Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1905-12-06

possessed the power ana me win to
help them. There was imminent dan
ger Of foreign Intervention. The pa
thence Of foreign creditors had become
exhausted, and at least two foreign ma
tons were Oh the point Of Intervention
and were only prevented by the unofi-
cial assurance of this government that
1t would itself strive to help Santo
Domingo In her hour of need.
Accordingly, the executive depart
ment of our government negotiated q
treaty under which we are trying to
help the Dominican people to straight
en- out their finances. This treaty is
pending before the senate. In the
meantime a temporary arrangement
has been made under which the Domin-
lean government has appointed Amer
leans to all the important positions In
the customs service, and they are see-
ing to the honest collection Of the rev.
enues, turning over As per cent to the
government for running expenses and
putting the other 50 per cent into a
safe depositary for equitable division
In case the treaty shall be ratified
among the various creditors, whether
European or American.
Under the course taken stability and
order and all the benefits Of peace are
at last coming to Santo Domingo, dan
ger Of foreign Intervention has been
suspended, and there Is at last pros
pect that all creditors will get justice,
no more and no less. If the arrange
ment is terminated by the failure Of
the treaty chaos will follow, and sooner
or later this government may be in
volved in serious difficulties with for
eign governments over the island or
else may be forced itself to intervene
in the island in some unpleasant fash
lon.
Army and Navy.
I do not believe that any army In the
world has better average of enlisted
man or better type of junior officer.
but the army should be trained to act
effectively in a mass. Provision should
be made by sufficient appropriations
for maneuvers of a practical kind.
Provision should be made for the pro-
motion of exceptionally meritoriOus
men over the heads Of their comrades
and for the retirement of all men who
have reached a given age without get
ting beyond given rank.
There should be an increase in the
coast artillery force so that our coast
Notifications can be In some degree
adequately manned. There Is special
need for an increase and reorganization
Of the medical department Of the army.
In both the army and navy there must
be the same thorough training for duty
In the staff corps as In the fighting line.
The Importance Of this was shown con-
clusively In the Spanish-American and
the Russo-Japanese wars. The work
Of the medical departments In the Jap
anese army and navy is especially
worthy Of study.
Our navy must. relatively to the ma
vies of other nations, always be Of
greater size than our army. We have
most wisely continued for a number Of
years to build up our navy, and 1t
has now reached fairly high standard
Of efficiency. This standard must not
only be maintained, but increased. 1t
does not seem to me necessary, how
ever, that the navy should, at least In
the immediate future, be increased be-
yond the present number of units.
What is now clearly necessary Is to
substitute efficient for inefficient units
as the latter become worn out or as it
becomes apparent that they are use
less. Probably the result would be
attained by adding single battleship
to our navy each year, the superseded
or outworn vessels being laid up or
broken up as they are thus replaced.
Naturalization.
On this subject I recommend:
First.-A federal bureau Of naturali-
zatiOn, to be established In the depart
ment Of commerce and labor, to su-
pervise the administration Of the natu-
ralization laws and to receive returns
Of naturalizations pending and accom-
plished.
Second.-Uniformity Of naturalization
certificates, fees to be charged, and
procedure.
Third.-More exacting qualifications
for citizenship.
Fourth.-The preliminary declaration
Of intention to be abolished and no
alien to be naturalized until at least
ninety days after the filing of his petit
ton.
Fifth. - Jurisdiction to naturalize
aliens to be confined to United States
district courts and to such state courts
as have jurisdiction in civil actions In
which the amount in controversy is un-
limited; in cities Of over 100000 inhab-
itants the United States district courts
to have exclusive Jurisdiction in the
naturalization of the alien residents Of
such cities.
Criminal Laws.
In my last message l asked the at
tenti0n of the congress to the urgent
need Of action to make our criminal
law more effective, and l most ear
nestly request that you pay heed to
the report, Of the attorney general on
this subject.
There seems to be no statute of the
United States which provides for the
punishment Of United States attor-
ney or other officer Of the government
who corruptly agrees to wrongfully do
or wrongfully refrain from doing any
act when the consideration for such
corrupt agreement Is other than one
possessing money value. This ought to