| OCR Text |
Show a mi, rviiviiiM, uyugn, wnn KH PHESIITDiT WILSON DELIVERS HIS I ANNUAL MESSAGE T 0 CONGRESS I Legislative Program of Administration Is Practically Com- WM plete Nothing to Fear in Trust and Currency Bills WB& Strongly Urges Building of Great Merchant Marine Wffl and Opening of Trade Routes for Unprecedent- ISfl ed Enlargement of American Trade at rafflS Opportune Time. Iks! Washington, Dec. 8 President Wil son departed from the prepared text of his annual address to congress today, to-day, which wa6 devoted principally to answering those who contend that the United States Is unprepared for national defence, to give notice to the business world that the legisla tlve program of his administration as it effects regulation of business was practically completed. He said it had resulted In B clear road for business busi-ness to travel to "unclouded success."' Honest business men, the president declared need have nothing to fear In treading the way outlined in th trust and currency bills. While the president dwelt briefl upon the subject sub-ject his words were interpreted as an assurance that no further important import-ant business legislation wras contemplated. contem-plated. The president's remarks in full with relation to business legislation were as follows "Our program of legislation with regard to the relation of business la now virtually complete. It has been put forth, as we intended, as a whole ami leaves no conjecture as to what is to follow. The road at last lies clear and firm before business It lis a road which it can travel without fear or embarrassment. It is the road to ungrudged, unclouded success. suc-cess. In it every honest man. even' man who believes that the public in terest is part of his own interest may walk with perfect confidence." President's Message. Gentlemen of the Congress: The session upon which you are now-entering now-entering will be the closing session of the sixty-third congress a Con-jr Con-jr SB I venture to say which will DC long remembered lor the great body of thoughtful and constructive work which it has done, in loyal response to the thought and needs of the country. coun-try. I should like in this address to review the notable record and try to make adequate assessment of it; 'but no doubt we stand too near the work that has been done and are our selves too much part of it to play the part of historians toward it Moreover, our thouphts are now more of the future than of the pas-While pas-While we have worked at our tasks of peace the circumstances of the whole age have been altered by war. What we have done for our own land land our own people we did with the best that was in us. whether of character char-acter or of Intelligence, with sober en thuslasm and a confidence In the principles prin-ciples upon which we were aetln;: which sustained us at every Btep ot the difficult undertaking; but it is done It has passed from our hands. It Is now an established part of the legislation of the country. Its usefulness, use-fulness, its effects will disclose them selves in Americans What chiefly strikes us now as we look about ns during these closing days of a year which will be forever memorable in the history of the world, is that we face new tasks, have been facing them these six months, must face them in the months to come face them without with-out partisan feeling, like men who have foreotten everything hut a common com-mon dut and the fact that we are rep resentatives of a great people whose thought is not of us but of w hat America Amer-ica owes to herself and to all mankind man-kind in such circumstances as these upon which we look amazed and anxious. f War has interrupted the means ol trade not only but also the processes of production In Europe It is destroying de-stroying men and resources wholesale and "upon a scale unprecedented and appalling. There is reason to fear that the time is near, if It be not already al-ready at hand, when several of the countries of Europe will find It dlff cull m do for their people what they have hitherto been always easily able : ,o do-many asseutlal and fundamental funda-mental thinps kt any rate, they will need our help and our manifold services ser-vices as they have never needed them before, and we should be ready, more fit and ready than we have ever been. It is of equal consequence that the notions whom Europe has usually supplied sup-plied with Innumerable articles or manufacture and commerce of WMCB they are In constant need and without with-out which their economic development develop-ment halts and stands still can now St onlv a small part of what hey formerly imported and eagerly look U, US to supply their all but empty markets This Is particularly true cf our own neighbors, the state sreat and small, of Central and South America Their lines of trade have Mtlmrto run chiefly athwart the seas o lo our ports but to the ports of Great Britain and of the older continent con-tinent of Europe. I do not stop to Inquire why, or to make anv .-on ment on probable causes. W hat U eres.s us jus. now K no- the e ..lanatlou. but the Tact and our du . nd opportunity in the presence of it. Sire ire markets whl b ws must sup- ,h and we must find the means of iction The United states this great H.oplu for who,,, we speak and act, should be ready, and n-u-r b-lon-. n "orve Itself and to se.-v, mankind; r-fldv with its resources. Its energies, in, forces of production, and Its iu.m.h if distribution. It Is a verv practical matter. 0 matter mat-ter of w-avs and means We have the resource," bm are we fully ready to use them? And. If we can make reads J fls8BS3B what we have, have we the means FisKkSi at hand to distribute It? We are not TOkP fully ready; neither have we the fHra means of distribution. We are will imlHa ing but we are not fully able. We flftB? have the wish to serve and to serve fsfS greatly, generously; but we are not ready to mobilize our resources it 'iPSmI once We are not prepared to use ti-Jrai them Immediately and at their bepf. FSh without delay and without waste. How U. S. Has Erred. ll! To speak plainly, we have grosslv ll-ira0 erred in the way In which we hav stunted and hindered the development ft&. of our merchant marine. And now, ii Jj Yjjj ! when we need ships, we have not got i' them. We have year after year dc- bated without end or conclusion the fi'-IS best policy to pursue with regard to r -J the use of the ores and forests ami . water powers of our national domain ;4 in the rich states of the west, when j we should have acted; and they an- r 4 still locked up. The key is still i turned upon them, the door shut fast jH at which thousands of vigorous men, l.ij full of initiative knock clamorously I for admittance. The water power nf our navigable streams outside the na- . v-,v tionul domain also, even in the east V. -5 ern states, where we have worked ( U, and planned for generations. Is still not used as it might be, because we will and we wont; because the la.va "'.Jtt we have made do not Intelligently bal- I nnce encouragement against restraint. if ;. We withheld by regulation. f ;i I have come to ask you to remedj j ., and correct these mistakes and omls I slons, even at this short session of a j congress wnicn wouiu uwcumuij aeeui , . to have done all the work that could 1 reasonably he expected of it The I time and the circumstances are extra 1 I ordinary, and so must our efforts be i ' Fortunately, two great measures, ' ' firely conceived, the one to unlock, H I with proper safeguards, the resources r S'i ot the national domain, the other to 1 encourage the use of the navigable p.' waters outside that domain for the I generation of power, have already jH passed the house of representatives f and are ready for immediately con- 1 sideration and action by the senate. j With the deepest earnestness 1 urge 1 their prompt passage. In them both turn our backs uffOn hesitation j and makeshift and formulate a genu- ir.e policy of use and conservation, in the best sense of these words. We owe the one measure not only to th-people th-people of that great western country for whose free and systematic ddvel opment, as it seems to me our legL-- j lation has done so little, but also the people of the nation as a whole; and we as clearly owe the other In ful- !i fillment of our repeated promises that the water power of the country I should In fact as well as In name be put at the disposal of great industries indus-tries which can make economical and profitable use of it. the rights of th public being adequately guarded the while and monopoly in the use pre vented. To have begun 6iieh meaB- I ures and not completed them would j Indeed mar the record of this great I congress very seriously. I hope and confidently believe that they will be completed I And there Is another great piece of j legislation which awaits and should fl receive the sanction of the senate: I mean the bill which gives a larger measure of self-government to the people of the Philippines. How bet-ter bet-ter In this time of anxious question-Ing question-Ing and perplexed policy could we show our confidence in the principles of liberty as the source as well as the expression of life, how better could we demonstrate our own self possession and steadfastness In the courses of justice and disinterested-ness disinterested-ness than by going calmly forward to fultill our promises to a dependent people who will now look more anx lously than ever to see whether we he.ve' indeed the liberality, the unsel-flshness unsel-flshness the courage, the faith we have boasted and professed. I cannot believe that the senate will let this great measure of constructive justice await the action of another congress Its passage would nobly crown thi record of. those two years of memorable memor-able labor But I think that you will agree with me that this does not complete the toll of our duty How are we to carry our soods to the empty markets of which I have spoken If we have not the ships? How are we to build up a great trade if we have uot the certain and constant means of transportation trans-portation upon which all profitable and useful commerce depends" And how are we to get the ships If we Walt tor the trade to develop ' without with-out them'' To correct the many mistakes mis-takes by which we have discouraged, and all but destroyed, the merchant marine of the country, to retrace the steps bv which we have. It seems almost al-most deliberately. withdrawn our l flag from the seas, except where here and there, a ship of war is bidden carrv It or some wnnderiug yacht displays It. would take s long time and involve many detailed items or legislation and the trade which wo ought Immediately to handfe wouw disappear or find other channels while we debated the Items. The case is not unlike that which j confronted us when our own conti-nent conti-nent was to be opened up o settle- j ment and Industry, and we needed long lines of railway, extended means j Of transportation prepared before- hand, it development was not to lag " (Continued on Page -.) PRES. WILSON'S IK MESSAGE (Continued from Page 1) intolerably and wait interminably. We lavishly subsidized the building of transcontinental railroadB. We look back upon that with regret now. because be-cause the subsidies led to many scandals scan-dals of which we are ashamed; but we know that the railroads had to be built and if we had it to do over again we should of course build them, but in another way Therefore I propose pro-pose another way of providing the means of transportation, which must precede, not tardily follow, the devel-opment devel-opment of our trade with our neighbor neigh-bor states of America Routes of Trade Must Open. It may seem a reversal of the natural nat-ural order of things, but it is true, that the routes of trade must be actually opened by many ships and regular sailings and moderate charges before streams of merchandise will flow freely and profitably through them. Hence the pending shipping bill, discussed dis-cussed at the last session but as yet passed by neither house In my judgment such legislation is imperatively impera-tively needed and can not wisely be postponed. The government must open these gates of trade, and open them wide, open them before it is altogether profitable to open them, or altogether reasonable to ask private capital to open them at a venture It is not a question of the government govern-ment monopolizing the field It should take action to make it certain that transportation at reasonable rates will be promptly provided, even where the carriage is not at first prof itable, and then, when the carriage has become sufficiently profitable to attract and engage private capital and engage it in abundance, the government govern-ment ought to withdraw. I very earn- estly hope that the congress will be' of this opinion and that both houses will adopt this exceedingly Important bill. Rural Credits to Be Dealt With. The great subject of rural credits still remains to be dealt with, and it is .i matter of deep regret that the difficulties of the subject have seemini to render it Impossible to complete a bill for passage at this session. Rut it cannot be perfected yet. and therefore there are no other constructive measures the necessitv for which I will at this time call your attention to Safety at Sea But I would be negligent of a very manifest duty were I not to call the attention of the senate to the fact that the proposed convention for safety safe-ty at sea awaits its confirmation and thai the limit fixed in the convention itself for Its acceptance is the last day of tho present month. The con-i- P rice in which this convention origl nated was called by the United States; the representatives of tho United States played a very influential influen-tial part Indeed in framing the pro-visions pro-visions of the proposed convention; and those provisions are In themselves them-selves for the most part admirable, u would hardly be consistent with the part we have played in the whole mat ter to let it drop and go by the board as if forgotten and neglected. It was ratified m May last by the German government and in Aunist by the par-llament par-llament of Great Britain. It marks a most hopeful and decided advance in international civilization We should show our earnest good faith in a great matter by adding our own aeceptanc of it. Coast Survey Important. There is another matter of which i uium inaivp special mention, if I am to discharge my conscience, lest it should escape your attention It mav seem a very small thing If affects only a single item of appropriation But many human lives and many great enterprises hang upon it It is the matter of making adequate provision provi-sion for the survey and charting of our coasts it is Immediately press ing and exigent in connection with the immense coast line of Alaska, a coast line greater than that of the United States themselves, though it is also very important ind.-ed with regard to the older coasts of the con tinent We cannot use our great Alaskan domain, BhiDfl will not ply thither, If those coasts and their many hidden dangers are not thoroughly thor-oughly surveyed and charted The work is incomplete at almost ever'-point ever'-point "Ships and lives have been lost in threading what were supposed to be well known main channels. We have not provided adequate vessels or adequate ade-quate machinery for the survey and charting. We have used old vessels that were not big enough or strong enough and which were so nearly un seaworthy that our inspectors would not have allowed private owners to send them to sea. This is a matter which, as I have said, seems small, but is in reality very great. Its im portance has only to be looked into to be appreciated. Before I close, may I say a few words upon two topics, much discussed dis-cussed out of doors, upon which it is highly important that our judgments judg-ments should be clear, definite and steadfast? Economy Is Imperative. One of these is economy in government govern-ment expenditures. The duty of economy Is not debatable. It is manifest man-ifest and Imperative. In the appropriations ap-propriations we pass we are spending spend-ing the money of the great people whose servants we are not our own W e are trustees and responsible stewards stew-ards in the spending. The only thing debatable and upon which we should be careful to make our thought and purpose clear Is the kind of economy demanded of us. I assert with the greatest confidence thai the people of the United States are not jealous of the amount their government costs if they aro sure that they get what they need and desire ror the outlay, that the money is being spent for ob-; ob-; Jects of w hich they approve, and that It is being applied with good business sense and management. Governments Not Well Organized. Governments crow, piecemeal, both In their tasks and in the mean's by Whlcb thoM- tasks nro to he performed, and very few governments are organized. organ-ized. I venture to say as wine and experienced ex-perienced business men would organize or-ganize them If they had a clean sheet Of paper to write upon. Certainly the government or the United Suites is not. I think that It is generally agreed that there should be B systematic sys-tematic reorganization and reassembling reassem-bling of Its parts so as to secure greater efficiency and effect considerable consid-erable savings in expense, But the amount of money aaved In that way would. I bellev. though no doubt con siderable in Itself, running, It may be, into the millions, be relatively small small, I mean, in proportion to the total necessary outlays of the government It would be thoroughly worth effecting, as every saving would, great or small. Our duty is not altered by the scale of the savings. sav-ings. Rut my point is that the people of the United States do not w-lsh to curtail the activities of this government; they wish, rather, to enlarge en-large them, and with every enlarg0-ment. enlarg0-ment. with the mere growth, indeed, of the country itself, there must come?, of course, the inevitable increase of expense The sort of economy we onuht to practice may be effected, and ought to be effected, by a careful study and assessment of the tasks to be performed; and the money spent ought to be made to yield the best possible returns in efficiency and achievement And like good stewards, stew-ards, we should so account for every dollar of our appropriations as to make it perfectly evident what it was Bpent for and in what way it was spent Should Avoid Extravagance It is not expenditure but extravagance extrava-gance that we should fear being criticised criti-cised for; not paying for the legitimate legiti-mate enterprises and undertakings of a great government whose people command what it should do. but. add l.ng what will benefit only a few or pouring money out for what need not have been undertaken at all or might have been postponed or better and more economically conceived and carried out. The nation Is not niggardly, nig-gardly, it is very generous It will chide us only if we forget for whom we pay money out and whose money it is we pay These are large and general standards, but they are not very' difficult of application to particular par-ticular cases. Our National Defense. The other topic I shall take leave to mention goes deeper into the principles prin-ciples of our national life and policv. It Is the subject of national defense It caunot be discussed without first answering some very searching questions. ques-tions. It Is said in some quarters that we are not prepared for war. What is meant by being prepared? Is it meant that we are not ready upon brief notice to put a nation in the field, a nation of men trained to arms tl course we are not reauy u do that; and we shall never be in time of peace so long as we retain our present political principles and Institutions In-stitutions nd what is it that it is suggested we should be prepared to do? To defend ourselves against attack" at-tack" We have always found means to do that, and shall find them whenever when-ever It is necessary, without calling our people away from their necessary tasks to render compulsory' military service in times of peace. President Announces Attitude. Allow me to speak with great plainness plain-ness and drectness upon this great matter and to avow my convictions with deep earnestness I have tried to know what America is, what her people think, what they are. what they must cherish and hold dear I hope that some of their finer passions are In my own heart some of the great conceptions and desires which gave birth to this government and which have made the voice of this people peo-ple a voice of peace and hope and liberty among the peoples of the world, and that, speaking my own thoughts. I shall, at least in part, speak theirs also, however faintly and inadequately upon this vital matter. mat-ter. We are at peace with all the world. No one who speaks coun sel based on fact or drawn from a just and candid interpretation of realities can say that there is reason to fear that from any quarter our independence in-dependence or the integrity of our territory is threatened Dread of th power of any other nation we are Incapable In-capable of. We aro not jealous of rivalry in the fields of commerce or any other peaceful achievement. We mean to live our own lives as we will; but we mean also to let live. We aro, indeed, a true friend to all the nations of the world, because we threaten nono, covet the possessions of none, desire the overthrow of none. Our friendship can be accepted and Is accepted without reservation, because it is offered In a spirit and for a purpose which no one need ever question or suspect. Therein lies our greatness, We are the champions champi-ons of peace and of concord And we should be very jealous or this distinction dis-tinction which we have sought to earn. Just now we should be particularly par-ticularly jealous of it, because it is our dearest present hope that this Character and reputation may presently, present-ly, in ;od"s providence, bring us an opportunity such as has seldom been vouchsafed any nation, the opportunity opportun-ity to counsel and obtain peace in the world and reconciliation and a healing settlement of many a matter that has cooled and Interrupted tho friendship of nations. This is the time above all others when we should wish and resolve to keep our strength by -elf possession, our influence by preserving our ancient principles of action America Against Militarism. From the first we. have had a clear and settled policy with regard to military establishments. We never have had. and while we retain our present principles nnd ideals we never shall have, a large standing army If asked, Are you ready to defend yourselves? we reply, most assuredly, as-suredly, to the utmost; and yet we shall not turn America into a military mili-tary camp. "We wll not ask our young men to spend the best years or their Uvea making soldiers of themselves them-selves There is another sort of energy en-ergy in us. It will know how to declare itself and make Itself effective effec-tive should oc-casion arise And especially espe-cially when hair tho world Is on fir-we fir-we shall be careful to make our moral insurance against the spread of the conflagration very definite and certain cer-tain and adequate indeed Trained Citizenry Urged. Let us remind ourselves, therefore, of the only thing we can do or will do We must depend In eery time of national peril, in the future as in the past, not upon a standing army, nor yet upon a reserve army, but upon a citizenry trained and accustomed to arms . It will be right enough, right American policv, ba-d upon our ac-CUStomed ac-CUStomed principles and practices, to provUb- a system by which every citizen citi-zen who will volunteer for the training train-ing may be made familiar with the use of modern arms, the rudiments o? drill and maneuver, and the maintenance mainten-ance and sanitation of camps. We should encourage such training and make it a means of discipline which our young men will learn to value. It is right that we should provide it not only but that we should make it as attractive as possible, and so induce in-duce our young men to undergo it at such times as they can command a little freedom and can seek the physical phys-ical development they need, for mere health's sake, if for nothing more. Every means by which such things can be stimulated is legitimate, and such a method smacks of true Amerl can ideas. Would Develop National Guard. It is right, too, that the national guard of the states should be developed devel-oped and strengthened by every means which Is not inconsistent with our obligations to our own people, or with the established policy of our government And this, also, not because be-cause the time or occaBion specially calls for such measures, but because it should be our constant policy to make these provisions for our national na-tional peace and safety. More than this carries with it a reversal re-versal of the whole history and character char-acter of our polity. More than this, proposed at this time, permit me to say, would mean merely that we had lost our self-possession, that we had been thrown off our balance by a war with which we have nothing to do. whose causes can not touch us. whose very existence affords us opportunities opportuni-ties of friendship and disinterested service which should make us ashamed asham-ed of any thought of hostility or fearful fear-ful preparation for trouble. This is assuredly the opportunity for which a people and a government like ours were raised up, the opportunity not only to speak but actually to embody and exemplify the counsels of peace and amity and the lasting concord i which is based on justice and fair 1 and generous dealing. J Powerful Navy Is Needed. A powerful navy we have always regarded as our proper and natural means of defense; and it has always been of defense that we have thought, J never of aggression or of conquest. But who shall tell us now what sort ' of navy to build'' We shall take leave to be strong upon the seas. ln the future as In the past; and there will be no thought of offense or of provocation provo-cation in that , Our ships are our natural bulwarks When will the experts tell us just what kind we should construct and when will they be right for ten years together, if the relative efficiency of craft of different dif-ferent kinds and uses continues to change as we have seen it change under un-der our very eyes in these last few months? Policy Will Not Change. But I turn away from the subject. , It is not new. There is no new need to discuss it. We shall not alter our attitude toward it because some amongst us are nervous and excited. We shall easily nnd sensibly agree upon a policy of defense. The question has not changed its aspects because the times are not normal. Our policy will not be for an occasion. occa-sion. It will he conceived as a per manent and settled thing, which we will pursue at all seasons without haste and after a fashion perfectly consistent with the peace of the world, the abiding friendship of states and the unhampered freedom of all with whom we deal. Let there be no misconception. The country has been misinformed. We have not been negligent of national defense. Wo are not unmindful of the great responsibility respon-sibility resting upon us. We shall learn and protit by the lesson of every experience and every new circumstance, circum-stance, and what Is needed wll be adequately done. Great Tasks Before Country. I close, as I began, by reminding you of the great tasks and duties of J peace which challenge our best pow- 1 ers and invite us to build what will f last, the tasks to which we can ad dress ourselves now and at all times with freehearted zest and with all the finest gifts of constructive wisdom wis-dom we possess To develop our life and our resources; to supply our own people, and the people of the world as their need arises, from the abundant abund-ant plenty of our fields and our marts of trade; to enrich the commerce of our own states and of the world with the products of our mines, our farm3, and our factories, with the creations of our thought and the fruits of our character this is what will hold our attention and our enthusiasm steadily, stead-ily, now and in the years to come, as we strive to show in our life as a nation what liberty and the inspirations inspira-tions of an emancipated spirit may do for men and for societies, for Individ- J. uals, for states, and for mankind. |
