The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-12-08

4 y
vies of other nations. always be of
greater size than orr army. We have
most wisely continued for a number Of
years - build Up our navy, and it
has now reached a fairly high standard
of efficiency. This standard must not
only be maintained, but increased. 1t
does net seem 10 me necessary. how
ever that the navy should, at least in
! The immediate future, be Increased be-
You'd 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 the superseded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 | recommend:
/ First.-A federal bureau of naturali-
cation, to be established in the depart
ment of commerce and labor. to SUI
4 pervisc the administration of the natu-
ralization laws and to receive returns
/ of naturalizations pending and accom-
/ plished.
! Second.--UnfOrmity of naturalization
certificates, fees to be charged, and
! procedure.
Third.-SIore exacting qualifications
for citizenship.
/ Fourth.-Ihe preliminary declaration
i of intention to be abolished and no
alien TO be naturalized until at least
ninety days after the fling 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 I'M
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
tention 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 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-
yond question breach of trust in the
shape of prematurely divulging official
secrets by an officer or 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 a
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 uneasiness to us that the
linnc Of
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-
chant flag is now threatened through
the liberal aid bestowed by other gov
I ernments on their own steam lines.
ask your earnest consideration of the
! -eport with which the merchant ma
/ rine commission has followed its long
and careful inquiry.
1t is a matter of unmixed satisfac-
ton once more to call attention to the
excellent work of the pension bureau,
for the veterans of the civil war have
a greater claim upon rs than any other
class of our citizens. To them first OF
all among orr people honor is due.
Immigration.
As l said in my last message to the
congress, we cannot have too much
immigration of the right sort and we
should have none whatever of the
wrong sort
The questions arising in connection
with Chinese immigration stand by
themselves. The conditions in China
are such that the enth Chinese cody
class-that is, the class of Chinese la
borers, skilled and unskilled = legiti-
mately come under the head of unde-
sirable immigrants to this country.
But in .1e effort to carry out the pol
icy of excluding Chinese laborers, Chi
nese coolies, grave injustice and wrong
have been done by this nation to the
people of China and therefore ultimate
ly to this nation itself Chinese stu
dents, business and professional men
of all kinds, not only merchants, but
bankers, doctors, manufacturers, pro-
fessors, travellers and the like, should
be encouraged to come here and treat
ed on precisely the same footing that
we treat students, business men, trav-
9lers and the like of other nations.
AS a people we have talked much of
the open door in China, and we expect,
and quite RIGHTLY intend to insist upon.