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Show 1 The President's Message to Congress i t ..... r Gentlemen of the Congress: In fulfilling at this time the duty laid upon me by the constitution of communicating to you from time to time information of the state of the union and recommending to your consideration con-sideration such legislative measures as may be Judged necessary and expedient ex-pedient I shall continue the practice, which I hope lias been acceptable to you, of leaving to the reports of the peveral heads of the executive departments de-partments the elaboration of the detailed de-tailed needs of the public service and confine myself to those matters of more general public policy with which It .seems necessary and feasible to deal at the present session of the congress. I realize the limitations of time under un-der which you will necessarily act at this session and shall make my suggestions as few as possible; but there were some things left undone at the last session which there will now be time to complete and which it seems necessary in the interest of the public to do at once. Railroad Difficulties. In the first place, it seems to m Imperatively necessary that the earliest earli-est possible consideration and action should be Recorded the remaining measures of the programme of settlement set-tlement and regulation which I had occasion to recommend to you at the close of your last session in view of the public dangers disclosed by the unaccommodated difficulties which then existed, and which still unhappily unhap-pily continue to exist, between the railroads of the country and their locomotive lo-comotive engineers, conductors and trainmen. I then recommended: First, Immediate provision for the enlaraement and administrative reorganization reor-ganization of the interstate commerce commission along the lines embodied in the bill recently passed by the house of representatives and now awaiting action by the senate; In order or-der that the commission may be enabled en-abled to deal with the many great and various duties now devolving upon it with a promptness and thoroughness thor-oughness which are,, with its present constitution and means of action, practically impossible. Second, the establishment of an eight-hour day as the legal basis alike of work and of wages In the employment of all railway employees who are actually engaged in the work " of operating trains in interstate transportation. trans-portation. Third, the authorization of the appointment ap-pointment by the president of a small body of men to observe the actual results re-sults in experience of the adoption of the eight-hour day fn railway transportation alike for the men and for the railroads. For Public Investigation. Fourth, explicit approval by the congress of the consideration by the interstate commerce commission of an increase of freight rates to meet such additional expenditures by the railroads as may have been rendered necessary by the adoption of the eight -hour day and which have not been offset by administrative readjustments read-justments and economies, should the facts disclosed justify the increase. Fifth, an amendment of the existing exist-ing federal statute which provides for the mediation, conciliation and arbitration arbi-tration of such controversies as the present by adding to it a provision that. In case the methods of accommodation accom-modation now provided for should fall, a full public Investigation of the merits of every such dispute shall be instituted and completed before a j strike or lockout may lawfully be attempted. at-tempted. And, sixth, the lodgement In the hands of the executive of the power, in case of military necessity, to take control of such portions and such rolling stock of the railways of the ! country as may be required for mill-! mill-! tarv use and to operate them for mlll- tary purposes, with authority to draft j into the military service of the United ! States such train crews and administrative admin-istrative officials as the circumstances circum-stances require for their safe and efficient ef-ficient use. The second and third of these recommendations the congress Immediately Imme-diately acted on : it established the eight-hour day as the legal basis of work and wages in train service and it authorized the appointment of a commission to observe and report 1 upon the practical results, deeming these the measures most Immediately needed; but It postponed action upon the other si:ccestions until an opportunity oppor-tunity shouki be offered for a more deliberate consideration of t hem. The fourth recommendation I do not deem it necessary to renew. The power pow-er of the Interstate commerce commission com-mission to grant an increase of rates on the ground referred to Is indisputably indis-putably clear and a recommendation recommenda-tion by the congress with regard to such a matter mit?ht seem to draw in question the scope of the commission's authority or Its inclination to do Justice Jus-tice when there is no reason to doubt either. The other sug-estions the increase in the interstate commerce commission's commis-sion's membership and In Its facilities facili-ties for performing its manifold duties, du-ties, the provision for full public investigation in-vestigation and assessment of industrial indus-trial disputes, and the grant to the executive of the power to control and operate the railways when necessary in time of wa r or other like public necessity I now very earnestly renew. re-new. The necessity for such legislation is manifest and "pressing. Those who have entrusted us with the responsibility responsi-bility and duty of serving and safeguarding safe-guarding them tn such matters would find it hard, I believe, to excuse a failure to act upon these grave matters mat-ters or any unnecessary postponement of action upon them. Not only does the interstate commerce com-merce commission now find It practically practi-cally impossible, with Its present membership mem-bership :tnd organization, to perform its great functions promptly and thoroughly, but it is not unlikely that It may presently be found advisable to add to ;ts duties still others equally heavy and exacting. It must first ba perfected as an administrative instrument. instru-ment. Disturbances Must Stop. The country cannot and should not consent to remain any longer exposed to profound industrial disturbances for lack of additional means of arbitration and conciliation which the congress can easily and promptly supply. And all will agree that there must be no doubt as to the power of the executive execu-tive to make immediate and uninterrupted uninter-rupted use of the railroads for the concentration of the military forces of the nation wherever they are needed and whenever they are needed. This is a programme of regulation, prevention and administrative efficiency effi-ciency which argues its own case tn the mere statement of it. With regard re-gard to one of its items, the increase in the efficiency of the interstate commerce com-merce commission, the house of representatives rep-resentatives has already acted; its action ac-tion needs only the concurrence of the senate. I would hesitate to recommend, and I daresay the congress would hesitate to act upon the suggestion should I make it, that any man in any occupation occupa-tion should be obliged by law to continue con-tinue in an employment which he desired de-sired to leave. To pass a law which forbade or prevented the individual workman to leave his work before receiving re-ceiving the approval of society in doing do-ing so would be to adopt a new principle princi-ple into our jurisprudence which I take it for granted we are not prepared pre-pared to Introduce. But the proposal that the operation of the railways of the country shall not be stopped or interrupted by the concerted action of organized bodies of men until a public investigation shall have been instituted insti-tuted which shall make the whole question at issue plain for the judgment judg-ment of the opinion of the nation Is not to propose any such principle. It is based upon the very different principle prin-ciple that the concerted action of powerful bodies of men shall not be permitted to stop the industrial processes of the nation, at any rate before the nation shall have had an opportunity to acquaint itself with the merits of the case as between employee em-ployee and employer, time to form its opinion upon an impartial statement state-ment of the merits, and opportunity to consider all practicable means of conciliation or arbitration. I can see nothing in that proposition but the justifiable safeguarding by society of the necessary processes of its very life. There is nothing arbitrary or unjust In it unless it be arbitrarily and unjustly done. It can and should be done with a full and scrupulous regard for the interests and liberties of all concerned as well as for the Permanent Per-manent interests of society itself. Three matters of capital importance await the action of the senate which have already been acted upon by the house of representatives: the bill which seeks to extend greater freedom free-dom of combination to those engaged in promoting the foreign commerce of tne country than is now thought by some to be legal under the terms of the laws against monopoly; the bill amending the present organic law of Porto Rico; and the bill proposing a more thorough and systematic regulation regula-tion of the expenditure of money in elections, commonly called the corrupt cor-rupt practices act. I need not labor my advice that these measures be enacted en-acted into law. Their urgency lies in i the manifest circumstances which render their adoption at this time not only opportune but necessary. Even delay would seriously jeopardize the interests of the country and of the government. The Export Trade. Immediate passage of the bill to regulate the expenditure of money in elections may eeem. to be less necessary neces-sary than the immediate enactment of the other measures to which I -refer; because at least two years will elapse beiore another election ln which federal fed-eral offices are to be tilled; but it would greatly relieve the public mind If this important matter were dealt with while the circumstances and the dangers to the pubile morals of the present method of obtaining and spending campaign funds stand clear under recent observation and the methods of expenditure can be frankly frank-ly studied in the light of present experience; ex-perience; and a delay would have the further very serious disadvantage of postponing action until another ""election ""elec-tion was at hand and some special object connected with it might be thought to be in the mind of those who urged it. Action can be taken now with facts for guidance and without with-out suspicion of partisan purpose. I shall not argue at length the desirability de-sirability of giving a freer hand in the matter of combined and concerted effort to those who shall undertake the essential enterprise of building up our export trade. That enterprise will presently, will Immediately assume, has indeed already assumed, a magnitude magni-tude unprecedented in our experience. We have not the necessary Instrumentalities Instru-mentalities for its prosecution ; it is deemed to be doubtful whether they could be created upon an adequate scale under our present laws. We should clear away all legal obstacles and crcnte a basis of undoubted law for it which will give freedom without with-out permitting unregulated liceno. The thintj must be done now, because the opportunity is here and may escape es-cape us if v. e hesitate or delay. The argument for the proposed amendments of the organic law of Porto Riro is brief and conclusive. The present laws governing the island and regulating the rights and privileges privi-leges of its people are not just. We have created expectations of extended privilege which ve have not satis- fied. There Is uneasiness among the people of the islnnd and even a sus- j picious doubt with regard to our Intentions In-tentions concerning them which the adoption of the pending measure won id happily remove. We do not doubt what we wish to dn in any essentia) particular. We ought to do it at once. Congratulates Congress. At the last pension of congress a bill was passed by the senate which provide" for the promotion of vocp -tionai and industrial education whi.-li 13 cf vitaJ importance to the whtse country, because it concerns a matter, mat-ter, too long- neglected, upon which the thorough industrial preparation of the country for the critical years of economic development immediately ahead of us in very large measure de-. de-. pends. May I not urge its early and favorable consideration by the house of representatives and its early enactment enact-ment into law? It contains plans which affect all interests and all parts of the country, and I am sure that there Is no legislation now pending before congress whose passage the country awaits with more thoughi-ful thoughi-ful approval or greater impatience to eee a great nnd admirable thing set in the way of being done. There are other matters already advanced ad-vanced to the stage of conference between be-tween the two houses of which it is not necessary that I should speak. Some practicable basis of agreement concerning them will no doubt be found and action taken upon them. Inasmuch as this is, gentlemen, probably the last occasion I shall have to address the sixty-fourth congress, I hope that you will permit me to say with what genuine pleasure and satisfaction satis-faction I have co-operated with you in the many mensurcs of constructive policy with which you have enriched the legislative annals of the country. Tt has been a privilege to labor in such company. I take the liberty of congratulating con-gratulating you upon the completion of arecord of rare serviceableness and distinction. |