Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-12-05


states, and as the Insurance business
has optgrown In magnitude the pos.
sibility OF adequate state supervision.
the congress should carefully consid-
er whether further legislation can be
had. What Is said above applies with
equal force TO fraternal and benevo.
lent organizations which contract for
life Insurance.
The Revenues.
There Is more need OF stability than
of the attempt to attain an ideal per.
lection In the methods Of raj ing reve-
nue.; and the shock and strain to the
business world certain to attend any
serious change In these methods rem.
der such change inadvisable unless for
grave reason. Il Is not possible to lay
down any general rule by which to
deter-,ine the moment when the rea.
sons for, will outweigh the reasons
against such a change. Much must &C.
pend, not merely on the needs, but on
] the desires, OF the people as a whole;
for needs and desires are not necessa-
rily identical. or course no change
can be made on lines beneficial TO. or
desired by, n section or one state
only. There must be something like
a general agreement among the citi-
zens of the several states. as rep
resented in the congress, that the
change Is needed and desired in the
interest of the people as a whole;
and there should then be q sincere,
intelligent. and ~disinterested effort to
make 1t In such shape as will com.
bine. SO far az possible, the maxi.
mum Of good to the people at large
| with the minimum Of necessary disre-
gard for the special interests Of To-
| calities or classes. But In time of
peace the revenue must on the ave-
rage. taking a series Of years togeth.
er, equal the expenditures or else
the revenues must be increased. Last
year there was a deficit. Unless our
expenditures a be kept within the
revenues then our rel laws must
be readjusted. 1t is as yet too early
to attempt to outline what shape such
a readjustment should take, for 1t Is
as yet too early to say whether there
will be need for 1t. 1t should be con.
sidered whether 1t Is not desirable
that the tariff laws should provide for
applying as against or in favor OF any
other nation maximum and minimum
tariff rates established by the con-
gress. so as to secure a certain reel
procify of treatment between other
nations and ourselves. Having In
view ever lal ger considerations of pol
Icy than those Of a purely economic
nature, 1t would. In my judgment. be
well TO endeavor to bring about los
er commercial connections with the
other peoples of this continent.
am happy to be able TO to
you that Russia now treats us on the
INSTRUMENTATION basis.
Economy in Expenditures.
earnestly recommend to congress
the need Of economy and to this end
Of a rigid scrutiny OF appropriations.
As examples merely. call your atten.
ton to one or two specific matters.
All unnecessary offices should be abol-
ished. The commissioner Of the gen
erai land Office recommends the abol-
ishment OF the office OF receiver of
public moneys for United States land
OFFICES. This will effect a saving of
about a quarter Of a million dollars a
year. As the business Of the nation
grows It IL inevitable that there s--ould
a. R.<~. {s.xA - TIM n neiftVNntn In.
crease In the number Of officials. and
this fact renders 1t all the more i'm.
portant that when offices become I'M
necessary they should be abolished. In
the public printing also a large say.
ing Of public money can be made.
There Is a constantly growing ten
dency 10 publish masses Of unimpor,
,ant information. II Is probably not
unfair to say that many tens Of thou.
sands 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. | must
In no wise be understood as advocat'
ing the false economy which Is In the
end the worst extravaganza. To cut
down on the navy. for instance. would
be a crime against the nation. To
fail TO push forward all work on the
Panama canal would be IA great a
folly.
Currency.
In my message Of December 2, 1902,
10 the congress | said:
Interest rates are a potent fac
tor In business activity. and In order
that these rates may be equaliezd to
meet the varying needs Of the seasons
and Of widely separated communities,
and TO prevent the recurrence Of inan-
cial s~tringencies which injuriously af.
feet legitimate business, II is neces-
cary that there should be an element
OF elasticity in our monetary system.
Banks are the natural servants of
commerce. and upon them should be
rlaced. as far as practicable. the bur
den of furnishing and maintaining a
circulation adequate 10 supply the
needs Of our diversified industries and
OF our domestic and foreign commerce:
and the issue of this should be so