Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-12-04

reached, embodied in a series OF resolus
tons and proposed conventions, will be
laid before you upon tlie coming of the
final report Of the American delegates.
PANAMA TRIP.
| have just returned from a trip to
length later on the whole subject of the
Panama canal.
THE AtGECIRAS CONVENTION.
The Algeciras convention. which was
signed by the United States as well as
by most of the powers Of Europe, SIT
persedSs the previous convention of
1880. which was also signed both by
the United States and n majority of
tho European powers. This treaty
%confers upon us equal commercial
rights with all European countries and
does not entail a single obligation of
any Kind upon us. and ] earnestly hope
II may he speedily ratified.
SEALING.
The destruction of the Pribilof is
land fur seals by ppIagic scaling still
continues. The herd. which. according
10 the survey made in 1874 Ivy direc-
ton of the congress. numbered 1900
900. and which. according TO the sur
vey of both American and Canadian
commissioners in 1891. amounted to
1,0O6;DO0. has now been reduced to
about 10000. This result has beer
brought about by Canadian and some
other sealing vessels killing the female
seals while in the water during their
annual pilgrimage to and from the
south or in search of food.
The process of destruction has been
accelerated during recent years by the
appearance of Il number of japanese
vessels engaged in pelagic sealing.
Suitable representations regarding
the incident have been made to the
government Of Japan, and we are as
sured that all practicable measures will
be taken by that country to prevent
any recurrence of the outrage.
We have not relaxed our efforts tc
secure an agreement with Great Brit.
ain for adequate protection of the seal
herd. and negotiations with Japan for
the same purpose are in progress.
1helawsfor the projection Of the seals
within the Jurisdiction of the United
States need revision and amendment.
SECOND HAGUE CONFERENCE.
In my last message | advised you
that the emperor of Russia had taken
the initiative in bringing about n sec
ond peace conference ut The Hague.
Under the guidance of Russia the ar
rangement of the preliminaries for
such d conference has been progressing
during the past year. Progress has
necessarily been slow. owing to the
great number of countries to be on
suited upon every question that has
arisen. 1t is a matter of satisfaction
that all of the American republics have
now. for the first time. been invited to
join in the proposed conference.
ARMY AND NAVY.
L: must even be kept in mind that
war is not merely justifable, but i'm
perative upon honorable men, upon an
honorable nation, where peace can
only he obtained by the sacrifice of
conscientious conviction or of national
welfare.
The United States navy is the surest
g%uarantor of peace which this country
possesses. | do not ask that we con
time to increase our navy. | ask
merely that it be maintained at its
present strength. and this can be done
only if we replace the obsolete and out
worn ships by new and good ones, the
equals of any ahoat in any navy. To
stop building ships for u year means
that for that year the navy goes back
instead of forward.
In both the army and the navy there
is urgent need that everything possible
should be done TO maintain the highest
standard for the personnel alike as re-
cards the officers and the enlisted men.
| do not believe that in any service
there is a finer body of enlisted men
and of junior officers than we have in
both the army and the navy, including
the marine corps.
West Point and Annapolis already
turn out excellent officers. We do not
need TO have these schools made more
scholastic. On the contrary. we should
mover lose sight of the fact that the