The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-12-11
PRESIDENT SENDS ANOTHER MESSAGE
Tells Congress About the Fiscal, Military, Insular
and Judicial Affairs of the Nation, Including
Panama Canal and Tolls Established.

his messages 10 liz SliOil CooiO
deals with fiscal. military, insular and
judicial affairs and in part Is as follows:
The condition Of the country with ref
erence to business could hardly be better.
While the four years Of the administra-
ton now drawing to q close have not de-
veloped great speculative expansion or a
wide field of new investment, the recoV-
cry and progress made from the depress-
ing conditions following the panic OF lWi
have been steady and the Improvement
has been clear and easily traced In the
statistics. The business Of the country IS
now on a solid basis. Credits are not
unduly extended and every phase OF the
situation seems In a state Of prepared
ness for a period Of unexampled prosper
ity. Manufacturing concerns are runnins
at their full capacity and the demand LOT
labor was never so constant and roW1ng
The foreign trade Of the country for TINS
year will exceed $4,000, 600, 900, while the
balance in our favor-that Of the excess
Of exports over im~ports-will exceed SW.-
0OO. 900. More than half our exports are
manufactures or partly manufactured
material, while our exports OF farm pro-
ducts do not show the same increase o.
domestic consumption. 1t Is a year OF
bumper crops: the total money Vaiue OF
farm products will exceed s.. 500, 100000. 1t
Is u YEAR WlCH lin bboAiSi Va
of AGRICULTURAL products has gradually
fallen, and yet the total value of the en-
tire crop is greater by over $LOOO.OOc,Wo
than we have known In our history.
Condition of the Treasury.
The condition Of the treasury Is very
"a tisfa Glory. The total interest-bearing
debt Is 1858. III, 10. of which 1874, 63l. $50 con-
stiute the Panama canal loan. The nom
interest-bearing debt is 1878. 3o1. ss4.so In
Guiding ss46. s71, 016 of ~greenbacks. We have
In the treasury $50. ooo,ooo in gold coin as
a reserve against the outstanding green
backs; and in addition we have a casn
balance in the treasury as a general luno
Of s167, 152, 1889, or an increase OF S26,sfe'-
$50 over the general fund last year.
Receipts and Expenditures.
For three years the expenditures OF the
government have decreased under the In
fluence Of an effort to economlze. rms
year presents an apparent exception. Tpe
estimate by the secretary OF the treasury
of the ordinary receipts. exclusive OF pos-
tai revenues, for the year ending June
80. 1914, indicates that they Will amount
TO s170. 900, 900. The sum Of the
Of the expenditures for that same year,
exclusive Of Panama canal disbursements
and postal disbursements payable from
postal revenues is s7s2, 600, 1000. indicating q
deficit Of s22. VOC 1000. For the year ending
June 30, 1918. similarly estimated receipts
were 1861 .OcO, 900. while the total CORE
sponding estimate Of expenditures for that
year, submitted through the secretary OF
the treasury to congress. TO
ss56. 0oo. 900. This shows an Increase OF
en-. 00. 600 in the estimates for 1914 over
the total estimates Of 1913. This Is due TO
an increase Of s25.Oo0,W0 In the estimate
for rivers and harbors for the next year
on projects and surveys authorized oy
congress; to an increase under the new
pension bill OF S32, 100000 and to an IN
crease In the estimates for expenses OF
the navy department Of S4,oOa,OW. The
estimate for the navy department for the
wear 1918 included two battleships. Con-
gress made provision for only one battle
Ship, and therefore the navy department
has deemed 1t necessary and proper 70
make an estimate which includes the nrst
years expenditure for three oattieshlps
in addition to the amount required ror
work on the uncompleted ships now under
construction. In addition to the natural
increase in the expenditures for the un-
completed ships, and the additional bat
tleship estimated for. the other increases
are due to the pay required for 1000 or
more additional enlisted men in the navy,
and to this must be added the additional
cost Of construction imposed by the
change In the eight-hour law which
makes It applicable to ships built IN pri-
vate shipyards.
The president then explained at some
length the national reserve association
system recommended by the monetary
commission and urged congress to ex-
anime the plan impartially from all
standpoints and then to adopt some
plan which will secure the benefits de-
sired.
Concerning the tariff he had little to
saw in view Of the fact that a new con-
eress has been elected on a platform
of tariff for revenue only. .
Army Reorganization.
Our small army now consists OF S3,sos
men, excluding the 5000 Philippine scouts.
Leaving out Of consideration the coast
artillery force. whose position is fixed in
our various seacoast defenses, and the
present Earrisons of our various insular
possessions, we have today within the
continental United States a mobile army
of only s,out 5000 men. This little force
must be still further drawn upon to sup
ply the new garrisons for the great naval
base which Is being established at Pearl
Earbor. in the Hawaiian islands, and to
protect the locks now rapidly approaching
completion at Panama. The forces re-
naming in the United States are now
scattered in nearly fifty posts, situated
for a variety Of historical reasons In
twenty-four states. These posts contain
only fractions Of regiments. averaging
less than 700 men each. In time of peace
II has been our historical policy to ad-
minister these units separately by a geo.
graphical organization. In other words,
our army in time Of peace has never been
a united organization but merely scat
tered groups Of companies, battalions and
regiments, and the first task in time OF
war has been to create out OF these scat
tered units an army At for effective team
work and cooperation.
To the task Of meeting these patent
defects, the war department has been ad-
dressing itself during the past year. A
comprehensive plan Of reorganization was
prepared by the war college division OF
the general staff. This plan was thor
oughly discussed last summer at a series
of open conferences held by the secretary
of war and attended by representatives
from all branches Of the army and from
congress. In printed form 1t has been
distributed to members OF congress and
throughout the arm and the national
guard, and widely through institutions OF
learning and elsewhere in the United
States. In it. for the first time, we have
a tentative chart for future progress.
The National Guard.
Under existing law the national guard
constitutes, after the regular army, the
first line of national defense. Its or
ganization, discipline, training. and equip
ment. under recent legislation. have been
assimilated. as far as possible, to those
Of the regular army, and Its practical
efficiency, under the effect OF this train
ing, has very greatly increased. Our citi-
zen soldiers under present conditions
have reached a stage Of development be-
yond which they cannot reasonably be
asked TO go without further direct as
distance in the form of pay from the led