Show r WORK OF BY THE 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 ned nad of legislation anticipating corn com of the ditch la in pointed out change in postal rates rate parcels pot poet and postal savings economy urged washington dec 0 president tafts annual message taos sago to congress contained words and Is IB said bald to be the longest document of its kind over aver written in tt it he reviews the work ot of each of the administrative departments beginning with the state department ile he devotes considerable pace apace to the satisfactory settlement of tho the fisheries dispute with england through the medium ot of the hague tribunal and recounts both the history ot of the fisheries dispute and the establishment of the tribunal lit in connection with tho the state department he tells ot of the important political happenings ot of the past twelve months throughout the entire world and the action of oc this country in concoction with them h tariff negotiations referring to the negotiation 0 of new tariff agreements president tatt taft 0 mays ays the new tariff law in section 2 respecting the maximum and minimum tariffs ot of the united states which provisions came into Anto effect on 1 imposed upon us ua responsibility of determining prior to that date whether any undue di scrim existed against the united states ond and its products in any country of 0 the world with which we sustained commercial relations la in tho the case of several countries instances ot of apparent undue discrimination against american commerce were loundro found to exist those these discriminations were removed by negotiation prior to april 1 1910 when the maximum tariff was to como come into operation with respect to importations from al all those countries in whose favor avor no proe lama atlon applying the minimum tariff should be issued by the president ono one hundred and thirty tour such procla nations were issued this series of proclamations era traced braced the entire commercial world and hence tho the minimum tariff of the united states has haa been given uever at al application thus testifying to tho the satisfactory character of our trade relations with foreign countries countr lea marked advantages to tho tha commerce of at the united states were obtained b through those tariff settlements the polley policy ot at broader and closer trade rf relations lations with the dominion of canada which was waa initiated in the adjustment of the maximum and minimum provisions of the tariff act of august 1809 1909 has proved mutually mu tully beneficial it justifies further efforts for the readjustment of at the commercial relations ot at the th two countries so go that their commerce com merco may follow the tha channels natural to contiguous coun tries arlea and be commensurate with the steady already expansion of trade avld and industry on both sides of the boundary line ship subsidy the president urges such action as ha be bel believes levea will increase american trade abroad and says bays another instrumentality Ind lepon table to the and natural development of american commerce la Is merchant er chaut martno marine all maritime and commercial bat nations ions recognize the tha im at 0 this factor the greatest commercial natrona na tlona bur competitors jealously foster their merchant marine perhaps kohere la Is the need tor for rapid and ana direct mall passenger and freight communication quite so urgent as between the united states and aad utin latin america we can secure in no other quarter of tho the world such immediate benefits in friendship and aad commerce as aa would woula flow from mhd establishment e ot at direct lines of communication muni cation with the countries of latin america adequate to meet the requirements ot of a rapidly increasing of 0 tho reciprocal dences of at the countries countr countries ils ot of the western ive storn hemisphere upon each others prod acu sympathies and assistance 11 1 I alluded to this mot most important Import aut ut subject in my last annual ana lal message me esage it has hab often ofte been before you and I 1 need not recapitulate the reasons MOM for ita prompt semon acmon lo 10 taken taen th alj completion ot at the th panama canal will find this abla the only groat great commercial nation to avail in international maritime marit lma business ot of this groat great contribution to the in dans of the worlds commercial in governmental expense to no ono one subject does he devote more space than to the expense of conducting the various government departments and the urgent need tor for economy and in this connection he says every 1 verY effort has boa been made anade by each department chief to reduce the estimated cost of his department for the ensuing fiscal bacal year ending juno june 30 1912 1 I say bay this th Is in order that congress may understand that those these estimates thus made present the smallest sum which will maintain the departments bureaus and offices of the government and meet its other obligations under existing law and that a cut of these estimates would result in embarrassing the executive branch ot of the government in the performance of its duties this remark does docs not apply to for the river and harbor estimates except to those for expenses of maintenance and tho the meeting ot of obligations under authorized contracts nor does it apply to the public building bill nor to the navy building pro gram of course as to these congress could withhold any part or all of the estimates for them without interfering ter fering with tea discharge of the ordinary obligations ot of these functions ot of its departments bureaus and offices 1 the final estimates for the year ending june 30 1912 as aa they their have boon been sent to tho the treasury on november 29 of 01 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 la Is less leas than the appropriations for or the fiscal year ending jinn 30 1011 1911 it Is less lees than the total estimates including supplemental estimates submitted to congress by the treasury for the year 1911 and Is less leas than the original estimates submitted by the treasury for 1911 these do not include the appropriations for the panama canal the polley policy in respect to which ought to be and Is in to spend as much each year as can be economically and add effectively expended in order to complete the canal as promptly as possible and therefore the tha ordinary Y motive for cutting down the expense ot of the govern government munt does not apply to api for this purpose against the estimates of expenditures we have estimated d receipts for next year making a probable surplus of ordinary receipts over ordinary expenditures of about or taking into account the estimates for ahe he panama canal which are and which will ultimately ultima be paid in bonds bonda it will leava a deficit for the lexi next year of about i if congress shall conclude to fortify the canal the thu tho president but little space to the subject at the tariff law and of it ho he says the schedules of the rates of duty in the payne tariff not act have been subjected to ta a great deal of criticism some of it just more of it unfounded and aad to much misrepresentation the let act was adopted in pursuance of a deell declaration by the ratty which la Is responsible for it that customs bill should be a tariff for the tha protection of homo home industries the measure of tho the protection to be ba the difference between the cost coat of producing the imported article abroad and the cost ot of producing it at home together with such addition to that difference as might give a reasonable profit to the home producer the basla basis for the criticism of this tariff is that in respect to a number of the schedules tho the declared measure was not follow ed but n higher difference retained or inserted by WHY way of undue discrimination in favor of certain industries and manufactures little if any or of the criticism of the tariff has been directed against the protective principle above stated but tho the main body bod of the criticism has been based on oil the attempt to conform to the measure of at protection was not honestly and sincerely adhered to the tariff board the president refers to tho the appoint ment of a hoard board of experts to investigate the cost of production of various articles III included eluded in the schedules of tho the tariff and says enya the tariff board thus appointed and authorized has boa been diligent dill gent lit III preparing pre itself tor for tho the necessary investigations the hope of those who have advocated the use of this tha board for tariff purposes la Is that the question of the rate of a duty duly imposed shall become ax rr cre o of a business question and less of t a political question to bo be ascertained ly by experts of long training an and i ti accurate knowledge the halt in business and the tha shock to business duo dua to tho announcement that thata a new tariff bill la to bo prepared ami AN put in operation will bo ba by treating the tha schedules duloR one ona by one ona n as occasion chall it cli cliant clia anc uc in the rates of each had anil only after a report art upon the iha sched schedule 06 by the tarla tariff board to make such report it ia is not hot likely tant the board will wl 11 be able to mate malse a report during the prea ent eat session cession ot at congress con green on any ot of the schedules because a proper elamin it alon ion involves an enormous amount or of detail and a great donl deal of at care but I 1 hope to be ba tibia able at tho the opening of the now new congress or at least during tho the session of 0 that bat congress to bring to its attention the facts in fit to those schedules in a the present tariff that may prove to need amendment ou bittan l possessions during the tha last aulmor at my iny request rb quest tho the secretary of oc war var visited visit etl the philippine philippine islands and haa ban described hla his trip in the report he found tho the islands in a state of tranquillity quil lity and growing prosperity due largely to the change in tho the tariff laws which has haa opened the markets of america to the products of the philippines and has opened the philippine markets to american manufactures fac tures the year has been one of prosperity and progress in porto rico panama canal at the instance of colonel goeth ella ala tho the army engineer officer in charge of the work on the panama canal I 1 have just mada mad a visit to the isthmus to inspect the work done and to consult with him on the ground as to certain problems lemli which are likely to arise in the near future the progress of the work la is most moat 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 and within the estimate of cost among questions arising for present solution Is the de decision C late n whether V het 11 er the canal shall be fortified I 1 have already stated to the congress that I 1 strongly favor fortification and I 1 now reiterate this opinion and ask your consideration of the subject in the the report already before you made lade by a competent bo board rd another question which arises for consideration and possible legislation is the file question of tolls in the canal thas question is necessarily affected by the probable tonnage which will go through the canal in determining what the tolls should be we certainly ought not to insist that tor for a good many years to come they should amount to enough to pay the interest on the investment of which the united states has madelan 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 Is not to be measured solely by a return upon the investment if it were then the construction st might well have been left to private enterprise my aly own impression Is that the tolls ought not to exceed 1 per net ton and I 1 should recommend that within certain limits the president be ba authorized to fix the tolls of the canal and adjust them to what seems to be commercial necessity 1 I cannot close this reference to the canal without suggesting as a wise elsei amendment to the interstate commerce law a provision prohibiting interstate Inter stata commerce railroads from owning or controlling ships engaged in the trade through the panama ca canal nal I 1 believe such a provision may be needed to save to the people of the united states the benefits of the competition in trado trade between the eab eastern tern and western seaboards sea boards which this canal was constructed to secure department of justice discussing the affairs of the department part ment of justice tho the president says 1 11 I invite especial attention to the prosecutions under the federal law 0 ot t the so called bucket shops and 0 of f those schemes to defraud in which the use ot at the mall mail as la on an essential part of the fraudulent conspiracy prosecutions which have saved ignorant and weak members of the public and are saving saying 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 attention of congress tho the propriety and wisdom ot of a general law providing for the incorporation of industrial and other companies engaged in interstate commerce and I 1 renew my recommendation in that behalf I 1 the crying need in the united states of the cost of litt gation gallon by g judicial priced ure end 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 i p revision for the establishment of savings banks by the pos posto filce department part ment orthis of athla government by which under general control of trustees consisting of the postmaster general the secretary of the tha treasury nad and the attorney general the system could be begun in a tow few cities and towns and enlarged to cover wettin its ita operations as many cities and towns and ds as large a part ot of the country as seemed wise the initiation ana establish went of such a system has required a great deal of 0 study on tho the part pact of the exports in the postoffice post office and treasury departments but a system haa ban now botn devised which is believed boll eved to be more economical and simpler in its aps ops operation rhulon than ray similar system abroad arrangements have been rs fectea so ro that savings hanka will be in and towns on the tha ast 1st of january and there therb will bo a graduel extension of tho the brne benefits fits of the plan to the rest of the country it to a gratifying buys the president that imbat the reduction in the postal deficit has haa been shod without any curtailment of postal facilities on the contrary the servi cebas been greatly extended during the year in all ile Ita branches second class mail in my last annual message I 1 ln in vitea the attention of congress to the inadequacy of the postal rato rate imposed upon pan second class mall mail matter la in no BO far ng as test includes mazurines maza rines and showed by fIgures prepared by experts of the department that the government overn ment was vaa rendering a service to the magazines costing many millions tn la excess of the compensation paid an answer was attempted to this by the representatives of |