The Tupelo journal., 1903-12-11

in view of the fact that our present gov
ernmental contract for ocean mail with the
mail act was passed in 1891. In 1896 our
a-knot transatlantic mail line was equal
to any foreign line. Since then the Ger.
mans have put on 23-knot steamers. and
the British have contracted for 24-knot
steamers. Our service should equal the
best, If it does not, the commercial pub
lie VIII abandon it. If we are TO stay In the
business 1t 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
last mail lines; save so far as the latter
can be depended upon to furnish swift
auxiliary cruisers in time of war. The es-
tablishment 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 ann 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-
slrable immigrants shall be kept out en-
tfrely, while desirable immigrants are
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 depress 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.
This service has just been Investigated
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 receiv-
Ing the attention of the Spprpf1rV of
and labor.
LIBERALIZATION Frauds.
The special Investigation of the subject
of naturalization under the direction of
the attorney general, and the consequent
prosecutions, reveal a condition of af-
fairs calling for the immediate attention
of congress. Forgeries and perjuries of
shameless and fragrant character have
been perpetrated, not only in the dense
eenters of population, but throughout the
country; and it is established beyond
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
words recently used by the supreme
court of the United States, an ines
timable 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.
The body polite cannot be sound and
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 a 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. a presentment which states the
situation briefly and forcibly and contains
important suggestions for the ccnsidera-
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
with the subject of the due regulation of
combinations of capital which are or may
become injurious TO the public, | recon-
mended a 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 Cby the legislative, executive and
Judicial appropriation act of February %,
1903, 80 Stat, S54, 904), the congress appro-
priated, for the purpose of enforcing the
various federal trust and interstate com
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. | now recommend, as a 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 investi-
cations have shown a deplorable state of
affairs in these three matters of vital con-
Germ. By various frauds and by forgeries
and p~erjuries. thousands of acres of the
public domain, embracing lands of differ
ent character and extending through vari-
Gus sections OF the country. have been dis
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 'inestlmable
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 pubic service in general and
to the due administration of the post office
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 en-
force promptly and with the greatest effect
the due penalties for such violations of law,
anu W LIE emu may Ue IuTflSHeQ with
sufficient in~strumentalities and competent
legal assistance for the Investigations and
trials which will be necessary at many
different points of the country I urge anon
the congress the necessity of making the
said appropriation available for immediate
use for all such purposes, to be expended
under the direction of the attorney general.
New Extradition Treaties Needed.
Steps have been taken by the state de-
partment looking to the making of
bribery an eXtraditable offense with for
eign powers. The need of mere effective
treaties covering this crime lis manifest.
The exposures and prosecutions of Off
cial corruption in st. Louis. Mo-, and
other cities and states have resulted in
a number of givers and takers of brides
becoming fugitives in foreign lands.
Bribery has not been included in extra
dition treaties heretofore. as the neces-
sity for it has not arisen. While there
ton in former years, there has been more
developed and brought to light in the
immediate past than in the preceding
century of our country's history. It
should be the policy of the United States
to leave ne 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 all
treaties as extraditable. The recent
amended treat with Mexico. whereby
this crime was put in the list of extra
tary precedent in this regard. Under this
treaty the state department has asked.
and Mexico has granted. the e~xtradition
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
growing American interests in regions
heretofore unsurveyed and imperfectly
known brought into prominence the urgent
necessity of a practical demarcation of the
boundaries between the jurisdictions of
the United States and Great Britain. AL
though the treaty Of 1925 between Great
Britain and Russia, the provisions of which