The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-21
THE FARMER: DECEMBER 21, 1911

believe to be mistake is the proposed three to five years. l believe it would be better to enlist men for six years. release them at the end of three years from active service and put them in re- serve for the remaining three years Re-enlistments should be largely con- fined to the noncUmmissioned officers and other enlisted men in the skilled grades.
 The army of the United States is in good condition. It showed itself able to meet an emergency in the success. ful mobilization of an army division of from 15O0O to 10000 men. which took place along the border of Mexico dur ing the recent disturbances in that country. The marvellous freedom from the ordinary camp diseases of typhoid fever and measles is referred to in the report of the secretary of war and shows such an effectiveness in the sanitary regulations and treatment of the medical corps and in the discipline of the army itself as to invoke the highest commendation
 beg to renew my recommendation Of last year that the congress appro- pr1ate for a memorial arnphitheater at Arlington. Va. the funds required to construct 1t upon the plans already ap- proved.
 Tho Panama Canal.
 The very satisfactory progress made on the Panama canal last year has Aknrn IF, arn to believe that the canal will be com pleted as early as the 1st of July 1913. unless something unforeseen occurs. This is about eighteen months before the time promised by the engineers.
 We are now near enough the com pIetion of the canal to make 1t i'm peratively necessary that legislation should be enacted to fix the method by which the canal shall be maintained and controlled and the zone governed. The fact is that today there is no statutory law by authority of which the president Is maintaining the gov ernment of the zone Such authority was given in an amendment by the Epooner act. which expired by the terms of it's own limitation some years ago. sss
 I fully concur with the secretary of war that the problem Is simply the management of great public work and not the government of local re- public; that every provision must be directed toward the successful main- tenance of tue canal as an avenue of commerce and that all provisions for the government of those who live within the zone should be subordinate to the main purpose.
 The zone is forty miles long and ten miles wide. Now it has population of 5O.OO0 or 6OOO0. but as soon as the work of construction Is completed the towns which make up this population will be deserted and only comparative ly few natives will continue their resi- dence there. The control of them ought to approximate a military gov ernment. One judge and two justices of the peace will be sufficient to attend to all the judicial and litigated busi. ness there is.
 Furnishing Supplies and Repairs.
 Tn my last annual message I discuss ed at length the reasons for the gov ernment's assuming the task of fur nishing to all ships that use the canal. whether our own naval vessels or oth- CTS. the supplies of coal and oil and other necessities with which they must be replenished either before or after passing through the canal. together with the dock facilities and repairs of every chayacter This it is thought wise to do through the government. be- cause the government must establish for itself for It's own naval vessels large depots and dry docks and ware houses. and these may easily be en- larged so as to secure to the world public using the canal reasonable prices and certainty that there will be no discrimination between those who wish to avail themselves of such facilities,
 Tolls.
 I renew my recommendation with respect to the tolls of the canal that within limits which shall seem wise to congress the power of fixing ten. be given to the president. In order Id arrive at proper conclusion tii6re must be some experimenting and tais cannot be done If congress- doel aot delegate the power to one whc can act expeditiously.
 am very confident that the United States has the power to relieve from the payment of tolls any part of our shipping that congress deems wise. We own the canal 1t was our money that builf it, We have the right to charge tolls for its use. Those tolls must be the same to every one. but when we are dealing with our own ships the practice of many govern ments of subsidizing their own mer- chant vessels is so we'll established in general that subsidy equal to the tolls. an equivalent remission of tolls. cannot be held to be a discrimina ton in the 'se of the canal. The practice in the Suez canal makes this clear. The experiment in tolls to be made by the president would doubtless disclose how great burden of tolls the coast wise trade between the Atlantic and the Pacific coast could bear withou: preventing it's usefulness in competi- tion with the transcontinentaI rail- roads. One of the chief reasons for building the canal was to set up this competition and to bring the two