The Forrest City times., 1912-12-13

| tary purposes. The officers and men are ambitious and eager to make themselves | thus available and to become an efficient national reserve of citizen soldiery. They are the only force of trained men, other than the regular army. upon which we ! can rely. The so-caled military pay bill. Tn the form agreed on between the au- thorities of the war department and the representatives of the national guard, in my opinion adequately meets these con dttons and offers proper return for the pay which 1t Is proposed to give to the national guard. believe that its enact ment into law would be very long step toward providing this nation with frst line of citizen soldiery, upon which Its main reliance must depend in case of any national emergency. Plans for the or ganixa ton of the national guard into tao 1 tical divisions. on the same lines as those adopted for the regular army. are being formulated by the war college division | of the general staff.
 Porto Rico. MT. Taft says. continues 10 show notable progress and he urges the senate to pass the bill granting the 1 Porto Ricans American citizenship.
 Philippines.
 A bill Is pending in congress. con tinuee the message. which revolution | izes the carefully worked out scheme of government under which the Philip ! pine islands are governed and | | ally autonomous at once and absolutely | Independent in eight years. Such a proposal only be founded on the l assumption that we have now dis charged trusteeship to the Filipino people and our responsibility for them to the world. and that they are now prepared for self government as well as national sovereignty. thorough and unbiased knowledge of the facts ! clearly shows that these assumptions are absolutely with Justification. As i to this I believe that there is no sub stantial difference of opinion among any of those who have had the respon- sibility of facing Philippine problems l in the administration of the islands. | and believe that no one to whom the future of this people IS responsible concern can countenance policy 1 fraught with the drest consequences to those on whose behalf it is osten- sihly urged
 Our true course is to pursue steadily and eourageously# the path have thus 1 far followed, to guide the Filipinos into l self-sustanins pursuits: to continue the cultivation of sound political habits through education and political practice: l to encourage the diverslfcatIon of indus ] tries, and to realize the advantages Of their industrial education by conserya- uXeIJ approved cooperative methods. at once checking the dangers of concentrat- ed wealth and bail5ing up a sturdy lnde- | pendent citizenship
 Regulation of Water Power
 There are pending before congress large number of bills proposing to grant privileges of erecting dams for the pur- pose of creating water power in our navi- gable rivers. The pendency of these bills has brought out important defect in the existing general dam act That act does not, in my opinion. grant sufficient power to the federal government in deal Ing with the construction of such dams to i exnct protective conditions in the interest i Of navigation. It does not permit the 1 federal government as a condition of it's permit. to require that a part of the value thus created shall be applied to the further general improvement and protec- i ton of the stream I believe this to be one of the most important matters of internal improvement now confronting the government Most of the naytgabi rivers of this country are comparatively long and shallow. Tn order that they may be made fully useful for navigation there mas come into vogue a method of improvement known as canalization, or the slack-water method which consists In building q series of dams and locks each of which will create a long pool of deep navigabie water. At each of these dams there Is usually created a long pool or deep navigable water. At each of these darns there IS usually created also water l power thus created can be made available for the further inpr-vement of ra,tga ] non Tn the stream fl Is manifest that the ! improvement will be much more quickly eHeeted on the one hand. and on the other, that the burden on the general tax | payers Of the country will be very rnucb reduced. Private interests seeking ner mits to building waterpower da1,s In naVieaoie streams usually urge that they mus improve navigation and that if they oo not impair navigation they should he "i'o"eu to take Tor themselves the en- ufe pronts of the water power develop- lhtht whatever they may do by way of 1 relieving the government of the exnapsa n, iihpioNihg navigation should be given due cohsioerauon, but it must be apparent that there may be a profit beyond a req sohdoly hperal return upon the private investment which Is q potential asset of lhe government in carrying out a com 1 prehensive policy of waterway develon
 heht II Is no objection to the retention anu use or such an asset by the govern
 hent mat n comprehensive waterway l policy will include the protection ana do Xeiopment of the other public usas ot water. which cannot and shouId not ta lehofed In making and executing nlaps TOT the protection and development of aaNisauoh' II is also equally clear that Inasmuch as the water power thus ere ated is or may be an incident n, n ,,ar nvaav | within the constitutional 1urisdic,to =, the federal government. the regulation of tuch water power lies also within that ! Jurlsdlction In my opinion constructive s,atesmanshlp requires that Legislation saouia be enacted which will permit the development of navigation In tbo,a -. @ rivers to go hand in hand with tba u.fI iZaeion Of this by product of water now tf. created In the course Of the same i'm. proVement and that the general dam act should be SO amended as to make this nos. sioie. | deem 1t highly important that the nation should adopt a consistent and harmonious treatment of these watar power projects, which will preserve for lf'is purpose their value 10 the govern ment, whose right it is to grant the nor mt. Any other policy is equivalent to asset o''i
 The Panama Canal.
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