The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1905-12-05

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
ION. u
Army and Navy.
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 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 a given rank
There should be an increase in the
coast artillery force so that our coast
fortifications can }, 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 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 number of
years to build up our navy, and it
| has now reached a fairly high standard
! of efficiency. This standard must not
only be maintained, but increased. It
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 a 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to our navy each year, the superseded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 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 I asked the at
tention of the congress to the urgent
need of action to make our criminal
! law more effective, and 1 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 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 legislation.
Legislation should also be enacted to
cover explicitly, unequivocally and be-
You'd question breach of trust in the
shape of prematurely divulgng official
secrets by an officer Oh employee of the
| United States and to provide suitable
penalty therefor
Merchant Marine.
| To the spread Of our trade in peace
and the defense of our flag in war
! great and prosperous merchant marine
is indispensable. We should have ships
Of our own and seamen of our own to
convey our goods to neutral markets
and in case of need to reinforce our
battle line. 1t cannot but be a source
of regret and uneasness to us that the
lines of communication with our sister
| republics of South America should be
chiefly under foreign control. 1t is not
good thing that American merchants
and 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 ships have held their own
better than on the Atlantic, our mer-