The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1913-04-10
MESSAGE
President Wilson Delivered His First
Message to Congress in Person.
Short but to the Point.

Message to Congress IN rcrS0n.
Short but to the Point.
President Woodrow Wilson deliv-
cred his first message to congress
Tuesday, and lin doing so he revived
the custom of century ago OF del1V-
ering it in person, instead OF having
it read in a droning voice by a read
ing clerk. The president believes In
doing things and not delegating to
others what he thinks is his duty.
The galleries were packed to hear
the message and the message re-
ceived the closest of attention from
the members of congress. The mes
sage is remarkable for it's brevity,
and this brevity will insure it being
read, so we print the message in
full.
The message follows:
II am very glad indeed to have
this opportunity to address the two
houses directly and to verify for my
self the impression that the presi-
dent of the United States is per-
son, not a mere department of the
government, hailing congress from
some isolated island of jealous pow
er, sending messages, not speaking
naturally and with his own voice,
that he is human being trying to
cooperate with other human beings
in a common service. After this
pleasant experience ] shall feel quite
normal in all our dealings with one
another.
# II have called the congress to-
gether in extraordinary session be-
cause duty was laid upon the
party now in power at the recent
elections which il ought to perform
promptly, in order that the burden
carried by the people under existing
law mays be lightened as soon as
possible and in order, also, that the
business interests of the country may
not be kept too long in suspense as
to what the fiscal changes are to be
to which they will be required to ad-
just themselves. 1t is clear that the
whole country expected the tariff
duties to be altered. They must be
changed to meet<the radical altera-
ton in the conditions Of our econom-
ic life which the country has witness
ed within the last generation.
u Tariff Remained Same.
'' While the whole face and method
Of our industrial and commercial life
were changed beyond recognition the
tariff schedules have remained what
they were before the change began,
or have moved in the direction they
were given when no large circum-
stance of our industrial development
was whatit is today Our task is TO
square them with sthe actual facts.
The sooner that Is done the sooner
we shall escape from suffering from
the facts and the sooner our men OF
business Will be free to thrive by the
law of nature tthe nature of free
business) instead OF by the law Of
legislation and artificial arrange
ment.
Favored Manufacturer.
"We have seen tariff legislation
wander very far afield in our day
very far indeed from the field in
which our prosperity might have
had a normal growth and stimula-
tion. No one who looks the facts
squarely in the face or knows any
thing that lies beneath the surface
of action can fail to perceive the
priciples upon which recent tariff
legislation has been based. We long
ago passed beyond the modest notion
of protecting the industries OF the
country and moved boldly forward to
the idea that they were entitled to
the direct patronage OF the govern
ment For a long tlme--a time so
long that men now active in public
policy hardly remember the condi-
tions that preceded tive have
sought in our tariff schedules to give
each group Of manufacturers or pro-
ducers what they themselves thought
that they needed in order to main
tain practically exclusive market
as against the rest OF the world.
Built Up Privilege.
"Consciously or unconsciOusly, we
have built up a set OF privileges and
exemptions from competition behind
which it. was easy by any, even the
crudest, forms of combinations to
organize monopoly; until at last
nothing is normal, nothing is oblig-
ed to stand the tests of efficiency and
economy, in our world of big busi-
ness, but everything thrives by con-
certed arrangement. Only new
principles of action will save us from
a final hard cry ystallization OF monop-
oily and a complete loss OF the IN
fiuences that quicken enterprise and
keep Independent energy alive.
:1It is plain what those principles
must be. We must abolish every
thing that bears even the semblance
of privilege or of any kind of arti-
ficial advantage, and put our busi-
ness men and producers under the
stimulation of constant necessity
to be efficient, economical and enter
prising, masters of competitive SUI
tpremacy, better workers and mer-
chants than any in the world.
Must Watch World.
Aside from the duties laid upon
articles which we do not, and prob
ably cannot proouce, therefore, and
the duties laid upon Injuries and
merely for the sake Of the revenues
they yield, the object of the tariff
duties henceforth laid must be effec-
tive competition, the whetting Of
American wits by contest with the