The spectator., 1920-12-17
CONGRESS- HEARS MESSAGE
 OF PRESIDENT WILSON READ

when addressed mySeI 10 per forming the duty laid upon the presi dent by the constitution to present to you an annual report on the state of the Union. I found my thought domi mated by an immortal sentence of Abraham Lincoln:
 Let us have faith that right makes might and in that faith let us dare to do our duty as we understand it.
 "A sentence immortal because 1t embodies in a form of utter simplicity and purity the essential faith of the nation, the faith in which 1t was con- ceived and the faith in which 1t has grown to glory and power. With that faith and the birth of a nation founded upon 1t came the hope into the world that a new order would pre- vail throughout the affairs of mankind, an order in which reason and right would take precedence of covetous- ness and force, and I believe that I express the wish and purpose of every thoughtful American when 1 say that this sentence marks for us in the plainest manner the part we should play alike in the arrangement of our domestic affairs and In our exercise of Influence upon the affairs of the w,rld. By this faith and by this faith alone, can the world be lifted out of it's pres. ent confusion and despair It was this faith which prevailed over the wicked force Of Germany. You will remem- Der that the beginning of the end of the war came when the German peo- pie found themselves face to face with the conscience of the world and realiz- ed that right was everywhere arrayed against the wrong that their govern ment was attempting to perpetrate. l think, therefore, that 1t Is true to say that this was the faith which won the war. Certainly this is the faith with which our gallant men went into the field and out upon the seas to make sure of victory.
 The United States cannot refuse this role of champion without putting the stigma of rejection upon the great and devoted men who brought it's gov ernment into existence ano establish ed it in the face of almost universal opposition and intrigue, even in the face of wanton force, as for example. against the orders in Council of Great Britain and the arbitrary Napoleonic 'decrees which involved us in what we know as the war of 1872. I urge you to consider that the display of an immediate disposition on the part of Congress to remedy and injustices or evils that may have shown themselves in our own national life will afford the most effecutal offset to the forces or chaos and tyranny which are playing so disastrous a part in the fortunes of the free peoples of more than one part of the world. The United States Is of necessity the sample democracy of the world. and the triumph of de- mocracy depends upon Its success. i Recovery from the disturbing and sometimes disastrous effects oe the
 
 on the other side of the water and has given promise, l venture to say, of early completion only in our own for tunate country, but even with us the recovery halts and Is impeded at times and there are immediately ser. viceable acts of legislation whieh it seems to me we ought to attempt to assist that recovery and prove the in- destructible recuperative force of a great government of the people. One of these is to prove that a great de- mocracy can keep house as success fully and In as business like a fashion as any other government. It seems to me that the first step towards prov ing this is to supply ourselves with a systematic method of handling our es- inmates and expenditures and bringing them to the point where they will not be an unnecessary strain upon our in- come or necessitate unreasonable tax ation. in other words a workable bud get system, and I respectfully suggest that two elements are essential to such a system, namely, not only that the proposal of appropriations should be in the hands of a single body, such as single appropriations committee in each house of the Congress; but al 80 that this body should be brought into such cooperation with the depart ments of the government and with the treasury of the United States as would enable it to act upon a com plete conspectus of the needs of the government and the resources from which it must draw its income l re- luctantly vetoed the budget bill pass ed by the last session of ongress be- cause of constitutional objection. The House of Representatives subse- ouently modified the bill fin order to meet this objection. In the revised form I believe that the bill, coupled with action already taken by the Con- gress to revise it's rules and procedure, furnishes the foundations for an effec- tive national budget system. I earn