River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-12-05

would remove at one stroke the men
ace Of foreign creditors and the men
ance OF revolutionary disorder.
The second advantage to the Unit
ed States is one affecting chiefly all
the southern and gulf ports and the
| business and industry of the south.
The republics of Central America and
the Caribbean possess great natural
wealth. They need only a measure of
stability and the means of financial
regeneration to- enter upon an era of
peace and prosperity, bringing profit
and happiness to themselves and at
! the same time creating conditions
sure to lead to fourishing in
terchange of trade with this country,
l wish to call your especial attention
to the recent occurrences in Mica.
ragua, for | believeathe terrible events
recorded there during the revolution
| Of the past SUMMERTIME useless loss
! Of life. the devastation of property
| the bombardment of defenseless cities,
the killing and wounding of women
and children, the torturing of non
| combatants to exact contributions,
| and the suffering of thousands of hui
man beings-might have been avert
| ed had the department of state,
through approval of the loan conven-
| ton by the senate, been permitted to
| carry out its now well-developed policy
| of encouraging the extending of fl
| nancial aid to weak Central American
states with the primary objects of
! avoiding just such revolutions by as
sisting those republics to rehabili-
! tate their finances, to establish their
currency on a stable basis, to remove
| the custom houses from the danger
| of revolutions by arranging for their
| secure administration, and to estab-
| lish reliable banks.
During this last revolution In Mica
| ragua. the government of that repub
| lie having admitted its inability to
| protect American life and property
| against acts of sheer lawlessness on
| the part of the malcontents, and hav-
| ing requested this government to as
sumo that Office it became necessary to
land over 1000 marines and bluejack-
| Gus III nicaragua OWAA6 70 InSll
presence the constituted government
| of Nicaragua was free to devote it's
| attention wholly to it's internal trou-
| bles, and was thus enabled to stamp
| out the rebellion i'll short space of
| time. When the Red Cross supplies
sent to Granada had been exhausted
| 5000 persons having been given food
in one day upon the arrival Of the
| American forces, our men supplied
| other unfortunate, needy Nicaraguans
| from their own haversacks. / wish to
| congratulate the officers and men of
| the United States navy and marine
| corps who took part in re-establishing
| order in Nicaragua upon their splen-
| did conduct, and to record with sor-
row the death of seven American ma
rines and bluejackets. Since the
establishment of peace and order,
elections have been held amid condi-
lions of quiet and tranquility. Nearly
all the American marines have now
been withdrawn. The country should
soon be OH the road to recovery. The
only apparent danger now threatening
| Nicaragua arises from the shortage
Of funds. Although American bankers
have already rendered assistance,
| they may naturally be loath to ad
vance loan adequate to set the coun-
try upon it's feet without the support
Of some such convention as that of
June, 1911, upon which the senate has
not yet acted.
The president alluded briefly to the
enforcement Of neutrality laws, to
Secretary Knoxs visit to Central
America and to the unfortunate dis
turbances in Mexico. Continuing, the
message said:
Agricultural Credits.
A most important work, accom-
plished in the past year by the Ameri-
can diplomatic officers in Europe, is
the investigation of the agricultural
credit system in the European coun-
tries. Both as a means to afford relief
to the consumers Of this country
through a more thorough develop
ment of agricultural resources and as
a means Of more sufficiently maintain
ing the agricultural population, the
project to establish credit facilities for
the farmers is a concern of vital i'm
portance to this nation. No evidence
of prosperity among well-established
farmers should blind us to the fact
that lack of capital is preventing
development of the nations agricul-
tural resources and an adequate in
erease of the land under cultivation;
that agricultural production is fast
falling behind the increase in popula-
ton; and that, in fact, although these
well-established farmers are main
tanned in increasing prosperity be-
cause of the natural increase in popu-
lation, we are not developing the in
dustry of agriculture. We are not
breeding in proportionate numbers a
race OF independent and independence
loving land owners, for a lack of
which no growth of cities can COM
pensate Our farmers have been our
mainstay in times of crisis, and in
future it must still largely be upon
their stability and common sense that
this democracy must rely to conserve
it's principles Of self-government.
The need of capital which American
farmers feel today had been expert
enced by the farmers of Europe. with
ago. The problem had been success
their centuriesold farms, many years
fully solved in the old world and it
was evident that the farmers of this
country might profit by study of
their systems. | therefore ordered.