The Daily Missoulian., 1912-08-07

1t should go into the work Of helping
reclaim the swamp lands of the south.
| We should undertake the complete do
velopmcnt and control of the Mtssis-
sippi as national work, just as we
| nave udertaken the work of building
the Panama canal. We can use tho
pant, and we can use the human ex-
periehce, left free by the completion
OF the Panama canal In 50 developing
the mississippi as to make*it mighty
hlghroad OF commerce, and source
or fructification and not of death ia
.ne rich ana fertile lands lying along
its lower length.
In the west the forests, the graz
ing iands, the reserves of every kind,
should be so handled as to he IN tho
interests of the actual settler, the ac-
tuai home-maker. He should be en- :
couraged to use them at once, but In
such way as to preserve and not ex-
naust them We do not intend that
our natural resources shall be ex-
plotted by the few against the inter-
ests OF the many nor do we intend to
turn them over to any man who will
wastefully use them by destruction,
ana leave tn those who came after lis
heritage damaged by Just so much.
1he man IN whose interests we are
working Is the small farmer and set :
TIER the man who works with his own
hands. who is working not only for
himself but for his children, and who
wishes to leave to them the fruits OF
his labor. His permanent welfare Ia
the prime factor for considera tion In
developing the policy of conservation /;
for Our aim IL to preserve our natural
resources for the public as a whole,
Tor the average man and the average
woman who make up the body OF the
American people
Alaska.
Alaska should he dovcloped Mt once.
nut In the interest OF the actual set :
TER In Alaska the government has
an opportunity Of starting I'm what is
almost q fresh field to work our varI-
Gus problems by actual experience.
The government should at once con
strnet, own. and operate the railways
IN Alaska. The government should
Keep the fee of all the coal fields and
allow them to be operated hv essees
with the condition In tho lease that
non shall operate as forfeit
I Telegraph lines should he operated ~
the railways are Moreover. II would
ne wen III Alaska To try system OF
land taxation which viii. so far as
possible, remove all the burdens from
those who actually use the land
whether for building or for agricul-
| turai purposes. and Will opera to
against any man who holds the land
Tor speculation. or derives an income
from 1t based. not on his own oxer-
tions. but on the increase In value due
I" activities not his own There is
very real need that this nation shall
seriously prepare itself for the tas,,
~ IN ~ "a It.I t.,t,
Ing social problems by well-considercd
governmental effort; and the hes,
preparation for such wise action "
Ia test by actual experiment und"r
favorable conditions the devices whicH
we have reason to believe will work
well. but which u IL difficult to au-
ply In old settled communities with
out preliminary experiment.
International Affairs.
IN international affairs this country
Snoulu behaVe toward other nations
exactiy as an honorahlc privnte oiti
H'h pehhves toward other private cIti-
zens We should do no wrong to any
nation. weak or strong. aud We should
submit tn no wrong. Above all. we
snoulh never In any treaty make nuv
'F"hiise which we do not intend In
good iaith To fnlfill. ! believe II ca
sehtial that our small army should bo
kept NJ u high pitch OF perfection, and
,' no way can II be 30 damaged ns by
permitting II to become the plaything
W ile'i III congress who wish To graft
| ~ either spite or favoritism ar l.,
secure to localities advantages 4,
which those localities are not entitled
Ihe navy should be steadily built np.
una the process Of upbuilding must not
III stopped until-and not berorc--lt
proves possible to secure by ipterua-
! liohhi agreement n general reduction
ot arnhmenis. The Panama canal
must be fortified II would have been
criminal To build II if we were not
prepared To fortify II and to keep our
navy NJ such pitch of strength as to
Iehhef u unsafe for any foreign power
10 attack us and get control of IL. We
nave perfect right to permit our
eohatWlse traffic tWith which there
can De no competition by the merchant
ihafihc or any foreign nntion-so that
lhefe III no discrimination against any
foreign marine) Ia pass through that
canal on any terms wye choose. and I
personally think that no toll should be
charged on such traffic. Moreover.
IN time of war. where all treaties be-
tween warning nations snye those con-
hected with the management of tho
war. AT once lapse. the canal would of
course be open In the use of our war
ships and closed to warships of the na-
lion with which we were engaged In
hostllitles. But mt all times the ca
nal should be opened on equal terms
10 the ships of all nations. including
our own, engaged In international com
inerce' That was the Understanding
oi the treaty when II was adopted, and
the United States must always, as a
matter of honorable obligation and
win scrnpulous nicely, live np to ev-
cry understanding which she has en-
tered into with any foreign power.
The question that has arisen over
the right of this nation To charge tolls
ON the canal wildly illustrates the
folly and iniquty of making treaties
which cannot and ought not To he kept.
AS people there is no lesson we
more need 10 learn than the lesson
not In an ontburst of emotlonalism to
make treaty that ought not to be,
and could not be, kept, and the FUR
ther lesson that, when we do make n
treaty. we must soberly live np To IL
hs long as changed conditions do not
warrant the serious step of denouncing
II. II we had been 40 unWlse as to
adopt the general arbitration treaties
"a Ian,