Show THE presidents DENTS SPECIAL MESSAGE TO draws attention of lawmakers to measures that he believes should be acted upon at this session washington in a special message presented to congress on wednesday president roosevelt calls the attention of the lawmakers to certain measures on which he thinks thero there should be action taken by the present congress jon c angress on gress ile he says child labor should ae I 1 e prohibited throughout the nation at least a model child labor bill should be passed for the district or of columbia it Is unfortunate that in tho the one place solely dependent upon congress tor for its alts legislation there should be no law whatever to protect children by forbidding or regulating their labor tho the president renews his recommendation men dation for the immediate reenact re enact ment of an employers liability law drawn to conform to the recent decisions of the supreme court within the limits indicated by the court the liw should be made lb borough orough and comprehensive and the protection it affords should embrace every class of employee to which the power of the congress congles s can extend attention Is called to the urgent need of amending tho the Interi interstate tate commerce law and especially the antitrust law along the lines indicated in his last message the declaration is made that it ira braf now become important that there should be an amendment to the antitrust law because of the uncertainty as to how this law affects combinations among laboring men and farmers it if the combination has any tendency to restrict interstate commerce the substantive part of the antitrust anti trust law should remain as at present that Is every contract in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states or foreign nations should continue to be declared ff illegal legal provided however that some r roper governmental authority such as the commissioner of corporations acting under the secretary of commerce and labor bo be allowed to pass un en any such contracts it Is import ant that wo we should encourage trade agreements between employer and employee when they are just and fair A strike Is a clumsy weapon for righting wrongs done to labor aud and we should extend as far tm as possible tho process of conciliation and arbitration as a substitute for strikes the question of financial legislation Is now receiving such attention in both houses that we have a right to expect action before the close of the session says the president it Is urgently necessary that there should be such action moreover action should be taken to establish postal savings banks these postal savings banks are imperatively needed for the benefit bonewit of the wage workers and men of small means and will be a valuable adjunct to our whole financial system the blind has come when we should prepare for a revision of the tariff this should be and indeed must be preceded by careful investigation it its Is peculiarly the province of the congress and not of the president and indeed peculiarly the province of the house of representatives to originate la tariff bill and to determine upon its ita terms and this I 1 fully realize yet it seems to me that before the close of this session provision should be made for collecting full material which will I 1 enalla ahe he congress elected next fall ito act immediately after it cornea comes into existence 1 I am of the opinion however that one change in the tariff could with adlan advantage tago be made forthwith our forests need every protection and one method of protecting them would lie be to put on the free list wood pulp with a corresponding reduction upon paper made from wood pulp when they come from any country that does not put an export duty on them ample provision should bo be made for a permanent waterway commission with whatever power is required to make it effective the reasonable expectation of the people will not be met unless the congress at this session for the beginning and prosecution of the actual work of wat improvement and control the reading of the message was waa I 1 followed closely cloa ely in both houses in ithe house of representatives the declaration cl clar atlon that the time had bad come for a revision of the tariff elicited hand clapping on the part of the demo cra to members democratic approval also was given by way of pounding desks to the suggestion that congress could with advantage forthwith remove the tariff on wood pulp with p corresponding reduction upon paper made from wood pulp |