The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-12-22


In connectson with tssas sreaE hishway
Of trade.
renew my Recommendation with
respect to the tolls Of the canal that
within limits, which shall seem wise
to Congress. the power Of fixing tolls
be given to the President In order
to arrive at . proper conclusion. there
must be some experimenting. and
this cannot be done II Congress does
not delegates the power to one who
can act expeditiousiy.
To Relieve American shipping.
am very confident that the United
States has the power 70 relieve from
the payment Of tolls any part Of our
shipping that Congress deems wise.
We own the canal It was our money
that built II We have the right to
charge tolls for ito use. Those tolls
must be the same 70 everyone; but
when We are dealing with our own
ships. tho practice OF many govern
ments of subsidizing their own mer-
chant vessels 10 30 we'll established
IN general that q subsidy equal to
the tolls, an equivalent remission Of
tolls. cannot be held to be q dis
elimination In the use Of the canal.
The practice In the Sues Canal makes
this clear.
Rivers and Harburs.
The estimates for the river and
harbor Improvements reach $4,000
eco for the coming year. ! wish to
urge that whenever q project has
been adopted by Congress a. one to
be completed. the more money wnis
can be economically expended In its
construction in each year. the greater
the ultimate economy.
Postal-Savings System.
On January s. 1911. postal-sav-
fngs repositories were established ea-
perimentally in forty-eight States and
cessful operation the system was ex-
tended as rapidly as feasible to the
1880 postoff1ces Of the first. second
and third classes constituting the
presidential grade. by the end of
the year practically all Of these will
have been designated and then the
system will be extended to all fourth
class postoffices doing q money order
business.
The depositors thus far number
approximately 10000. They include
forty nationalities. native Americans
largely predominating and English
and tia. ians coming next.
Parcel Post.
Steps should be taken Immediately
for the estA blishment Of . rural par
Gel post. In the estimates of apprO-
priations needed for the maintenance
Ut the postal service for the ensuing
fiscal year an item Of $4,000 has
been inserted to cover the prelim-
mary expense OF establishing q par
eel post On rural mail routes. a. we'll
as to cover an investigation having
for its object the Anal establishment
OF = general parcel post on all rail-
way and steamboat transportation
routes. The department believes that
after the initial expenses Of establish
ing the system are betrayed and the
parcel post Ia In full operation on the
rural routes II will not only bring
In sufficient revenue to meet its cost.
but also q surplus that can be utilized
in paying the expenses OF q parcel post
in the city delivery service.
The Navy Department.
The building plan for this year con.
templates two battleships and two col
liers. This IL because the other and
smaller vessels can be built much
more rapidly In case OF emergency
than the battleships, and we certainly
ought to continue the policy of two
battieships a year until after tho Pan
anna canal is finished and until In our
first line and In onr reserve line wa
can number forty available vesseis Of
proper armament ana size.
1t Is certain that the Navy. with Its
present size, should have admirala In
active command higher than roar ad-
mirals. The recognised grades In or
der are: Admiral Of the fleet, ad-
miral, vice admiral. and rear admiral
our great battleship fleet IL command
ed by a rear admiral. with four other
rear adrnirals under his orders. This
Is not as It should be- and when Ques-
lions Of precedence arise between our
naval officers and those OF European
navies, the American rear admiral.
though In command OF ten times the
force OF a foreign vice admiral, must
yield precedence to tho latter. Such
an absurdity ought not to prevail, and
It can be avoided by the creation Of
two or three positions Of flag rank
above that of rear admiral
Civil Retirement.
l have already advocated. In my last
annual message, the adoption Of Z civil
service retirement system, with a con-
tributory feature to It SO as to re-
duce to minimum the cost to the
government OF the pensions to DO paid.
After considerable reflection, am
very much opposed to 4 pension svs-
tenn that involves no contribution
from the employees. I think the ex-
pertence OF other governments 1usti.
hes this view; but the crying necea-
s1ty for some such contributory sys-
tenn, with possibly a preliminary gov
ornamental outlay. In order to cover the
initial cost and to sct the system solnr
at once while the contributions are ac-
oumulat ting. il manifest on every siAe
Nothing Will SO much promote the
economy and efficiency Of the governs
ment as such o system,