The Caldwell tribune., 1905-12-09

|
| ttas ersjnst American insurance companies.
These negotiations illustrated tine proprletS
of the Congress recognizing the National chaEs
| Federal LEGISLATION the State Department con!d
| only give expression to the wishes OK the au-
/ thorities of the several states. whose. So4AHE
| was ineffective through want OF unltorniy,
| T reneat nv previous Recommendation that
| the Congress should also consider Wnether tne
| Federal Government has any power or oWes
any duty with respect to domestic tIans"o1 Gba4
| in insurance of an interstate character. A"et
! state supervision has proved 1naceQuatS 10
| generally conceded. The burden upon insu.
ance companies, and therefore their poheS
holders. of conflicting regulations Of many
states, 10 unquestioned, while put HttIe el
! fettive check is imposed upon any aDle anu
unscrupulous man who desires to exploit the
company in his own interest at the expense NJ VI
| the policy-holders and Of the public. Inc
| inability Of a state to regulate enectiVeiy IN
surance corporations created under tue lams s
of other states and transactins the larger part
of their business elsewhere Is also clear. As
a remedy for this evil OF conflicting, lnenectlVe
and vet burdensome regulations there mas oeeh
| for many years widespread demand for
| Federal supervision. The Congress mas ~
ready recognized that interstate hSuranoe
| may be a proper subject for Federal leslslH-
| tion for In creating the Bureau OF corpora
tiona it authorized 1t to publish ana supoy
useful information concerning interstate eoEr
| porations, Including corporations engaged IN
! insurance" 1t is obvious that II the COM
pilation of statistics be the limit of the FED
eral power 1t is wholly ineffective 10 reEu- Eo
| tween the states, and as the insurance pusi-
| ness has outgrown in magnitude the posslpli-
ity of adequate state supervision. the Con-
| gress should carefully consider whether fur:
| ther LEGISLATION can be had. What 10 saie
above applies with equal force to fraternal ana
! benevolent organizations which contract AoF
| life insurance.
The Revenues.
| There Is more need of stability than or the
attempts to attain an ideal perfection IN
the methods of raising revenue; and the
| shock and strain to the business world GER
| tain to attend any serious change in these
methods render such change inadVisable un-
less for grave reason. 1t is not possible to
lay down any general rule by which to
determine the moment when the reasons for
will outweigh the reasons against such
change. Much must depend, not merely on
the needs, but on the desires of the people
as a whole; for needs and desires are not
necessarily Identical OF course no change
can be made on lines beneficial to, or desired
by. one section or one state only Ihere
must be something like a general agreement
among the citizens of the several states, as
| represented in the Congress- that the change
Is needed and desired in the interest OF the
people whole; and there should then be
| a sincere, intelligent, and disinterested effort
to make 1t in such shape as will combine, SO
| far as possible, the maximum OF good to the
people at large with the minimum of neces-
sary disregard for the special interests of
localities or classes. But in time of peace
the revenue must on the average, taking
! a series of years together equal the expendi-
lures else the revenues must be increased.
Last year there was a deficit. Unless our
expenditures can be kept within the rev.
enues then our revenue laws must be read
justed. 1t Is yet too early to attempt to
outline what shape such a readjustment
should take, for it is as yet too early to say
whether there will be need for it.
1t should be considered whether 1t is
not desirbale that the tariff laws
should provide for applying against
or in favor of any other nation maximum
and minimum tariff rates established by the
Congress, so as to secure certain reci-
pTocity of treatment between other nations
and ourselves. Having in view even larger
considerations of policy than those of a
purely economic nature, It would in my
judgment. be well to endeavor to bring
about closer commercial connections with
the other peoples of this continent. 1 am
happy to be able to announce to you that
Russia now treats US on the most-favored-
nation basis.
Economy in Expenditures.
I earnestly recommend to the Congress
the need of economy and to this end of a
rigid scrutiny of appropriations. AS exam
pies merely, I call your attention to one or
two specific matters All unnecessary Offices
should be abolished. The Commissioner of
the General Land Office recommends the
abolishment Of the office of receiver of pub
lie moneys for United States land Offices.
This will effect a saving of about a quar-
ter of million dollars year. AS the busi-
ness of the Nation grows 1t Is inevitable
that there should be from time to time a
legitimate increase in the number of off,
cials. and this fact renders 1t all the more
important that when offices become unneces-
sary they should be abolished. In the pub
lie printing also large saving OF public
money can be made There Is constantly
growing tendency to publish masses of un.
important information. 1t is probably not
unfair to say that many tens Of thousands
of volumes are published at which no human
being ever looks and for which there Is no
real demand whatever.
Yet, In speaking of economy, I must In
no wise be understood advocating the
false economy which is In the end the
yfrOty
Navy, for instance. would be a crime against
the Nation. To fail to push forward all
work on the Panama Canal would be as
great folly.
Currency.
In my message of December 2, 1902, to the
Congress I said
| interest rates are a potent factor in bust.
ness activity, and in order that these rates
may be equalized to meet the varying needs
or the seasons and OF widely separated COM
munities, and to prevent the recurrence Of
financial stringencies which injuriously
act anect legitimate business. it Is necessary
that there should be an element of elas-
tlclty In our monetary system. Banks are
the natural servants of commerce, and upor
tnem should be placed as far as practlca-
BILE, the burden of furnishing and maintain
ing circulation adequate to sunniv the
needs Of our diversified Industries and Of our
domestic and foreign commerce: and the
issue asSue OF this should be SO regulated that
sufficient supply should be always available
for the business interests of the country"
| Every consideration of prudence demands
the addition of the element of elasticity to
our currency system. The evil does not con-
slst in an inadequate volume of money hut
IN the rigidity of this volume which does
not respond as 1t should to the varying
needs of communities and of seasons Infla
tion must be avoided but some provision
should be made that will insure larger
| volume OF money during the Fall and Win
Ter months than in the less active seasons
! OF the year; so that the currency will CON
tract against speculation, and win exDand
Ior the needs of legitimate business. Ar
present the Treasury Department Ia at
irregularly recurring intervals Obliged in tho
interest or the business world-that ia in
| the interests of the American puhlic-to trv
20 avert nnanctal crises by providing rem
edy which should be provided by ConFres-
sional action. ~ oAsfes-
business Methods In Departments.
At various times l have Instituted invpsti
cations into the organization and conduct of
| @ @[ne business OF the Executive Departments
| NhlIe none or these inquiries have VET Dro
dressed tar enough to warrant fnaI fon-
cluslohs, they have already confirmed and
elhphaSlzed the general impression that the
oIsahzatlon OF the departments is often
faulty in principle and wasteful in ros,,It
"hlle many of their business methodg arn
annquated and inefficient. There is evar,,
! reason why our executive governmental ma
chlhery should be at least as well nIornad
eVohomlcal and efficient as the hest 49,
| gre