The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1912-12-04
TAFT SENDS IN
FINAL MESSAGE
President S'aTis With Discussion
Of Foreign Ra'd 'O1s.


Recognition OF r:.er;t System Has Been
Beneficial - 5uo--stions Regarding
CHANGES In the Tariff Laws Designed
to Aid Conmcrce-Turkish MAJ and
Troubles In China.
To the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives:
The foreign relations of the United
States actually and potentially affect
the state of the Union to a degree not
widely realized and hardly surpassed
by any other factor in the welfare Of
the whole nation. The position of the
United States in the moral, intellec-
tual and material relations Of the fam
lily of nations should be a matter of
vital interest to every patriotic citi-
zen. The national prosperity and
power impose upon us duties which
we cannot shirk if we are to be true
to our ideals.
The tremendous growth Of the ex-
port trade Of the United States has
already made that trade a very real
factor in the industrial and CONNER
cial prosperity Of the country. With
the development of our industries the
foreign Of the United
States must rapidly become a still
more essential factor in it's economic
welfare.
The relations of the United States
with all foreign powers remain upon
a sound basis of peace, harmony and
| friendship. A greater insistence upon
| justice to American citizens or inter-
| ests wherever it may have been denied
| and a stronger emphasis of the need of
mutually in commercial and other re
| lations have only served to strengthen
| our friendship with foreign countries
by placing those friendships upon a
firm foundation of realities as well as
aspirations.
Reorganization Of State Department.
At the beginning of the present adj
ministration the United States, having
fully entered upon its position as a
world power, with the responsibilities
thrust upon it by the results of the
Spanish-American war and already en-
| gagged in laying the groundwork Of a
vast foreign trade upon which it
| should one day become more and more
| dependent, found itself without the
machinery for giving thorough atten-
! ton to and taking effective action
upon a mass of intricate business vi
tai to American interests in every cOun.
try in the world.
The department Of state was an
archaic and inadequate machine, lack
ing most of the attributes of the for
eign office Of II great modern power
With an appropriation made upon my
recommendation by the congress Oh
Aug. 5, 1909, the department of state
was completely reorganized. There
We're created divisions Of Latin-Ameri
eastern and western European affairs.
The law offices of the department
were greatly strengthened. There wer,
added foreign trade advisers to coop
] crate with the diplomatic and cOnsula
bureaus and the politico-geographica
divisions in the innumerable matter
where commercial diplomacy or col
sular work calls for such specie
'. knowledge. The same officers, togethe
with the rest of the new organization
are able at all times to give to Amer
- can citizens accurate information as
conditions in foreign countries wit
which they have business and likewis
e to cooperate more effectively with tt
congress and also with the other e.
ecutive departments.
Merit System In Consular and DipI'
l.. matte Corps.
Expert knowledge and profession
. training must evidently be the essen
of this reorganization. Without a trai
ed foreign service there would not
men available for the work in the rec
8 gained department Of state. Preside
Cleveland had taken the first step
ward introducing the merit system
the foreign service. That had been Fl
IN lowed by the application Of the me
ne principle, with excellent results to t
" entire consular branch. Almost not
ing, however, had been done in this
rection with regard to the diploma,
service. In this age of commercial
plomacy it was evidently Of the fiji
10 Importance to train an adequate Pr
at sonnet in that branch Of the service.
n Therefore, on Nov. 26, 1909, by
nix executive order I placed the diploma.
wv service up to the grade Of secretary
embassy, inclusive, upon exactly t
m same strict nonpartisan basis Of
=, merit system, rigid examination for f,
g. pointment and promotion only for G
cheney, as had been maintained wi
Ut out exception in the consular servic
Merit and Nonpartisan Character
Appointments.
How faithful to the merit syst,
and how nonpartisan has been the CO
d duct Of the diplomatic and consu
%. services in the last four years may