The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1903-12-15
PREsmFNr RoosEYELT,s MEssAen

Z I6SluSuI nOOSOVS1G . duuJd message TO Con proco
would have made exceedingly dry reading. He
begins with a reference to the work of the Depart
ment of Commerce and Labor, laying especial en-
phasis on the value of publicity in dealing with
trusts. A larger appropriation to enforce anti
monopoly laws is also asked for. Mr.. Roosevelt
however, no longer advocates a Constitutional
Amendment to enable Congress to control these
giant corporations. publicity in corporate af-
fairs" he says, will tend to do away with igno-
rance, and will afford facts upon which INTELLIGENT
action may be taken. Systematic, intelligent in
vestigation is already developing facts the knowl-
edge of which is essential to a right understand
ing of the needs and duties of the business world
The corporation which is honestly and fairly Or
ganized, whose managers in the conduct of its
business recognize their obligation to deal square
ly with their stockholders, their competitors, and
the public, has nothing to fear from such supervi-
sion. The purpose of this Bureau is not to en-
barrass or assail legitimate business, but to aid in
bringing about a better industrial conditional
condition under which there shall be obedience to
law and recognition of public obligation by all cor
porations, great or small"
We are glad to see the President so persistent
in his demand for better immigration laws. We
are now getting the very scum of Europe, and this
menace to good citizenship deserves the serious
attention of Congress. Says Mr.. Roosevelt:
ave cannot have too much immigration of the
right kind, and we should have none at all of the
wrong kind. The need is to devise some system
by which undesirable immigrants shall be kept out
entirely, while desirable immigrants are properly
distributed throughout the country. At present
some districts which need immigrants have none;
and in others, where the population is already
congested, immigrants come in such numbers as
to depress the conditions of life for those already
there"
So much of the Message is devoted to routine
matters that we shall not attempt to review all its
features. The part that will be read with most
interest is that relating to Panama. And in this
the President makes quite an able defense of his
policy, clinching his statement as to Colombia'8
inability to maintain order on the Isthmus with a
record of ffty-three distinct revolutions, rebel
lions, instructions and riots which have disturbed
the peace of Panama since 1850. His conclusion
is as follows:
The above recital of facts establishes beyond
question: First, that the United States has for
over half a century patiently and in good latin
carried out it's obligations under the treaty OF
1916; second, that when for the first time 1t De-
came possible for Colombia to do anything IN re-
quital of the services thus repeatedly rendered to
it for ffty-seven years by the United States the
Colombian Government peremptorily and onen-
sively refused thus to do its part, even though 70
do SO would have been to it's advantage and III
measurably to the advantage of the State OF ran
anna, at that time under its jurisdiction; tnlFu'
that throughout this period revolutions riots anu
~factional disturbances Of every kind have occurl7u
one after the other in almost uninterrupted SUI
c~ession, some of them lasting for months ana even
for years, while the central government was una
BILE to put them down or to make peace with il.
rebels; fourth, that these disturbances, instead u