OCR Text |
Show IIIOiL PREPAREDNESS IS THEME OF PflEffllJjLSOfrS MESSAGE Regular Army of 141,343, Supplemented by Force of 400,000 Trained Citizens Is Urged Gravest Menace to the Peace of the Country Comes from Disloyal Foreign-Born : Citizens Plan for Larger Navy Outlined. VaHhiiiKton, Dec. 7. Presiilotit Wilson I'Wlay delivered his annual nn.'ssae ac a Joint s"SHion of the t wo houses of con-feTsH, con-feTsH, 11,; said in part: .SifK'O I last had the privilege of ad -ire.s.Hinf you on the .state of the V niori the war of nations on tlie other stile of the H:a, which had then only bewun to (JiHclose Its portentous proportions, has -xli-nd..-d its threatening and sinister grope until It has swept with In its (lame some portion of every quarter of the globe, not xoeptIritf our hemisphere, has altered the who It; face of international a Hairs, and now presents a prospect of reorganization reorganiza-tion and reconstruction sucli as statesmen states-men and peoples have never been called upon to attempt before. We have stood apart, studiously neutral. It was our manifest duty to do so. In the day of readjustment and recuperation recupera-tion we earnestly hope and believe that we can be of Infinite service. In tids neu t rality, to which tliey were ldden not only by their separate life and t heir habit ua I detachment from the poli-it poli-it ics of Europe but also by a clear perception per-ception of international duty, the states or" America h;i ve become conscious of a new and nioru vital community of Interest Inter-est and mora i partnership in affairs, more rieariy conscious of the many common sympathies ami interests and duties which bid tii em stand together. Wis have been put to the test In the case of Mexico, and we have stood the test. Whether we have benefited Mexico by the course we have pursued remains to he seen. Jler fortunes are in her own hnnds. Hut we have at least proved that we will not take advantage of her in her distress and undertake to impose upon her an order and government of our own choo.sing. We will aid and befriend Mexico, but we will not coerce her; and our course with -regard to her ought to be sufficient proof to all America that we seek no po-jiUeal po-jiUeal suzerainty or selfish control. Not Hostile Rivals. Tlie moral Is, that the states of America Amer-ica are not hostile rivals, but co-operating friends, and that their growing sense of community of Interest, alike in matters political and in matters economic, econom-ic, is likely to give them a new significance signifi-cance as factors In international affairs and In the political history of the world. It presents them as in a very cVsep and true sense a unit in world affairs, spiritual spir-itual partners, standing together because thinking together, quick with common sympathies and common ideals. Separated, Separat-ed, they are subject to all the cross currents cur-rents of the confused politics of a world of hostile rivalries; united in spirit and purpose they cannot be disappointed of their peaceful destiny. . This is Pan-Americanism. It has none f the spirit of empire In it. It is the em-'Dudimeut. em-'Dudimeut. the effectual embodiment, of J he spirit of law and independence and liberty and mutual service. Ihere Is, I venture to point out, an especial espe-cial significance just now attaching to this whole matter of drawing the Amer-iaji Amer-iaji together in bonds of honorable partnership part-nership and mutual advantage because of the economic readjustments which the world must inevitably witness within the next generation, when peace shall have at last resumed its healthful tasks. In ihe performance of these tasks I believe the Americas to be destined to play their paris together. I am interested to fix your attention on this prospect now be- : cause unless you iC'.z? it within your view and permit the full significance of I It to command your thought I cannot j find the right light in which, to set forth the particular matter that lies at the very front of my whole thought as I ad-dres ad-dres you today. I mean national defense. de-fense. Might to Maintain Right. Out of such thoughts grow ail our policies. poli-cies. We regard war merely as a means of asserting the rights of a people against aggression. And we are as fiercely jealous jeal-ous of coercive or dictatorial power within with-in our own nation as of aggression from without. We will not maintain a standing stand-ing army except for uses which are as necessary in times of peace as in times of war; and we shall always see to it that our military peace establishment Is no longer than is actually and continuously continuous-ly needed for the uses of days in which no enemies move against us. But we do believe in a body of free citizens ready and sufficient to take care of themselves and of the governments which thev have pet up to serve them. In our constitutions themselves we have commanded that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed," and our confidence has been that our -safety in times of danger would lie In the rising of the nation to take care of itself, as the farmers rose at Lexington. But war has never been a mere matter of men and guns. It Is a thing of disciplined disci-plined might. If our citizens are ever to tight effectively upon a sudden summons. thy must know how modern fighting is done, and wnat to do when the summons conies to render themselves Immediately ova liable and immediately effective. And the government must be their servant In this matter, must supply them with the traiidng they need to take care of thern-eelves thern-eelves and of It. The military arm of their (fovernment. which they will not allow to direct them, they may properly use to serve them and make their independence secure and not their own independence merely but the rights also of those with whom they nave made common cause, should they also be put In jeopardy They must be fitted lo play the great role fn the world, and particularly In this hemisphere, for which they are qualified quali-fied by principle and by chastened ambition ambi-tion to play " It is with these ideals in mind that the plans of the department of war for more adequate national defense were conceived which will be laid before you, and which I urge you to sanction and put into effect ef-fect as soon as they can be properly scrutinized scru-tinized and discussed. They seem to me t)i . sntml first steps, and they seem to ;'ti (he present sufficient. They contemplate an Increase of t lie standing force of the regular army from Its present strength of 5.023 officers and 102.0Sij enlisted men of ail services to a strength of 7.3; officers and 134.707 enlisted en-listed men, or 141, Mil, all told, all services, serv-ices, rank and file, by the addition of K companies of coast artillery, 1.1 companies com-panies of engineers, ten regiments of infantry, in-fantry, four regiments of field artillery, and four aero squadrons, besides 750 officers offi-cers required for a great variety of extra service, especially tiie a 11 -important duly of training t he citizen force of which I shall pi esently speak, 792 non-commissioned officers for service In drill, recruiting recruit-ing and trie like, and the necessary quota of enlisted men for the quartermaster corps, the hospital corps, the ordnance department and other similar auxiliary services. These are the additions necessary neces-sary to render the army adequate for its present duties, duties which it has to perform not only upon our own continental conti-nental coasts and borders and at our interior in-terior army pots. but also in the Philippines, Phil-ippines, in the Hawaiian islands, at the isthmus, and In Porto Rico. Force of Trained Citizens. By way of making the ( country ready to assert some part of its real power promptly and upon a larger scale, should occasion arise, the plan also contemplates supplementing the army by a force of 4 00, CM disciplined citizens, raised In increments incre-ments of 133,010 a year throughout a period pe-riod of three years. This it' is proposed to do by a process of enlist men t under which the serviceable men of the country coun-try would be asked to bind themselves to serve wi t h the colors for purposes of training for short periods throughout three years, and to come to the colors at call at any time throughout an additional addi-tional "furlough" period of three years. This force of 400.000 men would be provided pro-vided with personal accoutrements as fast as enlisted and their equipment for the field made ready to be supplied at any time. They would be assembled for training train-ing at stated intervals at convenient daces association with suita ble units of the regular army. Their period f annual training would not necessarily exceed ex-ceed two months in the year. It would depend upon the patriotic feeling feel-ing of the younger men of the country wli ether they responded to such a call to service or not. It would depend upon the patriotic spirit of the employers of tlie country whether they made It possible possi-ble for the younger men in their employ em-ploy to respond under favorable conditions condi-tions or not. I, for one, do not doubt the patriotic devotion either of our young men or of those who give them employment employ-ment those for whose benefit and protection protec-tion they would in fact enlist. I would look forward to the success of such an experinjejit with entire confidence. At least so much by way of preparation prepara-tion for defense seems to me to be absolutely ab-solutely imperative now. We cannot do less. Program for the Navy. The program to be laid before you contemplates con-templates the construction within five years of 10 battleships, 6 battle cruisers, cruis-ers, 10 scou,t cruisers, 50 destroyers, 15 fleet submarines, 85 coast submarines, four ngunboats. one hospital ship, two ammunition ships, two fuel-oil ships and one repair ship. It is proposed that of this number we shall the first year provide pro-vide for the construction of two battleships, battle-ships, two battle cruisers, three scout cruisers, 15 destroyers, five fleet submarines, subma-rines, 25 coast submarines, two gunboats, and one hospital ship; the second year, two battleships, one scout cruiser, ten destroyers, four fleet submarines, 15 coast submarines, one gunboat, and one fuel-oil fuel-oil ship; the third year, two battleships, one battle cruiser, two scout cruisers, five destroyers, two fleet submarines, and 15 coast submarines; the fourth year, two battleships. two battle cruisers, two scout cruisers, ten destroyers, two fleet submarines. 15 coast submarines, one ammunition am-munition ship, and one fuel-oil ship; and the fifth year, two battleships, one battle cruiser, two scout cruisers, ten destroyers, destroy-ers, two fleet submarines, 15 coast submarines, subma-rines, one gunboat one ammunition ship and one repair ship. The secretary of the navy is asking also for the Immediate addition to the personnel of the navy of 7,500 sailors. 2,500 apprentice seamen, and 1,500 marines This increase would be sufficient to care for the ships which are to be completed within the fiscal year 1917 and also for the number of men which must be put in training to man the ships which will be completed early in 1918. It is also necessary neces-sary that the number of midshipmen at the naval academy at Annapolis should be increased by at least 300 In order that the force of officers should be more rapidly rap-idly added to: and authority is asked to appoint for engineering duties only, approved ap-proved graduates of engineering colleges, and tor service in the aviation corps a certain number of men taken from civil life. If this full program should be carried out we should have built or building in 1H21, according to the estimates of survival surviv-al and standards of classification foILowed by the general board of the department, an effective navy consisting of 27 battleships battle-ships af the first line, six battle cruisers, ?5 battleships of the second line, ten armored ar-mored cruisers. 13 scout cruisers, five first-class cruisers, three second-class cruisers, ten third-class cruisers, 108 de-troyers, de-troyers, IS fleet submarines. 157 coast submarines, sub-marines, six monitors, 20 gunboats, four supply ships. 15 fuel ships, four transports, trans-ports, three tenders to torpedo vessels, eight vessels of special types, and two ammunition ships. This would be a navy fitted to our needs and worthy of our traditions. Trade and Shipping. But armies and instruments of war are only part of what has to be considered if we are to consider the supreme matter of national self-sufticieney and security in all its aspects. There are other great matters which will be thrust upon our attention at-tention whether we will or not. There is. for example, a very pressing question of trade and shipping involved in this great problem of national adequacy. It is necessary for many weighty reasons of national efficiency and development that we should have a great merchant marine. ma-rine. The great merchant fleet we once used to make us rich, that great body of sturdy sailors who used to carry our flag into every s a, and who were the pride and often the bulwark of the nation, we have almost driven out of existence by inexcusable neglect and indi fference and by "a hopelessly blind and provincial policy pol-icy of so-called economic protection. It , is high time we repaired our mistake and j resumed our commercial independence on the seas. Kor it is a question of independence. If other nations go to war or seek to hamper each orher's commerce, our merchants. mer-chants. It seems, are at their mercy, to do with as they phase. We must use t heir ships, and use them as they determine. deter-mine. We have not ships enough of our own. We cannot handle our own commerce com-merce on the sr;is. Our independence is provincial, and is only on land and. within with-in our own borders. We are not likely to be permitted to use even tlie ships of other nations in rivalry of their own trade; and are without means to extend our commerce even where tlie doors are wide open and our goods dosiivd. Such a situatiorj is not to be endured. It is of capital importance not only that -the United Slates should be its own en rrier on the seas and enjoy the economic independence in-dependence which only an adequate merchant mer-chant marine would give it, but also that the American hemisphere as a whole should enjoy a like independence and self-sufficiency, self-sufficiency, if it is not to be drawn into the tangle of European affairs. Without such independence the whole question of our political unity and si If. determination is very seriously clouded and complicated indeed. Moreover, we ran develop no true or effective ef-fective American policy without ships of our own not ships of war, but ships of peace, carrying goods and carrying much more: creating friendships and rendering render-ing indispensable services to all Interests on this side of the water. They must move constantly back and forth between the Americas. They are the only shuttles j that can weave the delicate fabric of j sympathy, comprehension, confidence and l mutual dependence in which we clothe ' our policy of America for Americans. I Ships Are Needed. ' ' With a view to meeting these pressing j necessities of our commerce and availing ourselves at the earliest possible moment i of the present unparalleled opportunity of linking the two Americas together in bonds of mutual interest and service, an j opportunity which may never return again if we miss it now, proposals will j be made to the present congress for the j purchase or construction of ships to be owned and directed by the government similar to those made to the last congress, con-gress, but modified in some essential particulars. par-ticulars. I recommend these proposals to you for your prompt acceptance with the more confidence because every month j that has elapsed since the former proposals pro-posals were made has made the necessity for such action more and more manifestly mani-festly imperative. Question of Finance. The plans for the armed forces of the nation which I have outlined, and for the general policy of adequate preparation prepara-tion for mobilization and defense, involve in-volve of course very large additional expenditures ex-penditures of money expenditures which will considerably exceed the estimated revenues of the government. It is made my duty by law, whenever the estimates of expenditure exceed the estimates of revenue to call the attention of the congress con-gress to the fact and suggest any means of meeting the deficiency that it may be wise or possible for me to suggest. I am ready to believe that it wrould be my duty to do so in any case; and I feel particularly particu-larly bound to speak of the matter when it appears that the deficiency will arise directly out of the adoption by the congress con-gress of measures which I myself urge it to adopt. Allow me, therefore, to speak briefly of the present state of the treasury and of the fiscal problems which the next year will probably disclose. dis-close. On the thirtieth of June last there was an available balance in the general fund of the treasury of $104,170,105.78. The total to-tal estimated receipts for the year 1916, on the assumption that the emergency revenue measure passed by tho last congress con-gress will not be extended beyond its present limit, the thirty-first of December, Decem-ber, 1915, and that the present duty of one cent per pound on sugar will be discontinued dis-continued after the first of May, 1916. will be $G70,3C5,500. The balance of June last and these estimated revenues come, therefore, to a grand total of $774,535,605.75. I The total estimated disbursements for the j present fiscal year, including $25,000,000 I for the Panama canal, $12,000,1)00 for prob- j able deficiency appropriations and $50.- j 000 for miscellaneous debt redemptions, j will be $753,891,000; and the halance in the j general fun" of the treasury will be re- ' duced to i-fl, 644,005.78. The emergency I revenue act. if continued beyond its pres- I ent time limitation, would produce, dur- ! ing the half year then remaining, about forty-one millions. The duty of one cent per pound on sugar, if continued, would produce during the two months of the fiscal year remaining after the first of May, about fifteen millions. These two sums, amounting together to $56,000,000, If added to the revenues of the second half of the fiscal year,, would yield the treasury at the end of the year an available avail-able balance of $76,644,605.78. The additional revenues required to arry out the program of military and naval preparation of which I have spek-en, spek-en, would, as at present estimated, be fpr the fiscal year 11)17. $93,800,000 Those figures, taken with the figures for the present fiscal year which 1 have already , given, disclose our financial problem for the year 1917. How shall we ob(tain the new revenue? It seems to me a clear dictate of prudent pru-dent statesmanship and frank fin mice that in what we are now, I hope, about to undertake we should pay as we go. The people of the country are entitled to know Just what burdens of taxation they are to carry, and to know from the outset, now. The new bills should be paid by internal in-ternal taxation. To what sources, then, shall we turn? We would be following an almost universal uni-versal example of modern governments If we were to draw the greater part or even the whole of the revenues we need ' from the income taxes. By somewhat ! lowering the present limits of exemption and the figure at which the surtax shall begin to be imposed, and by increasing, step by step throughout the present graduation, grad-uation, the surtax itself, the income taxes as at present apportioned won Id yield ! sums sufficient to balance the books of the treasury at the end of the fiscal year 1917 without anywhere making the burden bur-den unreasonably or oppressively hen vy. The precise reckonings are fully and accurately ac-curately set out in the report of the sec- I retary of the treasury, which will be im- mediately laid before you. ' And there are many additional sources of revenue which can Just ly be resorted to without hampering the industries of the country or putting any too great charge upon individual exj -iditure. A one per cent tax per gallon on gasoline and. naptha would yield, at the present estimated production, $10,000,000: a tax of io cents per horsepower en automobiles and internal explosion eng'.nes. $15,000.0K): a stamp tax on bank checks, probably $lS.Ht).0; a tax of 1'5 cents per ton on pig iron. $u.oViwv a tax of 50 cents per ton on fabricated iron and steel, proba-: proba-: My $10. -MX In a country of great In-; In-; dustries like this It ".light to be easy tc distribute the burdens of taxation without with-out making them anywhere bear too : heavily or too exclusively upon any one ! set of persons or undertakings. What is clear is. tha the industry of this generation gener-ation should pay the bills of this genera-lion. genera-lion. The Danger Within. I have spoken to you today, gentlemen, upon a single theme, the thorough preparation prep-aration of the nation to care for lis own security and to make sure of entire freedom to play the impartial role in this hemisphere and In the world which we all believe to have been providentially assigned to it. I have had in mind no thought of any immediate or particular (Vnger arising out of our relations with other nations. We are at peace with all the nations of the world, and there is reason to hope that no question in controversy con-troversy bet ween this and other governments govern-ments wili lend to any serious breach of amicable relations, grave as some differences differ-ences of attitude and policy have been and may vet turn out to be. 1 am sorry to say that the gravest threats against our nn tiona I peace and safety have been uttered within our own borders. There are citizens of the United Stales. I blush to admit, born under other flags but welcomed under our generous naturalization laws to the lull f''edom and opportunity of America, who have poured the poison of disloyalty in io the very arteries of our national life; who have sought to bring the authority and good name of our government gov-ernment into contempt, to destroy our industries in-dustries wherever they thought it effective effec-tive for their vindictive purposes to strike at them, and to debase our politics to the uses of foreign Intrigue. Their number is not great as compared with the whole number of those sturdy hosts by which our nation has been enriched in recent generations out of virile foreign stocks: tut il is great enough to have brought deep disgrace upon us and to have made it necessary that we should promptly make use of processes of law by which we may be purged of their corrupt distempers. dis-tempers. America never witnessed anything any-thing like this before.. It never dreamed it possible that men sworn into its own citizenship, men drawn out of great free stocks such as supplied some of the best and strongest elements of that little, but how heroic, nation that in a high day of old staked its very life to free itself from every entanglement that had darkened the fortunes of the older nations and set up a new standard here that men of such origins and such free choices of allegiance allegi-ance would ever turn in malign reaction against the government and people who had welcomed and nurtured them and seek to make this proud country once ir.c-re a hotbed of European passion. A little while .go such a thing would have seemed incredible. Because it was incredible in-credible we made no preparation for it. We would have been almost ashamed to prepare for it, as if we were suspicious of ourselves, our own comrades and neighbors! But the ugly and incredible has actually come about and we are without with-out adequate federal laws t deal with it. I urge you to enact such laws at the earliest possible moment and feel that in so doing I am urging you to do nothing noth-ing less than save the honor and self respect of the nation. Must Be Crushed Out. Such creatures of passion, disloyalty and anarchy must be crushed out. They are not many. But they are infinitely ma-lignant, ma-lignant, and the hand of our power should close over them at once. They have formed plots to destroy property, they have entered into conspiracies against the neutrality of the government, they hav sought to pry into every confidential transaction of the government in, order to serve Interests alien to our own. It is possible to deal with these things very effectually. I need not suggest the terms in which they may be dealt with. I wish that it could be said that only a few men, misled by mistaken sentiments of allegiance to the governments under which they were born, had been guilty oJ disturbing the self-possession and ".representing ".rep-resenting the temper and principles of the country during these days of terrible war, when it would seem that every man who was truly an American would instinctively in-stinctively make it his duty and his pridt-to pridt-to keep the scales of judgment even and prove himself a partisan of no nation bul his own. But it cannot. There are somt men among us, and many resident abroad who. though born and bred in the United Unit-ed States and calling themselves Americans, Amer-icans, have so forgotten themselves and their honor as citizens as to put thefi passionate sympathy with one or the other oth-er side in the great European con flicl above their regard for the peace and dig nity of the United States. They also preach and practice disloyalty. No laws. ! suppose, can reach corruptions of tire mind and heart; but I should not speak of others without also speaking of these and expressing the even deeper hum I liar tion and scorn which every self-possessed and thoughtfully patriotic American must feel when he thinks of them and of th6 discredit they are dally bringing upon us Transportation Problem. The transportation problem is an exceedingly ex-ceedingly serious and pressing one in this country. There has from time to time of late been reason to fear that our railroads rail-roads would not much longer be able tc cope with It successfully as at present equipped and co-ordinated. I suggest that it would be wise to provide for a commission of inquiry to ascertain by a thorough canvass of the whole 'question whether our laws as at present framed and administered are as serviceable as they might be in the solution of the problem. prob-lem. It is obviously a problem that lies at the very foundation of our efficiency as a people. Such an inquiry ought tc draw out every circumstance and opinion worth considering and we need to know all sides of the matter if we mean to do anything in the field of federal legislation. legisla-tion. For what we are seeking now. what in my mind is the single thought of this message, is national efficiency and security. se-curity. We serve a great nation. We should serve it in the spirit of its peculiar genius It is the genius of common men for self-government. Industry, justice, lib- ! erty and pi-ace. We should see to It that ' it lacks no instrument, no facility or vigor of hi w, to make it sufficient to play it-part it-part with energy, safely, and assure success. In this we are no partisans bul heralds and prophets of a new age. |