The Lamar register., 1903-12-09

In the Philippines and Porto Rico.
1t is declared, steady progress is being
made and the condition of the island
ers already has been materially ad;
vanced.
Receipts Of General Land Office.
On the subject of the public lands
of the country the message says:
The cash receipts of the General Land
ONCE for the last fiscal year were sl1.-
| 024 65, an increase es N,7s2 s16.F over
| the preceding year. OF this sum. approx
imately. Ss46I 4sa will go to the credit
| of the fund for the reclamation of arid
land making the total of this fund. up
to the 30th of June. 1903. approximately.
SIG. 191. 1886.
A gratifying disposition has been
evinced by those having unlawful In
closures of public land to remove their
fences. Nearly two million acres SO in
closed have been thrown open on de-
mand In but comparatively few cases
has It been necessary to go Into court
to accomplish this purpose. This work VIII
| be vigorously prosecuted until all unlaw-
full Enclosures have been removed.
Irrigation.
Tie work of reclamation of the arid
lands of the West Is progressing steadily
and satisfactorily under the terms of
the law setting aside the proceeds from
the disposal of public lands. The corps of
engineers known as tho Reclamation
Service,
and examina tons. has been thoroughly
organized, especial pains being taken to
secure under the civil-service rules
body of skilled. experienced, and efficient
men. Surveys and examinations are
progressing throughout the arid states
| and territories, plans for reclaiming works
being prepared and passed upon by
boards of engineers before approval by
the Secretary of the Interior. In Arizona
| and Nevada. in localities where such
work is pre-eminently needed. construc-
| ton has already been begun. In other
parts of the arid West various projects
are well advanced toward the dra wing
! up of contracts. these being delayed In
part by necessities of reaching agree
ments or understanding as regards rights
| of way acquisition of real estate. Most
| OF the works contemplated for construc-
| tion are IF national Importance. involv-
! ing interstate questions or the securing
| of stable. self-supporting communities in
| the midst of vast tracts of vacant land.
The Nation as whole Is of course the
| gamer by the creation of these homes.
adding they do to the wealth and sta
| bility CT the country. and furnishing
home market for the products of the East
and South. The reclamation law, while
| perhaps not ideal. appears at present to
answer the larger needs for which 1t Is
| designed. Further legislation is not rec
| commended until the necessities of change
are more apparent.
Preservation of Forests
Inc f>TesluenI points OUT Inc neCes-
sity of taking steps for the preserva-
ton OF our forests. especially at the
headwaters of streams. OF the cotton
weevil he says
The cotton growing States have
| Gently been invaded by a weevil that has
done much damage and threatens the
entire cotton industry. l suggest to the
| Congress the prompt enactment of such
remedial legislation as its judgment may
| approve.
The Philippines and Porto Rico.
OF our insular possessions the Philip
| pines and Porto Rico 1t is gratifying to
| say that their steady progress has been
| such to make 1t unnecessary to spend
much time In discussing them. Yet the
Congress should ever keep in mind that
| a peculiar obligation rests upon us to
further in every way the welfare OF these
| communities. The Philippines should be
! knit closer to us by tarin arrangements
1t would, of course. be impossible sud
| denly to raise the people of the islands to
the high pitch of Industrial prosperity
| and OF governmental efficiency to which
| they will In the end by degrees attain:
and the caution and moderation shown
| In developing them have been among
| the main reasons why this development
has hitherto gone on SO smoothly. Scru-
pulous care has been taken In the choice
| OF governmental agents. and the entire
elimination OF partisan politics from the
public service. The condition of the
| islanders Is in material things far better
than ever before. while their govern
mental. intellectual. and moral advance
| has kept pace with their material ad-
vance. No one people ever benefited an
| other people more than we have bene-
| fitted the Filipinos by taking possession
| OF the islands.
Isthmian Canal.
The causes leading up to the estab-
| lishment of the new republic of Pan
l.., tha
United States are given in much de
| tall as follows:
| BY the act of June 2s 1902. the Con-
gress authorized the President to enter
| into treaty with Colombia for the build
| ing OF the canal across the Isthmus of
Panama: II being provided that in the
event of failure to secure such treaty
| after the lapse of n reasonable time,
course should be had to building canal
through Nicaragua. 1T has not been
| necessary to consider this alternative. as
| / am enabled to lay before the Senate
a treaty providing for the building of the
canal across the Isthmus of Panama
| This was the route which commended
| itself to the deliberate judgment of the
,cngress, and can now acquire by
treaty the right to construct the canal
| over this route, The ql estion now there
| fore, is not by which route the isthmian
| canal shall he built. for that question
has been definitely ard irrevocably de-
| cded. The question is simply whether or
not we shall have an isthmian canal
When the Congress directed that Ne
should take the Panama route under
treaty with Colombia. the essence of the
condition, of course. referred not to the
Government which controlled that route
| but to the route itself: to the territory
| across which the ronte lay. not to the
name which for the moment the territory
bore the map. The purpose of the law
was to authorize the President to make
a treaty with the power in actual control
OF the Isthmus of Panama. This purpose
has been fulfilled
In the year 1876 this Government en-
tered into a treaty with New Granada
the predecessor upon the Isthmus OF
the Republic of Colombia and of the
present Republic Of Panama. by which
treaty IT provided that the Govern
ment and citizens of the United States
should always have free and open right
Of way transit across the Isthmus of
Panama by any modes OF communica tion
that might be constructed. while in re-
turn our Government guaranteed the
perfect neutrality OF the aforementioned
isthmus with the view that the free tran
sit from the one to the other might
not he interrupted or embarrassed. The
treaty vested in the United States