The Havre herald. [volume] (Havre, Mont.) 1904-1908, 1905-12-08

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 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
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
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-
chant flag is now threatened through
the liberal aid bestowed by other gov
ernments on their own steam lines.
ask your earnest consideration Of the
report with which the merchant ma
rine commission has followed It's long
and careful inquiry.
1t Is 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 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
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 entire 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 the 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
" 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 thai
we treat students, business men, trav
elers 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
justice being shown us by the Chinese
But we cannot expect to receive equity
unless we do equity.
The Civil Service.
Heads of executive departments and
members of the commission have call
ed my attention to the fact that the
rule requiring a filing of charges and
three days notice before an employee
could be separated from the service fol
inefficiency has served no good pur
pose whatever. Experience has showr
that the rule Is wholly ineffective tt
save any man If a superior for i'm
proper reasons wishes to remove hin
and is mischievous because it some
competent men not guilty Of specific
wrongdoing. Having these facts il
view, the rule has been amended by
providing that where the inefficiency OF
incapacity comes within the persona
knowledge of the head Of a department
the removal may be made without no
tice, the reasons therefor being filed
and made record Of the department
The absolute right Of removal rest
where it always has rested, with thu
head of department. The change Il
merely one OF procedure. It was mucl
needed, and it is producing good re
suits.
Our copyright laws need revision.
Philippines and Other Islands.
During the last year the Philippin,
Islands have been slowly recoverin,
from the series of disasters which sine
American occupation have greatly re
duced the amount of agricultural prod