other countries. Acting upon it, an adjustment was made of the difficult
problem of reparations. This was the second step toward peace in Europe.
It paved the way for the agreements which were drawn up at the Locarno
Conference. When ratified, these will represent the third step toward
peace. While they do not of themselves provide an economic
rehabilitation, which is necessary for the progress of Europe, by
strengthening the guarantees of peace they diminish the need for great
armaments. If the energy which now goes into military effort is
transferred to productive endeavor it will greatly assist economic
progress.
The Locarno agreements were made by the, European countries directly
interested without any formal intervention of America, although on July
3 I publicly advocated such agreements in an address made in
Massachusetts. We have consistently refrained from intervening except
when our help has been sought and we have felt it could be effectively
given, as in the settlement of reparations and the London Conference.
These recent Locarno agreements represent the success of this policy
which we have been insisting ought to be adopted, of having European
countries settle their own political problems without involving this
country. This beginning seems to demonstrate that this policy is sound.
It is exceedingly gratifying to observe this progress, both in its
method and in its result promises so much that is beneficial to the
world.
When these agreements are finally adopted, they will provide guarantees
of peace that make the present prime reliance upon force in some parts
of Europe very much less necessary. The natural corollary to these
treaties should be further international contracts for the limitation of
armaments. This work was successfully begun at the Washington
Conference. Nothing was done at that time concerning land forces because
of European objection. Our standing army has been reduced to around
118,000, about the necessary police force for 115,000,000 people. We are
not proposing to increase it, nor is it supposable that any foreign
country looks with the slightest misapprehension upon our land forces.
They do not menace anybody. They are rather a protection to everybody.
The question of disarming upon land is so peculiarly European in its
practical aspects that our country would look with particular gratitude
upon any action which those countries might take to reduce their own
military forces. This is in accordance with our policy of not
intervening unless the European powers are unable to agree and make
request for our assistance. Whenever they are able to agree of their own
accord it is especially gratifying to its, and such agreements may be
sure of our sympathetic support.
It seems clear that it is the reduction of armies rather than of navies
that is of the first importance to the world at the present time. We
shall look with great satisfaction upon that effort and give it our
approbation and encouragement. If that can be settled, we may more
easily consider further reduction and limitation of naval armaments. For
that purpose our country has constantly through its Executive, and
through repeated acts of Congress, indicated its willingness to call
such a conference. Under congressional sanction it would seem to be wise
to participate in any conference of the great powers for naval
limitation of armament proposed upon such conditions that it would hold
a fair promise of being effective. The general policy of our country is
for disarmament, and it ought not to hesitate to adopt any practical
plan that might reasonably be expected to succeed. But it would not care
to attend a conference which from its location or constituency would in
all probability prove futile.
In the further pursuit, of strengthening the bonds of peace and good
will we have joined with other nations in an international conference
held at Geneva and signed an agreement which will be laid before the
Senate for ratification providing suitable measures for control and for
publicity in international trade in arms, ammunition, and implements of
war, and also executed a protocol providing for a prohibition of the use
of poison gas in war, in accordance with the principles of Article 5 of
the treaty relating thereto signed at the Washington Conference. We are
supporting the Pan American efforts that are being made toward the
codification of international law, and looking with sympathy oil the
investigations conducted under philanthropic auspices of the proposal to
agreements outlawing war. In accordance with promises made at the
Washington Conference, we have urged the calling of and are now
represented at the Chinese Customs Conference and on the Commission on
Extraterritoriality, where it will be our policy so far as possible to
meet the, aspirations of China in all ways consistent with the interests
of the countries involved.
COURT OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
Pending before the Senate for nearly three years is the proposal to
adhere to the protocol establishing the Permanent Court of International
Justice. A well-established line of precedents mark America’s effort to
effect the establishment of it court of this nature.. We took a leading
part in laying the foundation on which it rests in the establishment of
The Hague Court of Arbitration. It is that tribunal which nominates the
judges who are elected by the Council and Assembly of the League of
Nations.
The proposal submitted to the Senate was made dependent upon four
conditions, the first of which is that by supporting the court we do not
assume any obligations under the league; second, that we may participate
upon an equality with other States in the election of judges; third,
that the Congress shall determine what part of the expenses we shall
bear; fourth, that the statute creating the court shall not be amended
without out consent; and to these I have proposed an additional
condition to the effect that we are not to be bound by advisory opinions
rendered without our consent.
The court appears to be independent of the league. It is true the judges
are elected by the Assembly and Council, but they are nominated by the
Court of Arbitration, which we assisted to create and of which we are a
part. The court was created by it statute, so-called, which is really a
treaty made among some forty-eight different countries, that might
properly be called a constitution of the court. This statute provides a
method by which the judges are chosen so that when the Court of
Arbitration nominates them and the Assembly and Council of the League
elect them, they are not acting as instruments of the Court of
Arbitration or instruments of the league, but as instruments of the
statute.
This will be even more apparent if our representatives sit with the
members of the council and assembly in electing the judges. It is true
they are paid through the league though not by the league, but by the
countries which are members of the league and by our country if we
accept the protocol. The judges are paid by the league only in the same
sense that it could be said United States judges are paid by the
Congress. The court derives all its authority from the statute and is so
completely independent of the league that it could go on functioning if
the league were disbanded, at least until the terms of the judges
expired.
The most careful provisions are made in the statute as to the
qualifications of judges. Those who make the nominations are recommended
to consult with their highest court of justice, their law schools and
academies. The judges must be persons of high moral character, qualified
to hold the highest judicial offices in that country, or be
jurisconsults of recognized competence in international law. It must be
assumed that these requirements will continue to be carefully met, and
with America joining the countries already concerned it is difficult to
comprehend how human ingenuity could better provide for the
establishment of a court which would maintain its independence. It has
to be recognized that independence is to a considerable extent a matter
of ability, character, and personality. Some effort was made in the
early beginnings to interfere with the independence of our Supreme
Court. It did not succeed because of the quality of the men who made up
that tribunal.
It does not seem that the authority to give advisory opinions interferes
with the independence of the court. Advisory opinions in and of
themselves are not harmful, but may be used in such a way as to be very
beneficial because they undertake to prevent injury rather than merely
afford a remedy after the injury has been done. As a principle that only
implies that the court shall function when proper application is made to
it. Deciding the question involved upon issues submitted for an advisory
opinion does not differ materially from deciding the question involved
upon issues submitted by contending parties. Up to the present time the
court has given an advisory opinion when it judged it had jurisdiction,
and refused to give one when it judged it did not have jurisdiction.
Nothing in the work of the court has yet been an indication that this is
an impairment of its independence or that its practice differs
materially from the giving of like opinions under the authority of the
constitutions of several of our States.
No provision of the statute seems to me to give this court any authority
to be a political rather than a judicial court. We have brought cases in
this country before our courts which, when they have been adjudged to be
political, have been thereby dismissed. It is not improbable that
political questions will be submitted to this court, but again up to the
present time the court has refused to pass on political questions and
our support would undoubtedly have a tendency to strengthen it in that
refusal.
We are not proposing to subject ourselves to any compulsory
jurisdiction. If we support the court, we can never be obliged to submit
any case which involves our interests for its decision. Our appearance
before it would always be voluntary, for the purpose of presenting a
case which we had agreed might be presented. There is no more danger
that others might bring cases before the court involving our interests
which we did not wish to have brought, after we have adhered, and
probably not so much, than there would be of bringing such cases if we
do not adhere. I think that we would have the same legal or moral right
to disregard such a finding in the one case that we would in the other.
If we are going to support any court, it will not be one that we have
set up alone or which reflects only our ideals. Other nations have their
customs and their institutions, their thoughts and their methods of
life. If a court is going to be international, its composition will have
to yield to what is good in all these various elements. Neither will it
be possible to support a court which is exactly perfect, or under which
we assume absolutely no obligations. If we are seeking that opportunity,
we might as well declare that we are opposed to supporting any court. If
any agreement is made, it will be because it undertakes to set up a
tribunal which can do some of the things that other nations wish to have
done. We shall not find ourselves bearing a disproportionate share of
the world’s burdens by our adherence, and we may as well remember that
there is absolutely no escape for our country from bearing its share of
the world’s burdens in any case. We shall do far better service to
ourselves and to others if we admit this and discharge our duties
voluntarily, than if we deny it and are forced to meet the same
obligations unwillingly.
It is difficult to imagine anything that would be more helpful to the
world than stability, tranquility and international justice. We may say
that we are contributing to these factors independently, but others less
fortunately located do not and can not make a like contribution except
through mutual cooperation. The old balance of power, mutual alliances,
and great military forces were not brought bout by any mutual dislike
for independence, but resulted from the domination of circumstances.
Ultimately they were forced on us. Like all others engaged in the war
whatever we said as a matter of fact we joined an alliance, we became a
military power, we impaired our independence. We have more at stake than
any one else in avoiding a repetition of that calamity. Wars do not,
spring into existence. They arise from small incidents and trifling
irritations which can be adjusted by an international court. We can
contribute greatly to the advancement of our ideals by joining with
other nations in maintaining such a tribunal.
FOREIGN DEBTS
Gradually, settlements have been made which provide for the liquidation
of debts due to our Government from foreign governments. Those made with
Great Britain, Finland, Hungary Lithuania, and Poland have already been
approved by the Congress. Since the adjournment, further agreements have
been entered into with Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Latvia, Estonia, Italy,
and Rumania. These 11 nations, which have already made settlements,
represent $6,419,528,641 of the original principal of the loans. The
principal sums without interest, still pending, are the debt of France,
of $3,340,000,000; Greece, $15,000,000; Yugoslavia, $.51,000,000;
Liberia, $26,000; Russia, $192,000,000, which those at present in
control have undertaken, openly to repudiate; Nicaragua, $84,000, which
is being paid currently; and Austria, $24,000,000, on which by act of
Congress a moratorium of 20 years has been granted. The only remaining
sum is $12,000,000, due from Armenia, which has now ceased to exist as
an independent nation.
In accordance with the settlements made, the amount of principal and
interest which is to be paid to the United States under these agreements
aggregate $15,200,688,253.93. It is obvious that the remaining
settlements, which will undoubtedly be made, will bring this sum up to
an amount which will more than equal the principal due on our present
national debt. While these settlements are very large in the aggregate,
it has been felt that the terms granted were in all cases very generous.
They impose no undue burden and are mutually beneficial in the
observance of international faith and the improvement of international
credit.
Every reasonable effort will be made to secure agreements for
liquidation with the remaining countries, whenever they are in such
condition that they can be made. Those which have already been
negotiated under the bipartisan commission established by the Congress
have been made only after the most thoroughgoing and painstaking
investigation, continued for a long time before meeting with the
representatives of the countries concerned. It is believed that they
represent in each instance the best that can be done and the wisest
settlement that can be secured. One very important result is the
stabilization of foreign currency, making exchange assist rather than
embarrass our trade. Wherever sacrifices have been made of money, it
will be more than amply returned in better understanding and friendship,
while in so far as these adjustments will contribute to the financial
stability of the debtor countries, to their good order, prosperity, and
progress, they represent hope of improved trade relations and mutual
contributions to the civilization of the world.
ALIEN PROBLEM
Negotiations are progressing among the interested parties in relation to
the final distribution of the assets in the hands of the Alien Property
Custodian. Our Government and people are interested as creditors; the
German Government and people are interested as debtors and owners of the
seized property. Pending the outcome of these negotiations, I do not
recommend any affirmative legislation. For the present we should
continue in possession of this property which we hold as security for
the settlement of claims due to our people and our Government.
IMMIGRATION
While not enough time has elapsed to afford a conclusive demonstration,
such results as have been secured indicate that our immigration law is
on the whole beneficial. It is undoubtedly a protection to the wage
earners of this country. The situation should however, be carefully
surveyed, in order to ascertain whether it is working a needless
hardship upon our own inhabitants. If it deprives them of the comfort
and society of those bound to them by close family ties, such
modifications should be adopted as will afford relief, always in
accordance with the principle that our Government owes its first duty to
our own people and that no alien, inhabitant of another country, has any
legal rights whatever under our Constitution and laws. It is only
through treaty, or through residence here that such rights accrue. But
we should not, however, be forgetful of the obligations of a common
humanity.
While our country numbers among its best citizens many of those of
foreign birth, yet those who now enter in violation of our laws by that
very act thereby place themselves in a class of undesirables.
Investigation reveals that any considerable number are coming here in
defiance of our immigration restrictions, it will undoubtedly create the
necessity for the registration of all aliens. We ought to have no
prejudice against an alien because he is an alien. The standard which we
apply to our inhabitants is that of manhood, not place of birth.
Restrictive immigration is to a large degree for economic purposes. It
is applied in order that we may not have a larger annual increment of
good people within our borders than we can weave into our economic
fabric in such a way as to supply their needs without undue injury to
ourselves.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
Never before in time of peace has our country maintained so large and
effective a military force as it now has. The Army, Navy, Marine Corps,
National Guard, and Organized Reserves represent a strength of about
558,400 men. These forces are well trained, well equipped, and high in
morale.
A sound selective service act giving broad authority for the
mobilization in time of peril of all the resources of the country, both
persons and materials, is needed to perfect our defense policy in
accordance with our ideals of equality. The provision for more suitable
housing to be paid for out of funds derived from the sale of excess
lands, pending before the last Congress, ought to be brought forward and
passed. Reasonable replacements ought to be made to maintain a
sufficient ammunition reserve.
The Navy has the full treaty tonnage of capital ships. Work is going
forward in modernizing the older ones, building aircraft carriers,
additional fleet submarines, and fast scout cruisers, but we are
carefully avoiding anything that might be construed as a competition in
armaments with other nations. The joint Army and Navy maneuvers at
Hawaii, followed by the cruise of a full Battle Fleet to Australia and
New Zealand, were successfully carried out. These demonstrations
revealed a most satisfactory condition of the ships and the men engaged.
Last year at my suggestion the General Board of the Navy made an
investigation and report on the relation of aircraft to warships. As a
result authorizations and appropriations were made for more scout
cruisers and fleet submarines and for completing aircraft carriers and
equipping them with necessary planes. Additional training in aviation
was begun at the Military and Naval Academies. A method of coordination
and cooperation of the Army and Navy and the principal aircraft builders
is being perfected. At the suggestion of the Secretaries of War and Navy
I appointed a special board to make a further study of the problem of
aircraft.
The report of the Air Board ought to be reassuring to the country,
gratifying to the service and satisfactory to the Congress. It is
thoroughly complete and represents the mature thought of the best talent
in the country. No radical change in organization of the service seems
necessary. The Departments of War, Navy, and Commerce should each be
provided with an additional assistant secretary, not necessarily with
statutory duties but who would be available under the direction of the
Secretary to give especial attention to air navigation. We must have an
air strength worthy of America. Provision should be made for two
additional brigadier generals for the Army Air Service. Temporary rank
corresponding to their duties should be awarded to active flying
officers in both Army and Navy.
Aviation is of great importance both for national defense and commercial
development. We ought to proceed in its improvement by the necessary
experiment and investigation. Our country is not behind in this art. It
has made records for speed and for the excellence of its planes. It
ought to go on maintaining its manufacturing plants capable of rapid
production, giving national assistance to the la in out of airways,
equipping itself with a moderate number of planes and keeping an air
force trained to the highest efficiency.
While I am a thorough believer in national defense and entirely
committed to the policy of adequate preparation, I am just as thoroughly
opposed to instigating or participating in a policy of competitive
armaments. Nor does preparation mean a policy of militarizing. Our
people and industries are solicitous for the cause of 0111, country, and
have great respect for the Army and Navy and foil the uniform worn by
the men who stand ready at all times for our protection to encounter the
dangers and perils necessary to military service, but all of these
activities are to be taken not in behalf of aggression but in behalf of
peace. They are the instruments by which we undertake to do our part to
promote good will and support stability among all peoples.
VETERANS
If any one desires to estimate the esteem in which the veterans of
America are held by their fellow citizens, it is but necessary to
remember that the current budget calls for an expenditure of about
$650,000.000 in their behalf. This is nearly the amount of the total
cost of the National Government, exclusive of the post office, before we
entered the last war.
At the two previous sessions of Congress legislation affecting veterans’
relief was enacted and the law liberalized. This legislation brought
into being a number of new provisions tending more nearly to meet the
needs of our veterans, as well as afford the necessary authority to
perfect the administration of these laws.
Experience with the new legislation so far has clearly demonstrated its
constructive nature. It has increased the benefits received by many and
has made eligible for benefits many others. Direct disbursements to the
veteran or his dependents exceeding $21,000,000 have resulted, which
otherwise would not have been made. The degree of utilization of our
hospitals has increased through making facilities available to the
incapacitated veteran regardless of service origin of the disability.
This new legislation also has brought about a marked improvement of
service to the veteran.
The organizations of ex-service men have proposed additional legislative
changes which you will consider, but until the new law and the
modifications made at the last session of Congress are given a more
thorough test further changes in the basic law should be few and made
only after careful though sympathetic consideration.
The principal work now before the Veterans’ Bureau is the perfection of
its organization and further improvements in service. Some minor
legislative changes are deemed necessary to enable the bureau to retain
that high grade of professional talent essential in handling the
problems of the bureau. Such changes as tend toward the improvement of
service and the carrying forward to completion of the hospital
construction program are recommended for the consideration of the proper
committees of Congress.
With the enormous outlay that is now being made in behalf of the
veterans and their dependents, with a tremendous war debt still
requiring great annual expenditure, with the still high rate of
taxation, while every provision should be made for the relief of the
disabled and the necessary care of dependents, the Congress may well
consider whether the financial condition of the Government is not such
that further bounty through the enlargement of general pensions and
other emoluments ought not to be postponed.
AGRICULTURE
No doubt the position of agriculture as a whole has very much improved
since the depression of three and four years ago. But there are many
localities and many groups of individuals, apparently through no fault
of their own, sometimes due to climatic conditions and sometimes to the
prevailing price of a certain crop, still in a distressing condition.
This is probably temporary, but it is none the less acute. National
Government agencies, the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce, the
Farm Loan Board, the intermediate credit banks, and the Federal Reserve
Board are all cooperating to be of assistance and relief. On the other
hand, there are localities and individuals who have had one of their
most prosperous years. The general price level is fair, but here again
there are exceptions both ways, some items being poor while others are
excellent. In spite of a lessened production the farm income for this
year will be about the same as last year and much above the three
preceding years.
Agriculture is a very complex industry. It does not consist of one
problem, but of several. They can not be solved at one stroke. They have
to be met in different ways, and small gains are not to be despised.
It has appeared from all the investigations that I have been able to
make that the farmers as a whole are determined to maintain the
independence of their business. They do not wish to have meddling on the
part of the Government or to be placed under the inevitable restrictions
involved in any system of direct or indirect price-fixing, which would
result from permitting the Government to operate in the agricultural
markets. They are showing a very commendable skill in organizing
themselves to transact their own business through cooperative marketing,
which will this year turn over about $2,500,000,000, or nearly one-fifth
of the total agricultural business. In this they are receiving help from
the Government. The Department of Agriculture should be strengthened in
this facility, in order to be able to respond when these marketing
associations want help. While it ought not to undertake undue
regulation, it should be equipped to give prompt information on crop
prospects, supply, demand, current receipts, imports, exports, and
prices.
A bill embodying these principles, which has been drafted under the
advice and with the approval of substantially all the leaders and
managers in the cooperative movement, will be presented to the Congress
for its enactment. Legislation should also be considered to provide for
leasing the unappropriated public domain for grazing purposes and
adopting a uniform policy relative to grazing on the public lands and in
the national forests.
A more intimate relation should be established between agriculture and
the other business activities of the Nation. They are mutually dependent
and can each advance their own prosperity most by advancing the
prosperity of the other. Meantime the Government will continue those
activities which have resulted in an unprecedented amount of legislation
and the pouring out of great sums of money during the last five years.
The work for good roads, better land and water transportation, increased
support for agricultural education, extension of credit facilities
through the Farm Loan Boards and the intermediate credit banks, the
encouragement of orderly marketing and a repression of wasteful
speculation, will all be continued.
Following every other depression, after a short period the price of farm
produce has taken and maintained the lead in the advance. This advance
had reached a climax before the war. Everyone will recall the discussion
that went on for four or five years prior to 1914 concerning the high
cost of living. This history is apparently beginning to repeat itself.
While wholesale prices of other commodities have been declining, farm
prices have been increasing. There is every reason to suppose that a new
era in agricultural prosperity lies just before us, which will probably
be unprecedented.
MUSCLE SHOALS
The problem of Muscle Shoals seems to me to have assumed a place all out
of proportion with its real importance. It probably does not represent
in market value much more than a first-class battleship, yet it has been
discussed in the Congress over a period of years and for months at a
time. It ought to be developed for the production of nitrates primarily,
and incidentally for power purposes. This would serve defensive,
agricultural, and industrial purposes. I am in favor of disposing of
this property to meet these purposes. The findings of the special
commission will be transmitted to the Congress for their information. I
am convinced that the best possible disposition can be made by direct
authorization of the Congress. As a means of negotiation I recommend the
immediate appointment of a small joint special committee chosen from the
appropriate general standing committees of the House and Senate to
receive bids, which when made should be reported with recommendations as
to acceptance, upon which a law should be enacted, effecting a sale to
the highest bidder who will agree to carry out these purposes.
If anything were needed to demonstrate the almost utter incapacity of
the National Government to deal directly with an industrial and
commercial problem, it has been provided by our experience with this
property. We have expended vast fortunes, we have taxed everybody, but
we are unable to secure results, which benefit anybody. This property
ought, to be transferred to private management under conditions which
will dedicate it to the public purpose for which it was conceived.
RECLAMATION
The National Government is committed to a policy of reclamation and
irrigation which it desires to establish on a sound basis and continue
in the interest of the localities concerned. Exhaustive studies have
recently been made of Federal reclamation, which have resulted in
improving the projects and adjusting many difficulties. About one third
of the projects is in good financial condition, another third can
probably be made profitable, while the other third is under unfavorable
conditions. The Congress has already provided for a survey which will
soon be embodied in a report. That ought to suggest a method of relief
which will make unnecessary further appeals to the Congress. Unless this
can be done, Federal reclamation will be considerably retarded. With the
greatly increased cost of construction and operation, it has become
necessary to plan in advance, by community organization and selective
agriculture, methods sufficient to repay these increasing outlays.
The human and economic interests of the farmer citizens suggest that the
States should be required to exert some effort and assume some
responsibility, especially in the intimate, detailed, and difficult work
of securing settlers and developing farms which directly profit them,
but only indirectly and remotely can reimburse the Nation. It is
believed that the Federal Government should continue to be the agency
for planning and constructing the great undertakings needed to regulate
and bring into use the rivers the West, many of which are interstate in
character, but the detailed work of creating agricultural communities
and a rural civilization on the land made ready for reclamation ought to
be either transferred to the State in its entirety or made a cooperative
effort of the State and Federal Government.
SHIPPING
The maintenance of a merchant marine is of the utmost importance for
national defense and the service of our commerce. We have a large number
of ships engaged in that service. We also have a surplus supply, costly
to care for, which ought to be sold. All the investigations that have
been made under my direction, and those which have been prosecuted
independently, have reached the conclusion that the fleet should be
under the direct control of a single executive head, while the Shipping
Board should exercise its judicial and regulatory functions in
Accordance with its original conception. The report of Henry G. Dalton,
a business man of broad experience, with a knowledge of shipping, made
to me after careful investigation, will be transmitted for the
information of the Congress, the studies pursued under the direction of
the United States Chamber of Commerce will also be accessible, and added
to these will be the report of the special committee of the House.
I do not advocate the elimination of regional considerations, but it has
become apparent that without centralized executive action the management
of this great business, like the management of any other great business,
will flounder in incapacity and languish under a division of council. A
plain and unmistakable reassertion of this principle of unified control,
which I have always been advised was the intention of the Congress to
apply, is necessary to increase the efficiency of our merchant fleet.
COAL
The perennial conflict in the coal industry is still going on to the
great detriment of the wage earners, the owners, and especially to the
public. With deposits of coal in this country capable of supplying its
needs for hundreds of years, inability to manage and control this great
resource for the benefit of all concerned is very close to a national
economic failure. It has been the subject of repeated investigation and
reiterated recommendation. Yet the industry seems never to have accepted
modern methods of adjusting differences between employers and employees.
The industry could serve the public much better and become subject to a
much more effective method of control if regional consolidations and
more freedom in the formation of marketing associations, under the
supervision of the Department of Commerce, were permitted.
At the present time the National Government has little or no authority
to deal with this vital necessity of the life of the country. It has
permitted itself to remain so powerless that its only attitude must be
humble supplication. Authority should be lodged with the President and
the Departments of Commerce and Labor, giving them power to deal with an
emergency. They should be able to appoint temporary boards with
authority to call for witnesses and documents, conciliate differences,
encourage arbitration, and in case of threatened scarcity exercise
control over distribution. Making the facts public under these
circumstances through a statement from an authoritative source would be
of great public benefit. The report of the last coal commission should
be brought forward, reconsidered, and acted upon.
PROHIBITION
Under the orderly processes of our fundamental institutions the
Constitution was lately amended providing for national prohibition. The
Congress passed an act for its enforcement, and similar acts have been
provided by most of the States. It is the law of the land. It is the
duty of all who come under its, jurisdiction to observe the spirit of
that law, and it is the duty of the Department of Justice and the
Treasury Department to enforce it. Action to prevent smuggling, illegal
transportation in interstate commerce, abuse in the use of permits, and
existence of sources of supply for illegal traffic is almost entirely
imposed upon the Federal Government.
Through treaties with foreign governments and increased activities of
the Coast Guard, revenue agents, district attorneys and enforcement
agents effort is being made to prevent these violations. But the
Constitution also puts a concurrent duty on the States. We need their
active and energetic cooperation, the vigilant action of their police,
and the jurisdiction of their courts to assist in enforcement. I request
of the people observance, of the public officers continuing efforts for
enforcement, and of the Congress favorable action on the budget
recommendation for the prosecution of this work.
WATERWAY DEVELOPMENT
For many years our country has been employed in plans and M for the
development of our intracoastal and inland waterways. This work along
our coast is an important adjunct to our commerce. It will be carried
on, together with the further opening up of our harbors, as our
resources permit. The Government made an agreement during the war to
take over the Cape Cod Canal, under which the owners made valuable
concessions. This pledged faith of the Government ought to be redeemed.
Two other main fields are under consideration. One is the Great Lakes
and St. Lawrence, including the Erie Canal. This includes stabilizing
the lake level, and is both a waterway and power project. A joint
commission of the United States and Canada is working on plans and
surveys which will not be completed until next April. No final
determination can be made, apparently, except under treaty as to the
participation of both countries. The other is the Mississippi River
stem. This is almost entirely devoted to navigation. Work on the Ohio
River will be completed in about three years. A modern channel
connecting Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh should be
laid out and work on the tributaries prosecuted. Some work is being done
of a preparatory nature along the Missouri, and large expenditures are
being made yearly in the lower reaches of the Mississippi and its
tributaries which contribute both to flood control and navigation.
Preliminary measures are being taken on the Colorado River project,
which is exceedingly important for flood control, irrigation, power
development, and water supply to the area concerned. It would seem to be
very doubtful, however, whether it is practical to secure affirmative
action of the Congress, except under a Joint agreement of the several
States.
The Government has already expended large sums upon scientific research
and engineering investigation in promotion of this Colorado River
project. The actual progress has been retarded for many years by
differences among the seven States in the basin over their relative
water rights and among different groups as to methods. In an attempt to
settle the primary difficulty of the water rights, Congress authorized
the Colorado River Commission which agreed on November 24, 1922, upon an
interstate compact to settle these rights, subject to the ratification
of the State legislatures and Congress. All seven States except Arizona
at one time ratified, the Arizona Legislature making certain
reservations which failed to meet the approval of the governor.
Subsequently an attempt was made to establish the compact upon a
six-State basis, but in this case California imposed reservations. There
appears to be no division of opinion upon the major principles of the
compact, but difficulty in separating contentions to methods of
development from the discussion of it. It is imperative that flood
control be undertaken for California and Arizona. preparation made for
irrigation, for power, and for domestic water.
Some or all of these questions are combined in every proposed
development. The Federal Government is interested in some of these
phases, State governments and municipalities and irrigation districts in
others, and private corporations in still others. Because of all this
difference of view it is most desirable that Congress should consider
the creation of some agency that will be able to determine methods of
improvement solely upon economic and engineering facts, that would be
authorized to negotiate and settle, subject to the approval of Congress,
the participation, rights, and obligations of each group in any
particular works. Only by some such method can early construction be
secured.
WATER POWER
Along with the development of navigation should go every possible
encouragement for the development of our water power. While steam still
plays a dominant part, this is more and more becoming an era of
electricity. Once installed, the cost is moderate, has not tended
greatly to increase, and is entirely free from the unavoidable dirt and
disagreeable features attendant upon the burning of coal. Every facility
should be extended for the connection of the various units into a
superpower plant, capable at all times of a current increasing
uniformity over the entire system.
RAILROADS
The railroads throughout the country are in a fair state of prosperity.
Their service is good and their supply of cars is abundant. Their
condition would be improved and the public better served by a system of
consolidations. I recommend that the Congress authorize such
consolidations tinder the supervision of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, with power to approve or disapprove when proposed parts are
excluded or new parts added. I am informed that the railroad managers
and their employees have reached a substantial agreement as to what
legislation is necessary to regulate and improve their relationship.
Whenever they bring forward such proposals, which seem sufficient also
to protect the interests of the public, they should be enacted into law.
It is gratifying to report that both the railroad managers and railroad
employees are providing boards for the mutual adjustment of differences
in harmony with the principles of conference, conciliation, and
arbitration. The solution of their problems ought to be an example to
all other industries. Those who ask the protections of civilization
should be ready to use the methods of civilization.
A strike in modern industry has many of the aspects of war in the modern
world. It injures labor and it injures capital. If the industry involved
is a basic one, it reduces the necessary economic surplus and,
increasing the cost of living, it injures the economic welfare and
general comfort of the whole people. It also involves a deeper cost. It
tends to embitter and divide the community into warring classes and thus
weakens the unity and power of our national life.
Labor can make no permanent gains at the cost of the general welfare.
All the victories won by organized labor in the past generation have
been won through the support of public opinion. The manifest inclination
of the managers and employees of the railroads to adopt a policy of
action in harmony with these principles marks a new epoch in our
industrial life.
OUTLYING POSSESSIONS
The time has come for careful investigation of the expenditures and
success of the laws by which we have undertaken to administer our
outlying possessions. A very large amount of money is being expended for
administration in Alaska. It appears so far out of proportion to the
number of inhabitants and the amount of production as to indicate cause
for thorough investigation. Likewise consideration should be given to
the experience under the law which governs the Philippines. From such
reports as reach me there are indications that more authority should be
given to the Governor General, so that he will not be so dependent upon
the local legislative body to render effective our efforts to set an
example of the, sound administration and good government, which is so
necessary for the preparation of the Philippine people for
self-government under ultimate independence. If they are to be trained
in these arts, it is our duty to provide for them the best that there
is.
RETIREMENT OF JUDGES
The act of March 3, 1911, ought to be amended so that the term of years
of service of judges of any court of the United States requisite for
retirement with pay shall be computed to include not only continuous but
aggregate service.
MOTHERS’ AID
The Government ought always to be alert on the side of the humanities.
It Ought to encourage provisions for economic justice for the
defenseless. It ought to extend its relief through its national and
local agencies, as may be appropriate in each case, to the suffering and
the needy. It ought to be charitable.
Although more than 40 of our States have enacted measures in aid of
motherhood, the District of Columbia is still without such a law. A
carefully considered bill will be presented, which ought to have most
thoughtful consideration in order that the Congress may adopt a measure
which will be hereafter a model for all parts of the Union.
CIVIL SERVICE
In 1883 the Congress passed the civil service act, which from a modest
beginning of 14,000 employees has grown until there are now 425,000 in
the classified service. This has removed the clerical force of the
Nation from the wasteful effects of the spoils system and made it more
stable and efficient. The time has come to consider classifying all
postmasters, collectors of customs, collectors of internal revenue, and
prohibition agents, by an act covering in those at present in office,
except when otherwise provided by Executive order.
The necessary statistics are now being gathered to form the basis of a
valuation of the civil service retirement fund based on current
conditions of the service. It is confidently expected that this
valuation will be completed in time to be made available to the Congress
during the present session. It will afford definite knowledge of
existing, and future liabilities under the present law and determination
OF liabilities under any proposed change in the present law. We should
have this information before creating further obligations for retirement
annuities which will become liabilities to be met in the future from the
money of the taxpayer.
The classification act of 1923, with the subsequent legislative action
providing for adjustment of the compensation of field service positions,
has operated materially to improve employment conditions in the Federal
service. The administration of the act is in the hands of an impartial
board, functioning without the necessity of a direct appropriation. It
would be inadvisable at this time to place in other hands the
administration of this act.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
The proper function of the Federal Trade Commission is to supervise and
correct those practices in commerce which are detrimental to fair
competition. In this it performs a useful function and should be
continued and supported. It was designed also to be a help to honest
business. In my message to the Sixty-eighth Congress I recommended that
changes in the procedure then existing be made. Since then the
commission by its own action has reformed its rules, giving greater
speed and economy in the disposal of its cases and full opportunity for
those accused to be heard. These changes are improvements and, if
necessary, provision should be made for their permanency.
REORGANIZATION
No final action has yet been taken on the measure providing for the
reorganization of the various departments. I therefore suggest that this
measure, which will be of great benefit to the efficient and economical
administration of the business of the Government, be brought forward and
passed.
THE NEGRO
Nearly one-tenth of our population consists of the Negro race. The
progress which they have made in all the arts of civilization in the
last 60 years is almost beyond belief. Our country has no more loyal
citizens. But they do still need sympathy, kindness, and helpfulness.
They need reassurance that the requirements of the Government and
society to deal out to them even-handed justice will be met. They should
be protected from all violence and supported in the peaceable enjoyment
of the fruits of their labor. Those who do violence to them should be
punished for their crimes. No other course of action is worthy of the
American people.
Our country has many elements in its population, many different modes of
thinking and living, all of which are striving in their own way to be
loyal to the high ideals worthy of the crown of American citizenship. It
is fundamental of our institutions that they seek to guarantee to all
our inhabitants the right to live their own lives under the protection
of the public law. This does not include any license to injure others
materially, physically, morally, to Incite revolution, or to violate the
established customs which have long had the sanction of enlightened
society.
But it does mean the full right to liberty and equality before the law
without distinction of race or creed. This condition can not be granted
to others, or enjoyed by ourselves, except by the application of the
principle of broadest tolerance. Bigotry is only another name for
slavery. It reduces to serfdom not only those against whom it is
directed, but also those who seek to apply it. An enlarged freedom can
only be secured by the application of the golden rule. No other
utterance ever presented such a practical rule of life.
CONCLUSION
It is apparent that we are reaching into an era of great general
prosperity. It will continue only so long as we shall use it properly.
After all, there is but a fixed quantity of wealth in this country at
any fixed time. The only way that we can all secure more of it is to
create more. The element of time enters into production, If the people
have sufficient moderation and contentment to be willing to improve
their condition by the process of enlarging production, eliminating
waste, and distributing equitably, a prosperity almost without limit
lies before its. If the people are to be dominated by selfishness,
seeking immediate riches by nonproductive speculation and by wasteful
quarreling over the returns from industry, they will be confronted by
the inevitable results of depression and privation. If they will
continue industrious and thrifty, contented with fair wages and moderate
profits, and the returns which accrue from the development of oar
natural resources, our prosperity will extend itself indefinitely.
In all your deliberations you should remember that the purpose of
legislation is to translate principles into action. It is an effort to
have our country be better by doing better. Because the thoughts and
ways of people are firmly fixed and not easily changed, the field within
which immediate improvement can be secured is very narrow. Legislation
can provide opportunity. Whether it is taken advantage of or not depends
upon the people themselves. The Government of the United States has been
created by the people. It is solely responsible to them. It will be most
successful if it is conducted solely for their benefit. All its efforts
would be of little avail unless they brought more justice, more
enlightenment, more happiness and prosperity into the home. This means
an opportunity to observe religion, secure education, and earn a living
under a reign of law and order. It is the growth and improvement of the
material and spiritual life of the Nation. We shall not be able to gain
these ends merely by our own action. If they come at all, it will be
because we have been willing to work in harmony with the abiding purpose
of a Divine Providence.
***
State of the Union Address
Calvin Coolidge
December 7, 1926
Members of the Congress:
In reporting to the Congress the state of the Union, I find it
impossible to characterize it other than one of general peace and
prosperity. In some quarters our diplomacy is vexed with difficult and
as yet unsolved problems, but nowhere are we met with armed conflict. If
some occupations and areas are not flourishing, in none does there
remain any acute chronic depression. What the country requires is not so
much new policies as a steady continuation of those which are already
being crowned with such abundant success. It can not be too often
repeated that in common with all the world we are engaged in liquidating
the war.
In the present short session no great amount of new legislation is
possible, but in order to comprehend what is most desirable some survey
of our general situation is necessary. A large amount of time is
consumed in the passage of appropriation bills. If each Congress in its
opening session would make appropriations to continue for two years,
very much time would be saved which could either be devoted to a
consideration of the general needs of the country or would result in
decreasing the work of legislation. ECONOMY
Our present state of prosperity has been greatly promoted by three
important causes, one of which is economy, resulting in reduction and
reform in national taxation. Another is the elimination of many kinds of
waste. The third is a general raising of the standards of efficiency.
This combination has brought the perfectly astonishing result of a
reduction in the index price of commodities and an increase in the index
rate of wages. We have secured a lowering of the cost to produce and a
raising of the ability to consume. Prosperity resulting from these
causes rests on the securest of all foundations. It gathers strength
from its own progress.
In promoting this progress the chief part which the National Government
plays lies in the field of economy. Whatever doubts may have been
entertained as to the necessity of this policy and the beneficial
results which would accrue from it to all the people of the Nation, its
wisdom must now be considered thoroughly demonstrated. It may not have
appeared to be a novel or perhaps brilliant conception, but it has
turned out to be preeminently sound. It has not failed to work. It has
surely brought results. It does not have to be excused as a temporary
expedient adopted as the lesser evil to remedy some abuse, it is not a
palliative seeking to treat symptoms, but a major operation for the,
eradication at the source of a large number of social diseases.
Nothing is easier than the expenditure of public money. It does not
appear to belong to anybody. The temptation is overwhelming to bestow it
on somebody. But the results of extravagance are ruinous. The property
of the country, like the freedom of the country, belongs to the people
of the country. They have not empowered their Government to take a
dollar of it except for a necessary public purpose. But if the
Constitution conferred such right, sound economics would forbid it.
Nothing is more, destructive of the progress of the Nation than
government extravagance. It means an increase in the burden of taxation,
dissipation of the returns from enterprise, a decrease in the real value
of wages, with ultimate stagnation and decay. The whole theory of our
institutions is based on the liberty and independence of the individual.
He is dependent on himself for support and therefore entitled to the
rewards of his own industry. He is not to be deprived of what he earns
that others may be benefited by what they do not earn. What he saves
through his private effort is not to be wasted by Government
extravagance.
Our national activities have become so vast that it is necessary to
scrutinize each item of public expenditure if we are to apply the
principle of economy. At the last session we made an immediate increase
in the annual budget of more than $100,000,000 in benefits conferred on
the veterans of three wars, public buildings, and river and harbor
improvement. Many projects are being broached requiring further large
outlays. I am convinced that it would be greatly for the welfare of the
country if we avoid at the present session all commitments except those
of the most pressing nature. From a reduction of the debt and taxes will
accrue a wider benefit to all the people of this country than from
embarking on any new enterprise. When our war debt is decreased we shall
have resources for expansion. Until that is accomplished we should
confine ourselves to expenditures of the most urgent necessity.
The Department of Commerce has performed a most important function in
making plans and securing support of all kinds of national enterprise
for the elimination of waste. Efficiency has been greatly promoted
through good management and the constantly increasing cooperation of the
wage earners throughout the whole realm of private business. It is my
opinion that this whole development has been predicated on the
foundation of a protective tariff.
TAX REDUCTION
As a result of economy of administration by the Executive and of
appropriation by the Congress, the end of this fiscal year will leave a
surplus in the Treasury estimated at $383,000,000. Unless otherwise
ordered, such surplus is used for the retirement of the war debt. A bond
which can be retired today for 100 cents will cost the people 104 1/4
cents to retire a year from now. While I favor a speedy reduction of the
debt as already required by law and in accordance with the promises made
to the holders of our Liberty bonds when they were issued, there is no
reason why a balanced portion of surplus revenue should not be applied
to a reduction of taxation. It can not be repeated too often that the
enormous revenues of this Nation could not be collected without becoming
a charge on all the people whether or not they directly pay taxes.
Everyone who is paying or the bare necessities of fool and shelter and
clothing, without considering the better things of life, is indirectly
paying a national tax. The nearly 20,000,000 owners of securities, the
additional scores of millions of holders of insurance policies and
depositors in savings banks, are all paying a national tax. Millions of
individuals and corporations are making a direct contribution to the
National Treasury which runs from 11/2 to 25 per cent of their income,
besides a number of special requirements, like automobile and admission
taxes. Whenever the state of the Treasury will permit, I believe in a
reduction of taxation. I think the taxpayers are entitled to it. But I
am not advocating tax reduction merely for the benefit of the taxpayer;
I am advocating it for the benefit of the country.
If it appeared feasible, I should welcome permanent tax reduction at
this time. The estimated surplus, however, for June 30, 1928, is not
much larger than is required in a going business of nearly
$4,000,000,000. We have had but a few months’ experience under the
present revenue act and shall need to know what is developed by the
returns of income produced under it, which are not required t o be made
until about the time this session terminates, and what the economic
probabilities of the country are in the latter part of 1927, before we
can reach any justifiable conclusion as to permanent tax reduction.
Moreover the present surplus results from many nonrecurrent items.
Meantime, it is possible to grant some real relief by a simple measure
making reductions in the payments which accrue on the 15th of March and
June, 1927. I am very strongly of the conviction that this is so much a
purely business matter that it ought not to be dealt with in a partisan
spirit. The Congress has already set the notable example of treating tax
problems without much reference to party, which might well be continued.
What I desire to advocate most earnestly is relief for the country from
unnecessary tax burdens. We can not secure that if we stop to engage in
a partisan controversy. As I do not think any change in the special
taxes, or tiny permanent reduction is practical, I therefore urge both
parties of the House Ways and Means Committee to agree on a bill
granting the temporary relief which I have indicated. Such a reduction
would directly affect millions of taxpayers, release large sums for
investment in new enterprise, stimulating industrial production and
agricultural consumption, and indirectly benefiting every family in the
whole country. These are my convictions stated with full knowledge that
it is for the Congress to decide whether they judge it best to make such
a reduction or leave the surplus for the present year to be applied to
retirement of the war debt. That also is eventually tax reduction.
PROTECTIVE TARIFF
It is estimated that customs receipts for the present fiscal year will
exceed $615,000,000, the largest which were ever secured from that
source. The value of our imports for the last fiscal year was
$4,466,000,000, an increase of more than 71 per cent since the present
tariff law went into effect. Of these imports about 65 per cent, or,
roughly, $2,900,000,000, came in free of duty, which means that the
United States affords a duty-free market to other countries almost equal
in value to the total imports of Germany and greatly exceeding the total
imports of France. We have admitted a greater volume of free imports
than any other country except England.
We are, therefore, levying duties on about $1,550,000,000 of imports.
Nearly half of this, or $700,000,000, is subject to duties for the
protection of agriculture and have their origin in countries other than
Europe. They substantially increased the prices received by our farmers
for their produce. About $300,000.000 more is represented by luxuries
such as costly rugs, furs, precious stones, etc. This leaves only about
$550,000,000 of our imports under a schedule of duties which is in
general under consideration when there is discussion of lowering the
tariff. While the duties on this small portion, representing only about
12 per cent of our imports, undoubtedly represent the difference between
a fair degree of prosperity or marked depression to many of our
industries and the difference between good pay and steady work or wide
unemployment to many of our wage earners, it is impossible to conceive
how other countries or our own importers could be greatly benefited if
these duties are reduced. Those who are starting an agitation for a
reduction of tariff duties, partly at least for the benefit of those to
whom money has been lent abroad, ought to know that there does not seem
to be a very large field within the area of our imports in which
probable reductions would be advantageous to foreign goods. Those who
wish to benefit foreign producers are much more likely to secure that
result by continuing the present enormous purchasing power which comes
from our prosperity that increased our imports over 71 per cent in four
years than from any advantages that are likely to accrue from a general
tariff reduction.
AGRICULTURE
The important place which agriculture holds in the economic and social
life of the Nation can not be overestimated. The National Government is
justified in putting forth every effort to make the open country a
desirable place to live. No condition meets this requirement which fails
to supply a fair return on labor expended and capital invested. While
some localities and some particular crops furnish exceptions, in general
agriculture is continuing to make progress in recovering from the
depression of 1921 and 1922. Animal products and food products are in a
more encouraging position, while cotton, due to the high prices of past
years supplemented by ideal weather conditions, has been stimulated to a
point of temporary over production. Acting on the request of the cotton
growing interests, appointed a committee to assist in carrying out their
plans. As it result of this cooperation sufficient funds have been
pledged to finance the storage and carrying of 4,000,000 bales of
cotton. Whether those who own the cotton are willing to put a part of
their stock into this plan depends on themselves. The Federal Government
has cooperated in providing ample facilities. No method of meeting the
situation would be adequate which does not contemplate a reduction of
about one-third in the acreage for the coming year. The responsibility
for making the plan effective lies with those who own and finance cotton
and cotton lands.
The Department of Agriculture estimates the net income of agriculture
for the year 1920-21 at only $375,000,000; for 1924-25, $2,656,000,000;
for 1925-26, $2,757,000,000. This increase has been brought about in
part by the method already referred to, of Federal tax reduction, the
elimination of waste, and increased efficiency in industry. The wide gap
that existed a few years ago between the index price of agricultural
products and the index price of other products has been gradually
closing up, though the recent depression in cotton has somewhat enlarged
it. Agriculture had on the whole been going higher while industry had
been growing lower. Industrial and commercial activities, being carried
on for the most part by corporations, are taxed at a much higher rate
than farming, which is carried on by individuals. This will inevitably
make industrial commodity costs high while war taxation lasts. It is
because of this circumstance that national tax reduction has a very
large indirect benefit upon the farmer, though it can not relieve him
from the very great burden of the local taxes which he pays directly. We
have practically relieved the farmer of any Federal income tax.
There is agreement on all sides that some portions of our agricultural
industry have lagged behind other industries in recovery from the war
and that further improvement in methods of marketing of agricultural
products is most desirable. There is belief also that the Federal
Government can further contribute to these ends beyond the many helpful
measures taken during the last five years through the different acts of
Congress for advancing the interests of the farmers.
The packers and stockyards act,
Establishing of the intermediate credit banks for agricultural purposes,
The Purnell Act for agricultural research,
The Capper-Volstead Cooperative Marketing Act,
The cooperative marketing act of 1926,
Amendments to the warehousing act,
The enlargement of the activities of the Department of Agriculture,
Enlargement of the scope of loans by the Farm Loan Board,
The tariff on agricultural products,
The large Federal expenditure in improvement of waterways and highways,
The reduction of Federal taxes, in all comprise a great series of
governmental actions in the advancement of the special interest of
agriculture.
In determination of what further measures may be undertaken it seems to
me there are certain pitfalls which must be avoided and our test in
avoiding them should be to avoid disaster to the farmer himself.
Acting upon my recommendation, the Congress has ordered the interstate
Commerce Commission to investigate the freight-rate structure, directing
that such changes shall be made in freight rates as will promote freedom
of movement of agricultural products. Railroad consolidation which I am
advocating would also result in a situation where rates could be made
more advantageous for farm produce, as has recently been done in the
revision of rates on fertilizers in the South. Additional benefit will
accrue from the development of our inland waterways. The Mississippi
River system carries a commerce of over 50,000,000 tons at a saving of
nearly $18,000,000 annually. The Inland Waterways Corporation operates
boats on 2,500 miles of navigable streams and through its relation with
165 railroads carries freight into and out of 45 States of the Union.
During the past six months it has handled over 1,000,000 bushels of
grain monthly and by its lower freight rates has raised the price of
such grain to the farmer probably 21/2 cents to 3 cents a bushel. The
highway system on which the Federal Government expends about $85,000,000
a year is of vital importance to the rural regions.
The advantages to be derived from a more comprehensive and less
expensive system of transportation for agriculture ought to be
supplemented by provision for an adequate supply of fertilizer at a
lower cost than it is at present obtainable. This advantage we are
attempting to secure by the proposed development at Muscle Shoals, and
there are promising experiments being made in synthetic chemistry for
the production of nitrates.
A survey should be made of the relation of Government grazing lands to
the livestock industry. Additional legislation is desirable more
definitely to establish the place of grazing in the administration of
the national forests, properly subordinated to their functions of
producing timber and conserving the water supply. Over 180,000,000 acres
of grazing lands are still pastured as commons in the public domain with
little or no regulation. This has made their use so uncertain that it
has contributed greatly to the instability of the livestock industry.
Very little of this land is suited to settlement or private ownership.
Some plan ought to be adopted for its use in grazing, corresponding
broadly to that already successfully applied to the national forests.
The development of sound and strong cooperative associations is of
fundamental importance to our agriculture. It is encouraging to note,
therefore, that a vigorous and healthy growth in the cooperative
movement is continuing. Cooperative associations reporting to the
Department of Agriculture at the end of 1925 had on their membership
rolls a total of 2,700,000 producers. Their total business in 1925
amounted to approximately $2,400,000,000, compared with $635,800,000 in
1915. Legislative action to assist cooperative associations and
supplement their efforts was passed at the last session of Congress.
Important credit measures were also provided by Congress in 1923 which
have been of inestimable value to the cooperative associations. Although
the Federal credit agencies have served agriculture well, I think it may
be possible to broaden and strengthen the service of these institutions.
Attention is again directed to the surplus problem of agriculture by the
present cotton situation. Surpluses often affect prices of various farm
commodities in a disastrous manner, and the problem urgently demands a
solution. Discussions both in and out of Congress during the past few
years have given us a better understanding of the subject, and it is my
hope that out of the various proposals made the basis will be found for
a sound and effective solution upon which agreement can be reached. In
my opinion cooperative marketing associations will be important aids to
the ultimate solution of the problem. It may well be, however, that
additional measures will be needed to supplement their efforts. I
believe all will agree that such measures should not conflict with the
best interests of the cooperatives, but rather assist and strengthen
them. In working out this problem to any sound conclusion it is
necessary to avoid putting the Government into the business of
production or marketing or attempting to enact legislation for the
purpose of price fixing. The farmer does not favor any attempted
remedies that partake of these elements. He has a sincere and candid
desire for assistance. If matched by an equally sincere and candid
consideration of the different remedies proposed a sound measure of
relief ought to result. It is unfortunate that no general agreement has
been reached by the various agricultural interests upon any of the
proposed remedies. Out of the discussion of various proposals which can
be had before the Committees of Agriculture some measure ought to be
perfected which would be generally satisfactory.
Due to the emergency arising from a heavy tropical storm in southern
Florida, I authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to use certain funds
in anticipation of legislation to enable the farmers in that region to
plant their crops. The department will present a bill ratifying the
loans which were made for this purpose.
Federal legislation has been adopted authorizing the cooperation of the
Government with States and private owners in the protection of forest
lands from fire. This preventive measure is of such great importance
that I have recommended for it an increased appropriation.
Another preventive measure of great economic and sanitary importance is
the eradication of tuberculosis in cattle. Active work is now in
progress in one-fourth of the counties of the United States to secure
this result. Over 12,000,000 cattle have been under treatment, and the
average degree of infection has fallen from 4.9 per cent to 2.8 per
cent. he Federal Government is making substantial expenditures for this
purpose.
Serious damage is threatened to the corn crop by the European corn
borer. Since 1917 it has spread from eastern New England westward into
Indiana and now covers about 100,000 square miles. It is one of the most
formidable pests because it spreads rapidly and is exceedingly difficult
of control. It has assumed a menace that is of national magnitude and
warrants the Federal Government in extending its cooperation to the
State and local agencies which are attempting to prevent its further
spread and secure its eradication.
The whole question of agriculture needs most careful consideration. In
the past few years the Government has given this subject more attention
than any other and has held more consultations in relation to it than on
any other subject. While the Government is not to be blamed for failure
to perform the impossible, the agricultural regions are entitled to know
that they have its constant solicitude and sympathy. Many of the farmers
are burdened with debts and taxes which they are unable to carry. We are
expending in this country many millions of dollars each year to increase
farm production. We ought now to put more emphasis on the question of
farm marketing. If a sound solution of a permanent nature can be found
for this problem, the Congress ought not to hesitate to adopt it.
DEVELOPMENT OF WATER RESOURCES
In previous messages I have referred to the national importance of the
proper development of our water resources. The great projects of
extension of the Mississippi system, the protection an development of
the lower Colorado River, are before Congress, and I have previously
commented upon them. I favor the necessary legislation to expedite these
projects. Engineering studies are being made for connecting the Great
Lakes with the North Atlantic either through an all-American canal or by
way of the St. Lawrence River. These reports will undoubtedly be before
the Congress during its present session. It is unnecessary to dwell upon
the great importance of such a waterway not only to our mid-continental
basin but to the commerce and development of practically the whole
Nation. Our river and harbor improvement should be continued in
accordance with the present policy. Expenditure of this character is
compatible with economy; it is in the nature of capital investment. Work
should proceed on the basic trunk lines if this work is to be a success.
If the country will be content to be moderate and patient and permit
improvements to be made where they will do the greatest general good,
rather than insisting on expenditures at this time on secondary
projects, our internal Waterways can be made a success. If proposes
legislation results in a gross manifestation of local jealousies and
selfishness, this program can not be carried out. Ultimately we can take
care of extensions, but our first effort should be confined to the main
arteries.
Our inland commerce has been put to great inconvenience and expense by
reason of the lowering of the water level of the Great Lakes. This is an
international problem on which competent engineers are making reports.
Out of their study it is expected that a feasible method will be
developed for raising the level to provide relief for our commerce and
supply water for drainage. Whenever a practical plan is presented it
ought to be speedily adopted.
RECLAMATION
It is increasingly evident that the Federal Government must in the
future take a leading part in the impounding of water for conservation
with incidental power for the development of the irrigable lands of the
and region. The unused waters of the West are found mainly in large
rivers. Works to store and distribute these have such magnitude and cost
that they are not attractive to private enterprise. Water is the
irreplaceable natural resource. Its precipitation can not be increased.
Its storage on the higher reaches of streams, to meet growing needs, to
be used repeatedly as it flows toward the seas, is a practical and
prudent business policy.
The United States promises to follow the course of older irrigation
countries, where recent important irrigation developments have been
carried out as national undertakings. It is gratifying, therefore, that
conditions on Federal reclamation projects have become satisfactory. The
gross value of crop, grown with water from project works increased from
$110,000,000 in 1924 to $131,000,000 in 1925. The adjustments made last
year by Congress relieved irrigators from paying construction costs on
unprofitable land, and by so doing inspired new hope and confidence in
ability to meet the payments required. Construction payments by water
users last year were the largest in the history of the bureau.
The anticipated reclamation fund will be fully absorbed for a number of
years in the completion of old projects and the construction of projects
inaugurated in the past three years. We should, however, continue to
investigate and study the possibilities of a carefully planned
development of promising projects, logically of governmental concern
because of their physical magnitude, immense cost, and the interstate
and international problems involved. Only in this way may we be fully
prepared to meet intelligently the needs of our fast-growing population
in the years to come.
TRANSPORTATION
It would be difficult to conceive of any modern activity which
contributes more to the necessities and conveniences of life than
transportation. Without it our present agricultural production and
practically all of our commerce would be completely prostrated. One of
the large contributing causes to the present highly satisfactory state
of our economic condition is the prompt and dependable service,
surpassing all our previous records, rendered by the railroads. This
power has been fostered by the spirit of cooperation between Federal and
State regulatory commissions. To render this service more efficient and
effective and to promote a more scientific regulation, the process of
valuing railroad properties should be simplified and the primary
valuations should be completed as rapidly as possible. The problem of
rate reduction would be much simplified by a process of railroad
consolidations. This principle has already been adopted as Federal law.
Experience has shown that a more effective method must be provided.
Studies have already been made and legislation introduced seeking to
promote this end. It would be of great advantage if it could be taken up
at once and speedily enacted. The railroad systems of the country and
the convenience of all the people are waiting on this important
decision.
MERCHANT MARINE
It is axiomatic that no agricultural and industrial country can get the
full benefit of its own advantages without a merchant marine. We have
been proceeding under the act of Congress that contemplates the
establishment of trade routes to be ultimately transferred to private
ownership and operation. Due to temporary conditions abroad and at home
we have a large demand just now for certain types of freight vessels.
Some suggestion has been made for new construction. I do not feel that
we are yet warranted in entering, that field. Such ships as we might
build could not be sold after they are launched for anywhere near what
they would cost. We have expended over $250,000,000 out of the public
Treasury in recent years to make up the losses of operation, not
counting the depreciation or any cost whatever of our capital
investment. The great need of our merchant marine is not for more ships
but for more freight.
Our merchants are altogether too indifferent about using American ships
for the transportation of goods which they send abroad or bring home.
Some of our vessels necessarily need repairs, which should be made. I do
not believe that the operation of our fleet is as economical and
efficient as it could be made if placed under a single responsible head,
leaving the Shipping Board free to deal with general matters of policy
and regulation.
RADIO LEGISLATION
The Department of Commerce has for some years urgently presented the
necessity for further legislation in order to protect radio listeners
from interference between broadcasting stations and to carry out other
regulatory functions. Both branches of Congress at the last session
passed enactments intended to effect such regulation, but the two bills
yet remain to be brought into agreement and final passage.
Due to decisions of the courts, the authority of the department under
the law of 1912 has broken down; many more stations have been operating
than can be accommodated within the limited number of wave lengths
available; further stations are in course of construction; many stations
have departed from the scheme of allocation set down by the department,
and the whole service of this most important public function has drifted
into such chaos as seems likely, if not remedied, to destroy its great
value. I most urgently recommend that this legislation should be
speedily enacted.
I do not believe it is desirable to set up further independent agencies
in the Government. Rather I believe it advisable to entrust the
important functions of deciding who shall exercise the privilege of
radio transmission and under what conditions, the assigning of wave
lengths and determination of power, to a board to be assembled whenever
action on such questions becomes necessary. There should be right of
appeal to the courts from the decisions of such board. The
administration of the decisions of the board and the other features of
regulation and promotion of radio in the public interest, together with
scientific research, should remain in the Department of Commerce. Such
an arrangement makes for more expert, more efficient, and more
economical administration that an independent agency or board, whose
duties, after initial stages, require but little attention, in which
administrative functions are confused with semijudicial functions and
from which of necessity there must be greatly increased personnel and
expenditure.
THE WAGE EARNER
The great body of our people are made up of wage earners. Several
hundred thousands of them are on the pay rolls of the United States
Government. Their condition very largely is fixed by legislation. We
have recently provided increases in compensation under a method of
reclassification and given them the advantage of a liberal retirement
system as a support for their declining years. Most of them are under
the merit system, which is a guaranty of their intelligence, and the
efficiency of their service is a demonstration of their loyalty. The
Federal Government should continue to set a good example for all other
employers.
In the industries the condition of the wage earner has steadily
improved. The 12-hour day is almost entirely unknown. Skilled labor is
well compensated. But there are unfortunately a multitude of workers who
have not yet come to share in the general prosperity of the Nation. Both
the public authorities and private enterprise should be solicitous to
advance the welfare of this class. The Federal Government has been
seeking to secure this end through a protective tariff, through
restrictive immigration, through requiring safety devices for the
prevention of accidents, through the granting of workman’s compensation,
through civilian vocational rehabilitation and education, through
employment information bureaus, and through such humanitarian relief as
was provided in the maternity and infancy legislation. It is a
satisfaction to report that a more general condition of contentment
exists among wage earners and the country is more free from labor
disputes than it has been for years. While restrictive immigration has
been adopted in part for the benefit of the wage earner, and in its
entirety for the benefit of the country, it ought not to cause a
needless separation of families and dependents from their natural source
of support contrary to the dictates of humanity.
BITUMINOUS COAL
No progress appears to have been made within large areas of the
bituminous coal industry toward creation of voluntary machinery by which
greater assurance can be given to the public of peaceful adjustment of
wage difficulties such as has been accomplished in the anthracite
industry. This bituminous industry is one of primary necessity and bears
a great responsibility to the Nation for continuity of supplies. As the
wage agreements in the unionized section of the industry expire on April
1 next, and as conflicts may result which may imperil public interest,
and have for many years often called for action of the Executive in
protection of the public, I again recommend the passage of such
legislation as will assist the Executive in dealing with such
emergencies through a special temporary board of conciliation and
mediation and through administrative agencies for the purpose of
distribution of coal and protection of the consumers of coal from
profiteering. At present the Executive is not only without authority to
act but is actually prohibited by law from making any expenditure to
meet the emergency of a coal famine.
JUDICIARY
The Federal courts hold a high position in the administration of justice
in the world. While individual judicial officers have sometimes been
subjected to just criticism, the courts as a whole have maintained an
exceedingly high standard. The Congress may well consider the question
of supplying fair salaries and conferring upon the Supreme Court the
same rule-making power on the law side of the district courts that they
have always possessed on the equity side. A bill is also pending
providing for retirement after a certain number of years of service,
although they have not been consecutive, which should have your
favorable consideration. These faithful servants of the Government are
about the last that remain to be provided for in the postwar
readjustments.
BANKING
There has been pending in Congress for nearly three years banking
legislation to clarify the national bank act and reasonably to increase
the powers of the national banks. I believe that within the limitation
of sound banking principles Congress should now and for the future place
the national banks upon a fair equality with their competitors, the
State banks, and I trust that means may be found so that the differences
on branch-banking legislation between the Senate and the House of
Representatives may be settled along sound lines and the legislation
promptly enacted.
It would be difficult to overestimate the service which the Federal
reserve system has already rendered to the country. It is necessary only
to recall the chaotic condition of our banking organization at the time
the Federal reserve system was put into operation. The old system
consisted of a vast number of independent banking units, with scattered
bank reserves which never could be mobilized in times of greatest need.
In spite of vast banking resources, there was no coordination of
reserves or any credit elasticity. As a consequence, a strain was felt
even during crop-moving periods and when it was necessary to meet other
seasonal and regularly recurring needs.
The Federal reserve system is not a panacea for all economic or
financial ills. It can not prevent depression in certain industries
which are experiencing overexpansion of production or contraction of
their markets. Its business is to furnish adequate credit and currency
facilities. This it has succeeded in doing, both during the war and in
the more difficult period of deflation and readjustment which followed.
It enables us to look to the future with confidence and to make plans
far ahead, based on the belief that the Federal reserve system will
exercise a steadying influence on credit conditions and thereby prevent
tiny sudden or severe reactions from the period of prosperity which we
are now enjoying. In order that these plans may go forward, action
should be taken at the present session on the question of renewing the
banks’ charters and thereby insuring a continuation of the policies and
present usefulness of the Federal reserve system.
FEDERAL REGULATION
I am in favor of reducing, rather than expanding, Government bureaus
which seek to regulate and control the business activities of the
people. Everyone is aware that abuses exist and will exist so long as we
are limited by human imperfections. Unfortunately, human nature can not
be changed by an act of the legislature. When practically the sole
remedy for many evils lies in the necessity of the people looking out
for themselves and reforming their own abuses, they will find that they
are relying on a false security if the Government assumes to hold out
the promise that it is looking out for them and providing reforms for
them. This principle is preeminently applicable to the National
Government. It is too much assumed that because an abuse exists it is
the business of the National Government to provide a remedy. The
presumption should be that it is the business of local and State
governments. Such national action results in encroaching upon the
salutary independence of the States and by undertaking to supersede
their natural authority fills the land with bureaus and departments
which are undertaking to do what it is impossible for them to accomplish
and brings our whole system of government into disrespect and disfavor.
We ought to maintain high standards. We ought to punish wrongdoing.
Society has not only the privilege but the absolute duty of protecting
itself and its individuals. But we can not accomplish this end by
adopting a wrong method. Permanent success lies in local, rather than
national action. Unless the locality rises to its own requirements,
there is an almost irresistible impulse for the National Government to
intervene. The States and the Nation should both realize that such
action is to be adopted only as a last resort.
THE NEGRO
The social well-being of our country requires our constant effort for
the amelioration of race prejudice and the extension to all elements of
equal opportunity and equal protection under the laws which are
guaranteed by the. Constitution. The Federal Government especially is
charged with this obligation in behalf of the colored people of the
Nation. Not only their remarkable progress, their devotion and their
loyalty, but, our duty to ourselves under our claim that we are an
enlightened people requires us to use all our power to protect them from
the crime of lynching. Although violence of this kind has very much
decreased, while any of it remains we can not justify neglecting to make
every effort to eradicate it by law.
The education of the colored race under Government encouragement is
proceeding successfully and ought to have continuing support. An
increasing need exists for properly educated and trained medical skill
to be devoted to the service of this race.
INSULAR POSSESSIONS
This Government holds in sacred trusteeship islands which it has
acquired in the East and West Indies. In all of them the people are more
prosperous than at any previous time. A system of good roads, education,
and general development is in progress. The people are better governed
than ever before and generally content.
In the Philippine Islands Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood has been Governor
General for five years and has administered his office with tact and
ability greatly to the success of the Filipino people. These are a proud
and sensitive race, who are making such progress with our cooperation
that we can view the results of this experiment with great satisfaction.
As we are attempting to assist this race toward self-government, we
should look upon their wishes with great respect, granting their
requests immediately when they are right, yet maintaining a frank
firmness in refusing when they are wrong. We shall measure their
progress in no small part by their acceptance of the terms of the
organic law under which the islands are governed and their faithful
observance of its provisions. Need exists for clarifying the duties of
the auditor and declaring them to be what everyone had supposed they
were. We have placed our own expenditures under the supervision of the
Comptroller General. It is not likely that the expenditures in the
Philippine Islands need less supervision than our own. The Governor
General is hampered in his selection of subordinates by the necessity of
securing a confirmation, which has oftentimes driven him to the
expediency of using Army officers in work for which civilian experts
would be much better fitted. Means should be provided for this and such
other purposes as he may require out of the revenue which this
Government now turns back to the Philippine treasury.
In order that these possessions might stiffer no seeming neglect, I have
recently sent Col. Carmi A. Thompson to the islands to make a survey in
cooperation with the Governor General to suggest what might be done to
improve conditions. Later, I may make a more extended report including
recommendations. The economic development of the islands is very
important. They ought not to be turned back to the people until they are
both politically fitted for self-government and economically
independent. Large areas are adaptable to the production of rubber. No
one contemplates any time in the future either under the present or a
more independent form of government when we should not assume some
responsibility for their defense. For their economic advantage, for the
employment of their people, and as a contribution to our power of
defense which could not be carried on without rubber, I believe this
industry should be encouraged. It is especially adapted to the Filipino
people themselves, who might cultivate it individually on a small
acreage. It could be carried on extensively by American capital in a way
to furnish employment at good wages. I am opposed to the promotion of
any policy that does not provide for absolute freedom on the part of the
wage earners and do not think we should undertake to give power for
large holdings of land in the islands against the opposition of the
people of the locality. Any development of the islands must be solely
with the first object of benefiting the people of the islands. At an
early day, these possessions should be taken out from under all military
control and administered entirely on the civil side of government.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
Our policy of national defense is not one of making war, but of insuring
peace. The land and sea force of America, both in its domestic and
foreign implications, is distinctly a peace force. It is an arm of the
police power to guarantee order and the execution of the law at home and
security to our citizens abroad. No self-respecting nation would neglect
to provide an army and navy proportionate to its population, the extent
of its territory, and the dignity of the place which it occupies in the
world. When it is considered that no navy in the world, with one
exception, approaches ours and none surpasses it, that our Regular Army
of about 115,000 men is the equal of any other like number of troops,
that our entire permanent and reserve land and sea force trained and
training consists of a personnel of about 610,000, and that our annual
appropriations are about $680,000,000 a year, expended under the
direction of an exceedingly competent staff, it can not be said that our
country is neglecting its national defense. It is true that a cult of
disparagement exists, but that candid examination made by the Congress
through its various committees has always reassured the country and
demonstrated that it is maintaining the most adequate defensive forces
in these present years that it has ever supported in time of peace.
This general policy should be kept in effect. Here and there temporary
changes may be made in personnel to meet requirements in other
directions. Attention should be given to submarines, cruisers, and air
forces. Particular points may need strengthening, but as a whole our
military power is sufficient.
The one weak place in the whole line is our still stupendous war debt.
In any modern campaign the dollars are the shock troops. With a depleted
treasury in the rear, no army can maintain itself in the field. A
country loaded with debt is a country devoid of the first line of
defense. Economy is the handmaid of preparedness. If we wish to be able
to defend ourselves to the full extent of our power in the future, we
shall discharge as soon as possible the financial burden of the last
war. Otherwise we would face a crisis with a part of our capital
resources already expended.
The amount and kind of our military equipment is preeminently a question
for the decision of the Congress, after giving due consideration to the
advice of military experts and the available public revenue. Nothing is
more laudable than the cooperation of the agricultural and industrial
resources of the country for the purpose of supplying the needs of
national defense. In time of peril the people employed in these
interests volunteered in a most self-sacrificing way, often at the
nominal charge of a dollar a year. But the Army and Navy are not
supported for the benefit of supply concerns; supply concerns are
supported for the benefit of the Army and Navy. The distribution of
orders on what is needed from different concerns for the purpose of
keeping up equipment and organization is perfectly justified, but any
attempt to prevail upon the Government to purchase beyond its needs
ought not to be tolerated. It is eminently fair that those who deal with
the Government should do so at a reasonable profit. However, public
money is expended not that some one may profit by it, but in order to
serve a public purpose.
While our policy of national defense will proceed in order that we may
be independent and self-sufficient, I am opposed to engaging in any
attempt at competitive armaments. No matter how much or how little some
other country may feel constrained to provide, we can well afford to set
the example, not of being dictated to by others, but of adopting our own
standards. We are strong enough to pursue that method, which will be a
most wholesome model for the rest of the world. We are eminently
peaceful, but we are by no means weak. While we submit our differences
with others, not to the adjudication of force, but of reason, it is not
because we are unable to defend our rights. While we are doing our best
to eliminate all resort to war for the purpose of settling disputes, we
can not but remember that the peace we now enjoy had to be won by the
sword and that if the rights of our country are to be defended we can
not rely for that purpose upon anyone but ourselves. We can not shirk
the responsibility, which is the first requisite of all government, of
preserving its own integrity and maintaining the rights of its own
citizens. It is only in accordance with these principles that we can
establish any lasting foundations for an honorable and permanent peace.
It is for these reasons that our country, like any other country,
proposes to provide itself with an army and navy supported by a merchant
marine. Yet these are not for competition with any other power. For
years we have besought nations to disarm. We have recently expressed our
willingness at Geneva to enter into treaties for the limitation of all
types of warships according to the ratio adopted at the Washington
Conference. This offer is still pending. While we are and shall continue
to be armed it is not as a menace, but rather a common assurance of
tranquility to all the peaceloving people of the world. For us to do any
less would be to disregard our obligations, evade our responsibilities,
and jeopardize our national honor.
VETERANS
This country, not only because it is bound by honor but because of the
satisfaction derived from it, has always lavished its bounty upon its
veterans. For years a service pension has been bestowed upon the Grand
Army on reaching a certain age. Like provision has been made for the
survivors of the Spanish War. A liberal future compensation has been
granted to all the veterans of the World War. But it is in the case of
the, disabled and the dependents that the Government exhibits its
greatest solicitude. This work is being well administered by the
Veterans’ Bureau. The main unfinished feature is that of
hospitalization. This requirement is being rapidly met. Various veteran
bodies will present to you recommendations which should have your
careful consideration. At the last session we increased our annual
expenditure for pensions and relief on account of the veterans of three
wars. While I approve of proper relief for all suffering, I do not favor
any further extension of our pension system at this time.
ALIEN PROPERTY
We still have in the possession of the Government the alien property. It
has always been the policy of America to hold that private enemy
property should not be confiscated in time of war. This principle we
have scrupulously observed. As this property is security for the claims
of our citizens and our Government, we can not relinquish it without
adequate provision for their reimbursement. Legislation for the return
of this property, accompanied by suitable provisions for the liquidation
of the claims of our citizens and our Treasury, should be adopted. If
our Government releases to foreigners the security which it holds for
Americans, it must at the same time provide satisfactory safeguards for
meeting American claims.
PROHIBITION
The duly authorized public authorities of this country have made
prohibition the law of the land. Acting under the Constitution the
Congress and the legislatures of practically all the, States have
adopted legislation for its enforcement. Some abuses have arisen which
require reform. Under the law the National Government has entrusted to
the Treasury Department the especial duty of regulation and enforcement.
Such supplementary legislation as it requires to meet existing
conditions should be carefully and speedily enacted. Failure to support
the Constitution and observe the law ought not to be tolerated by public
opinion. Especially those in public places, who have taken their oath to
support the Constitution, ought to be most scrupulous in its observance.
Officers of the Department of Justice throughout the country should be
vigilant in enforcing the law, but local authorities, which had always
been mainly responsible for the enforcement of law in relation to
intoxicating liquor, ought not to seek evasion by attempting to shift
the burden wholly upon the Federal agencies. Under the Constitution the
States are jointly charged with the Nation in providing for the
enforcement of the prohibition amendment. Some people do not like the
amendment, some do not like other parts of the Constitution, some do not
like any of it. Those who entertain such sentiments have a perfect right
to seek through legal methods for a change. But for any of our
inhabitants to observe such parts of the Constitution as they like,
while disregarding others, is a doctrine that would break down all
protection of life and property and destroy the American system of
ordered liberty.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The foreign policy of this Government is well known. It is one of peace
based on that mutual respect that arises from mutual regard for
international rights and the discharge of international obligations. It
is our purpose to promote understanding and good will between ourselves
and all other people. The American people are altogether lacking in an
appreciation of the tremendous good fortune that surrounds their
international position. We have no traditional enemies. We are not
embarrassed over any disputed territory. We have no possessions that are
coveted by others; they have none that are coveted by us. Our borders
are unfortified. We fear no one; no one fears us. All the world knows
that the whole extent of our influence is against war and in favor of
peace, against the use of force and in favor of negotiation,
arbitration, and adjudication as a method of adjusting international
differences. We look with disfavor upon all aggressive warfare. We are
strong enough so that no one can charge us with weakness if we are slow
to anger. Our place is sufficiently established so that we need not be
sensitive over trifles. Our resources, are large enough so that we can
afford to be generous. At the same time we are a nation among nations
and recognize a responsibility not only to ourselves, but in the
interests of a stable and enlightened civilization, to protect and
defend the international rights of our Government and our citizens.
It is because of our historical detachment and the generations of
comparative indifference toward it by other nations that our public is
inclined to consider altogether too seriously the reports that we are
criticized abroad. We never had a larger foreign trade than at the
present time. Our good offices were never more sought and the necessity
for our assistance and cooperation was never more universally declared
in any time of peace. We know that the sentiments which we entertain
toward all other nations are those of the most sincere friendship and
good will and of all unbounded desire to help, which we are perfectly
willing to have judged by their fruits. In our efforts to adjust our
international obligations we have met with a response which, when
everything is considered, I believe history will record as a most
remarkable and gratifying demonstration of the sanctity with which
civilized nations undertake to discharge their mutual obligations. Debt
settlements have been negotiated with practically all of those who owed
us and all finally adjusted but two, which are, in process of
ratification. When we consider the real sacrifice that will be necessary
on the part of other nations, considering all their circumstances, to
meet their agreed payments, we ought to hold them in increased
admiration and respect. It is true that we have extended to them very
generous treatment, but it is also true that they have agreed to repay
its all that we loaned to them and some interest.
A special conference on the Chinese customs tariff provided for by the
treaty between the nine powers relating to the Chinese customs tariff
signed at Washington on February 6, 1922, was called by the Chinese
Government to meet at Peking, on October 26, 1925. We participated in
this conference through fully empowered delegates and, with good will,
endeavored to cooperate with the other participating powers with a view
to putting into effect promises made to China at the Washington
conference, and considering any reasonable proposal that might be made
by the Chinese Government for the revision of the treaties on the
subject of China’s tariff. With these aims in view the American
delegation at the outset of the conference proposed to put into effect
the surtaxes provided for by the Washington treaty and to proceed
immediately to the negotiation of a treaty, which, among other things,
was to make provision for the abolition of taxes collected on goods in
transit, remove the tariff restrictions in existing treaties, and put
into effect the national tariff law of China.
Early in April of the present year the central Chinese Government was
ousted from power by opposing warring factions. It became impossible
under the circumstances to continue the negotiations. Finally, on July
3, the delegates of the foreign powers, including those of the United
States, issued a statement expressing their unanimous and earnest desire
to proceed with the work of the conference at the earliest possible
moment when the delegates of the Chinese Government are in a position to
resume discussions with the foreign delegates of the problems before the
conference. We are prepared to resume the negotiations thus interrupted
whenever a Government representing the Chinese people and acting on
their behalf presents itself. The fact that constant warfare between
contending Chinese factions has rendered it impossible to bring these
negotiations to a successful conclusion is a matter of deep regret.
Throughout these conflicts we have maintained a position of the most
careful neutrality. Our naval vessels in Asiatic waters, pursuant to
treaty rights, have been used only for the protection of American
citizens.
Silas H. Strawn, Esq., was sent to China as American commissioner to
cooperate with commissioners of the other powers in the establishment of
a commission to inquire into the present practice of extraterritorial
jurisdiction in China, with a view to reporting to the Governments of
the several powers their findings of fact in regard to these matters.
The commission commenced its work in January, 1926, and agreed upon a
joint report which was signed on September 16, 1926. The commission’s
report has been received and is being studied with a view to determining
our future policy in regard to the question of extraterritorial
privileges under treaties between the United States and China.
The Preparatory Commission for the Disarmament Conference met at Geneva
on May 18 and its work has been proceeding almost continuously since
that date. It would be premature to attempt to form a judgment as to the
progress that has been made. The commission has had before it a
comprehensive list of questions touching upon all aspects of the
question of the limitation of armament. In the commission’s discussions
many differences of opinion have developed. However, I am hopeful that
at least some measure of agreement will be reached as the discussions
continue. The American representation on the commission has consistently
tried to be helpful, and has kept before it the practical objective to
which the commission is working, namely, actual agreements for the
limitation of armaments. Our representatives will continue their work in
that direction.
One of the most encouraging features of the commission’s work thus far
has been the agreement in principle among the naval experts of a
majority of the powers parties to the Washington treaty limiting naval
armament upon methods and standards for the comparison and further
limitation of naval armament. It is needless to say that at the proper
time I shall be prepared to proceed along practical lines to the
conclusion of agreements carrying further the work begun at the
Washington Conference in 1921.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Many important subjects which it is impossible even to mention in the
short space of an annual message you will find fully discussed in the
departmental reports. A failure to include them here is not to be taken
as indicating any lack of interest, but only a disinclination to state
inadequately what has been much better done in other documents.
THE CAPITAL CITY
We are embarking on an ambitious building program for the city of
Washington. The Memorial Bridge is under way with all that it holds for
use and beauty. New buildings are soon contemplated. This program should
represent the best that exists in the art and science of architecture.
Into these structures which must be considered as of a permanent nature
ought to go the aspirations of the Nation, its ideals expressed in forms
of beauty. If our country wishes to compete with others, let it not be
in the support of armaments but in the making of a beautiful capital
city. Let it express the soul of America. Whenever an American is at the
seat of his Government, however traveled and cultured he may be, he
ought to find a city of stately proportion, symmetrically laid out and
adorned with the best that there is in architecture, which would arouse
his imagination and stir his patriotic pride. In the coming years
Washington should be not only the art center of our own country but the
art center of the world. Around it should center all that is best in
science, in learning, in letters, and in art. These are the results that
justify the creation of those national resources with which we have been
favored.
AMERICAN IDEALS
America is not and must not be a country without ideals. They are
useless if they are only visionary; they are only valuable if they are
practical. A nation can not dwell constantly on the mountain tops. It
has to be replenished and sustained through the ceaseless toil of the
less inspiring valleys. But its face ought always to be turned upward,
its vision ought always to be fixed on high.
We need ideals that can be followed in daily life, that can be
translated into terms of the home. We can not expect to be relieved from
toil, but we do expect to divest it of degrading conditions. Work is
honorable; it is entitled to an honorable recompense. We must strive
mightily, but having striven there is a defect in our political and
social system if we are not in general rewarded with success. To relieve
the land of the burdens that came from the war, to release to the
individual more of the fruits of his own industry, to increase his
earning capacity and decrease his hours of labor, to enlarge the circle
of his vision through good roads and better transportation, to lace
before him the opportunity for education both in science and in art, to
leave him free to receive the inspiration of religion, all these are
ideals which deliver him from the servitude of the body and exalt him to
the service of the soul. Through this emancipation from the things that
are material, we broaden our dominion over the things that are
spiritual.
***
State of the Union Address
Calvin Coolidge
December 6, 1927
Members of the Congress:
It is gratifying to report that for the fourth consecutive year the
state of the Union in general is good. We are at peace. The country as a
whole has had a prosperity never exceeded. Wages are at their highest
range, employment is plentiful. Some parts of agriculture and industry
have lagged; some localities have suffered from storm and flood. But
such losses have been absorbed without serious detriment to our great
economic structure. Stocks of goods are moderate and a wholesome caution
is prevalent. Rates of interest for industry, agriculture, and
government have been reduced. Savers and investors are providing capital
for new construction in industry and public works. The purchasing power
of agriculture has increased. If the people maintain that confidence
which they are entitled to have in themselves, in each other, and in
America, a comfortable prosperity will continue.
CONSTRUCTIVE ECONOMY
Without constructive economy in Government expenditures we should not
now be enjoying these results or these prospects. Because we are not now
physically at war, some people are disposed to forget that our war debt
still remains. The Nation must make financial sacrifices, accompanied by
a stern self-denial in public expenditures, until we have conquered the
disabilities of our public finance. While our obligation to veterans and
dependents is large and continuing, the heavier burden of the national
debt is being steadily eliminated. At the end of this fiscal year it
will be reduced from about $26,600,000,000 to about $17,975,000,000.
Annual interest, including war savings, will have been reduced from
$1,055,000,000 to $670,0001,000. The sacrifices of the people, the
economy of the Government, are showing remarkable results. They should
be continued for the purpose of relieving the Nation of the burden of
interest and debt and releasing revenue for internal improvements and
national development.
Not only the amount, but the rate, of Government interest has been
reduced. Callable bonds have been refunded and paid, so that during this
year the average rate of interest on the present public debt for the
first time fell below 4 per cent. Keeping the credit of the Nation high
is a tremendously profitable operation.
TAX REDUCTION
The immediate fruit of economy and the retirement of the public debt is
tax reduction. The annual saving in interest between 1925 and 1929 is
$212,000,000. Without this no bill to relieve the taxpayers would be
worth proposing. The three measures already enacted leave our Government
revenues where they are not oppressive. Exemptions, have been increased
until 115,000,000 people make but 2,500,000 individual taxable returns,
so that further reduction should be mainly for the purpose of removing
inequalities. The Secretary of the Treasury has recommended a measure
which would give us a much better balanced system of taxation and
without oppression produce sufficient revenue. It has my complete
support.
Unforeseen contingencies requiring money are always arising. Our
probable surplus for June 30, 1929, is small. A slight depression in
business would greatly reduce our revenue because of our present method
of taxation. The people ought to take no selfish attitude of pressing
for removing moderate and fair taxes which might produce a deficit. We
must keep our budget balanced for each year. That is the corner stone of
our national credit, the trifling price we pay to command the lowest
rate of interest of any great power in the world. Any surplus can be
applied to debt reduction, and debt reduction is tax reduction. Under
the present circumstances it would be far better to leave the rates as
they are than to enact a bill carrying the peril of a deficit. This is
not a problem to be approached in a narrow or partisan spirit. All of
those who participate in finding a reasonable solution will be entitled
to participate in any credit that accrues from it without regard to
party. The Congress has already demonstrated that tax legislation can be
removed from purely political consideration into the realm of patriotic
business principles.
Any bill for tax reduction should be written by those who are
responsible for raising, managing, and expending the finances of the
Government. If special interests, too often selfish, always uninformed
of the national needs as a whole, with hired agents using their proposed
beneficiaries as engines of propaganda, are permitted to influence the
withdrawal of their property from taxation, we shall have a law that is
unbalanced and unjust, bad for business, bad for the country, probably
resulting in a deficit, with disastrous financial Consequences. The
Constitution has given the Members of the Congress sole authority to
decide what tax measures shall be presented for approval. While
welcoming information from any quarter, the Congress should continue to
exercise its own judgment in a matter so vital and important to all the
interests of the country as taxation.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
Being a nation relying not on force, but on fair dealing and good will,
to maintain peace with others, we have provided a moderate military
force in a form adapted solely to defense. It should be continued with a
very generous supply of officers and with the present base of personnel,
subject to fluctuations which may be temporarily desirable.
The five-year program for our air forces is in keeping with this same
policy and commensurate with the notable contributions of America to the
science of aeronautics. The provisions of the law lately enacted are
being executed as fast as the practical difficulties of an orderly and
stable development permit.
While our Army is small, prudence requires that it should be kept in a
high state of efficiency and provided with such supplies as would permit
of its immediate expansion. The garrison ration has lately been
increased. Recommendations for an appropriation of $6,166,000 for new
housing made to the previous Congress failed to pass. While most of the
Army is well housed, some of it which is quartered in wartime training
camps is becoming poorly housed. In the past three years $12,533,000
have been appropriated for reconstruction and repairs, and an
authorization has been approved of $22,301,000 for new housing, under
which $8,070,000 has already been appropriated. A law has also been
passed, complying with the request of the War Department, allocating
funds received from the sale of buildings and land for housing purposes.
The work, however, is not completed, so that other appropriations are
being recommended.
Our Navy is likewise a weapon of defense. We have a foreign commerce and
ocean lines of trade unsurpassed by any other country. We have outlying
territory in the two great oceans and long stretches of seacoast studded
with the richest cities in the world. We are responsible for the
protection of a large population and the greatest treasure ever bestowed
upon any people. We are charged with an international duty of defending
the Panama Canal. To meet these responsibilities we need a very
substantial sea armament. It needs aircraft development, which is being
provided under the five-year program. It needs submarines as soon as the
department decides upon the best type of construction. It needs airplane
carriers and a material addition to its force of cruisers. We can plan
for the future and begin a moderate building program.
This country has put away the Old World policy of competitive armaments.
It can never be relieved of the responsibility of adequate national
defense. We have one treaty secured by an unprecedented attitude of
generosity on our part for a limitation in naval armament. After most
careful preparation, extending over months, we recently made every
effort to secure a three-power treaty to the same end. We were granted
much cooperation by Japan, but we were unable to come to an agreement
with Great Britain. While the results of the conference were of
considerable value, they were mostly of a negative character. We know
now that no agreement can be reached which will be inconsistent with a
considerable building program on our part. We are ready and willing to
continue the preparatory investigations on the general subject of
limitation of armaments which have been started under the auspices of
the League of Nations.
We have a considerable cruiser tonnage, but a part of it is obsolete.
Everyone knew that had a three-power agreement been reached it would
have left us with the necessity of continuing our building program. The
failure to agree should not cause us to build either more or less than
we otherwise should. Any future treaty of limitation will call on us for
more ships. We should enter on no competition. We should refrain from no
needful program. It should be made clear to all the world that lacking a
definite agreement, the attitude of any other country is not to be
permitted to alter our own policy. It should especially be demonstrated
that propaganda will not cause us to change our course. Where there is
no treaty limitation, the size of the Navy which America is to have will
be solely for America to determine. No outside influence should enlarge
it or diminish it. But it should be known to all that our military power
holds no threat of aggrandizement. It is a guaranty of peace and
security at home, and when it goes abroad it is an instrument for the
protection of the legal rights of our citizens under international law,
a refuge in time of disorder, and always the servant of world peace.
Wherever our flag goes the rights of humanity increase.
MERCHANT MARINE
The United States Government fleet is transporting a large amount of
freight and reducing its drain on the Treasury. The Shipping Board is
constantly under pressure, to which it too often yields, to protect
private interests, rather than serve the public welfare. More attention
should be given to merchant ships as an auxiliary of the Navy. The
possibility of including their masters and crews in the Naval Reserve,
with some reasonable compensation, should be thoroughly explored as a
method of encouraging private operation of shipping. Public operation is
not a success. No investigation, of which I have caused several to be
made, has failed to report that it could not succeed or to recommend
speedy transfer to private ownership. Our exporters and importers are
both indifferent about using American ships. It should be our policy to
keep our present vessels in repair and dispose of them as rapidly as
possible, rather than undertake any new construction. Their operation is
a burden on the National Treasury, for which we are not receiving
sufficient benefits.
COMMERCIAL AVIATION
A rapid growth is taking place in aeronautics. The Department of
Commerce has charge of the inspection and licensing system and the
construction of national airways. Almost 8,000 miles are already
completed and about 4,000 miles more contemplated. Nearly 4,400 miles
are now equipped and over 3,000 miles more will have lighting and
emergency landing fields by next July. Air mail contracts are expected
to cover 24 of these lines. Daily airway flying is nearly 15,000 miles
and is expected to reach 25,000 miles early next year.
Flights for other purposes exceed 22,000 miles each day. Over 900
airports, completed and uncompleted, have been laid out. The demand for
aircraft has greatly increased. The policy already adopted by the
Congress is producing the sound development of this coming industry.
WESTERN HEMISPHERE AIR MAIL
Private enterprise is showing much interest in opening up aviation
service to Mexico and Central and South America. We are particularly
solicitous to have the United States take a leading part in this
development. It is understood that the governments of our sister
countries would be willing to cooperate. Their physical features, the
undeveloped state of their transportation, make an air service
especially adaptable to their usage. The Post Office Department should
be granted power to make liberal long-term contracts for carrying our
mail, and authority should be given to the Army and the Navy to detail
aviators and planes to cooperate with private enterprise in establishing
such mail service with the consent of the countries concerned. A
committee of the Cabinet will later present a report on this subject.
GOOD ROADS
The importance and benefit of good roads is more and more coming to be
appreciated. The National Government has been making liberal
contributions to encourage their construction. The results and benefits
have been very gratifying. National participation, however, should be
confined to trunk-line systems. The national tax on automobiles is now
nearly sufficient to meet this outlay. This tax is very small, and on
low-priced cars is not more than $2 or $3 each year.
While the advantage of having good roads is very large, the desire for
improved highways is not limited to our own country. It should and does
include all the Western Hemisphere. The principal points in Canada are
already accessible. We ought to lend our encouragement in any way we can
for more good roads to all the principal points in this hemisphere south
of the Rio Grande. It has been our practice to supply these countries
with military and naval advisers, when they have requested it, to assist
them in national defense. The arts of peace are even more important to
them and to us. Authority should be given by law to provide them at
their request with engineering advisers for the construction of roads
and bridges. In some of these countries already wonderful progress is
being made in road building, but the engineering features are often very
exacting and the financing difficult. Private interests should look with
favor on all reasonable loans sought by these countries to open such
main lines of travel.
This general subject has been promoted by the Pan American Congress of
Highways, which will convene again at Rio de Janeiro in July, 1928. It
is desirable that the Congress should provide for the appointment of
delegates to represent the Government of the United States.
CUBAN PARCEL POST
We have a temporary parcel-post convention with Cuba. The advantage of
it is all on our side. During 1926 we shipped twelve times as many
parcels, weighing twenty-four times as much, as we received. This
convention was made on the understanding that we would repeal an old law
prohibiting the importation of cigars and cigarettes in quantities less
than 3,000 enacted in 1866 to discourage smuggling, for which it has
long been unnecessary. This law unjustly discriminates against an
important industry of Cuba. Its repeal has been recommended by the
Treasury and Post Office Departments. Unless this is done our merchants
and railroads will find themselves deprived of this large parcel-post
business after the 1st of next March, the date of the expiration of the
convention, which has been extended upon the specific understanding that
it would expire at that time unless this legislation was enacted. We
purchase large quantities of tobacco made in Cuba. It is not probable
that our purchases would be any larger if this law was repealed, while
it would be an advantage to many other industries in the United States.
INSULAR POSSESSIONS
Conditions in the Philippine Islands have been steadily improved.
Contentment and good order prevail. Roads, irrigation works, harbor
improvements, and public buildings are being constructed. Public
education and sanitation have been advanced. The Government is in a
sound financial condition. These immediate results were especially due
to the administration of Gov. Gen. Leonard Wood. The six years of his
governorship marked a distinct improvement in the islands and rank as
one of the outstanding accomplishments of this distinguished man. His
death is a loss to the Nation and the islands.
Greater progress could be made, more efficiency could be put into
administration, if the Congress would undertake to expend, through its
appropriating power, all or a part of the customs revenues which are now
turned over to the Philippine treasury. The powers of the auditor of the
islands also need revision and clarification. The government of the
islands is about 98 per cent in the hands of the Filipinos. An extension
of the policy of self-government will be hastened by the demonstration
on their part of their desire and their ability to carry out cordially
and efficiently the provisions of the organic law enacted by the
Congress for the government of the islands. It would be well for a
committee of the Congress to visit the islands every two years.
A fair degree of progress is being made in Porto Rico. Its agricultural
products are increasing; its treasury position, which has given much
concern, shows improvement. I am advised by the governor that
educational facilities are still lacking. Roads are being constructed,
which he represents are the first requisite for building schoolhouses.
The loyalty of the island to the United States is exceedingly
gratifying. A memorial will be presented to you requesting authority to
have the governor elected by the people of Porto Rico. This was never
done in the case of our own Territories. It is admitted that education
outside of the towns is as yet very deficient. Until it has progressed
further the efficiency of the government and the happiness of the people
may need the guiding hand of an appointed governor. As it is not
contemplated that any change should be made immediately, the general
subject may well have the thoughtful study of the Congress.
PANAMA CANAL