Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-12-07
for maneuvers of a Dractical kind.

Tor maneuvers or practical kind.
Provision should be made for the pro
motion Of exceptionally merltorious
men over the heads Of their comrades
and for the retirement of all men who
have reached given age without get
ting beyond a given rank.
There should be an increase In the
| coast artillery force 30 that our coast
Notifications can be in some degree
adequately manned. There Is specia,
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.
cluslvely in the Spanish and
the Russo-Japanese wars. The work
Of the medical departments In the Jan.
ancse army and navy is especially
worthy Of study.
Our navy must, relatively to the m.
vies of other nations, always he of
greater size than our army. We have
most wisely continued for n number Of
years to build up our navy, and Il
has now reached fairly high standard
OF efficiency. This standard must not
only be maintained, but increased. II
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 10
substitute efficient for inefficient units
as the latter become worn out or as 4,
becomes apparent that they are use
less. Probably the result would be
attained by adding a single hattleshic
to our navy each year. the superseded
or outworn vessels being laid M or
broken Up as they nre thus replaced.
naturalization.
On this subject I recommend:
Tirst.A federal bureau of naturali.
cation, 10 be established in the depart
ncni of commerce and labor, to Sill.
iervisc the administration of the natu.
radiation laws and to receive returns
OF naturallaations pending and accom-.
plishcd
Second.-CniformitS Of naturalization
certificates, fees to he charged. and
procedure.
Third.-More eXacting qualifications
for citizenship
Fourth. The preliminary declaration
of Intention TO be abolished and no
alien TO be nalurallzcG unit; at least
Ninety days alter The filing OF his petl.
ton.
Fifth. - Jurisdiction to natura,ize
aliens 10 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 rn
limited: in cities of over 100000 tnhab
itants the United States district courts
to have exclusive jurisdiction in the
naturalization cf the alien residents of
such cities.
Criminal Laws.
In my last message | asked the at.
tention Of the congress- to the urgent
need OF action 10 make our criminal
law more effective. and most ear.
nestly request that YOU pay heed to
the report of the attorney general on
this subject.
here seems to he no statute Of the
United states which provides for the
punishment OF Il United States attor.
ney or other officer of the government
vino corriptly agrees 10 wroncf,illy do
or wronCfullv refrain from doing any
&c. when tie consideration for such
corrupt agreement is other than ono
possesslnS money value This ought TO
be remcdied by appropriate legislation.
Legislation should also be enacted 10
cover explicitly. unequivocally and bc.
yond question breach Of trust I'm the
shape of prematurey divulging official
secrets by an officer or employees of the
United States and to provide Il suitable
penalty therefor.
Herchan- Marie.
10 the spread Of our trade in peace
and the defense Of our flag in war n
great and Hrosperous merchant marine
Is Indispensable. We should have ships
of our owg and scamcn of our own TO
convey our goods to neutral market,
and in case Of need to re-enforce our
battle line II cannot but he a source
OF regret and uueasiness to us mat the
lines of communication with our sister
republics Of South America should lie
chiefly under foreign control 1t is not
a good thing thai American merchants
anu manufacturers should have TO send
their goods and letters to South Amer
lea via Europe If they wish security
and dispatch. Even on the Pacific,
where our siiips have held their own
better than on the Atlantic, our mer-
chant flag is now threatened through
the liberal aid bestowed by other gov
ernmcnts Oh their own steam lines.
nsk your earnest consideration of the |
report with which the merchant ma.
rins commission has followed it's Ions
and careful inquiry.
1t Is matter of unmixed satisfac.
ton once more to call attention to the |
excellent work Of the pension bureau.
Tor the veterans OF the civil war have |
greater claim upon us than any other |
class of our citizens. To them first Of |
all among our people honor Is due.
immigration.
As / said In my last message to the
congress, We cannot have TOO much !
Of the right sort. and we
should hive none whatever Of the
wrong sort.
The questions arising in connection
with Chinese immigration stand by