Norwich bulletin., 1909-12-08

| standing of the nature of the facts which should be considered in dis charging the functions imposed upon the executive show that I have the power to direct the tariff board to make a comprehensive glossary and 1 encyclopedia of the terms used and or | ticles embraced in the tariff law and to secure information as to the cost of | production of such goods in this coun- 1 try and the cost of their production in | foreign countries. I have therefore appointed a tariff board consisting of three members and have directed them to perform all the duties above de- scribed. This work will perhaps take two or three years. and I ask from congress continuing annual appro- priation equal to that already made for it's prosecution. I believe that the work of this board will be of prime l utility and importance whenever con- gress shall deem it wise again to read just the customs duties. If the facts secured by the tariff board are of such a character as to show generally that the rates of duties imposed by the pres ent tariff law are excessive under the principles of protection as described in the platform of the successful party at the late election I shall not hesitate to l invite the attention of congress to this fact and to the necessity for action predicated thereon. Nothing. however, halts business and interferes with the course of prosperity so much as the threatened revision of the tariff. and until the facts are at hand, after care l full and deliberate investigation, upon l which such revision can properly be undertaken, it seems to me unwise to attempt it. The amount of misinfor- nation that creeps into arguments pro and con in respect to tariff rates is such as to require the kind of investi- gation that I have directed the tariff board to make, an investigation under taken by it wholly without respect to l the effect which the facts may have in calling for readjustment of the rates of duty.
 War Department.
 In the interest of immediate econ- omy and because of the prospect of a deficit I have required a reduction ill the estimates of the war department for the coming fiscal year which l brings the total estimates down to all amount forty-five millions less than the corresponding estimates for last year This could be accomplished only by cutting off new projects and sus- pending for the period of one year all progress in military matters. For the same reason I have directed that the army shall not be recruited up to its l present authorized strength. These l measures can hardly be. more than temporary-to last until our revenues | are in better condition and until the whole question of the expediency of adopting a definite military policy can | be submitted to congress-for I am sure that the interests of the military establishment are seriously in need of careful consideration by congress. The laws regulating the organization of our armed forees in the event of war need to be revised in order that the organi- zation can be modified so as to produce force which would be more consist ently apportioned throughout its nu- merous branches To explain the cir | cumstances upon which this opinion is based would necessitate a lengthy dis cussion, and I postpone it until the first convenient opportunity shall arise to send to congress a special message upon this subject.
 The secretary of war calls attention to a number of needed changes in the army, in all of which 1 concur, but the point upon which I place most em- phasis is the need for an elimination bill providing method by which the merits of officers shall have some ef- feet upon their advancement and by which the advancement of all may be accelerated by the effective elimination of definite proportion of the least eff cient There are in every army and certainly in ours a number of officers who do not violate their duty in any such way as to give reason for court martial or dismissal, but who do not show such aptitude and skill and char acter for high command as to justify their remaining in the active service to be promoted Provision should be made by which they may be retired on certain proportion of their pay, in- creasing with their length of service at the time of retirement. There is now a personnel law for tho navy which it. self needs amendment and to which I shall make further reference. Such law is needed quite as much for the army.
 Coast Defenses.
 The coast defenses of the United States proper are generally all that could be desired, and in some respects they are rather more elaborate than under present conditions are needed to stop an enemy's fleet from entering the harbors defended. There is, how ever. one place where additional de- fense is badly needed, and that is at the mouth of Chesapeake bay, where 1t is proposed to make an artificial is- land for a fort which shall prevent an enemy's fleet from entering this most important strategical base of opera tions on the whole Atlantic and gulf coasts. hope that appropriate legis- lation will be adopted to secure the construction of this defense.
 The military and naval joint board have unanimously agreed that it would be unwise to make the large expendi-