The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-12-07
PRES. ROOSBVELT'S MESSAGE
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 be extended to one who has made the declaration of intention to become acit- izen or the United States, but has not secured naturalization, are questions Of serious import, involving personal rights and often producing friction be- tween this government and foreign governments. Yet upon these uuas- tions our laws are silent. I recommend that an examination be made into the subjects of citizenship. repatriation and protection of Americans abroad, with view to appropriate legislation.
 Protection of Elections.
 The power of the government to pro- tect the integrity of the elections of it's own officials is inherent and has been recognized and affirmed by repeated declarations of the Supreme court There is no enemy of free government more dangerous and none so insidious as the corruption of the electorate. No one defends or excuses corruption, and 1t would seem to follow that none would oppose vigorous measures to era dicate it. I recommend the enactment of law directed against bribery and corruption in Federal elections. The details of such a law may be safely left to the wise discretion of the congress, but it should go as far as under the Constitution it is possible to go. and should include severe penalties against him who gives or receives bribe in tended to influence his act or opinion as an eleetor; and provisions forNthG pub- lication not only of the expenditures for nominations and elections of all candidates, but also of all contributions received and expenditures made by po- litical committees.
 Delays in Criminal Prosecutions.
 No subject is better worthy the at tention of the congress than that DOT tion of the report of the attorney gene ral dealing with the long delays and the great obstruction to justice expe- rienced in the cases os Beavers, Green and Gaynor and Benson. Were these isolated and special cases, I should not call your attention to them: but the difficulties encountered as regards these men who have been indicted for crimi- nal practices are not exceptional; they are precisely similar in kind to what occurs again and again in the case of criminals who have sufficient means to enable them to take advantage of a system of procedure which has grown up in the Federal courts and which amounts in effect to making the law easy of enforcement against the man who has no money, and difficult of en- forcement, even to the point of some- times securing immunity, as regards ! the man who has money. In criminal cases Sthe writ of the United States should run throughout it's borders. The wheels of justice should not be clogged, as they have been clogged in the cases above mentioned where it has proved absolutely impossible to bring the ac- cused to the place appointed by the Constitution for his trial. Of recent years there has been grave and in- creasing complaint of the difficulty of bringing to justice those criminals whose crimiriality, instead of being against one person in the republic, is against all persons in the republic, be- cause it is against the republic itself. t Under any circumstance and from the a very nature of the case it is often ex- N ceedingly difficult to secure proper pun isfment of those who have been guilty ] of wrong-doing against the govern f ment. By the time the offender can be 8 brought into court the popular wrath against him has generally subsided; # and there is in most instances very & slight danger indeed of any prejudice existing in the minds of the jury against him. At present the interests # of the innocent man are amply safe- guarded; but the interests of the gov- ernment, that is, the interests of honest < administration, that is the interests of the people, are not recognized as they \ should be. No subject better warrants < the attention of the congress. Indeed, no subject better warrants the atten- < tion of the bench and the bar through out the United States.
 Alaska.
 Alaska, like all our territorial acqui- sitions, has proved resourceful beyond the expectations of those who made the purchase. It has become the home of ! many hardy, industrious and thrifty American citizens. Towns of a perma- nent character have been built. The extent of it's wealth iii minerals, tim Der, fisheries and agriculture, while great, is probably not comprehended yet in any just measure by our people. We do know, however, that from a very small beginning it's products have grown until they are steady and ma terial contribution to the wealth of the nation. Owing to the in1mensity of Alaska and it's location in the far north, it is difficult matter to pro- wide many things essential to it's lgrowth and to the happiness and conn fort of it's people by private enterprise lalone. It tshould, therefore, receive req Esonable aid from the government. The lgovernment has already done excellent work for Alaska in laying cables and lbuilding telegraph lines. This work lhas been done in the most economical and efficient way by the Signal corps of 'the army.
 Tn some respects it has outgrown it's 'present laws, while in others those laws lhave been found inadequate. In order ito obtain information upon which I could rely I caused an official of the de- lpartment of justice, in whose judg- IL ' f3lo lett