The Mena weekly star., 1907-12-05
THE PRESIDENTS
 ANNUAL MESSAGE
Continued from Page 2.)

Under our form of government voting is not merely right but duty. and. moreover, Fundamental and necessary duty if man is to be a good citizen It is well to provide that corporations shall not contribute to presidential or national campaigns. and furthsrmors to provide for the publication of both com tiibutions and expenditures. There is, however, always danger in laws of this kind, which from their very nature are difficult of enforcement; the danger beinr lest they be obeyed only by the honest. and disobeyed by the interruptions, SO as to act only as penalty upon honest men. Moreover. no such law would ham, per an interruptions man of unlimited means from buying his own way into of ice. There is a very radical measure which would, l believe, work a substan- tfai improvement in our system of con ducting a campaign. although I am well aware that 1t will take some time for people to so familiarize themselves with such a proposal as to bs willing to con slider Its adoption. The need for collect ing large campaign funds would vanish fl congress provided an appropriation for the proper and legitimate expenses of each of the great national parties, an ap- propriation ample enough to meet the necessity for thorough organization ana machinery. which requires q large sx- penditurs of money Then tho stipula- ton should bs made that no party rs- eeiving campaign funds from the treasury should accept more than . nxed amount from any individual subscriber or donor: and the necessary publicity for receipts and expenditures could without dificulty be provided"
 Wants Improvement in the
 Ocean Mail Sers ice.
 T call your especial attention to the un- satisfactory condition of our foreign mall service, which, because of the lack of American steamship lines la now largely done through foreign lines and which, particularly SO far as South and Central America arc concerned. Is done In man. nsr which constitutes serious barrier to the extensions of our commerce
 The time has come. in my Judgment. to set to work seriously to make our ocean mall service correspond mors closely with our recent commercial and political development. A beginning was made by the ocean mall act of March !, 1891. but even at that time the act waa known to be inadequate in various par tieulars. Since that time events have moved rapidly in our history. We have acquired Hawaii, the Philippines and lesser islands in the Pacific. We are steadily prosecuting the great work of uniting at the Isthmus the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific. To grsatss oxtSHt UTAH bttIoQ pEOpHDiy even m dozen years ago we may look to as American future on the sea worthy sf the tradition of our past As the first step in that direction. and the step most feasible at the present time. recommend the extension of the ocean mail act oi 1891. That act has stood for some years free from successful criticism of its prn- ciple and purpose. It was based on thes- riss of the obliH ations of a great mari- time nation. undisputed in our own land and followed by other nations aimee the beginning of steam navigation. Briefly those theories arc. that 1t is the duty of . frst-claSs power SO far as practicable to carry It's ocean mails under its own Sag. that the fast ocean steamships and their crews. required for such mall serv- ice. are valuable auxiliaries to the seq power of a nation. Furthermore, the constrNction of such steamships insures the maintenance In an efficient condition of the shipyards in which our battleships must be built.
 "Ths expenditure of pubic money for the performance of such necessary func- tons of government is certainly war ranted, nor is 1t necessary to dwell upon the incidental benefits to our foreign commerce. to the shipbulding industry, and to ship owning and navigation which will accompany the discharge of these urgent public duties though they. too, should have weight
 Asks Increase In Pay
 for Army Omcers and Men.
 The president devotes much space to the affairs of the army. and strongly urges that our regular military organi- zation be kept up to the highest possible standard of efficiency. and says:
 ''The medical corps should be much greater than the needs of our regular army in war. Yet at present 1t is small CT than the needs of the service demand even in peace. The Spanish war oc- cured less than ten years ago. The chief loss we suffered in It was by dis- ease among the regiments which never left the country. At the moment the patton seemed deeply impressed by thas fact: yet seemingly 1t has already been forgotten, for not the slightest effort has been made to prepare medical corps of sufficient size to prevent the repetition of the same disaster on much larger scale if we should ever be engaged In serious conflict.
 But the medical department is not the only department for which increased pre- vision should be made. The rate of pay for the officers should be greatly in- creased there is no higher type of citizen than the American regular officer. and nc should have fair reward Tor his ao- mirabie work. There should be rsla~ uN9lY even ETcdlcE inCItd1S HI thS Rt~J ASs the enlisted men. An especial provision should be made for establishing grades equivalent to those of warrant omcers in the navy, which should be open to the enlisted men who servo sufficiently long and who do their work well. Inducements should be offered sufficient to encourage really good men to make the army life occupation. The prime needs of cur pres snt army is to secure and retain comps- tsnt noncommissioned officers. This difn- eulty rosts fundamentally on the ouss- ton of pay. The noncommissioned omcsr does not correspond with an unskiiied iA- borer: he corresponds to the best type CT skilled workman or to the suporoin2ts official in civil institutions. Wages have greatly increased in outside occupations in the last 40 years and the pay of the soldier, like the pay of the officers. should hs proportionately increased. The nrst sergeant of a company, If gooo mAn' must be ono of such executive ana ao- ministrative ability. and such knowledge ef his trade. as to be werth Tar more thsn we at present pay hIm The same 10 true sf the regimental sergeant major. These men should be men who had fully rs> solved to mako the army life occupa- ton and they should be able to look ior- ward to ample reward; while oniy me. properly qualified should be given . chance to secure these final rewards The increase over the present pay need not be great in the lower grades for the nrst one or two enlistments, but the increase should be marked for the noncommis- stoned officers of the upper grades who serve long enough to make 1t evident tnat they intend to stay permanently m tns army. while additional pay should DC given for high qualifications in target practice.
 Among the officers there should be severe examinations to weed out the