The Elk Mountain pilot., 1912-12-12

| erence to business could hardly be better.
| While the four years of the adminstra-
| ton now drawing to 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 1907
| have been steady and the improvement
| has been clear and easily trared In the
statistics. The business of the country Is
now son solid basis. Credits are not
| unduly extended and every phase of the
! situation seems in a state of prepared
ness for period of uneNampled prosper
| ity. Manufacturing concerns are running
at their full capacity and the demand Tor
| labor was never SO constant and growing
| The foreign trade of the country for this
| year will exceed a. 900. 600 900. while the
| balance in our favor-that of the excess
| OF exports over imports-will exceed $780,
10000. More than half our exports are
manufactures or partly manufactured
| material while our exports OF farm pro-
| ducts do not show the same Increase OF
| domestic consumption. 1t is year OF
bumper crops: the total money value OF
| farm products will exceed 81. 9.5o0.oo0.oco, II
| is year when the bushel or unit price
| of agricultural products has gradually
fallen, and yet the total value of the en-
tire crop is greater by over $l.oooooo'o"'
than we bave known in our history.
Condition Of the Treasury.
The condition OF the treasury is very
satisfactory. The total interest-bearinE
debt is $963 717T 10. of which 3l3i 63l $50 con-
| stiute the Panama canal loan. The non
interest bearing debt is $685. .2s4 so. IN
Guiding S34s. .sIl 0l6 of greenbacks. We have
in the treasury $50. 900 600 In gold coin az
n reserve against the outstanding green
backs: and in addition we Eive n cash
balance In the treasury as a general funu
of s167. .l52. 1889. or an increase of s2s.9's.-
55e over the general fund last year
Receipts and Expenditures.
For three years the expenditures of the
| have decreased
1uence OF an effort to economize. This
year presents an apparent exception The
estimate by the secretary or the treasury
of the ordinary receipts. exclusive of pos
tai revenues. for the year ending June
30 1914 indicates that they will amount
TO Sl1o. 600 900 The sum of the estimates
of the expenditures for that same year.
exclusive of Panama canal disbursements
and postal disbursements payable from
postal revenues is s732. 10000. indicating
deficit of SO. .o0o. COO. For the year ending
June 30. 1913, similarly estimated receipts
were 1861. 100000 while the total corre-
sronding estimate of expenditures for that
year. submitted through the secretary or
the treasury to congress. amounted TO
s6s6 900. 900 This shows an Increase OF
SIC. 600 900 In the estimates for 1914 over
the total estimates of 1913. This Is due to
an increase Of scs. 900. 900 In the estimate
for rivers and harbors for the next year
on projects and surveys authorized by
| congress: to increase under the new
| crease in the estimates for expenses or
| the navy department OF &2toW,oco T'he
| estimate for the navy department for the
| year 1913 included two battleships. Con-
| gress made provision for only one battle
| ship, and therefore the navy department
| has deemed 1t necessary and proper to
| make estimate which includes the hrst
years expenditure for three battleships
| in addition to the amount required Tor
i work on the uncompleted ships now under
| m
| 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 ciRht-hour law which
makes 1t applicable to ships built In pri-
| yate 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
| say in view of the fact that new con-
gress has been elected on platform
of tarin for revenue only.
Army Reorganization.
Our small army now consists of g. soe
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 garrisons of our various insular
| possessions. we have today within the
continental United States a mobile army
| of only about 6. 900 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
| Harbor, in the Hawaiian islands. and to
a "a.
completion at Panama The forces re-
naming in the United States now
scattered in nearly nifty posts. situated
for variety of historical reasons in
twentyfour states. These posts contain
only fractions of regiments. averaging
less than TOO 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
n 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 army ht 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 thor
| oughly discussed last summer at 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 II has been
distributed to members of congress and
| throughout the army and the national
guard. and widely through institutions of
learning and elsewhere in the United
States In it, for the first time. we have
IA 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, far possible. to those
OF the regular army, and Its practical
| efficiency under the effect of this train