Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1907-12-06


inches and in September of 1865 inche;
Finally, in October. the record wa
again eClipscd. the total excavation be
ing l,S6S,729 cubic yards; truly "X
traordinary record. especially in ricN
Of the heavy rainfall, which was Il.
inches. In fact experience during IN
last two rainy seasons demonStrnt"
that the rains are less serious 90
stAclr to progress than has hitherto
been supposed.
"Wurk on the locks and dams a
Gntun, which began actively In Marc
last has advanced 50 far THAT IL l.
! Thought that masonry wO>k on tn
locks can be brgun within - months.
Last winter bids were requested an'
received for doing tn" work OF cana
construction by contract Non" of then
was found to be satisfactory and a!
were rejected. 1t is the unanimous
opinion OF tn" present commission tina
/ the work can be done better. NOR,
| chcaply and more quickly 10y the gov
eminent thnn ~ prirHt" contractors
| Fully 50 per cent. Of tn" entire plant
needed for construction has been pur'
chased or contracted for; machine
shops have been erected and equipped
for making all needed repairs to tn,
| plant; many thousands OF employees
| have been secured: an effective orEAnl
| cation has been perfected; Il recruiting
| syst, IN is In operation which is capable
Of furnishing more labor than can b"
used advHntLgcously; employees ar"
well sheltered and well fed, salaries
paid are satisfactory, and the work is
not only going forward smoothly, but
| It is predicting results far in adVanc"
Of tue most snngu.ne nnucipationS.
| Under these favorable conditions a
change in the method of prosecuting
| the work would be unWisc and unjusti :
iahl for it would Inevitably d!sorgan-
| re existing conditions. check progress,
and increase the cost and lcngthen the
time Of completing the canal.
President Recommends
Postal Savings Banks.
Il commend to the favorable cOnsid-
GRAFTON of the congress a postal saw
lngS bank system. as recommended by
the postmaster general The primary
object is to encourage among our peo-
pie economy and thrift and by the use
Of postal savings banks to give them
IN opportunity to husband their re-
sources, particularly those who have
not the facilities at hand for depositing
their money in savings banks. \!"Wtd
however, from the experience of the
past few weeks, it is evident that the
advantages Of such an institution are
1till more far-rcaching. Timid dtpoS-
tors have Withdraw their savings Tor
'hc time being from national banks, IN
iividualS have boarded their ca Stl ana
the workingmcn their earnings; all
If which money has been withdrawn
and kept in hiding or in the sale de-
.pOSit box to the d, trini"ut OF pros
p"rity. Through the ag, nry of the pos
tai savings bnni:s such money would be
restored to the chnnnclS Of trade. to
the mutual b, neiit of capital and labor.
Il further commend to the congress
the consideration Of the post master
generals rccomm, ndntinn for an cN-
tension Of the parcel post. especially on
the rur routes. There are now 49,
Is rural routes, serving nearly l',000,-
900 people who do not have the ad-
>antag"s of the inha bitants of cities in
obtaining their supplies These recon-
mcndationS have been drawn up to
benefit the farmer and the country
Storekeepcr; otherwise. l should not
favor them, for believe that it is good
policy for our government to do every
thing possible to aid the small town
ana the country district, 1t is d, iirable
that the country merchant should not
be crushed out.
The fOurth-class postmas ters' con-
EentiOn has passed a very strong rcSO-
luton in favor of placing the fourth
ice law. The administration has al
ready put into effect the policy Of re.
fusng to remove any fourth class post
masters save for reasons connected
with the good of the service; and it is
endtavoring so far as possible to re-
move them from the domain Of partisan
p"iItlcs. 1t would be a most dcs rablc
thing to put the fourth-class postmas-
tiers in the classified service"
He renews his recommendations of
last year in regard to Alaska; calls at
tention to the admission of Oklahoma
rs state; urges the Importance of pro-
viding shipping relief for Hawaii; asks
for citizenship for Porto Ricans, and
promises submission Of Secretary
Taft's report on Philippines when that
official returns.
lie asks for the creation Of a bureau
or mines; recommends the providing Of
funds for preserving The Hermita ge
the home OF Andrew Jackson; and the
erection of naval monument at
NlCkSburg.
corporation Contributions
20 COmpnign Expenses.
Under our form OF government voting
$ not merely right but a duty, and.
moreover. a Fundamental and necessary
duty If man is to be a good citizen.
1t is well to provide that corporations
Shal. not contribute to presidential or
national campaigns, and furthermore to
provide f"r the publication of both con-
,rlbuuons and expenditures. There is
Aowerrr, always danger in laws OF this
kind. which from their very nature are
hlilcllt or enforcement. the danger being
lest they be Obeyed only by the honest.
and d!Sobeycd by the unscrupulous. so
Is 10 act only as penalty upon honest
ilcn Moreover, no such law would ham
per an INSCRIPTIONS man of unlimited
means from buying his own way into Of
tir". There Is very radical measure
Whi' h would. l believe, work a substan-
lal Improvement in our system of con-
iurtlng campaign. although | am we'll
lWare that it will take some time for
people to SO familinriZe themselves with
'utn proposal as to be willing to con-
slider its adoption. The need for collect
ng large campaign funds would vanish il
congress provided an appropriation for
the proper and legitimate expenses of
each OF the great natioual parties, an ap-
preparation ample enough to meet the
for thorough organization and
which requires large cx-
penditure of money. Then the stipula-
ion should be made that no party re-
ewing campaign funds from the treasury
should accept more than fixed amount
from any Individual subscriber or donor.
md the necessary publicity for receipts
and expenditures could without linltultv
be provided"
Wants Improvement In the
Ocean Mail Service.
i eau your especial attention to the nm
condition Of our foreign mai,
service, which. because Of the Iar, nf |
American steamship lines, Is now largely |
done through fore gn lines, and which
so far as South and Central
America are concerned. is done in a n,r-
ller which constitutes a serious barrj,r |
to the extensions of our commerce
THE time has come. in my iudrmcn,
to set to work seriously to max, our
ocean mail service correspond move
closely with our recent commercial nnd |
political Development A beuirnin, ~ |