Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-12-06
1 cover interstate transactions and insur-

ance.
 Above all else we must strive to keep the highways of commerce open to all sn equal terms, and to do this it is nec- essary to put complete stop to all re- bates. Whether the shipper or the rail- road is to blame makes no difference. The rebate must be stopped, the abuses of the private car and private terminal track and side track systems must be stopped. and the legislation of the Eff ty-eighth congress which declares it to be unlawful for any person or corpora tion to offer, grant, give, solicit, accept or receive any rebate, concession or discrimination in respect of the trans portation Of any property in interstate or foreign commerce whereby such property shall by any device whatever be transported at a less rate than that n, med in the tariffs published by the ca .rier must be enforced While I am of the opinion that at present it would be undesirable if it were not iInpracti- cable finally to oclothe the interstate commerce commission with general au- thority to. fix railroad rates do be- lieve that as fair security to ship pers the commission should be vested with the power where given rate has been challenged and after full hearing found to be unreasonable to decide, sub ject to Judicial review, what shall be a reasonable rate to take it's place, the ruling of the commission to take effect immediately and to obtain unless and until it is reversed by the court of re- view
 Steamship companies engaged in in terstate commerce and protected in our coastwise trade should be held to a strict observance of the interstate com merce act.
 [The president here discusses the city of Washington, making numerous recommendation looking to it's better government He asks that laws be passed preventing overcrowding in the tenement districts, for the abolition of blind alleys and the proper housing of the poor. He also recommends changes in the criminal code, and would have wife beaters corporally punished
 IRRIGATION.
 During the two and half years that have elapsed since the passage of the reclamation act rapid progress has been made in the surveys and exami- nations of the opportunities for recla- nation in the thirteen states and three territories of the arid west. Construc- tion has already been begun on the lar gest and most important of the irriga- tion works and plans are being com pleted for works which will utilize the funds now available. v
 The forest policy of the government is just now 8 subject of vivid public interest throughout the west and to the people of the United States in general. The forest reserves themselves are of extreme value to the present as well as to the future welfare of all the western public land states. They pow eEfUIiy affect tie use and disposed of 1. the public, lands They are of spes cial importance because they pre- serve the water supply and the supply of timber for domestic purposes and so promote settlement under the reclama- tion act Indeed they are essential to the welfare of every one of the great interests of the west:
 have repeatedly called attention to the confusion which exists in govern ment forest matters because the work is scattered among three independent organizations. As have recommend- ed, all the forest work of the govern ment should be concentrated in. the de- partment of agriculture, where the larger part of that work is already
 (Continued on I,age Three)