Show WORK IRK OF YEAR L REINED am BY B THE PRESIDENT affairs of state are dealt with at length in annual message BUT LITTLE ABOUT TARIFF president discusses work of tariff board ship subsidy Is urged WORK ON PANAMA CANAL deed of f legislation anticipating completion of the ditch Is I 1 pointed out change in postal rates parcels parcel pot post and postal savings economy urged washington doe dec 8 6 president tafts annual message to congress contained words and la in said to be the longest document of its kind ver ter written in it he reviews the work of each of the administrative departments depart menta beginning with the state stale department lie he devotes considerable space pace to the satisfactory settlement of the fisheries dispute with england through the medium of the hague tribunal and ta both the history of the fisheries dispute and the establishment of the tribunal in connection with the ment anent he tells tell of the important political happenings of the past twelve months throughout the entire world and the action of this country la in con can botlon with them tariff negotiations negotiation referring to the negotiation of at now MW tariff agreements president tatt taft an itaas the now new tariff law in section 2 respecting the maximum and minimum tariffs of the united states which provisions came into effect on april 1 1910 imposed upon us responsibility of determining prior to that date data whether any undue discrimination existed against the united states and its products in any country of the world with which we sustained commercial relations la in the case of several countries countr instances of apparent undue discrimination against american com commerce meroe were found to exist these discriminations were removed by negotiation prior to april 1 1910 when the maximum tariff was waa to come into operation with respect to importations from all those countries in whose favor no proclamation applying the minimum tariff should bould be ba issued by the president one hundred and thirty tour four such proclamations were issued this series of proclamations embraced the entire commercial world and nd hence the minimum tariff of the united states has been given sal al application thus testifying to the satisfactory character of our trade relations with foreign countries marked advantages to the c commerce como merce 0 or of the united states were obtained through these tariff settlements the policy of broader and closer trade relations with the dominion of canada which was initiated la in the adjustment of the maximum and minimum provisions of the tariff act of august 1309 1909 has proved mutually beneficial it justifies further efforts tor the readjustment of the commercial relations of the two countries countr lea so that their commerce may follow the channels natural to contiguous countries and be commensurate with the steady expansion of trade and industry on both sides of the boundary line hue ship subsidy the president urges such action as he believes will increase american trade abroad and says say a another instrumentality indispensable to the and natural development of american commerce Is merchant marine all maritime and commercial nations recognize the importance of this factor the greatest commercial nations our competitors jealously foster their merchant marine perhaps nowhere Is the need tor for rapid and direct small pau passenger and freight communication quite so urgent as between the united states and latin america we can secure in no other quarter of the world such immediate benefits in friendship and commerce as would flow from the establishment of direct lines or of communication muni cation with the countries of latin america adequate to meet the require requirements monts of a rapidly increasing appreciation of the reciprocal benco of the he countries of at the western hemisphere upon each others other products sympathies and assistance 1 I 1 alluded to this most important subject in my last annual message it has ba often been before you and I 1 need not recapitulate the reasons reason for its it recommendation unless prompt action be ba taken the completion ii ot at UM the panama canal will find this the only groat great commercial nation unable to avail in international maritime bustness business of this great contribution to the means ot of the worlds commercial intercourse ter course governmental expense to no one subject does doe he be devote more space than to the expense ot of conducting the various government departments depart menta and the urgent need for economy and in this athla connection he says say a every effort has haa been made by each department chief to reduce the estimated cost of his department for the ensuing fiscal year ending june 30 1913 1912 1 I say aay this in order that congress may tinder understand stand that these coll mates thus made present the smallest sum bum which will maintain the departments bureaus and offices of the gov eminent and meet its ita other obligations un under d er existing law and that a cut ol of these estimates would result in embarrassing the executive branch of the government in the performance of its duties this remark does not apply to the river and harbor estimates except to those for expenses of mal maintenance tenasco te nanco and the meeting of obligations under authorized contracts nor does doe it apply to the public building bill nor to the ay a y building program of course jam aa to these congress could withhold any part or all 1 of the estimates tor for them without interfering ter with the discharge of the ordinary obligations of these functions 0 of f its departments bureaus anek and offices the final estimates for the year ending june 30 80 1912 as they have been sent to the treasury on november 29 of 0 this year for the ordinary expenses of the government including those tor for public buildings rivers and harbors and the navy building program amount to this Is less than the appropriations for the fiscal year ending june 30 1911 it to Is less than the total estimates including supplemental estimates submitted to congress by the treasury tor for the year 1811 1911 and Is less leas than the original estimates submitted by the treasury tor for 1911 these do not include the appropriations for the panama canal the policy in respect to which ought ought to be and Is to spend as much each year as can be economically and effectively fact ively expended in order to complete the canal as promptly as possible and therefore the ordinary motive tor for cutting down the expense of the government does not apply to appropriations tor for this purpose against the estimates of ex expenditures we have estimated receipts for next year making a probable surplus of ordinary receipts over ordinary expenditures of about or taking into account the estimates for the panama canal which are and which will ultimately be paid in b ends bonds it will leave a deficit for the next year of about it if congress shall conclude to fortify the canal the tariff the president devotes but little space to the subject of the tariff law lav and of it he says the schedules of the rates of duty in the payne tariff act have been subjected to a great deal of criticism some of it just more of it unfounded and to much misrepresentation the act was adopted in pursuance of a declaration by the party which Is ro for it that customs bill should be a tariff tor for the protection of home industries the measure of the protection to be the difference between the cost coet of producing the imported article abroad and the cost of producing it at home together with such b to that difference as might give a reasonable profit to the homo home producer the basis tor for the criticism of this tariff Is that in respect to a number of the schedules the declared measure was not followed but a higher difference retained or inserted by way of undue discrimination in favor of certain industries and manufactures little if any of the criticism of the tariff has been directed against the protective principle e above stated but the main body c of f the criticism has been based on the attempt to conform to the measure of protection was not honestly and eln sincerely adhered to the tha tariff board the president refers to the appointment of a board of experts to investigate the cost of production of various articles included in the schedules of the tariff and says the tariff board thus appointed and authorized has been diligent in preparing itself for the necessary investigations the hope of those wh who have advocated the use of this board board tor for tariff purposes la Is that the question of the rate of a duty imposed shall become more of a business question and less of a political question to be ascertained by experts of long training and accurate knowledge the halt in business buBl and the shock to business due to the announcement that a new tariff bill Is to be prepared and put in operation will be avoided by treating the schedules one by one as occasion shall arise for a change in the rated of each and only after a report upon the schedule by the tariff board competent to make such report it Is not likely that the board will be able to make a report during the present session of congress on any of the schedules because a proper ex examination involves an enormous amount of detail and a great deal of care but I 1 hope to be able at the opening of the new congress or at least during the session of that congress to bring to its attention the facts in regard to those schedules in the present tariff that may prove to need our island inland possessions Poc eslon during the lat last summer gummer at my request the secretary of war visited the philippine islands and has baa described his bla trip in the report he found the islands in a state of tranquillity quil lity and growing prosperity due largely to the change in the tariff laws which has opened the markets of america to the products of the philippines and has haa opened the philippine markets to american manufactures fac tures the year has been one of prosperity and progress in porto rico nico panama canal at the instance of colonel goeta ate ala the army engineer officer in charge of the work on the panama canal I 1 have just juat made a visit to the isthmus to inspect the work done and to consult with him on the ground as to certain problems which are likely to arise in the near future the progress of the work la is most satisfactory it if no unexpected obstacle presents itself the canal will be completed well within the time fixed by colonel goethals to wit january 1 1916 1915 and within the estimate of cost among questions arising tor for present solution to Is the decision whether the canal shall be forti fortified fled I 1 bay have already stated to the congress that I 1 strongly favor fortification and I 1 now reiterate this opinion and ofik ask your consideration of the subject in the light of the report already before you made by a competent board another question which arises tor for consideration and possible legislation Is the question of tolls in the canal this question Is necessarily affected by the probable tonnage which will go through the canal in determining what the tolls should be we certainly ought tot flat to insist that tor for a good many years to come they should amount to enough to pay day tho the interest on the investment of which the united states has made in the construction of the canal we ought not to do this first because the benefits to be derived by the united states from this expenditure la Is not to be measured solely by a return upon the investment it if it were then the construction st might well have been left to private enterprise my own impression Is that the tolls ought not to exceed U 1 per net met ton and I 1 should recommend that within certain limits the president be authorized to fix the tolls ot of the canal and adjust them to what seems seema to be commercial necessity 1 I cannot close this reference to the canal without suggesting as a wise vis amendment to the interstate commerce law a provision prohibiting interstate commerce railroads from owning or controlling ships engaged in the trade through the panama canal I 1 believe such a pr provision 0 vision me may y be needed to save to the people of f the united states the benefits of the competition in trade between the eastern and western seaboards sea boards which this canal was constructed to secure department of justice discussing the affairs of th the department dopart part ment of justice the president says lays 1 I invite especial attention to the prosecutions under the federal law of the so called bucket shops and of those schemes to defraud in which the use of the mall mail Is an essential part of the fraudulent conspiracy prosecutions which have saved ignorant and weak members of the public and are saying saving them hundreds of millions of dollars the violations of the antitrust anti trust law present perhaps the most important litigation before the department and the number of cases filed shows the activity of the government in enforcing that statute in a special message last year I 1 brought to the tha attention of congress the propriety and wisdom of enacting 8 a general law providing tor for the incorporation of industrial and other compan companies les engaged in interstate commerce merce and I 1 renew my recommendation in that behalf the crying need in the united states of cheapening the cost of litigation by simplifying judicial procedure and expediting final judgment Is pointed out and action looking to correction of these evils Is urged the president recommends an increase in the salaries of federal judges postal savings banks at its last session congress made p revision for the establishment of savings banks by the post postoffice office department part ment of this government by which u under general control of trustees canu consisting of the postmaster general the secretary of the treasury and the attorney general the system could be begun in a few cities and towns and enlarged to cover within its operations as aa many cities and towns and as large a part of the country as seemed wise the initiation and establishment of such ruch a system has required a great deal of study on the part of the experts in tho the posto filce tee and treasury departments but a system has now been devised which Is believed to be more economical and simpler in its operation than any similar system abroad arrangements have been perfected wo eo that savings banks will be opened in some cities and towns on the of january and there will be a gradual extension of the benefits of the plan to the rest of the country it Is gratifying says the president that tho the reduction in the postal deficit has haa been accomplished without any curtailment of postal facilities on the contrary the service han ban been greatly extended during the year in all its branches second class cia mall mail in my last aniual message I 1 invited the attention of congress to the inadequacy of the postal rate imposed upon second class mall mail matter in so far as that includes magazines and showed by figures prepared by experts of the post postoffice office department that the government ws was rendering a service to the magazines costing many millions in im excess of the compensation paid an answer was attempted to this by the representatives of the magazines and a reply was lied filed to this answer by the pos tollice department the tha utter inadequacy of the answer considered in n the he light of tho the reply of the Post allIce department I 1 think must must appeal to any fair minded person whether the answer wag wa all that could be said in of the magazines Is ig another question I 1 agree that the he question Is one of tact fact but I 1 insist that it the fact Is an aa the elpe experts erts of at tile the post department show that we |