The National tribune., 1910-12-08


urging the preparation of River and
Harbor bills on similar report by
army engineers.
The, paragraph on the Payne tariff
act was scrutinized with exceptional
interest at the Capitol. because of the
promise of that law as an issue in cur
rent politics The schedules of the
the President writes. " have been sub
jected to great deal of criticism, some
of it just, more of it unfounded. ana to
much misrepresentation" He says
that little. if any of the criticism of the
tariff has been directed against the pro-
tective principle; Tbut the main body Of
the criticism has been based on the
charge that the attempt to conform to
the measure of protection was not hon
estly and sincerely adhered to. The
time in which the tariff was prepared
undoubtedly was so short as to make it
impossible for the Congress and its eX
perts to acquire the information neces-
measure" He then details the work
of the Tariff Board to develop the in
formation now required.
The method of impartial scientific
study by experts as a preliminary to
legislation which the President wants
adopted with reference to tariff pub
lie buildings and river and harbor i'm
provements, he also urges, in consid-
Grafton "of our banking and currency
system" He says the problem is not
partisan, is not sectional it is national"
The President recommends a COM
mission to determine as early as prac-
ticable a comprehensive policy for the
organization, mobilization and admins
tration of the Regular Army and the or
ganiZed militia. He asks Congress to
authorize additional commissioned Of
ficers He discusses the Panama Canal,
brings up the question of reasonable
tolls. maintenance and management,
and recommends that railroads be pro-
hibited from owning or. controlling
ships engaged in trade through the
waterway. He renews his request for
national incorporation, asks for legisla-
ton to cheaper the cost of litigation by
judicial procedure, would
have the Supreme Court relieved of a
large burden of appeals which it now
hears, and requests that Supreme Court
Justices be given salaries of $4,000,
with commensurate increases for the
judges of the lower federal courts
He also renews his urgent recommen-
1.fi i-,Tnn af lnct I'D,
bill.
Postmaster General Hitchcock is
praised for his achievements in econo-
mizing the expenditures of the postal
service, which have gone far toward
wipipg out the annual deficit. The ex-
tension of the classified service, the re-
of the franking privilege and
other reforms accomplished or proposed
are taken up. The President recon-
mends parcels post on rural delivery
routes and increase in the postage
On advertising matter in magazines.
He also supports the recommended
tons of the Secretary of the Navy for
the abolition Of certain navy yards and
for a four years term for the Com
mandant of Marines. He likewise rec
ommends hitting recognition by Con-
gress of the great achievement of Rob
ert Edwin Peary" in discovering the
North Pole.
The President repeats his recommen-
dations for the enactment of legisla-
lion to transfer the water power sites |
on public lands to the States, and for
leasing coal, oil, and phosphate lands |
He asks for a Commission form of gov
srnment for Alaska, and discusses pen
5ions for the veterans Of the civil war. |
of the eight hour law, an
OF $4,000 toward the ex-
penses for an International Congress on
Industrial Insurance to be held in
in 1913; a Bureau of Health
md the establishment Of a Govern
ment park on the Virginia side of the
Potomac, within territory that originally
was part of the District of Columbia,
are included in numerous other recon-
of the message.
The paragraph about pensions reads
as follows: The uniform policy of
the Government in the matter of grant
ng pensions to those gallant and de-
voted men who fought to save the life
)f the Nation in the parilous days of
he great civil war has always been
If the most liberal character. Those
men are now rapidly passing away
The best obtainabie official statistics
show that they are dying at the rate
If something over 5000 a month. and,
n view of their advancing years. this
ate must inevitably. in proportion,
'apidly increase. To the man who
'isked everything on the field of battle
o save the Nation in the hour of its
iirest need we owe a debt which has
lot been and should not be computed /
n a begrudging or parsimonious spirit
But while we should be actuated by
he spirit to the soldier himself, care
should be exercised not to go to alb
'urd lengths or distribute the bounty
If the Government TO classes of per-
ons who may, at this late day. from
mere mercenary motive, seek to OBJ
ain some legal relation with an old
,eteran now tottering on the brink of
he grave The true spirit of the pen
ion laws is to be found in the noble
sentiments expressed by Mr.. Lincoln in
lis last inaugural address, wherein, in
paaking of the Nations duty to its
soldiers when the struggle should be