Semi-weekly herald., 1913-12-04
ber Immediately after delivering his
message.
The message follows:
Gentlemen Of the Congress:

Ing HSssake louoWS'
Gentlemen of the Congress:
In pursuance of my constitutional
duty to "give to the congress infor-
nation Of the state Of the union," l
take the liberty Of addressing you on
several matters which ought, as it
seems to me, particularly to engage
the attention of your honorable bod
les, as of all who study the welfare
and progress Of the nation.
shall ask your indulgence if /
venture to depart in some degree
from the usual custom of setting be-
fore you in formal review the many
matters which have engaged the at
tention and called for the action of
the several departments of the gov
ernment or which look to them for
early treatment in the future, be-
cause the list is long, very long, and
would suffer in the abbreviation to
which | should have to subject it. |
shall submit to you the reports of
the heads of the several departments
in which these subjects are set forth
in careful detail, and beg that they
may receive the thoughtful attention
of your committees and of all mem
bers of the congress who may have
the leisure to study them. Their OBJ
vious Importance, as constituting the
very substance of the business of the
government, makes comment and en-
phasis on my part unnecessary.
United States at Peace.
The country, am thankful to say,
is at peace with all the world, and
many happy manifestations multiply
about US of a growing cordiality and
sense of community of interest among
the nations, foreshadowing an age of
settled peace and good will. More
and more readily each decade do the
nations manifest their willingness to
| bind themselves by solemn treaty to
the processes of peace, the processes
of frankness and fair concession. So
far the United States has stood at
the front of such negotiations. She
| will, l earnestly hope and confident
| ly believe, give fresh proof of her
sincere adherence to the cause of in
ternational friendship by ratifying
the several treaties of arbitration
awaiting renewal by the senate. In
addition to these, it has been the priv
ilege of the department of state to
| gain the assent in principle, of no
| less than 81 nations, representing
four-fifths of the population of the
world, to the negotiation of treaties
| by which it shall be agreed that
whenever differences of interest or of
policy arise which can not be resol-
we'd by the ordinary processes of dip
lomacy they shall be publicly analy-
zed, discussed, and reported upon by
a tribunal chosen by the parties be
fore either nation determines its
course of action.
There is only one possible standard
| by which to determine controversies
between the United States and other
nations, and that is compounded of
these two elements: Our own honor
and our obligations to the peace OF
the world. A test so compounded
ought easily to be made to govern
both the establishment of new treaty
obligations and the Interpretation OF
those already assumed.
But One Cloud.
There is but one cloud upon our
horizon. That has shown itself to
the south of US, and hangs over
Mexico. There can be no certain pros
pect of peace in America until Gen
eral Huerta has surrendered his
usurped authority in Mexico; until ii
is understood on all hands, indeed
that such pretended governments will
not be countenanced or dealt with
by the government of the United
States. We are the friends of con-
stitutional government in America
we are more than it's friends, we are
its champions; because in no other
way can our neighbors, to whom we
would wish in every way to make
proof of our friendship, work ou,
their own development in peace and
liberty. Mexico has no government
The attempt to maintain one at the
City of Mexico has broken down, an6
a mere military despotism has beer
set up which has hardly more thar
the semblance of national authority
1t originated in the usurpation OF
Victoriano Huerta, who, after brief
attempt to play the part of consti-
tutional president, has at last cast
aside even the pretense Of legal right
and declared himself dictator. AS a
consequence, condition of affairs
now exists in Mexico which has
made it doubtful whether even the
most elementary and fundamental
rights either of her own people or
OF the citizens of other countries res
ident within her territory can long