The sun., 1903-12-08

slightest heed to the position or power o.
the corporation, the union or the indivtdual
but only to one vital fact that Is, he qnes'
ton whether or not the conduct of the IN
accordance wit h the law of the land Every
man must be guaranteed his liberty ana ms
right to do az he likes with his property
or his labor, so long as he does not infringe
the rights of others. No man is above the
law and no man is below 1t; nor do we a. ASK s.F,
any man. s permission when we require MN
to obeyit Obedience to the law IL demanded
as a right; not asked as favor.
We have cause as nation to DE tnailh-
ful for the steps that have been so success
fully taken to put these principles INTO Ell
feet. The progress has been by eyolut tion'
not by revolution. Nothing radical has been
done, the action has been both moderats
and resolute. Therefore the work will stand
There shall be- no backward step. II IN the
working Of the laws 1t proves desirable tnaI
they shall at any point be expanded or or am. n.
plifed, the amendment can be made as
It's desirabilty il shown. Meanwhile they
are being administered with judgment but
with insistence upon obedience to them;
and theirneed has been emphasized in signal
fashion by the events Of the past year
GOVERNMENT RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES
From all sources, exclusive of the postal
service, the receipts of the Governmen' aed
for the last fiscal year aggregated $500 1885,,
e74 The expenditures for the same period
were $500, ,Oo9 ,Oo7, the surplus for the fiscal
year being S54 ,o97 ,687 The indications
are that the surplus for the present fiscal
year will be very small, II indeed there De
any surplus From July to November
the receipts from customs were, approx
mately, 1000, 900 less than the receipts
from the same source for corresponding
portion of last year. Should this decrease
continue at the same ratio throughout the
fiscal year, the surplus would be reduced
inn a1y
revenue from customs suffer much further
decrease during the fiscal year. the surplus
would vanish. A large surplus Is certainly
undesirable. Two years ago the war
taxes were taken off, with the express in
tention of equalizing the governmental re-
ceipts and expenditures, and though the
first year thereafter still showed q surplus,
il now seems likely that substantial equal
ity of revenue and expenditure VIII be at
tanned. Such being the case, it, Is OF great
moment both to exercise care AID economy
in appropriations, and to scan sharply
any change in our fiscal revenue system
which may reduce our income. he need
of strict economy in our expenditures Is
emphasized by the fact that we cannot
afford To be parsimonous IN proVlt'lnS
for what is essential to our national we'll
being. Careful economy wherever possible
will alone prevent our income from falllng
below the point required, in order to meet
our genuine needs.
NEEDS or FINANCIAL SITUATION.
The integrity of our currency is beyond
question, and under present conditions
it would be unwise and unnecessary to at
tempt reconstruction of our entire none
tary system The same liberty should be
granted the Secretary of the Treasury to
deposit customs receipts as is granted nm
in the deposit Of receipts from other sources
I'm my Message of Dec. 2, 1902. | called at,
tontion to certain needs of the financial
I Uoip sE hl
of the Congress fer these questions.
BETWEEN GOLD STANDARD AND
SILVER STANDARD COUNTRIES.
DurinA the last session of the Congress
at the suggest ion of a joint note from the
Republic of Mexico and the Imperial Gov
ernmenr of China, and in harmony with an
act of the Congress appropriating s25,0oo
was appointed to confer with the principal
European countries in the hope that some
plan might be devised whereby a fixed
rate of exchange could be assured bet Ween
the gold standard countries and the silver
=, standard countries. This commission has
filed it's preliminary report, which has been
made public. / deem It important that
the commission be continued. and that a
sum Of money be appropriated sufficient
TO pay the expenses of its further labors
MERCHANT MARINE.
A majority OF our people desire that steps
be taken in the interests OF American ship
ping. so that we may once more resume
our former position in the ocean carrying
trade. But hitherto the differences Of
opinion az to the proper method OF reaching
this end have been 30 wide that IT has proved
impossible to secure the adoption OF any
facts, | recommend that the Congress direct
the Secretary of the Navy, the Postmaster
General and the Secretary of Commerce
and Labor. associated with such a repre-.
sentat ion from the Senate and House OF
Representa atives as the Congress in its wis-
dom NAV designate, to serve as comnls-
sion for the purpose OF investigating and
reporting to the Congress at it next session
what legislation is desirable or necessary
for the development of the American mer-
chant marine and American commerce,
and incidentally of a national ocean mail
service of adequate auxiliary naval cruisers
and naval reserves. While such a measure
is desirable in any event, 1t is especially
desirable at this time, In view OF the fact
that our present governmental contract
for ocean mail with the American Line VIII
expire in 1905. Our Ocean Mail act was
passed in 1891. In 1895 our 20-knot trans
atlantic mail line was equal to any foreign
line. Since then the Germans have put
on 23-knot steamers, and the British have
cont ed for 24-knot steamers. Our ser
the commercial public will abandon II.
II we are to stay in the business it ought to be
with full understanding OF the advantages
to the country on one hand, and on the
other with exact knowledge Of the cost
and proper methods OF carrying it 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 establishment of new lines
of cargo ships to South America, to Asia,
and elsewhere would be much in the interest
of our commercial 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 liz 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 i'm
migrants have none; and in others. where
the population is already congested i'm
migrants come in such numbers as to de-
press the conditions of life for those already
there.
INVESTIGATION OF IMMIGRATION SERVICE
AT NEW YORK.
During the last two years the immigration
service at New York has been greatly i'm
proved, and the corruption and ineffNency
which formerly obtained there have been
eradicated This service has iust been
invest igated bya commit toe of New York
citizens Of high standing Messrs. Arthur von