Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1908-12-17
LAST MESSAGE
TO CONGRESS
Brief Summary of RooseyeIt's Letter
to lawmakers.

The financial standing Of the nation a.
the present time is excellent, and tn,
financial management of the nations
interests by the government during tht
last seven years has shown the mos
satisfactory results. But our currency
system is imperfect, and it is earnestly
to be hoped that the currency commits
sion will be able to propose a thorough
ly good system which Will do away witt
the existing defects.
AS regards the great corporations en-
gagged in interstate business, and es
pecially the railroads, l can only re
peat what l have already again ant
again said in my messages to the con
gress l believe that under the inter
state clause of the constitution th'
United States has complete and para
mount right to control all agencies o
the national government alone can exer
else this right with wisdom and eff
fectiveness so as both to secure justice
from, and to do justice to, the grea
corporations, which are the most i'm
portant factors in modern business.
The railways of the country shoult
be put completely under the interstate
commerce commission and removed
from the domain of the antitrust law
The power of the commission shoult
be made thoroughgoing, so that it coulC
exercise complete supervision and con
troll over the issue of securities as vel
as over the raising and lowering O.
rates. AS regards rates, at least, thl:
power should be summary. The powel
to investigate the financial operations
and accounts of the railways has beer
one of the most valuable features II
recent legislation. Power to make com
binations and traffic agreements shoulc
be explicitly conferred upon the rail
roads the permission of the. commits
sion being first gained and the combl
nation or agreement being published II
all its details.
compatible with giving proper returns
to all the employees of the railroad
from the highest to the lowest, and
proper returns to the shareholders; but
they must not, for instance, be reduced
in such fashion as to necessitate a cut
in the wages of the employees or the
abolition of the proper and legitimate
profits of honest shareholders.
Telegraph and telephone companies
engaged in interstate business should
be put under the jurisdiction of the in
terstate commerce commission.
Interstate commerce is now chiefly
conducted by railroads; and the great
corpOrati tiOn has supplanted the mass
of small partnerships or individuals.
The proposal to make the national gov
ernment supreme over, and therefore to
give it complete control over, the rail-
roads and other instruments of inter-
state commerce is merely proposal to
carry out to the letter one of the prime
purposes. if not the prime purpose, for
which The constitution was founded.
There are many matters affecting
labor and the status of the wage-Work-
er TO WnlCn l SnOuIu ike 10 uIdW SOut
attention. but an exhaustive discussion
of the problem in all it's aspects is not
now necessary.
The congress should without further
law for the District of Columbia. The
employers liability act recently de-
clared unconstitutional, on account OF
apparently including in its provisions
merce as well as those engaged in inter-
state commerce, has been held by the
local courts to be still in effect so far
as its provisions apply to the District
of Columbia. There should be no am
biguity on this point. If there is any
doubt on the subject, the law should be
re-enacted with special reference to the
District of Columbia
l most earnestly urge upon the con-
gress the duty of increasing the totally
inadequate salaries now given TO our
judges On the whole there is no body
of public servants who do as valuable
work, nor whose moneyed reward is so
inadequate, compared TO their work. Be
ginning with the supreme court, the
judges should have their salaries douc
bled. 1t is not befitting the dignity of
the nation that it's most honored PUBLIC
servants should be paid sums so small
compared to what they would earn IN
private life that the performance OF
public service by them implies an eX-
ceedingly Y heavy pecuniary sacrifice.
1t is earnestly to be desired that some
method should be devised for doing
d
obtain in the administration of justice,
and which operate with peculiar severity
against persons of small means, ana
favor only the very criminals whom it
is most desirable to punish. These long
delays in The final decisions OF cases
make in the aggregate crying evil;
and a remedy should be devised. Mucn
of this intOIerable delay is due to i'm
proper regard paid to technicalities
which are a mere hindrance to justice.
In some noted recent cases this over
regard for techncalities has resulted in
a striking denial of justice, and fragrant
wrong to the body polite.
Real damage has been done by the
manifold and conflicting Interpretations
of the interstate commerce law. Con
troll over the great corporations doing
interstate business can be effective only
if it is vested with full power in an
administration department. branch
of the federal executive, carrying out
federal law; it can never be effective
if a divided responsibility is left in
both the states and the nation; 1t can
never be effective if left in the hands
of the courts 10 be deciced by law suits.
If there is any one duty which more
than another we owe it to our chill
dren and our Childrens children to per
form at once, it is to save the forests
Of this country, for they constitute
the first and most important element
in tn conservation Of the natural re
sources Of the country. There are of
course, two kinds Of natural resources.
one is the kind which can only be used
as part of a process of exhaustion;
this is true of mines, natural oil and
gas wells, and the like. The other, and
OF course, ultimately by far the most
important, includes the resources which
can be improved in the process Of wise
use-the soil, the rivers, and the for
ests come under this head. Any really
civilized nation will so use all of these
three great national assets that the
nation viii have their benefit in the
future.
All serious students Of the question
are aware of the great damage that has
been done in the Mediterranean coun-
tries of Europe, Asia and Africa by
deforestation. The similar damage that
has been done in eastern Asia is less
well known.
The lesson of deforestation in China
is lesson which mankind should have
learned many times already from what
has occurred in other places. Denuda
tfon leaves naked soil; then outlying
cuts down to the bare rocks: and
meanwhile the rock waste buries the
bottom lands. When the soil is gone,
men must go; and the process does not
take long.
What has happened in northern China,
whas has happened in central Asia, in
Palestine. in north Africa, in parts of
the Mediterranean countries of Europe.
will surely happen in our country If we
do not exercise that wise fOrethOught
which should be one of the chief marks
of any people calling itself civilized.
Nothing should be permitted to stand in
ests, and il is criminal to permit indi-
viduals to purchase a little gain for
themselves through the destruction Of
forests when this destruction is fatal
10 the well-being Of the whole country
in the future.