The Washington times., 1911-12-21
Taft hdos Ah Monetary Scem1ges Pension and Leo

unoSansed Ss n "a N our
banking system rendered II at once i'm
possible to Introduce a central bank; for
central bank would certainly have
been. resisted. and q plan into which
probably have been defeated. But as
a central bank could not be a part OF
the only plan discussed or considered.
that Troublesome question is eliminated.
posed National Reserve Association APP
pears. It simply is a logical outgrowth
of what is best In our present system,
and iE IN fact, the fuIf1llment Of that
Exactly how the management Of that
association should be organized Is q
question still open. It seems to lie
desirable that the banks which would
own the association should in the main
manage 1t. It Will be an agency of the
banks to act for them, and they can
be trusted better than anybody else
chiefly to conduct IL. 1t Is mainly
bankers work. But there must be some
form of Government supervision and
ultimate control, and favor reason-
able representation of the Government
In the management. / entertain no
rear of the Introduction of politics or
of any undesirable influences from a
properly measured Government repre-
trust that all banks OF the country
possessing the requisite standards will
be placed upon footing OF perfect
equality Of opportunity. Both the ma
t ts system and the State system
them eventually to coalesce IL that shall
prove to be their tendency. But such
evolution cannot develop impartially II
the banks Of one system are given or
permitted any advantage of oppoI-
fnUftu thnso nf 4
And I trust also that the new legisla-
ton will carefully and completely pro-
tect and assure the individuality and
the independence of each bank, to the
be toward consolidation of the money
or banking banking power of.the nation shall
1t will always be possible, of course,
to correct any features of the new law
nnwise: SO that While this p law is sure re
to be enacted under conditions Of I'M
usual knowledge and authority, 1t also
win include, 1t Is well to remember.
the possibility of future amendment.
long awaited reform encouraging us, it
would be singularly unfortunate II this
monetary question should by any chance
become a party issue. And sincerely
hope it will not. The exceeding amount
of consideration it has received from
the people Of the nation has been
wholly nonpartisan; and the Congress
set Its nonpartisan seal upon II when
the Monetary Commission was ap-
pointed. In commencing the question
to the favorable consideration of Con-
gress. I speak for. and in the spirit Of
the great number OF my fellow citizens
who without any thought of party or
feel with remarkable
earnestness that this reform Is neces-
sary to the interests Of all the people.
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
features: First, q consolidation Of the
General STAFF with the Adjutant Gen.
erals and the Inspector Generals De-
partments; second, consolidation OF
the Quartermasters Department with
the Subsistence and the Pay Depart
ments; third. the creation Of an army
service corps: and, fourth, an extension
Of the enlistment period from three to
five years.
The BIZ! rsfernsa to pssXiaes tina.
members of the General STAFF Corps.
and that certain others are subject 10
redetail without an interval OF two
the Of the aaa
would practically nullify the main pur-
pose Of the law creating the General
staff
Another feature of the bill which I be-
lieve to be 4 mistake Is the proposed
increase in the term of enlistment from
three to five years. l believe It would
be better to enlist men for six years,
release them at the end Of three years
reserve for the remaining three years.
Re-enlistments shot Id be largely con-
fined to the noncommissioned officers
and other enlisted men In the skilled
a comparatively small compcnse ton
during the three years Of reserve. would
keep a large body of men at the call
Of the Government. trained and ready
for service and able to meet any ex-
/ beg to renew my recommendation
of last year that the Congress APP
propriate for a memorial amphtthea-
ter at Arlington. Va the funds re-
quired to construct 1t upon the plans
already approved.
.',;:r.., 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,
1918, unless something unforeseen &C.
ours. This Is about eighteen months
before the time promised by the en-
gineers
We are now near enough the COM
pletion Of the canal to make II i'm
peratively necessary that legislation
should be enacted to fix the method
by which the canal shall be main
tanned and controlled and the zone
governed. The fact is that today
there is no statutory law by au-
thority of which the President Is
maintaining the government of the
zone. Such authority was given in
an amendment to the Spooner act,
which expired by the terms of it's
own limitation some years ago. Since
that time the government has con-
tinued, under the advice of the At
torney General that in the absence
of action by Congress. there is neces-
sarily an implied authority on the
part of the Executive to maintain a
government in territory in which
he has to see that the laws are exc
cuted. The fact that we have been
able thus to get along during the i'm
portant days of construction without
legislation expressly formulating the
government OF the zone, or delegat-
ing the creation of 1t to the Presi-
dent, Is not reason for supposinR
that we may continue the same kind