Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-12-07

sons of national efficiency and deveI.
opment that we should have a great
merchant marine
1t is high time we repaired our mis-
take and resumed our commercial indie.
pendence on the seas.
Need of Merchant Marine.
For it is a question of independ-
ence. If other nations go to war or
seek to hamper each others COM
merce, our merchants, it seems, are
at their mercy, to do with as they
please. We must use their ships, and
use them as they determine. We have
not ships enough of our own. We
cannot handle our own commerce on
the seas. Our independence is provin-
cial, and is only on land and within
our own borders. We are not likely
to be permitted to use even the ships
of other nations in rivalry of their
own trade, and are without means to
extend our commerce even where the
doors are wide open and our goods
desired. Such a situation is not to
be endured. It is of capital import
ance not only that the United States
should be it's own carrier on the seas
and enjoy the economic independence
which only an adequate merchant ma
rine would give it. but also that the
American hemisphere as a whole
should enjoy a like independence and
self-sufficiency, II it is not to be drawn
into the tangle of European affairs.
Without such independence the whole
question of our political unity and
self-determination is very seriously
clouded and complicated indeed.
Moreover, we can develop no true
or effective American policy without
ships Of our own-not ships of war,
but ships Of peace, carrying goods and
carrying much more; creating friend
ships and rendering indispensable
services to all interests on this side
the water.
Must Provide Ships.
With a view to meeting these
pressing necessities of our commerce
and availing ourselves at the earliest
possible moment of the present un-
paralleled opportunity of linking the
two Americas together in bonds of mu-
tual interest and service, an oppor-
tunity which may never return again
if we miss it now, proposals will be
made to the present congress for the
purchase or construction of ships to
be owned and directed by the govern
ment similar to those made to the last
congress, but modified in some essen
tial particulars. I recommend these
proposals to you for your prompt ac-
ceptance with the more confidence
because every month that has elapsed
since the former proposals we're made
has made the necessity for such action
more and more manifestly imperative.
That need was then foreseen; it is
now acutely felt and everywhere real
ized by those for whom trade is wait
ing but who can find no conveyance
for their goods. | am not so much in
terested in the particulars of the pro-
gram as l am in taking immediate adj
vantage of the great opportunity which
awaits us If we will but act in this
emergency.
The plans for the armed forces of
the nation which have outlined, and
for the general policy of adequate
preparation for mobilization and de-
tense, involve OF course very large ad-
ditional expenditures of money-ex-
penditures which will considerably ex-
ceed the estimated revenues of the
government. 1t is made my duty by
law, whenever the estimates OF ex-
penditure exceed the estimates of
revenue, to call the attention of the
congress to the fact and suggest any
means of meeting the deficiency that
it may be wise or possible for me to
suggest am ready to believe that it
would be my duty to do so in any case;
and feel particularly bound to speak
OF the matter when it appears that the
deficiency will arise directly out of
the adoption by the congress of meas
ures which l myself urge it to adopt
Allow me, therefore, to speak briefly
of the present state of the treasury
and of the fiscal problems which TIE