. Whenever
either corporation, labor union or in
dlVidual disregards the law or acts in
spirit OF arbitrary and tyrannous inter-
ference with the rights OF others,
whether corporations or INDIVIDUALS.
then where the Federal Government
has jurisdiction, it will see to il that
the misconduct is stopped, paying not
the slightest heed TO the position or
power of the corporation, the union or
the individual, but only TO one vital
fact-that is, the question whether or
not the conduct of the individual or
aggregate OF individuals is in accord
ance with the law Of the land. Every
man must be guaranteed his liberty
and his right to do as he likes with his
property or his labor. SO long as ne
does not infringe the rights of Others
No man is above the law and no man
is below it; nor do we ask any mans
permission when we require him to
obey it, Obedience to the law is Dc
manded as right not asked as fav
or.
We have cause as a nation 20 be
thankful for the steps that have been
SO successfully taken to put these prin-
ciples into effect The progress has
been by evolution, not by revelation.
| Nothing radical has been done; the &C
ton has been both moderate and reso-
Lutte. Therefore the work will stand
| There shall be no backward step.
Receipts and Expenditures.
From all sources, exclusive OF the
postal service, the receipts Of the Gov
eminent for the last fiscal year aggre-
gated $3.50, 396.674. The expenditures
for the fiscal year being s54,297,66
The indications are that the surplus
for the present fiscal year will be vely
small, if indeed there be any surplus.
! From July to November the. receipts
/ from customs were, approximately
nine million dollars less than the re-
ceipts from the same source for COZ =
responding portion of last year. Should
| this decrease continue at he same ratio
throughout the fiscal year, the surplus
would be reduced by, approximately
| thirty million dollars. Should the
revenue from customs suffer much
further decrease during the fiscal year,
the surplus would vanish. A large sur
! plus is certainly undesirable. Two
| years ago the war taxes were taken OFF
with the express intention of equaliz-
! ing the government receipts and eX-
| penditures, and though the first yeST
! thereafter still showed a surplus, il
now seems likely that substantial
equality of revenue and expenditure
will be attained. Such being the case
il is of great moment both to exercise
! care and economy in appropriations
and to scan sharply any change in oul
| fiscal revenue system which may re-
| duce our income. The need OF strict
economy in oar expenditures is en-
phasized by the fact that we can not
afford to be parsimonious in providing
for what is essential to our national
well-being. Careful economy wherever
possible will alone prevent our income
| from falling below the point required
in order to meet our genuine needs.
Needs of Financial Situation.
The integrity of our currency is be-
yond question. and under present con.
ditions it would be unwise and unne'
cessary to attempt reconstruction OF
our entire monetary system. The same
liberty should be granted the Secretary
of the Treasury to deposit customs re-
"a
of receipts from other sources. In my
Message Of December 2, 1902, l called
attention to certain needs OF the finan'
cial situation. and | again ask the con
sideration of the Congress for thesf
questions.
Merchant Marine.
A majority of our people desire thai
steps be taken in the interest OIL
American shipping, so that we may
once more resume our former position
in the ocean carrying trade. But hith'
erto the differences of opinion as TO tie
proper methods of reaching this enc
have been so wide that it has proTec
impossible To secure the adoption Of
any particular scheme, Having IL
view these facts, recommend that til,
Congress direct the Secretary OF thf
Navy, the Postmaster General, and tni
Secretary of Commerce and LABOR, as
ISOLATED with such representation
from the Senate and House OF Hepre
sentatlves as the Congress In Its wis
dom may designate, to serve as com
mission for the purpose OF inyestlgat
ing and reporting to the Congress at 10
next session what legislation is de1ir
able or necessary for the development
of the American merchant marine AM
American commerce, and incidentall,
of a national ocean mail service o
ADEQUATE auxiliary naval cfpisers ant
naval reserves. While such a measure
is desirable in any event, 1t Is especial
w desirable at this time, in view c
tho fact that our present governmental
contract for ocean mail with tn
American Line will expire in 1905
immigration.
We can not have too much immigra
ton OF the right kind, and we shoui,
have none at all of the wrong KIND
The need is to devise some system b,
which undesirable immigration shat
be kept out entirely, while desirabi
immigrants are properly distributed
throughout the country;
Naturalization Frauds.
The special investigation OF the SUB
iect of naturalization under the dlrec
ton of the Attorney-G eneral, and tn
consequent prosecutions, reveal a con
dition of affairs calling for the lmlne
date attention of the Congress. For
geries and perjuries of shameless an
fragrant character have been per
petrated, not only Ia the dense center
of population, but throughout th
, country; and 1t Is established beyon
doubt that very many so-called citizen
of the United States have no It'll
whatever to that right, and are assert
ing and enjoying the benefits OF tn
same through the grossest frauds, !
, is never to be forgotten that citizen
, ship is, to quote the words recently us
ed by the Supreme Court Of the Unite