Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-12-04

fixing of the time and place m {I arrangements for the conference tS s11 governing board of the bure0U
 American republics, composed of 3E representatives of all tho Amori&i
 nations in Washington. That boov1 discharged the duty imposed up0S 1t with marked fidelity and palH taking care, and upon the courte0cD invitation of the United States Of Hr
 zil the conference was held at Rio 6o Janeiro, continuing from the 23d ~ July to the 29th of August last. ManR subjects of common interest to alI thS| American nations were discussed b1 the conference, and the conclusiolI1 reached, embodied in series of resoIu tions and proposed conventions, will bo laid before you upon the coming of tlxo final report of the American delegates.
 PANAMA TRIP.
 have just returned from q trip u Panama and shall report to you N length later on the whole subject of tho Panama canal
 THE ALGECIRAS CONVENTION.
 The Algeciras convention, which was signed by the United States as well as by most of the powers of Europe. syi, persedes the previous convention of 1880, which was also signed both by the United States and majority of the European powers. This treaty confers upon us equal commercial rights with all European countries and does not entail a single obligation 1T any kind upon us, and I earnestly hope it may be speedily ratified.
 SEALING.
 The destruction of the Pribilof is. land fur seals by pelagic sealing still continues. The herd, which, according to the survey made in 1874 by direc. tion of the congress, numbered 4,7O0,. GOO, and which, according to the sur. vey of both American and Canadian commissioners in 1891, amounted to 100000. has now been reduced 0 about 180000. This result has been brought about by Canadian and somo other sealing vessels killing the female seals while in the water during their annual pilgrimage to and from tho south or in search of food.
 The process of destruction has been accelerated during recent years by tho appearance of number Of Japaneao vessels engaged in pelagic sealing.
 Suitable representations regardins the incident have been made to tha government of Japan, and we are as. sured that all practicable measures win be taken by that country to prevent any recurrence of the outrage.
 We have not relaxed our efforts to 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
 Thelaws for the protection of the seab within the jurisdiction of the UnitSa 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 . sec ond peace conference at The Hague. Under the guidance of Russia the ar. engagement of the preliminaries for such conference has been progressing during the past year. Progress has necessarily been slow, owing to tho great number of countries to be cd suited upon every question that has arisen. It is matter of satisfaction that all of the American republics havo now, for the first time, been invited C join in the proposed conference.
 ARMY AND NAVY.
 It must ever be kept in mind thae war is not merely justinable, but fm- perative upon honorable men, upon n nation, where peace can only be obtained by the sacrifice e conviction or of national welfare.
 The United States navy is the suroSe of peace which this country possesses. I do not ask that. we conp tinue to increase our navy. I ank merely that it be maintained at iD present strength. and this can be dono only if we replace the obsolete and ouo. worn ships by new and good onss, tho equals of any aloat in any navy. 10 stop building ships for one year meang that for that year the navy goes baos instead of forward.
 In both the army and the navy thsgo s urgent need that everything posslb1o should be done to maintain the highouo standard for the personnel alike as p& yards the officers and the enlisted mon I do not believe that in any ssrvico here Is a finer body of enlisted non md of junior officers than we havo c ,otb the army and the navy. inclu1lng he marine corps.
 West Point and Annapolis alrea0y urn out excellent officers. We do uDe leed to have these schools made moro scholastic. On the contrary, we shou11 lever lose sight of the fact that tho Jim of each school Is to turn out c nan who shall be above everythlng .lse a fighting man. There should soon be an increase n he number of men for our coast c. enses. These men should be of tho fight type and properly trained. an1 here should therefore be an increaDo f pay for certain skilled grades. espo ially in the coast artillery. Meney hould be appropriated to permit tresDs o be massed in body and exercised ln