The Green Forest tribune., 1914-12-11

l
 capital to open them at venture
 It is not question of the government monopoliZing the field It should take
 action to make it certain that trans l portation at reasonable rates will be | promptly provided, even where the
 carriage is not at first profitable; and then, when the carriage has become sufficiently profitable to attract and | engage private capital, and engage it | in abundance, the government ought | to withdraw. 1 very earnestly hope | that the congress will be of this opin- | ion, and that both houses will adopt | this exceedingly important bill. The great subject of rural credits | still remains to be dealt with, and | it is matter of deep regret that the | difficulties of the subject have seemed | to render it impossible to complete l bill for passage at this session. But | 1t can not be perfected yet, and there | fore there are no other constructive measures the necessity for which will at this time call your attention | to; but I would be negligent of a very manifest duty were I not to call | the attention of the senate to the fact that the proposed convention for safe ty at sea awaits its confirmation and that the limit fixed in the convention itself for it's acceptance is the last day of the present month. The con ference in which this convention or iginated was called by the United
 States; the representatives of the
 United States played a very influen-
 tial part indeed in framing the provi-
 sions of the proposed convention; and those provisions are in themselves for the most part admirable. It would hardly be consistent with the part we have played In the whole matter to let it drop and go by the board as if forgotten and neglected. It was
 ratified in May last by the German government and in August by the
 parliament of Great Britain. It marks
 most hopeful and decided advance
 in international civilization. We
 should show our earnest good faith
 in great matter by adding our own
 acceptance of it.
 Charting of Our Coasts.
 There is another matter of which l must make special mention, if 1 am
 to discharge my conscience, lest it should escape your attention. It may
 seem very small thing. It affects only single item of appropriation
 But many human lives and many
 great enterprises hang upon it.
 It is the matter of making adequate
 provision for the survey and charting of our coasts.
 It is immediately pressing and exi-
 gent in connection with the immense
 coast line of Alaska A coast line
 greater than that of the United States themselves, though it is also very important indeed with regard to the older coasts of the continent. We
 cannot use our great Alaskan domain, ships will not ply thither, if those
 coasts and their many hidden dangers
 are not thoroughly surveyed and charted.
 The work is incomplete at almost
 every point. Ships and lives have been lost in threading what were sup
 posed to be well-known main chan
 nels. We have not provided adequate vessels or adequate machinery for the survey and eharting. We have used old vessels that were not big enough or strong enough and which were so nearly unseaworthy that our inspec- o1l To owners to send them to sea. This is
 matter which, as I have said, seems
 small, but is in reality very great. Its importance has only to be looked into to be appreciated.
 Economy Is Urged.
 Before I close, may I say a few
 words upon two topics, much dis cussed out of doors, upon which it is
 highly important that our judgments should be clear, definite and steadfast. One of these is economy in govern
 ment expenditures. The duty of econ
 omy is not debatable. It is manifest
 and imperative. In the appropriations
 we pass we are spending the money
 of the great people whose servants
 we are-not our own. We are trus-
 tees and responsible stewards in the
 spending. The only thing debatable
 and upon which we should be careful
 to make our thought and purpose
 clear is the kind of economy demand
 ed of us. I assert with the greatest
 confidence that the people of the United States are not jealous of the
 amount their government costs if they are sure that they get what they
 need and desire for the outlay, that the money is being spent for objects
 of which they approve, and that it is
 being applied with good business sense and management.
 Governments grow, piecemeal, both | in their tasks and in the means by
 which those tasks are to be per l formed. and very few governments are | organized. I venture to say, as wise and experienced business men would organize them if they had clean sheet of paper to write upon. Certain