these reservoirs as it does other pubHc works.
Where their purpose is to regulate the flow of
streams, the water should be turned freely into the
channels in the dry season to take the same course
under the same laws as the natural flow.

The reclamation of the unsettled arid public lands
presents a difl'erent problem. Here it is not enough
to regulate the flow of streams. The object of the
government is to dispose of the land to settlers who
will build homes upon it. To accomplish this object
water must be brought within their reach.

The pioneer settlers on the arid public domain
chose their homes along streams from which they
could themselves divert the water to reclaim their
holdings. Such opportunities are practically gone.
There remain, however, vast areas of public land
which can be made available for homestead settle-
ment, but only by reservoirs and main-line canals
impracticable for private enterprise. These irriga-
tion works should be built by the National Govern-
ment. The lands reclaimed by them should be re-
served by the Government for actual settlers, and the
cost of construction should so far as possible be re-
paid by the land reclaimed. The distribution of
the water, the division of the streams among irri-
gators, should be left to the settlers themselves in
conformity with State laws and without interference
with those laws or with vested rights. The policy
of the National Government should be to aid irri-
gation in the several States and Territories in such
manner as will enable the people in the local commu-



And State Papers 563

nities to help themselves, and as will stimulate needed
reforms in the State laws and regulations governing
irrigation.

The reclamation and settlement of the arid lands
will enrich every portion of our country, just as
the settlement of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys
brought prosperity to the Atlantic States. The in-
creased demand for manufactured articles will stim-
ulate industrial production, while wider home mar-
kets and the trade of Asia will consume the larger
food supplies and effectually prevent Western com-
petition with Eastern agriculture. Indeed, the
products of irrigation will be consumed chiefly in
upbuilding local centres of mining and other indus-
tries, which would otherwise not come into existence
at all. Our people as a whole will profit, for suc-
cessful home-making is but another name for the
upbuilding of the Nation.

The necessary foundation has already been laid
for the inauguration of the policy just described.
It would be unwise to begin by doing too much, for
a great deal will doubtless be learned, both as to
what can and what can not be safely attempted, by
the early efforts, which must of necessity be partly
experimental in character. At the very beginning
the Government should make clear, beyond shadow
of doubt, its intention to pursue this policy on lines
of the broadest public interest. No reservoir or
canal should ever be built to satisfy selfish personal
or local interests ; but onlv in accordance with the
advice of trained experts, after long investigation



564 Presidential Addresses

has shown the locality where all the conditions com-
bine to make the work most needed and fraught
with the greatest usefulness to the community as a
whole. There should be no extravagance, and the
believers in the need of irrigation will most benefit
their cause by seeing to it that it is free from the
least taint of excessive or reckless expenditure of
the public moneys.

Whatever the Nation does for the extension of
irrigation should harmonize with, and tend to im-
prove, the condition of those now living on irrigated
land. We are not at the starting point of this de-
velopment. Over two hundred millions of private
capital has already been expended in the construc-
tion of irrigation works, and many million acres of
arid land reclaimed. A high degree of enterprise
and ability has been shown in the work itself; but
as much can not be said in reference to the laws
relating thereto. The security and value of the
homes created depend largely on the stability of
titles to water; but the majority of these rest on
the uncertain foundation of court decisions rendered
in ordinary suits at law. With a few creditable ex-
ceptions, the arid States have failed to provide for
the certain and just division of streams in times of
scarcity. Lax and uncertain laws have made it pos-
sible to establish rights to water in excess of actual
uses or necessities, and many streams have already
passed into private ownership, or a control equiva-
lent to ownership.

Whoever controls a stream practically controls the



And State Papers s^S

land it renders productive, and the doctrine of pri-
vate ownership of water apart from land can not
prevail without causing enduring wrong. The rec-
ognition of such ownership, which has been permit-
ted to grow up in the arid regions, should give way
to a more enlightened and larger recognition of the
rights of the public in the control and disposal of
the public water supplies. Laws founded upon con-
ditions obtaining in humid regions, v/here water is
too abundant to justify hoarding it, have no proper
application in a dry country.

In the arid States the only right to water which
should be recognized is that of use. In irrigation
this right should attach to the land reclaimed and
be inseparable therefrom. Granting perpetual water
rights to others than users, without compensation to
the public, is open to all the objections which apply
to giving away perpetual franchises to the public
utilities of cities. A few of the Western States have
already recognized this, and have incorporated in
their constitutions the doctrine of perpetual State
ownership of water.

The benefits which have followed the unaided de-
velopment of the past justify the nation's aid and
co-operation in the more difficult and important work
yet to be accomplished. Laws so vitally affecting
homes as those which control the water supply will
only be effective when they have the sanction of the
irrigators ; reforms can only be final and satisfactory
when they come through the enlightenment of the
people most concerned. The larger development



566 Presidential Addresses

which national aid ensures should, however, awaken
in every arid State the determination to make its
irrigation system equal in justice and effectiveness
that of any country in the civilized world. Nothing
could be more unwise than for isolated communities
to continue to learn everything experimentally, in-
stead of profiting by what is already known else-
where. We are dealing with a new and momentous
question, in the pregnant years while institutions
are forming, and what we do will affect not only the
present but future generations.

Our aim should be not simply to reclaim the larg-
est area of land and provide homes for the largest
number of people, but to create for this new industry
the best possible social and industrial conditions;
and this requires that we not only understand the
existing situation, but avail ourselves of the best
experience of the time in the solution of its problems.
A careful study should be made, both by the Nation
and the States, of the irrigation laws and conditions
here and abroad. Ultimately it will probably be
necessary for the Nation to co-operate with the sev-
eral arid States in proportion as these States by their
legislation and administration show themselves fit
to receive it.

In Hawaii our aim must be to develop the Terri-
tory on the traditional American lines. We do not
wish a region of large estates tilled by cheap labor ;
we wish a healthy American community of men who
themselves till the farms they own. All our legis-



And State Papers 567

lation for the islands should be shaped with this end
in view ; the well-being of the average home-maker
must afford the true test of the healthy development
of the islands. The land policy should as nearly as
possible be modeled on our homestead system.

It is a pleasure to say that it is hardly more neces-
sary tO' report as to Porto Rico than as to any State
or Territory within our continental limits. The isl-
and is thriving as never before, and it is being ad-
ministered efficiently and honestly. Its people are
now enjoying liberty and order under the protection
of the United States, and upon this fact we congratu-
late them and ourselves. Their material welfare
must be as carefully and jealously considered as the
welfare of any other portion of our country. We
have given them the great gift of free access for
their products to the markets of the United States.
I ask the attention of the Congress to the need of
legislation concerning the public lands of Porto
Rico.

In Cuba such progress has been made toward put-
ting the independent government of the island upon
a firm footing that before the present session of the
Congress closes this will be an accomplished fact.
Cuba will then start as her own mistress ; and to the
beautiful Queen of the Antilles, as she unfolds this
new page of her destiny, we extend our heartiest
greetings and good wishes. Elsewhere I have dis-
cussed the question of reciprocity. In the case of
Cuba, however, there are weighty reasons of mo-
rality and of national interest why the policy should



568 Presidential Addresses

be held to have a pecuhar appHcation, and I most ear-
nestly ask your attention to the wisdom, indeed to
the vital need, of providing for a substantial reduc-
tion in the tariff duties on Cuban imports into the
United States. Cuba has in her Constitution affirmed
what we desired, that she should stand, in interna-
tional matters, in closer and more friendly relations
with us than with any other power; and we are
bound by every consideration of honor and expe-
diency to pass commercial measures in the interest
of her material well-being.

In the Philippines our problem is larger. They
are very rich tropical islands, inhabited by many
varying tribes, representing widely different stages
of progress toward civilization. Our earnest effort
is to help these people upward along the stony and
difficult path that leads to self-government. We
hope to make our administration of the islands hon-
orable to our Nation by making it of the highest
benefit to the Filipinos themselves; and as an ear-
nest of what we intend to do, we point to what we
have done. Already a greater measure of material
prosperity and of governmental honesty and effi-
ciency has been attained in the Philippines than ever
before in their history.

It is no light task for a nation to achieve the tem-
peramental qualities without which the institutions
of free government are but an empty mockery. Our
people are now successfully governing themselves,
because for more than a thousand years they have
been slowly fitting themselves, sometimes conscious-



And State Papers 569

ly, sometimes unconsciously, toward this end. What
has taken us thirty generations to achieve, we can
not expect to see another race accomphsh out of
hand, especially when large portions of that race
start very far behind the point which our ancestors
had reached even thirty generations ago. In deal-
ing with the Philippine people we must show both
patience and strength, forbearance and steadfast
resolution. Our aim is high. We do not desire to
do for the islanders merely what has elsewhere been
done for tropic peoples by even the best foreign
governments. We hope to do for them what has
never before been done for any people of the tropics
— to make them fit for self-government after the
fashion of the really free nations.

History may safely be challenged to show a single
instance in which a masterful race such as ours, hav-
ing been forced by the exigencies of war to take pos-
session of an alien land, has behaved to its inhabi-
tants with the disinterested zeal for their progress
that our people have shown in the Philippines. To
leave the islands at this time would mean that they
would fall into a welter of murderous anarchy.
Such desertion of duty on our part would be a crime
against humanity. The character of Governor Taft
and of his associates and subordinates is a proof, if
such be needed, of the sincerity of our effort to give
the islanders a constantly increasing measure of self-
government, exactly as fast as they show themselves
fit to exercise it. Since the civil government was es-
tablished not an appointment has been made in the

8— Vol. XIV



570 Presidential Addresses

islands with any reference to considerations of po-
litical influence, or to aught else save the fitness of
the man and the needs of the service.

In our anxiety for the welfare and progress of the
Philippines, it may be that here and there we have
gone -too rapidly in giving them local self-govern-
ment. It is on this side that our error, if any, has
been committed. No competent observer, sincerely
desirous of finding out the facts and influenced only
by a desire for the welfare of the natives, can assert
that we have not gone far enough. We have gone
to the very verge of safety in hastening the process.
To have taken a single step further or faster in ad-
vance would have been folly and weakness, and
might well have been crime. We are extremely anx-
ious that the natives shall show the power of gov-
erning themselves. We are anxious, first for their
sakes, and next, because it relieves us of* a great
burden. There need not be the slightest fear of our
not continuing to give them all the liberty for which
they are fit.

The only fear is lest in our overanxiety we give
them a degree of independence for which they are
unfit, thereby inviting reaction and disaster. As fast
as there is any reasonable hope that in a given dis-
trict the people can govern themselves, self-govern-
ment has been given in that district. There is not a
locality fitted for self-government which has not re-
ceived it. But it may well be that in certain cases
it will have to be withdrawn because the inhabitants
show themselves unfit to exercise it ; such instances



And State Papers 571

have already occurred. In other words, there is not
the shghtest chance of our faihng to show a suffi-
ciently humanitarian spirit. The danger comes in
the opposite direction.

There are still troubles ahead in the islands. The
insurrection has become an aiffair of local banditti
and marauders, who deserve no higher regard than
the brigands of portions of the Old World. En-
couragement, direct or indirect, to these insurrectos
stands on the same footing as encouragement to hos-
tile Indians in the days when we still had Indian
wars. Exactly as our aim is to give to the Indian
who remains peaceful the fullest and amplest consid-
eration, but to have it understood that we will show
no weakness if he goes on the warpath, so we must
make it evident, unless we are false to our own tra-
ditions and to the demands of civilization and hu-
manity, that while we will do everything in our
power for the Filipino who is peaceful, we will take
the sternest measures with the Filipino who follows
the path of the insurrecto and the ladrone.

The heartiest praise is due to large numbers of the
natives of the islands for their steadfast loyalty.
The Macabebes have been conspicuous for their cour-
age and devotion to the flag. I recommend that the
Secretar)^ of War be empowered to take some syste-
matic action in the way of aiding those of these men
w^ho are crippled in the service and the families of
those who are killed.

The time has come when there should be addi-
tional legislation for the Philippines. Nothing bet-



572 Presidential Addresses

ter can be done for the islands than to introduce in-
dustrial enterprises. Nothing would benefit them so
much as throwing them open to industrial develop-
ment. The connection between idleness and mischief
is proverbial, and the opportunity to do remunerative
work is one of the surest preventives of war. Of
course no business man will go into the Philippines
unless it is to his interest to do so, and it is im-
mensely to the interest of the islands that he should
go in. It is therefore necessary that the Congress
should pass laws by which the resources of the isl-
ands can be developed; so that franchises (for lim-
ited terms of years) can be granted to companies
doing business in them, and every encouragement be
given to the incoming of business men of every kind.
Not to permit this is to do a wrong to the Philip-
pines. The franchises must be granted and the busi-
ness permitted only under regulations which will
guarantee the islands against any kind of improper
exploitation. But the vast natural wealth of the isl-
ands must be developed, and the capital willing to
develop it must be given the opportunity. The field
must be thrown open tO' individual enterprise, which
has been the real factor in the development of every
region over which our flag has flown. It is urgently
necessary to enact suitable laws dealing with general
transportation, mining, banking, currency, home-
steads, and the use and ownership of the lands and'
timber. These laws will give free play to industrial
enterprise; and the commercial development which
will surely follow will afford to the people of the isl-



And State Papers 573

ands the best proofs of the sincerity of our desire to
aid them.

I call your attention most earnestly to the crying
need of a cable to Hawaii and the Philippines, to be
continued from the Philippines to points in Asia.
We should not defer a day longer than necessary the
construction of such a cable. It is demanded not
merely for commercial but for political and military
considerations.

Either the Congress should immediately provide
for the construction of a government cable, or else
an arrangement should be made by which like ad-
vantages to those accruing from a government cable
may be secured to the Government by contract with
a private cable company.

No single great material work which remains to
be undertaken on this continent is of such conse-
quence to the xALmerican people as the building of a
canal across the Isthmus connecting North and
South America. Its importance to the Nation is by
no means limited merely to its material efifects upon
our business prosperity ; and yet with view to these
effects alone it would be to the last degree important
for us immediately to begin it. While its beneficial
effects would perhaps be most marked upon the Pa-
cific Coast and the Gulf and South Atlantic States,
it would also greatly benefit other sections. It is
emphatically a work which it is for the interest of
the entire country to begin and complete as soon as



574 Presidential Addresses

possible; it is one of those great works which only a
great nation can undertake with prospects of suc-
cess and which when done are not only permanent
assets in the nation's material interests, but standmg
monuments to its constructive ability.

I am glad to be able to announce to you that our
negotiations on this subject with Great Britain, con-
ducted on both sides in a spirit of friendliness and
mutual good-will and respect, have resulted m my
being able to lay before the Senate a treaty which
if ratified will enable us to begin preparations for an
Isthmian Canal at any time, and which guarantees to
this Nation every right that it has ever asked m con-
nection with the canal. In this treaty, the old Clay-
ton-Bulwer treaty, so long recognized as inadequate
to supply the base for the construction and main-
tenance of a necessarily American ship canal, is
abrogated. It specifically provides that the United
States alone shall do the work of building and as-
sume the responsibility of safeguarding the canal and
shall regulate its neutral use by all nations on terms
of equality without the guarantee or interference
of any outside nation from any quarter. The signed
treaty will at once be laid before the Senate, and if
approved the Congress can then proceed to give ef-
fect to the advantages it secures us by providing for
the building of the canal.

The true end of every great and free people should
be self-respecting peace; and this Nation most ear-
nestly desires sincere and cordial friendship with all



And State Papers 575

others. Over the entire world, of recent years, wars
between the great civilized powers have become less
and less frequent. Wars with barbarous or semi-
barbarous peoples come in an entirely different cate-
gory, being merely a most regrettable but necessary
international police duty which must be performed
for the sake of the welfare of mankind. Peace can
only be kept with certainty where both sides wish to
keep it ; but more and more the civilized peoples are
realizing the wicked folly of war and are attaining
that condition of just and intelligent regard for the
rights of others which will in the end, as we hope
and believe, make world-wide peace possible. The
peace conference at The Hague gave definite ex-
pression to this hope and belief and marked a stride
toward their attainment.

This same peace conference acquiesced in our
statement of the Monroe Doctrine as compatible with
the purposes and aims of the conference.

The Monroe Doctrine should be the cardinal fea-
ture of the foreign policy of all the nations of the
two Americas, as it is of the United States. Just
seventy-eight years have passed since President
Monroe in his Annual Message announced that "The
American continents are henceforth not to be con-
sidered as subjects for future colonization by any
European power." In other words, the Monroe
Doctrine is a declaration that there must be no
territorial aggrandizement by any non-American
power at the expense of any American power on
American soil. It is in no wise intended as hostile



576 Presidential Addresses

to any nation in the Old World. Still less is it in-
tended to give cover to any aggression by one New
World power at the expense of any other. It is sim-
ply a step, and a long step, toward assuring the uni-
versal peace of the world by securing the possibility
of permanent peace on this hemisphere.

During the past century other influences have es-
tablished the permanence and independence of the
smaller states of Europe. Through the Monroe Doc-
trine we hope to be able to safeguard like indepen-
dence and secure like permanence for the lesser
among the New World nations.

This doctrine has nothing to do with the com-
mercial relations of any American power, save that
it in truth allows each of them to form such as it
desires. In other words, it is really a guaranty of
the commercial independence of the A.mericas. We
do not ask under this doctrine for any exclusive com-
mercial dealings- with any other American state.
We do not guarantee any state against punishment
if it misconducts itself, provided that punishment
does not take the form of the acquisition of territory
by any non-American power.

Our attitude in Cuba is a sufficient guaranty of
our own good faith. We have not the slightest de-
sire to secure any territory at the expense of any
of our neighbors. We wish to work with them hand
in hand, so that all of us may be uplifted together,
and we rejoice over the good fortune of any of them,
we gladly hail their material prosperity and politi-
cal stability, and are concerned and alarmed if any



And State Papers 577

of them fall into industrial or political chaos. We
do not wish to see any Old World military power
grow up on this continent, or to be compelled to be-
come a military power ourselves. The peoples of the
Americas can prosper best if left to work out their
own salvation in their own way.

The work of upbuilding the navy must be steadily
continued. No one point of our policy, foreign or
domestic, is more important than this to the honor
and material welfare, and above all to the peace,
of our Nation in the future. Whether we desire it
or not, we must henceforth recognize that we have
international duties no less than international rights.
Even if our flag were hauled down in the Philip-
pines and Porto Rico, even if we decided not to
build the Isthmian Canal, we should need a thor-
oughly trained navy of adequate size, or else be
prepared definitely and for all time to abandon the
idea that our Nation is among those whose sons go
down to the sea in ships. Unless our commerce is
always to be carried in foreign bottoms, we must
have war craft to protect it.

Inasmuch, however, as the American people have
no thought of abandoning the path upon which they