The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1911-12-29
.sona, opinion OF tho country, are rksfy

With the present prospects OF this long
awaited reform encouraging US. It would
be sinsplarly unfortunate X this none
.ary question should by any chance be-
come a party issue. And sincerely
hope It will not. The exceeding amount
OF consideration 1t has received from the
people OF the nation has been wholly nom
partisan: and the congress set it's nom
partisan seal upon 1t when the monetary
commission was appointed. In commend
ing the question to the favorable con-
sideration Of congress, I speak for. and in
the spirit OF, the great number of my
fellow citizens, who without any thought
or party or p~artisanship feel with re-
narkable earnestness that this reform Is
necessary to the interests Of ali the pso-
pie.
The War Department.
There Is now before congress a bill,
the purpose of which is to increase the
efficiency and decrease the expense of
the army. 1t contains four principal fea-
lures: First. q consolidation OF the gen
eral staff with the adjutant generals
and the inspector generals department;
second, a consolidation of the quarter
masters department with the subsistence
and pay department; third, the creation
of an army service corps, and fourth. an
extension of the enlistment period from
three to five years.
with the establishment OF an army
service corps, as proposed in the bill,
l am thoroughly In accord and am con-
WINGED that the establishment OF such
a corps will result in a material econ
omy and a very great increase of eff
cheney in the army. 1t has repeatedly
been recommended by me and my
predecessors. ] also believe that a
consolidation OF the staff corps can be
made with a resulting increase in eff
ficiency and economy. but not along
the lines provided in the bill under
consideration.
The army of the United States is in
good condition. 1t showed itself able
to meet an emergency in the success
1ul mobilization Of an army division OF
from $4,000 to 20, 900 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 CT war, and
shows such an effectiveness in the
sanitary regulations and treatment OF
the medical corps. and in the disci-
pline Of the army itself. as to invoke
the highest commentator.
The Panama Canal.
The very satisfactory progress made
on the Panama canal last year has
continued, and there is every reason
to believe that the canal Will be COM
pleted as early as the LIST OF July, 1913.
unless something unforeseen occurs.
This is about IS months before the
time promised by the engineers.
We are now near enough the COM
pletion of the canal to make it 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 stat
utory law by authority of which the
president is maintaining the govern
ment Of the zone. The implied author
tty of the president to maintain a civil
government in the zone may be de-
rived from the mandatory direction
given him in the original Spooner act,
by which he was commanded to build
the canal; but certainly, now that the
canal is about to be completed and to
be put under a permanent manage
ment, there ought to be specific statu-
tory authority for its regulation and
control and for the government OF the
zone. which we hold { the chief and
main purpose Of operating the canal.
I fully concur with the secretary OF
war that the problem is simply the
management OF a great public work.
and not the government Of a local re-
public; that every provision must be
directed toward the successful main
tenance OF the 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.
I renew my recommendation with re-
spect to the tolls of the canal that with
in limits, which shall seem wise to con-
gress, the power Of fixing tolls be given
to the president. In order to arrive at a
proper conclusion, there must be some
experimenting, and this cannot be done If
congress does not delegate the power to
one who can act eXpeditiously.
I am very confident that the United
States has the power to relieve from
the payment Of tolls any part of our ship
ping that congress deems wise. We own
the canal. 1t was our money that built
it We have the right to charge tolls
for its use. Those tolls must be the same
to everyone; but when we are dealing
Will our own ships, the practice of many
governments of substituting their own
merchant vessels is so we'll established in
general that a subsidy equal to the tolls.
an equivalent remission Of tolls, cannot
be held to be a discrimination In the
use Of the canal The practice In the
Suez canal makes this clear.
The Philippine Islands.
In respect to the Philippines. I
urgently join In the recommendation
of the secretary of war that the act OF
February 6, 1905. limiting the indebt-
edness that may be incurred by the
Philippine government for the con-
struction of public works. be in
creased from S. 600, 900 to SIS. 900, 900.
The finances Of that government are
in excellent condition. The maximum
sum mentioned is quite low as COM
pared with the amount OF indebted
ness OF other governments with sim
liar and the success which
has attended the expenditure Of the
IS, 000, 600 in the useful improvements
of the harbors and other places in the
islands justiies and requires addi-
tional expenditures for like purposes.
Rivers and Harbors.
The estimates for the river and har-
Dor improvements reach $4,000. 600 for
the coming year. I wish to urge that
whenever a project has been adopted
by congress as one to be completed.
the more money which can be eco
nomically expended in Its construction
in each a the greater the ultimate
economy. This has especial applica-
ton to the improvement of the Mis-
sissippi river and its large branches.
1t seems to me that an increase in the
amount of money now being annually
expended in the Improvement OF the
Ohio river which has been formally
adOpted by congress would he in the