Arizona republican., 1905-12-06

| in which the amount in controYersy
 is unlimited; in cities of over 10,00(
 inhabitants the United States distric
 courts to have exclusive jurisdiction i in the naturalization of the alien res. | idents of such cities
 MORE EFFECTIVE CRIMINAL LAWS.
 l In my last message I asked the at l tention of the congress to the urgent | need of action to make our criminal law more effective; and I most ear
 nestly request that you pay heed to
 the report of the attorney general or this subject. Centuries ago it was
 especially needful to throw every safe guard round the accused. The danger then was lest he should be wronged by the state. The danger is, now eX-
 actly the reverse. Our laws and GUS
 toms tell immensely in favor of the
 criminal and against the interests of
 the public he has wronged. Some an
 tiquated and outworn rules which once
 safeguarded the threatened rights of
 private citizens, now merely work
 harm to the general body polite. The
 criminal law of the United States
 stands in urgent need of revision. The
 criminal process of any court of the
 United States should run throughout
 the entire territorial extent of our
 country. The delays of the criminal law, no less than of the civil, now amount to a very great evil.
 There seems to be no statute of the
 United States which provides for the
 punishment of a 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 be remedied by appropriate legisla- ton. Legislation should also be en- acted to cover, explicitly, unequivo- cally and beyond question, breach of trust in the shape of prematurely di- vulging official secrets by an officer or employee of the United States, and to provide a suitable penalty therefor. Such officer or employee owes the duty to the United States to guard carefully and not to divulge or in any manner, use, prematurely, information which is accessible to the officer or employee by reason of his official po- sition. Most breaches of public trust are already covered by the law, and this one should be. It is impossible, no matter how much care is used, to prevent tAe occasional appointment to the public service of a man who when tempted proves 'unfaithful; but every means should be provided to detect and every effort made to punish the wrongdOer. So far as in my power lies each and every such wrongdoer shall be relentlessly hunted down; in no instance in the past has he been spared; in no instance in the future shall he be spared. His crime is a crime against every honest man in the nation, for it is a crime gainSt the whole body polite. Yet in dwelling on such misdeeds, it is unjust not to add that they are altogether exceptional, and that on the whole the employees of the government render upright and faithful service to the people. There are exceptions, notably in one or two branches of the service; but at no time in the nations history has the public service of the nation taken as a whole stood on a higher plane than now, alike as regards honesty and as regards efficiency.
 THE PUBLIC LAND LAWS.
 Once again I call your attention to the condition of the public-land laws. Recent developments have given new urgency to the need for such changes as will fit these laws to actual pres ent conditions. The honest disposal and right use of the remaining public lands is of fundamental importance. The iniquitous methods by which the monopolizing of the public lands is being brought about under the present laws are becoming more generally known, but the existing laws do not furnish efficient remedies. The rec concentrations of the public lands commission upon this subject are wise and should be given effect.
 The creation of small irrigated farms under the reclamation act is powerful offset to the tendency of cer- tain other laws to foster or permit monopoly of the land. Under that act the construction of great irrigation works has been proceeding rapIdly ai:d successfully, the lands reclaimed are eagerly taken up, and the prospect that the policy of irrigation will ac complish all that was expected of it is bright. The act should be extended to include the state of Texas.
 The Reclamation Act derives much of it's value from the fact that it tends to secure the greatest possible number of homes on the land, and to create by settlement on public land, in part by forcing the subdivision of large pri vate holdings before they can get water from Government irrigation works. The law requires that no right to the use of water for land in private owner ship shall be sold for a tract exceed ing 160 acres to any one land owner. This provision has excited active and powerful hostility, but the success of the law itself depends on the wise and firm enforcement of it. We can not afford to substitute tenants for free holders on the public domain.
 The greater part of the remaining public lands can not be irrigated. They are at present and will probably al . ways be of greater value for grazing than for any other purpose. This fact has led to the grazing homestead if $40 acres in Nebraska and to the pro- posed extension of it to other states. It is argued that a family cannot be supported on 160 acres of arid grazing land. This is obviously true; but neither can a family be supported Cn GAO acres of much of the land to which it is proposed to apply the grazing