River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-12-10


ernmental contract for ocean mail with the
American line will expire in 1905. Our ocean
mail act was passed in 1891 In 1888 our
2knot , amt snae me en was aS eaa a
mans have put on z3-knot steamers and
the British have contracted for H-knot
steamers. Our service should equal the
best. If it does not, the commercial pub
lie will abandon it. If we are to stay in the
business it ought TO be with a full under
standing OF the advantages to the country
on one hand, and on the other with exact
knowledge of the cost and proper methods
of carrying 1t on. Moreover, lines of cargo
ships are of even more importance than
fast mail lines; save so far as the latter
can be depended upon to furnish swift
auxiliary cruisers in time of war The es-
Enlistment of new lines of cargo ships to
South America to ASIA and elsewhere
would be much in the interest Of our COM
mercial expansion.
Immigration.
We 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 unde-
sirable immigrants shall be kept out en-
properly distributed throughout the coun-
try. At present some districts which
need immigrants have none: and in 9TH
ers, where the population is already con-
gested, immigrants come in such numbers
as to deDress the conditions of life for
those already there. During the last
two years the immigration service at New
York has been greatly improved, and the
corruption and inefficiency which former
ly obtained there have been eradicated.
by a committee of New York citizens of
nigh standing, Messrs. Arthur V. Briesen,
Lee X. Frankel. Eugene A. Philbin,
Thomas w. Hynes and Ralph Trautman.
Their report deals with the whole stu
alton at length, and concludes with GER
tain recommendations for administrative
and legislative action. 1t is now rece1V-
ing the attention of the secretary of
commerce and labor
Naturalization Frauds.
The special investigation of the subJect
of naturalization under the direction OF
the attorney general, and the consequent
prosecutions, reveal condition OF az
fairs calling for the immediate attention
of congress. ForgerieS and perjurleS OF
shameless and fragrant character have
been perpetrated. not only in the dense
centers of population, but throughout the
doubt that very many so-called citizens
of the United States have no title what
ever to that right, and are asserting and
enjoying the benefits of the same through
the grossest frauds. 1t is never to be
forgotten that citizenship is, to quote the
words recently used by the supreme
Unable heritage" whether it proceeds
from birth within the country or is OBJ
tanned by naturalization: and we poison
the sources of our national character and
strength at the fountain, If the privilege
is claimed and exercised without right,
and by means of fraud and corruption:
Inc DOdy DOlltlC cannot De SOUND ana
healthy If many of it's constituent mem
bers claim their standing through the
prostitution of the high right and calling
of citizenship. 1t should mean something
to become citizen of the United States;
and in the process no loophole whatever
should be left open to fraud.
The federal grand jury lately, in session
in New York city dealt with this subject
and made presentment Which states the
situation briefly and forcibly and contains
important suggestions for the considers-
ton of the congress. This presentment is
included as an appendix to the report of the
attorney general.
Government Department Frauds.
In my last annual message, in connection
combinations of capital which are or may
become injurious to the public, l recon-
mended special appropriation for the
better enforcement of the antitrust law
as 1t now stands, to be expended under
the direction of the attorney general. Ac
cordingly (by the legislative, executive and
judicial appropriation act of February Is,
1903, go Stat, 1884, 904), the congress appro-
priated, for the purpose of enforcing the
various federal trust and interstate COM
merce laws, the sum of $500,000, to be ex
pended under the direction of the attorney
general in the employment of special coun-
sci and agents in the department of justice
to conduct proceedings and prosecutions
under said laws in the courts of the United
States l now recommend, as matter of
the utmost Importance and urgency, the
extension of the purposes of this appro-
priation, SO that 1T may be available under
the direction of the attorney general, and
until used, for the due enforcement of the
laws of the United States in general and
especially of the civil and criminal laws
relating to public lands and the laws relat-
ing to postal crimes and offenses and the
subject of naturalization. Recent invest.
cations have shown a deplorable state OF
affairs in these three matters Of vital con-
Germ. BY various frauds and by forgeries
and perjuries thousands of acres of the
public domain, embracing lands of differ
ent character and extending through var1-
Of ha trxy haU Ito-
honestly acquired. 1t is hardly necessary
to urge the Importance of recovering these
dishonest acquisitions, stolen from the peo-
pie, and of promptly and duly Furnishing
the offenders l speak in another part OF
this message of the widespread crimes by
which the sacred right of citizenship is
falsely asserted and that "inestimabl0
heritage perverted to base ends. BY sim,
liar means-that is, through frauds, forger.
les and perjuries, and by shameless briber'
ies-the laws relating to the proper con-
duct of the public service in general ami
to the due administration of the post Office
department have been VIGOROUSLY violated
and many indictments have been found,
and the consequent prosecutions are in
course of hearing or on the eve thereof.
For the reasons thus indicated, and so that
the government may be prepared to era-
force promptly and with the greatest effect
the due penalties for such violations of law,
and to this end may be furnished with
sufficient instrumentalities and compete1t
legal assistance for the Investigations and
trials which will be necessary at mary
y,
the congress the necessity of making tie
said appropriation available for immediate
use for all such purposes, to be eXpende d
under the direction of the attorney general.
New Extrndition Treaties Needed
Steps have been taken by the state de-
partment looking to the making of
bribery an eXtradtable offense with for
eign powers. The need of more effective
treaties covering this crime is manifest.
The exposures and prosecutions of Off
cial corruption in ST Louis. Mo, ard
other cities and states have resulted in
a number of givers and takers of brides
Bribery has not been included in extra
dition treaties heretofore. as the neces-
sity for it has not arisen. While there
may have been as much official corrup-
developed and brought to light in the
immediate past than in the preceding
century of our countrys history. It
should be the, policy of the United States
to leave no place on earth where a cor
rupt man fleeing from this country can
rest in peace. There is no reason why
bribery should not be included in ali,
treaties as extraditable. The recent
amended treaty with Mexico, whereby
this crime was put in the list of extra
ditable offenses. has established a salu-
treaty the state department has asked,
and Mexico has granted, the extradition
of one of the st. Louis bride givers
The Alaskan boundary.
For several years past the rapid develop
ment of Alaska and the establishment of
Heretofore unsurveyed and imperfectIy
known brought into prominence the urgent
necessity of practical demarcation of the
boundaries between the juris dictions CT
the United States and Great Britain. Al
though the treaty of 1926 between Great
Britain and Russia, the provisions of which
were copied in the treaty of 1867, whereby
Russia conveyed Alaska to the United
States :