The news-democrat. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909, 1907-12-03

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II has shown that cuckoos and orioles
are the natural enemies of the leaf
eating caterpillars that destroy our
shade and fruit trees; that our quails
and sparrows consume annually hun
dreds Of tons of seeds of noxious
weeds: that hawks and owls as class
(excepting the few that kill poultry
and game birds) are markedly beneh-
cial. spending their lives I'm catching
grasshoppers. mice and other pests
that prey upon the products Of hus-
bandry. 1t has conducted field expert
ments for the purpose of devising and
perfecting simple methods for holding
In check the hordes of destructive ro-
dents-rats, mice. rabbits, gophers,
prairie dogs and ground squirrels
which annually destroy crops worth
many millions of dollars, and II has
published practical directions for the
destruction of wolves and coyotes on
the stock ranges of the west, resulting
during the past year in an estimated
saving of cattle and sheep valued ut
upward of a million dollars.
Ii has inaugurated system of in
spection at the principal ports of en-
| try on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts
by means of which the introduction of
noXious mammals and birds is pre-
vented thus keeping out the mongoose
and certain birds which are rs much
to he dreaded as the previously intro
duced English sparrow and the house
rats and mice.
| I'm. hn int al ~
has co-operated with local officials in
every state in the Onion. has strven
to promote uniform legislation in the
several states, has rendered important
service in enforcing the federal law
regulating interstate traffic in game
and has shown how game protection
may he made to yield Il large revenue
10 the state, revenue amounting In
the case of Illinois TO S12S00O in a
single year.
The biological survey has explored
the faunas and floras of America with
reference TO the distribution Of ami
mails and plants. II has defined and
mapped the natural life areas-areas
| in which. by reason OF prevailing eli
matte conditions, certain kinds of ami
mails and plants occur-and has point
ed out the adaptability of these areas
10 the cultivation of particular crops
The results of these investigations are
not only of high educational value, but
are worth each year to the progressive
farmers of the country many times the
cost Of maintaining the survey, which,
it may be added. is exceedingly small.
| recommend 10 congress that this bu-
reau, whose usefulness is seriously
handicapped by lack of funds, be
granted an appropriation i'm some de-
! gree commensurate with the impor-
tance of the work il is doing
| Ocean Mail Service.
l call your especial attention to the
unsatisfactory condition of our foreign
mail service. which because Of the
lack OF American steamship lines is
now largely done through foreign lines
and which particularly so far as South
and Central America are concerned. is
done in IA manner which constitutes
serious barrier to the extension Of our
commerce.
The time has come. i'm my judgment,
TO set to work seriously to make our
ocean mail service correspond more
closely with our recent commercial and
political development. A beginning
was made by the ocean mail act of
March 3. 1891, but even 1T that time
the act was known To be inadequate in
various particulars. Since that time
events have moved rapidly i'm our his
tory. We have acquired Hawaii, the
Philippines and lesser islands I'm the
Pacific. We are steadily prosecuting
the great work of uniting ut the 18TH
mus the waters of the Atlantic and
the Pacific. To greater extent than
seemed probable even Il dozen years
ago we may look TO an American fu-
ture on the sea worthy Of the tradi-
tions of our past AZ the first step I'm
that direction and the step most feast
BE AT the present time | recommend
the extension pf The ocean mail act of
| 1891. That act has stood for Soue years
free from successful criticism of its
principle ard purpose. II was based
on theories Of the obligations Of
t
our own land and followed by other
nations since the beginning of steam
navigation. Briefly those theories are
that il is the duty of IA first class pow
or 80 far as practicable to carry its
ocean mails under its own flag; that
the fast ocean steamships and their
crews. required for such mail service,
,rp irvolunblc auNIligricS In tho sen
lower Of nation. Furthermore, the
construction of such steamships in
sures the maintenance in an efficient
condition of the shpyards in which our
battlcshirs must be built.
The expenditure of public money for
the pe~0rmancc of such necessary
functions Of government is certainly
warranted. nor is IL necessary to dwell
upon the Incidental benefits To our for
n. H.