The Green Forest tribune., 1906-12-08
TIE PRESIDENTS ANNUAL MESSAGE
 TO LAWMAKERS Recommends Legislation on
 New and Important Subjects. INCOME INHERITANCE TAX He Believes Such Laws Would Curb Growth of Fortunes to Dan-
 gerous Proportions.
INCOME . INHERITANCE TAX
Ills Views on Negro Question-Asks for Currency Reform, and Shipping eill-Would Make Citizens of laps Many Other Important Subjects Discussed.

Washington. Dec. s3.-President Roose- velts message to the second session of the Fifty-ninth congress deals with a number of new and important subjects, chief of which is the government prose- cution of the trusts, the abuse of injunc- tions in labor troubles, the negro ques- tion. the preaching of class hatred between capital and labor additional legis- lation for the control of large corpora tions, federal inheritance and income tax law and currency reform.
 The message opens with a statement of what the last congress left unfinished and of this he says:
 ,,1 again recommend law prohibiting all corporations from contributing to the campalgn expenses of any party. Such gress. Let individuals contribute as they desire; but let us prohibit in effective fashion all corporations from making contributions for any political purpose,
 Another bill which has just past one house of the congress and which is ur- law is that conferring upon the govern ment the right of appeal in criminal cases on questions of law. This. right exists in many. of the states; it exists in the District of Columbia by act of the congress. It Is of course not proposed that in any case verdict for the de- fendant on the merits should be set aside Recently. in one district where the government had indicted certain per sons for conspiracy in connection with rebates, the court sustained the defend- ants demurrer; while in another juris- diction an indictment for conspiracy to obtain rebates has been sustained by the court, convictions obtained under it, and two defendants sentenced to impris- oament. The two cases referred to may not be in real conflict with each other, but 1t is unfortunate that there should even be an apparent conflict At pres ent there is no way by which the gov eernment can cause such a conflict, when 1t occurs, to be solved by an appeal to a higher court; and the wheels of justice are blocked without any real decision of the question. I can not too strongly urge the passage of the bill in question. A failure to pass will result in seriously hampering the government in it's effort to obtain justice, especially against wealthy individuals or corporations who do wrong; and may also prevent the government from obtaining justice for waseworkers who are not themselves able effectively to contest a case where the judgment of an inferior court has been against them. I have specifically in view recent decision by district judge leaving railway employees with out remedy for violation of certain so- called labor statute. It seems an absurd ity to permit single district judge, against what may be the judgment of the immense majority of his colleagues on the bench, to declare law solemnly enacted by the congress to be ''uncon- stitutional," and then to deny to the government the right to have the su- preme court definitely decide the ques- tion."