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Show PRESIDENT SENDS ANOTHER MESSAGE Tells Congress About the Fiscal, Military, Insular and Judicial Affairs of the Nation, Including Panama Canal and Tolls Established. been finally ad j unfed and the growth nt vegetation will minimize erosion in the banks of the out. the slid problem will be practically solved and an ample stability sta-bility assured for the Culebra Cut. Although the official date of the opening open-ing has been set for January 1, 3915, the canal -will, in fact, from present indications, indica-tions, be opened for shipping during the latter half of 1913. No fixed date can as yet be set, but shipping interests will be advised as c as assurances can be Riven that v -i pass through without with-out unnecer: j.i '. . Recognizing the administrative problem in the management of the canal, congress con-gress !n the act of August 24, 1912, has made admirable provision for executive responsibility In the control of the canal and the government of the Canal Zone. The problem of most efficient organization organiza-tion is receiving careful consideration, so that a scheme of organization and control con-trol best adapted to the conditions of the canal may bo formulated and put in operation op-eration as expeditiously as possible. Act l'-g under the authority conferred on nr. by congress, T have, by executive proclamation, procla-mation, promulgated the following sched-uel sched-uel of tolls for ships passing through lh-canal, lh-canal, based upon the thorough report of Kmory H. Johnson, special commissioner commis-sioner on traffic and tolls: 1. On merchant vessels carrying passengers pas-sengers or cargo, $1.20 per net vessel ton each 100 cubic feet of actual capacity. capac-ity. 2. On vessels In ballast without passengers pas-sengers or cargo, 40 per cent, less than the rate of tolls for vessels with passengers passen-gers or cargo. 3. Upon naval vessels, other than transports, trans-ports, colliers, hospital ships, and supply ships. 60 cents per displacement ton. 4. Upon army and navy transports, colliers, col-liers, hospital ships, and supply ships, JI.20 per not ton, the vessels to be mea3-used mea3-used by the same rules as are employed in 'lotermining the net tonnage of merchant mer-chant vessels. Rules for the determination of the tonnage ton-nage upon which toll charges Are based are now in course of preparation and will be promulgated in due season. Panama Cana! Treaty. The proclamn t!on which T have issued in respect to the Panama Canal tolls is In accord with the Panama Canal act passed by this congress August 24, 1912. V'e have been advised that the British govern ment has prepared a protest ngafnst the net and its enforcement in so far as it relieves from th pa yment of tolls American sh;p -jngaged in the American Amer-ican coast. wIsp tra'-1 on the ground that it violates British -'frhts under the Hay-Pauncefnfp Hay-Pauncefnfp treaty concerning the Panama Canal. "When the protest is presented. It will be promptly considered and an effort ef-fort made to reach a satisfactory adjustment adjust-ment of any differences there may be between be-tween the t wo governments. Promotion for Col. Goethals., As the completion of the canal grows nearer, and as the wonderful executive work of Col. Goethals becomes more conspicuous con-spicuous in the eyes of the country and of the world. It seems to me wise and proper to make provision by law for such reward to him as may be commensurate with the service that he has rendered to his country. I suggest that this reward take the form of an appointment of Col. Goethals as a major general in the army of the United States, and that the law authorizing such appointment be accompanied accom-panied with a provision permitting his designation as chief of engineers upon the retirement of the present Incumbent of that office. Navy Department. The. navy of the United States is In a greater state of efficiency and is more powerful than it has been before, be-fore, but in the emulation which exists ex-ists between different countries In respect re-spect to the increase of naval and military armaments this condition is not a permanent one. In view of the many improvements and increases by foreign governments the slightest halt Washington, Dec. 6. Congress today received re-ceived from President Taft the second of his messages "to the short session. It deals with fiscal, military, insular and judicial affairs and in part la as follows: The condition) of the country with reference ref-erence to business could hardly be better. While the four years of the administration administra-tion now drawing to a close have not developed de-veloped great speculative expansion or a wide field of new investment, the recovery recov-ery and progress made from the depressing depress-ing conditions following the panic of have been steady arvd the Improvement has been clear and easily traced In. the statistics. The business of the. country Is now on a solid basis. Credits are not unduly extended and every phase of the ef tuation seems In a state of preparedness prepared-ness for a period of unexampled prosperity. prosper-ity. Manufacturing concerns are running at their full capacity and the demand for labor was never so constant and growing, n-lft-trade of the country for this 'year wilt exceed $4,000,000,000. while the balance 1n our favor that of the excess of exports over Imports will exceed $500,-000,000. $500,-000,000. More than half our exports are manufactures or partly manufactured material, while our exports of farm products pro-ducts do not show the same increase of domestic consumption. It Jh a year of bumper crops; the total morv value of farm products will exceed $9,500,000,000. It Is a year when the bushel or unit price of agricultural products has gradually fallen, and yet the total value of the entire en-tire crop is greater by over $1,000,000,000 than we have known In our history. Condition of the Treasury. The condition of the treasury is very satisfactory. The total interest-bearing debt is $963,777,770, of which $134,631,980 con-stlute con-stlute the Panama canal loan. The non-interest-bearing debt Is $378,301,284.90. Including In-cluding $346,fi7!,0Ifi of greenbacks. We have In tre treasury $150,000,000 in gold coin as a reserve against the outstanding greenbacks; green-backs; and in addition we have a cash balance In the treasury as a general fvind of $167,152,478.09, or an Increase of $26,975,-552 $26,975,-552 over the general fund last year. Receipts and Expenditures. For three years the expenditures of the government have decreased under the In-, fluence of an effort to economize. This year presents an apparent exception. The estimate by the secretary of the treasury of the ordinary receipts, exclusive of postal pos-tal revenues, for the year ending June (0. 1954. indicates that they will amount to1 $170,000,000. The sum of the estimates of the expenditures for that same year, exclusive of Panama canal disbursements and postal disbursements payable from postal revenues is $732,000,000, indicating a deficit of $22,000,000. For the year ending June 30. 1913. similarly estimated receipts were $667,000,000. while the- total corresponding corre-sponding estimate of expenditures for that . year, submitted through the secretary of the treasury to congress, amounted to 5656.000.000. This shows an increase of P76. 000,000 in the estimates for 1914 over the total estimates of 1913. This Is due to an increase of $25,000,000 In the estimate for rivers and harbors for the next year Dn projects and surveys authorized by congress; to an Increase under the .new pension bill of $32,500,000; and to an in- ; crease In the estimates for expenses of : the navy department of $24,000,000. The j estimate for the navy department for the year 1913 included two battleships. Congress Con-gress made provision for only one batUe-Bhip, batUe-Bhip, and therefore the navy department has deemed it necessary and proper to make an estimate which includes the first year's expenditure for three battleships In addition to the amount required for work on the uncompleted ships now under construction. In addition to the natural Increase In the expenditures for the uncompleted un-completed ships, and the additional battleship bat-tleship estimated for, the other increases are due to the pay required for 4,000 or more additional enlisted men In the navy, and to this must be added the additional cost of construction imposed by the change In the eight-hour law which makes it applicable to ships built In private pri-vate shipyards. The president then explained at some length the national reserve association system recommended by the monetary , commission and urged congress to examine ex-amine the plan impartially from all standpoints and then to adopt some plan which will secure the benefits desired. de-sired. Concerning the tariff he had little to say In view of the fact that a new congress con-gress has been elected on a platform of tariff for revenue only. Army Reorganization. Our small army now consists of 83,809 men, excluding the 5,000 Philippine scouts. Leaving out of consideration the coast artillery force, whose position Is fixed in our various seacoast defenses, and the present garrisons of our various insular possessions, we have today within the continental United States a mobile army of only about 35,000 men. This little force must be still further drawn upon to supply sup-ply the new garrisons for the great naval base which is being established at Pearl Harbor, In the Hawaiian islands, and to protect the locks now rapidly approaching completion at Panama. The forces remaining re-maining tn the United States are now scattered in nearly fifty posts, situated for a variety of historical reasons In twenty-four states. These posts contain only fractions of regiments, averaging less than 700 men each. In time of peace It has been our historical policy to administer ad-minister these units separately by a geographical geo-graphical organization. In other words, our army in time of peace has never been a united organization but merely scattered scat-tered groups of companies, battalions and regiments, and the first task in time of war has been to create out of these scattered scat-tered units a.n army tit for effective teamwork team-work and co-operat'on. ' To the task of meeting these patent defects, the war department has been addressing ad-dressing itself during the past year. A comprehensive plan of reorganization was prepared by the war college division of the general staff. This plan was thoroughly thor-oughly discussed last summer at a series of open conferences held by the secretary of war and attended by .representatives from all brandies of the army and from congress. In printed form it has been distributed to members of congress and ; throughout the army and the national guard, and widely through institutions of learning and elsewhere in the United States. Tn It. for the first time, we have a tentative chart for future progress. The National Guard. Under existing law the national guard constitutes, after the regular army, the first line of national defense. Its organization, or-ganization, discipline, trainfng. and equipment, equip-ment, under recent legislation, have been aanlmilMed, as far as possible, to those of the regular army, and its practical efficiency, under the effect of this training1, train-ing1, has very greatly Increased. Our citl-un citl-un soldiers under present conditions have reached a stage of development beyond be-yond which they cannot reasonably be asked to go without further direct assistance as-sistance in the form of pay from the federal fed-eral government. On the other hand, such pay from the national treasury would not bo Justified unless it produced a proper .ouivalent In additional efficiency on the part of the national guard. The organized militia today cannot be ordered outside of the limits of the United States, and thus cannot lawfully be used for general military mili-tary purposes. The officers and men are ambitious and eager to make themselves thus available and to become an efficient national reserve of citizen soldiery. They are the only force of trained men, other than the regular army, upon which we 'an rely. The so-called military pay bill, In the form agreed on between the au-t au-t horities of the war department and the representatives of the national guard, in my opinion adequately -meets these conditions con-ditions and offers a pr-er return for the pay which It is propped to give to the national guard. I believe that its enactment enact-ment into law would be a very long step toward providing this nation with a first line of citizen soldiery, upon which its main reliance must depend In case of any na tiona.l emergency. Plans for the organisation or-ganisation of the national guard Into tactical tac-tical divisions, on the same lines as those adopted for the regular army, are being formulated by the war' college division of the general staf. Porto Rico, Mr. Taft says, continues to show notable progress and he ures the senate to pass the bill granting the j 1 rto Ricans American citizenship. Philippines. A bill Is pending- In congress, continues con-tinues the message, which revolutionizes revolution-izes the carefully worked out scheme of government under which the Philippine Philip-pine islands ore now governed and which proposes to render them virtu-ally virtu-ally autonomous at once and absolutely independent in eight years. Such a proposal can only be founded on the assumption that we have now discharged dis-charged our trusteeship to the Filipino people and our responsibility for them to the world, and that they are now prepared for sel f-government as well as national sovereignty. -A thorough and unbiased knowledge of the facts clearly shows that these assumptions are absolutely with Justification. As to this. I believe tha there is no substantial sub-stantial di (Terence cT opinion among any of those who have had the responsibility respon-sibility of facing Philippine problems in the administration of the islands, and I believe that no one to whom the future of this people is a responsible concern can countenance a policy fraught with the direst consequences to those on whose tvhalf it is ostensibly osten-sibly urged. Our true course is to pursue steadily and courageously the path we have thus far followed; to guide -s Filipinos into self-sustaining pursuits; to continue the cultivation of snnd political habits through educatltn and political practice; to encourage the diversification of industries, indus-tries, and to realize the advantages of their industrial education by conservatively-approved co-operative methods, at once checking the dangers of concentrated concentrat-ed wealth and building up a sturdy, independent inde-pendent citizenship. Regulation of Water Power. There are pending before congress a large number of bills proposing to grant privileges of erecting dams for the purpose pur-pose of creating water power In our navigable navi-gable rivers. The pendancy of these bills has brought out an Important defect in the existing general dam act. That act does not, In my opinion, grant sufficient power to the federal government in deal- j ing with the construction of such dams to exact protective conditions in the interest of navigation. It does not permit the federal government', as a condition of Its permit, to require that a part of the value thus created shall be applied to the further general improvement and protection protec-tion of the stream. I believe this to be one of t7T3 most important matters of internal improvement now confronting the government. Most of the navigable rivers of this country are comparatively long and shallow. In order that they may be made fully useful for navigation there has come into vogue a method of improvement known as canalization, or 1 the slack-water method, which consists i In building a series of dams and locks. , each of which will create a long pool of deep navigable water. At each of these dams there Is usually created a long pool of deep navigable water. At each of these dams there Is 'usually created also water power of commercial value. If the water power thus cheated can be made available for the furtf.er improvement of navigation naviga-tion In the stream, it is manifest that the Improvement will be much more quickly effected on the one hand, and on the other, that the burden on the general taxpayers tax-payers of the country will "be very much reduced. Private interests seeking permits per-mits to building waterpower dams in navigable streams usually urge that they thus Improve navigation, and that if they do not Impair navigation they should be allowed to take for themselves the entire en-tire profits of the water-power development. develop-ment. Whatever they may do by way of relieving the government of the expense of improving navigation should be given due consideration, but It must be apparent that there may be a profit beyond a reasonably rea-sonably liberal return upon the private Investment which is a potential asset of the government In carrying out a comprehensive com-prehensive policy of waterway development. develop-ment. It Is no objection to the retention and use of such an asset by the government govern-ment that a comprehensive waterway policy will include the protection and development de-velopment of the other public uses of water, which cannot and should not be Ignored in making and executing plans for the protection and development of navigation. It Is also equally clear that inasmuch as the water power thus created cre-ated is or may be an Incident of a general gen-eral schenv of waterway Improvement within the constitutional Jurisdiction of the federal government, the regulation of nuch water power lies also within that jurisdiction. Tn my opinion constructive statesmanship requires that legislation should be enaete1 which will permit the development of navigation in thes- great rivers to go hand in hand with theutil-Ization theutil-Ization of this by-product of wn ter power, pow-er, created in the course of the same improvement, im-provement, and that the general dam act should be so amended as to make this pns sible. I deem It highly Important that the nation should adopt a consistent oir' harmonious treatment of thes water ' power projects, which will preserve for this purpose their value to the government, govern-ment, whose right it is to grant the permit. per-mit. Any other policy Is equivalent to throwing away a most valuable national asset. The Panama Canal. During the past year the work of construction con-struction upon the canal has progressed most satisfactorily. About 87 per cent, of the execavation work has been completed, and more than 93 per cent, of the concrete con-crete for all the locks Is In place. In view of the great interest which has been manifested as to some slides in the Cule-bra Cule-bra Cut. I am jriad to say that the report of Col. Goethals should allay any apprehension ap-prehension on this point. It Is gratifying to note that none of the Slides which occurred oc-curred during this year would have interfered in-terfered with the passage of the . ships had the canal, in fact been in opon, and when the slope pressures- -e on our part in respect to new construction construc-tion throws us back and reduces us from a naval power of the first rank and places us among the nations of the second rank. A year ago congress refused to appropriate ap-propriate for more than one battleship. Tn this I think a great mistake of policy was made, and I urgently recommend rec-ommend that this congress make up for the mistake r.t the last session by appropriations authorizing the construction con-struction of three battleships, in ad- j dltlon to destroyers, fuel ships, and the other auxiliary vessels as shown in the building program of the genera . board. We are confronted by a condition condi-tion in respect to the navies of th world which requires us. If we woulr" maintain our navy as an insurance of peace, to augment our naval force by at least two battleships a year and hv battle cruisers. gunboats, torpedo destroyers, de-stroyers, and submarine boats In n proper prorotion. We have no desire for war. We go as far as any nation-in nation-in the world to avoid war, but we ar a world power. Our population, our wealth, our definite policies, our re'-sponsibllities re'-sponsibllities in the Pacific and the Atlantic, At-lantic, our defense of the Panama canal, ca-nal, together with our enormous world trade and our missionary outposts on the frontiers of civilization, require ns to recognize our position as one of the foremost In the family of nations, and to clothe ourselves with sufficient naval power to give force to our reasonable rea-sonable demands, and to give weight to our influence in those directions of progress that a powerful Christian nation na-tion should advocate. Department of Justice. This department has been very active in the enforcement of the law. It has been better organized and with a larger force than ever before In the history of the government. The prosecutions prose-cutions which hve been successfully , concluded and wnlch are now ponding teptlfy to the effectiveness of the de-partment de-partment work. ( The prosecution of trusts under th Sherman anti-trust law has gone on without restraint or diminution, and i decrees similar to those entered in the Standard Oil and Tobacco cases have been entered in ot her su i ts. like the suits nsrafnst the powder trust and the hnth tub trust. I am very strongly convinced con-vinced that a stead v. consistent course in this regard, with a cont Inui ng of Supreme court decisions upon the new phases of the trust question not already finally decided, is going to offer n pol utinn of this much - discussed and troublesome Issue in a quiet, calm and judicial w,ay. without any radical legislation leg-islation changing the governmental policy In record to combinations now denounced by the Sherman anti-trust law. T have al: i-A-d y recommended n an aid in this matter legislation which would declare unlawful certain well-knnwn well-knnwn -phases of unfair competition In interstate trade, and I have also advo-ted advo-ted voln ntn ry na ti on al In corpora tl on for the larger industrial enterprises, with provision for a closer supervision bj' the bureau of corporations, or a board appointed for the purpose, so as to make certain compliance with the anti-trust law on the one hand and to give greater security to the stockholders stock-holders against possible prosecutions on the other. I believe, however, that the orderly course of litigation In the courts and the regular prosecution of trusts charged with the violation of the anti-trust law Is producing among business men a clearer and clearer perception of the line of distinction between be-tween business that in to be encouraged encour-aged and business that is to be condemned, con-demned, and that In this quiet way the question of trusts can be settled and competition retained as an economic force to secure reasonableness in prices and freedom and independence In trad fSJAM H: TAFT. |