Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-02
The Message.

The best feature OF what may be called
the Wilson order of things is presented
today. We have an annual message tC
Congress which does not stretch out tc
the crack of doom. For details of what
tho departments have been doing since
March. and what their heads propose fol-
the coming twelve months, Congress and
the country referred to official re-
ports. AS the President has approved
them, he recommends them to public at.
tention. Portions Of them will undoubted-
" be read
Proceeding, the President touches upon
questions on which he desires legislation
II is only "A touch. however. He works out
no problem. but viii do so later. Special
messages will be sent in as topics ripen.
Which is good idea, and will prevent
a tumble
Tossing a bouquet 10 the farmers
time-honored custom-the President
speaks for rural credits. Tossing another
bouquet to the MISUNDERSTANDING
that no well regulated politician neglects
he speaks for measures in their behalf.
Trusts will form the subject of special
message soon. The President wants the
Sherman law retained and strengthened.
is in agreement with wide public senti-
nent Much will depend on his sugges-
tions Of how the law should be strength
ened.
~ TO conservation the President is
eminently right as far as he goes The
policy should not take the form of stag
nation aralysis-a locking-up of natural
resources. Wrapping up talent in a
napkin is not business
The AguinaIdo Aid Society will be dis
appointed i'm the reference to the Philip
pines Ii does not breathe the fire and
the driving force that distinguish them.
Rather does it suggest caution and con-
seryatism- 1t might have been written
by Mr., Taft. Evidently the President is
not getting transports ready to bring the
army home.
The two subjects. of a government
owned railroad for Alaska and a new
method OF naming presidential candidates
submitted now. will be much more inter-
esting when presented in Congress in the
form of bills. Each carries the germ of
oratory and constitutional argument The
railroad may be built. The abolition of
the present method of nominating presi-
Dental candidates is by no means certain.
Mexico gets brief and indefinite men
tion-nayhe enough. as matters stand.
In famous debate between two stump
orators of the pioneer school, when the
phrases of the clearing were under
stood and popular, one said of the other:
Il have belted him around. and l leave
him 10 die The President thinks he has
belted Huerta around. and he leaves him
10 die. If Huerta does not die, or is
'all-fired slow about it''-but that is
another story.
In closing. the President with a deft
and diplomatic touch. asks permission of
Congress TO associate himself with the
work of the special session. If picture
were taken of them together, the puzzle
would be. not TO find tine President, but
Congress. Still. he puts the matter with
excellent taste, and Congress will join the
country in appreciating it.
All agree that the President writes we'll
The style that made him popular as a
historian and an essayist he took with
him TO the White House. and is employ
ing in his state papers. He recognizes
the value Of short word and a short
sentence. There is no days journey be-
tween the beginning and the end. His
readers are never lost in qualifications
and paTentheses. The present message
Is not 4 striking example of the Presi-
dents gift of expression. but it carries
easily and entertainingly all that he prob
ably intended to convey. Later, he NAV
have to answer to Mr.. Roosevelt for using
the phrase social justice" without quo
tation marks.